"What do Roman Catholics believe."
                                   or 
                     "Four Kinds of Roman Catholics"     


    It is as difficult to classify  neatly the Roman church today as it 
is to classify Protestant churches.  Any classifacation is bound to lump 
together those who feel uncomfortable at the association; we must allow 
for much overlapping and various combinations of viewpoints.  It is 
useful, nevertheless, to group comtemporary Roman Catholics into four 
types. 

    Still vigorous, and, under the administration of Pope John Paul II, 
continuing strong and influential within the Catholic hierarchy, are the 
traditionalists.  This important segment of the church, specially 
powerful among the laity of the nation churches, the older clergy, and 
the bishops and upper level of the hierarchy, adheres to the whole of 
creedal Roman Catholicism and obedience to the church as interpreted by 
the pope.  In recent years, these traditionalists have come to assume 
less and less importance in the church, yet Pope John Paul II has 
certainly sought in some ways to nudge the church back in this 
direction. 

    A second group is often identified with the charismatic movement.  
It tends to be more evangelical and lays great emphasis upon faith as a 
personal commitment, the New Birth, personal piety, and loyalty to the 
Scripture.  Particularly, it stresses the necessity for a conscious 
"actualization" or personal appropriation of one's faith, and an active 
acceptance of the Bible not just as divine revelation, but also as the 
means of grace by which the Holy Spirit guides one's thought anad 
action. 

    A third group is composed of liberals.  These vary greatly in the 
degree to which they have departed from the traditional position of the 
church.  From the Protestant perspective, naturally, some of these 
departures seem to be good because they are moves in the direction of 
evangelical doctrine.  When Hans Kung wrote a book in defense of 
justification by faith and another against the infallibility of the pope 
and the church councils, Protestants recognized a voice proclaiming the 
truth.  However, when he went on to cast doubts upon the infallibility 
of the Bible as well, and even questioned the traditional Christology of 
the church, evangelical Protestants regretted his move as an unnecessary 
and unwise concession to modern rationalistic unbelief stemming from the 
Enlightenment, not from his biblical roots. 

    No doubt the majority of Roman Catholics fall within a loose fourth 
category often labeled cultural Roman Catholics.  They were born into 
the church.  They are commited emotionally to their "mother church," but 
do not understand its doctrine and are not really obedient to its 
ethical instruction.  They remain within it more because of convenience 
than because of religious conviction.  Their values and lifestyle do not 
flow from their understanding of the gospel, but are molded by the 
predominant culture around them.  In the U.S.(and Canada), Roman 
Catholicism is their way of being an American(Canadian) and of finding 
their own identity in modern society.  My Comment:  It would be 
disasterous to lump Catholics into any one particular category listed 
above but to make sure and talk to each one individually as they may be 
part of all the categories or any combination of them.  When giving your 
testimony to them make sure that you know what that individual believes 
in, listen carfully to what they say. 

   This info was uploaded by Mike Paulson, who received the information
from an Editorial from Cornerstone magazine which was sent to him by
The Christian Research Institute in San Juan Capistrano, California.

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