An Evangelical on the Edge

Here's an interesting take on the current Protestant/Catholic situation in America, coming from an Evangelical who sounds like he's being drawn towards Rome:

I know that personally, the more I study and grow the less impressed I am by evangelicalism. Yes, RC has some major issues in faith and practice, but if you take Evangelicalism as a whole I think evangelicals are making it pretty easy to convert. Like a lot of issues, this one goes a lot deeper, and requires far more argumentation, than many are prepared to deal with.

As far as I am concerned the base issue is authority. When an Evangelical Protestant (Independent/Baptist/Pentecostal/etc.) makes a false claim there is no higher authority to pronounce judgment on it. Everyone “does what is right in his own eyes” so-to-speak. On the other hand, accepting Rome’s doctrines is not enough – one must accept the papacy no matter what happens in the future. This flies in the face of sola Scriptura, and Protestants can’t bend on this one. As RC’s are quick to point out though, sola Scriptura hasn’t saved Protestantism from going bad in many areas. We can say we base our beliefs on the Bible all day long, but that’s what homosexuals say (and are now ordained in several major denominations), that’s what abortionists say (and are accepted as church members), that’s what adulterers say (in their special home groups), etc. From crazed fundamentalists to goofball seeker churches, we just have to say, “Oh well – that’s just how they do it.” It gets VERY frustrating.

Meanwhile the RC Church is infiltrating culture and turning the tide on abortion, upholding biblical marriage, etc. and not embarrassing Christianity in the process (pedophile priests notwithstanding . . . ). Then I read Augustine, Anselm, Aquinas, the Church Fathers, even Luther, and I see how many of our main problems with RC are really just what the Church believed for nearly 1500 years. The creeds that determine orthodoxy are all pre-Reformation. The doctrines of God are being challenged by Open Theists, Process Theologians, etc., who are pretty much all what? Protestants! Add in the beauty of the liturgy compared to rock concert worship and juice-and-crackers “communion,” and the case for evangelicalism starts being more and more difficult to sustain!

There's more--do read the whole thing. He has some good recommendations at the end for Protestants looking to understand Catholic teaching (at least from the Catholic side--I haven't read the non-Catholic ones, but judging from the even-handed tenor of the post, I'd be willing to give them the benefit of the doubt.)