{"id":859,"date":"2010-11-26T11:14:00","date_gmt":"2010-11-26T11:14:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/standingonmyhead\/2010\/11\/opposites-attract-2\/"},"modified":"2010-11-26T11:14:00","modified_gmt":"2010-11-26T11:14:00","slug":"opposites-attract-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/standingonmyhead\/2010\/11\/opposites-attract-2.html","title":{"rendered":"Opposites Attract – 2"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>
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There are\u00a0 a whole set of attracting opposites which validate the authenticity of the Catholic Church. I wrote yesterday about the extremes of refined taste and common taste\u2013both of which have a place in Catholicism. Have you considered how the church is both universal and local?<\/p>\n

Catholicism is the only religion that is, at once, universal and local. Anywhere in the globe you will find Catholicism planted and growing. In some places the church is poor, tiny and persecuted, but still you will find Catholics united in the one faith, part of one flock being ruled by one shepherd. Their customs and cultures vary enormously. Their people are of every tribe and language and nation. Some \u2018liberal\u2019 some \u2018conservative\u2019. Sometimes they fight, but still they are united by a shared belief, and a loyalty to the one authority of the Bishop of Rome. It is true that this \u2018loyalty\u2019 is often stretched by disobedience, complacency, ignorance and willfulness. Nevertheless, there is an underlying unity that transcends national culture, contemporary circumstances and ephemeral trends. <\/p>\n

At the same time, the Catholic Church is local. It can be identified. You can find it on the next street. It is called St Bernadette\u2019s and the priest lives in the house next to the church and the people attend the one Mass each day within that brick building. While the Church is universal it is also local with all the specificity of local customs and cultures and traditions and problems and solutions and sinners and saints.<\/p>\n

There is no other church or religion which can claim both universality and the specificity of being local in the same way. To be sure, some denominations\u2013like Baptist or Anglican or Methodist\u2013 have a global presence, but they have no over-arching authority structure and ecclesial theory which produces an underlying unity. Instead they are essential local or national churches. Despite belonging to a national or international federation, each local Baptist church is autonomous. Despite sharing a history and tradition, each national Anglican Church is autonomous. Each one is, in a sense, a national church.<\/p>\n

Furthermore, the traits the different denominations do share\u2013the qualities which make up their identity\u2013are personal, ethnic, theological or national traits\u2013not universal ones. So, for instance the Baptists share a theological tradition based on certain distinct (and sectarian) theological opinions. The Anglicans share an \u2018Englishness\u2019 as the Eastern Orthodox have their distinct national and ethnic identities. Methodists and Lutherans are bound not so much by theology as they are to a memory of their founders and the traditions that have arisen over the years.<\/p>\n

The reason Catholicism can be both universal and particular is the office of the papacy. One shepherd\u2013one flock. The over-arching ministry of the Pope provides the historical continuity, the ability to transcend particular cultures while allowing them to flourish and the authority to guarantee a bedrock of moral and doctrinal teaching\u2013 in direct continuity with the faith of the apostles\u2013 upon which the faithful from every place and time and culture and clan can unite.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

There are\u00a0 a whole set of attracting opposites which validate the authenticity of the Catholic Church. I wrote yesterday about the extremes of refined taste and common taste\u2013both of which have a place in Catholicism. Have you considered how the church is both universal and local? Catholicism is the only religion that is, at once, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":557,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-859","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\nOpposites Attract - 2<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"There are  a whole set of attracting opposites which validate the authenticity of the Catholic Church. 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