A SMIDGEN OF RELIGION
Scott Hahn grew up in a zealous, evangelical Protestant Church. Regardless of the fact that this Church wasn’t Catholic, it knew how to prioritize community.
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“Dr. Schaeffler decided to take a weekend off to visit Paris with a couple of his students. One night as they strolled the streets of Paris, they saw a prostitute on a street corner. To the students’ horror, they watched their mentor walk right up to the woman.
He said, ‘How much do you charge?’
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‘Fifty dollars.’
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He eyed her up and down and said, ‘Nah, that’s too little.’
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‘Oh yeah, for Americans, it’s one hundred fifty dollars.’
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He stepped back again, ‘That’s still too low.’
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She quickly said, ‘Uhh, oh yeah, the weekend rate for Americans is five hundred dollars.’
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‘No, that’s still too cheap.’
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By this time she was a little irritated. She said, ‘What am I worth to you?’
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He responded, ‘Lady, I couldn’t possibly pay you what you are worth, but let me tell you about someone who already has.’
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The two men watched as their mentor — right then and there — knelt with her on the sidewalk and led her in a prayer to commit her life to Christ.
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That’s the kind of zeal to share the gospel that we had in Young Life; and for the life of me I couldn’t understand why so many mainstream churches didn’t even seem to care” (13-14).
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The two battle cries of the Protestant Reformation are:
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1. Sola fide (the belief of being justified by faith alone). But “In James 2:24, the Bible teaches that ‘a man is justified by works and not by faith alone.’ Besides, Saint Paul said in 1 Corinthians 13:2, ‘…if I have all faith so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing’” (32).
2. Sola scriptura (the belief that the Bible alone is our authority, rather than a Pope, Church councils, or tradition). But:
“Jesus wasn’t condemning all tradition in Matthew 15 but rather corrupt tradition. When 2 Timothy 3:16 says ‘all Scripture’, it doesn’t say that ‘only Scripture’ is profitable. Prayer, evangelizing and many other things are also essential. And what about 2 Thessalonians 2:15? …Paul tells the Thessalonians, ‘So then, brethren, stand firm and hold to the traditions which were taught by us, either by word of mouth or by letter’” (52).
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“Isn’t it ironic? We insist that Christians can believe only what the Bible teaches. But the Bible doesn’t teach that it is our only authority!” (53).
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Why does it seem like Catholics worship Mary?
“Catholics don’t worship Mary, they simply venerate her. …Just remember two basic biblical principles. First, you know that, as a man, Christ fulfilled God’s law perfectly, including the commandment to honor his father and mother. The Hebrew word for honor, kaboda, literally means ‘to glorify’. So Christ didn’t just honor his heavenly Father; he also perfectly honored his earthly mother, Mary, by bestowing his own divine glory upon her. The second principle is even easier: the imitation of Christ. So, we simply imitate Christ not just by honoring our own mothers but also by honoring whomever he honors — and with the same honor that he bestows” (68-69).
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“Protestants defined worship as songs, prayers and a sermon. So when Catholics sang songs to Mary, petitioned to Mary in prayer and preached about her, Protestants concluded she was being worshiped. But Catholics defined worship as the sacrifice of the Body and Blood of Jesus, and Catholics would never have offered a sacrifice of Mary nor to Mary on the altar” (145).
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Authority is important (such as the authority of the Pope).
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“When our nation’s founders gave us the Constitution, they didn’t just leave it at that. Can you imagine what we’d have today if all they had given us was a document, as good as it is, along with a charge like ‘May the spirit of Washington guide each and every citizen’? We’d have anarchy — which is basically what we Protestants do have when it comes to church unity. Instead, our founding fathers gave us something besides the Constitution; they gave us a government — made up of a President, Congress, and a Supreme Court — all of which are needed to administer and interpret the Constitution. And if that’s just enough to govern a country like ours, what would it take to govern a worldwide Church?” (73-74).
