The Church Can't Go Back to 1950

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Music written and generously provided by Paul Jernberg. Find out more about his work as a composer here: http://pauljernberg.com

Thanks to the magic of social media, I was reminded this week of a focal point in the never-ending struggle between orthodox and modernist factions in the Church today. I had posted something about how doctrine that isn’t merely a reproduction of the sentiments of popular culture is essential to a community and culture that can resist being swallowed up and assimilated by the secular world. And someone replied by saying that they remember what the Church was like prior to the Second Vatican Council, and that they would never go back to that. Which was kind of surprising because I thought to myself, I’m not sure how this relates to what I said, but OK, let’s … let’s do this. And in their reply they pin-pointed a common point of contention that often gets raised in debates about modern Church culture which is that the pews used to be full and now they’re not – and if you’re more traditionally minded, you might think, we need to turn back from the path we’re on as it’s having clearly deleterious effects on the Church and her efficacy in proclaiming Christ to the world. But, no, this person claims. Don’t fall for that trick that’s not the way. Sure, there may have been seminaries bursting at the seems with religious vocations, and churches overflowing with attendance every Sunday, but you’d be mistaken if you thought that was an indication of the vitality of the Church. He goes on to claim that most of those people only came to Church for compromised reasons like fear of judgement or damnation. And now that we’ve changed our ways and stopped using fear as a manipulative tactic to get people to come to Church, they don’t come any more and all that remains are people who truly love God for the right reasons.

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