Epistemic Ingemination

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Quidquid latine dictum sit, altum viditur.

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Sun, 18 Feb 2007

I try to devote some of my time each week to theology; I find it to be a wonderful way to study the human race, and it often gives me insights into our nature that help me to understand our strange little species. It also serves to scratch the itch that those of my clan instilled in me regarding taking some time each week to devote to meditating upon larger issues of faith.

Anyway, I was meandering around in such pursuits this morning, and happened to come across The Catholic Encyclopedia entry on Protestantism.

Wow. It's a long read, and it is remarkable in some of its arguments. I mean that sincerely. It's enlightening on a variety of levels, and I was impressed to see the level of respect it afforded the subject, considering that protestantism has been the single most obvious causative engine for the decline of the Catholic Church. The expected "protestants don't go to heaven" never appeared, much to its credit. It even goes so far as to state that any Christianity is better than none. I think that this fact is remarkable.

But it also has its spew-coffee-on-the-monitor moments. I especially enjoyed section "X. Protestantism and Progress." It is very interesting how advances in science are portrayed, considering that the Catholic Church has historically fought every foundational scientific advance. I like the whole "they don't burn witches anymore" ideation. Um, define "they", howzaboutit?

Finally, the "Conclusion" was exceedingly amusing to me. After an impressive display of cogent (albeit partisan) historical analysis and respectful theological hair splitting, the conclusion to the article basically states "We're bigger and we have a single organizational authority. Neener, neener."