2008-03-31
12:48
Scary numbers:
Posted by Luke Schierer under Society, morality/religion | Permalink | | Leave A Comment
According to the most recent figures from the Vatican yearbook of statistics, the number of the world’s population that are Muslims is 19.2%, with the number of Catholics trailing behind at 17.4 %. 1
This is attributed to the failure of Catholics and other Christians to reproduce, a failure that is not shared by Muslim families. This will have huge societal implications as we age.
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Catholic News Agency. “Vatican: Muslims now outnumber Catholics” www.catholicnewsagency.com 2008-03-31 http://www.catholicnewsagency.com/new.php?n=12192 ↩
4 Responses to “Scary numbers:”
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Per 1 Cor, I would think it would be a good thing if fewer Christians were calling themselves Catholic. According to that link, Christians make up 33% overall.
I assume from your reference that you are referring to verses 11-16 of the first chapter, where Paul condemns the devisions among the Corinthians.
From this, we can certainly see that Paul must abhor our modern state, with thousands of Protestant denominations. But we cannot arrive from his statements to any condemnation of the one, holy, apostolic and universal Church. For Paul rightly calls all Christians to be one, as Christ is one.
But how can we be one without some authority to tell us what is, and what is not, part of the teaching of the apostles? They are not here to speak for themselves.
Nor is the Bible self-sufficient. There are thousands of Bible believing congregations out there, each teaching slightly (and sometimes significantly) different things, each claiming to be following the clear words of the Bible.
No, if there is to be unity, there must also be those to whom God has entrusted stewardship of His Church.
I follow the faith as passed down by those stewards, the successors of the apostles. For that reason, I am part of the Church, which is sometimes called Catholic, or “Universal.” Those who attempt to be Christian but refrain from full communion with Christ’s Church are the ones who fall foul of the verses you cite.
You seem to have taken my comment as an attack on the Catholic church. It’s not meant as such. I would find it wonderful if both Catholic and Protestant simply answered “Christian,” rather than feeling the need to differentiate themselves further. That’s really all I have to say on the subject. :)
Tewha,
I think this calls for a short study of the etymology of those two words, catholic and protestant. The word ‘catholic’ comes from the greek kaqolikos, which means, quite literally, ‘universal’. Many protestants, knowing the origin of the word, would claim to be a part of the catholic, universal, christian church. As for the word ‘protestant,’ one may argue that the word just means “one who is a witness before.” This, however, is not the historical origin of the word. During the early years of the reformation period the term protestant was used to describe a collection of princes and imperial cities who had protested against the decision of the 1529 Diet of Speyer and enforced the 1521 Diet of Worms. The Diet was the parliament of princes of the Holy Roman Empire. That said, using the very old, original meaning of the word ‘protest’, I would not be against someday all christians being catholic, protestant, orthodox (the third being another former word of contention). I like to think that these rifts, as divisive as they are, eventually allow us to find further words to describe and explain what it means to be “Christian”. I hope that the words stop dividing soon, but unifying. But this will all indeed take time; God’s time, not our own. :)