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What are the benefits of structured prayer?
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While unstructured prayer helps you develop a personal relationship with God by giving you the flexibility to talk about your specific situation, structured prayer gives you a stronger concentration of will by providing you with concise, carefully constructed compositions.
“I was concerned that the Rosary was an example of vain repetition that had been clearly condemned by Jesus. However, an introduction to the Rosary by a nun helped give me a new perspective. She urged believers to see themselves not as great, big adult Christians, but as little children before the Lord. For example, she reminded the reader that when our young children say, ‘I love you, Mommy” over and over in a day, we never turn to them and say, ‘Honey, that’s just vain repetition!’ Likewise, we as young children were saying ‘I love you Mommy, pray for me’ to Mary through the Rosary. Though repetitious, it became vain only if we said the words without meaning them” (160).
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Why is contraception bad?
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“Every covenant has an act whereby the covenant is enacted and renewed. …When the marriage covenant is renewed, God uses it to give new life. To renew the marital covenant and use birth control to destroy the potential for new life is tantamount to receiving the Eucharist and spitting it on the ground” (27).
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“Just as in ancient Rome, when people would feast and then excuse themselves to vomit the food they had just consumed (to avoid the consequences of their actions), so it is with spouses who feast in the act of marriage only to thwart the life-giving power of their act of covenant renewal. Both actions are contrary to natural law” (38).
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What does our relationship with God look like?​
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“Jesus Christ wants to have a personal relationship with each of us as our Savior and Lord. But Jesus wants much more than that; he wants us in covenant with himself. I can have a personal relationship with the neighbor down the street; but that doesn’t mean he wants me to move in and share his home” (181).
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Why is community important?
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"I’ve thoroughly enjoyed the Bridegroom and his Father, and I’m anticipating the wedding feast to come, but Jesus wants me also to know his Bride, the Church, and to realize more fully with whom I will be celebrating. What groom would want me simply to come to the feast and stare at him? He wants me to know his bride and to cherish her, too” (160-161).
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When Scott realized the truth of the Catholic doctrine, he didn’t want to waste any time before converting.
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After all, to delay obedience is disobedience.
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“I want to know I am teaching the truth. For someday I will stand before Christ and give an account for what I have taught his people. It won’t be enough for me to hide behind my denomination and professors. I need to be able to look him right in the eyes and say, ‘Lord, I taught them whatever you taught me in your Word’” (54).
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It took Scott’s wife (Kimberly) awhile before coming aboard the Catholic train.
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She didn’t realize that when things don’t go our way, it could be because God has something better in mind.
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“I blurted out, ‘I cannot understand why God would take a well-trained young couple, committed to a common vision for life and ministry together, and totally change their lives around so that now we are going in completely different directions. Why would he do that?’ I wasn’t ready for Scott’s reply. Scott said to me, ‘Is it possible that God loves us so much? Since, on your own, you never would have been interested in studying the Catholic Faith, perhaps he’s converted me first, and had me go through terrible loneliness — isolated from many Protestants, Catholics on campus who really don’t care what I did, and definitely the loneliness between the two of us — all so he could gradually show you the beauty of the Catholic Church? So that he could gather you in? So that he could bless you with the sacraments? So that he could give you the fullness of the faith you already possess?‘” (107).
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Kimberly further realized how limited our understanding of what’s best for us could be when her daughter (Hannah) got a fever.
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The doctor told Kimberly to cool her off with cold towels.
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“Hannah could not understand what I was doing. I was supposed to protect her from harm, yet here I was helping to put the cloths on her that were causing her much pain and discomfort. I could not explain it to her, but I knew I was doing the most loving thing for her. In the midst of this, I felt the Lord put his hand on my shoulder and say, ‘Kimberly, do you see what a good parent you are? You love your daughter, so you are causing her pain to heal her. Do you see how much I have loved you, my daughter? I have caused you pain to heal you, to draw you to myself’” (150-151).