The New Protestantism

On certain thin-aired uplands where theologians graze, it is growing increasingly difficult to tell a Protestant from a Roman Catholic. To a degree that would have been unthinkable 50 years ago, they read each other's works and build upon each other's researches--though each retains his own faith. In Europe much personal discussion goes on between Roman Catholic and Protestant scholars; Calvinist Theologian Oscar Cullman is welcome at the Vatican, and some of the best studies of Karl Earth have been written by Catholic scholars. In the U.S. there is a growing movement, sparked by Jesuit Father Walter Abbott of the weekly America, for the preparation of a common translation of the Bible.

The changes in Protestant thought that lie behind this trend were neatly analyzed last week in the Catholic weekly Commonweal by the Rev. Gregory Baum of St. Basil's Seminary in Toronto, Ont.

New Difficulty. In North America, during the 19th century and almost up to the present generation, he wrote, there were basically two kinds of Protestants: liberals and fundamentalists. The liberals viewed the New Testament as an amalgam of history and legend in which their scholars searched for "the historical Jesus" for an answer to the question: What was this great holy man really like, what did he really say and do? The fundamentalists, on the other hand, rejected such "scientific" analysis of the Gospels, clinging to "the letter of Scripture, trusting the Spirit to reveal to them its true meaning."

To the tight-shut fundamentalist mind, there was nothing much Catholicism could say. In arguing with the liberals, says Father Baum, "we used to begin with the Bible regarded simply as an historical record, trying to show that Jesus, the man Jesus, claimed to be of divine origin and that He proved His claims by prophecy and miracles. Then we showed that he founded a Church, a community of believers on the rock of the apostles, endowed with certain notes or visible properties. The church with these properties can still be found today: it is the Catholic Church ... It was all so simple, so logical, you could, almost, prove it."

All the same, some Catholic thinkers regarded Protestantism as "a movement on the way out. Theologically and biblically it had no leg to stand on ... Occasionally we made fun of it." Father Baum recalls the joke about the lapsed Catholic, asked if he was now a Protestant, who replied that though he had lost his faith, he had not lost his reason.

New Challenge. Today. Father Baum perceives "a renaissance of Protestant thought." Instead of looking upon the Scriptures as historical material, Protestant thinkers now take them essentially as "the proclamation of the faith of the early Church." Instead of focusing on the time when Jesus was alive, Protestantism is beginning to focus on what is really accessible--the time of the early Church, after the Crucifixion. This places the Scriptures in an entirely new light. "What is important, first of all, is not whether Jesus really said this or that, or really did this or that; what counts is that through the biblical witness the early Church proclaimed its faith in the saving power of Christ. For instance: what is essential is not whether Jesus really healed the blind man, but that in this miracle the early Church believed, and proclaimed, that Jesus now heals the blind eyes of men through faith. The New Testament announces the activity of the glorified Christ in the Church, rather than simply the past deeds of Jesus on earth."

This view means that church and tradition have become far more important in Protestant thought, as they have always been in Catholicism. And with this shift, the old-style Catholic arguments against Protestantism "have become somewhat irrelevant, rather empty and even some what rationalistic." The presentation and defense of Catholicism by Catholics is therefore changing. "Many authors today no longer attempt to prove to the greatest extent possible the presuppositions of faith (the existence of God, the possibility of revelation, the historicity of Jesus' words), nor will they use scriptural passages removed from their context as proofs of the Catholic position. They will rather turn immediately to the scriptural testimony considered in the context and the spirit in which it is found."

New Friendliness. The new line "alters the character and flavor of Catholic theological literature. It removes the slightly rationalistic trend of the older approach which created the impression that a man could argue himself into faith, and it imbues the whole of the Catholic teaching with an authentic biblical atmosphere."

Catholic theologians are looking upon Protestant theologians with a new friendliness and respect. "The change reflects much more than an increase of tolerance; it is rather a consequence of the change that has taken place within Protestantism, change which, on the one hand, leads Protestant theology closer to the tradition of the Church and, on the other, offers, by its profundity, a true challenge to Catholic theology."

This file is automatically generated by a robot program, so reader's discretion is required.