In the opening chapter of Holy Ground Chris Castaldo recalls a story of how as a boy he first understood what Catholics truly believe. He begins by saying how both faiths began from a common bible (almost common since the Catholic bible includes the deuter-canonical books) and common creeds like the Apostles and Nicene creeds. However like two sets of dominoes that run in parallel begin to diverge after that point. What is the cause of this divergence?
The cause of this divergence comes down to a different interpretation of how the revelation and authority of Jesus extends to the church, and by extension into the world.
Catholics understand the incarnated presence of Jesus to be in the one, holy, catholic, and apostolic church. This is why the church was understood by Catholics to have divine authority over God’s people.
Catholics believe that revelation and authority fall into the hands of the church through apostolic succession while Evangelicals see Jesus’ infallible revelation to consist of Scripture alone. Castaldo shows this by saying how through scripture:
Evangelicals see the scripture as the sole infallible guide for salvation and stands alone as the supreme source of authority upon which the Christian faith is based. Catholics understand Sacred Tradition to be equally authoritative as Scripture.
So it can be said that the major difference boils down to authority. What is the authority that defines and directs one’s faith? One way to think of it is also allegiance. If you’re a Catholic or Protestant how is your allegiance to Christ defined? Catholics can be seen as having an allegiance to Christ through the Catholic church. Protestants have allegiance to Christ through personal faith in Christ.
With this fundamental difference Castaldo shares 5 major reasons why Catholics have departed their Catholic backgrounds and moved towards the Evangelical tradition.
1. Every believer is called to full-time ministry
2. Relationship with Christ must take precedence over rules-keeping
3. We enjoy direct access to God in Christ
4. There is only one proper object of devotion – Jesus the Savior
5. God’s children should be motivated by grace instead of guilt
He has gathered this information from surveys, focus-groups, and interviews. Those five major reasons are also the next five chapters in the book which we’ll look at next one chapter at a time.
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thx Pat…I’m looking forward to “reading” this book through your blog.
This will be the “cliff-notes w/ an opinion” version!
Thanks Pat. Please let me know if you’re passing through Wheaton. Would love to grab a coffee. Chris
Thanks for visiting my blog Chris and hopefully we’ll have that coffee one day!