Recently, I had lunch with two acquaintances. Leonard was going to have his child baptised soon. Not being religious, Leonard was obliging the wishes of his wife, who is Roman Catholic. He asked both of us, “Are Catholics and Christians the same?”
Immediately, Sharon said, “No, no, they are not the same! Catholics are not Christians! There is a world of difference!”
I looked at Sharon, the devout Methodist, quite perplexed, “What is the difference?”
Sharon explained, “Everybody knows that Catholics are not Christians. Their focus is more on Mary. They don’t even end their prayers by saying ‘in the name of Jesus’,”
“So how do they end their prayers then? ‘In the name of Mary’?” I demanded.
Ignoring me, Sharon continued speaking to Leonard, “They also have plenty of idols all over the church. They focus on the Old Testament, not so much on the New Testament.”
I was gobsmacked. Is this the kind of ideas rife in Malaysian Christianity? I’m not a Roman Catholic, but I went through Catholic education, been to masses, and know Roman Catholics.
I asked Sharon, “Have you been to a Catholic Mass? Do you know any Roman Catholics?”
“I don’t need to go to Catholic Mass or know Roman Catholics.”
“Do you know where the Methodists came from?” I asked Sharon. She blinked.
“All denominations come from the Roman Catholics, unless you’re from the Orthodox church,” I said.
She blinked.
“How about the Church of Scientology?” Leonard asked.
“I don’t think they’re Christians,” Sharon said.
I went into a long discourse of aliens, tethens, Xenu, audits and Ron L. Hubbard. I rounded it off, “He was a science fiction writer, you know,”
Sharon said, “Wow! You must know many Scientologists!”
This time, I ignored her.
The conversation chugged along, with Leonard probing every now and then on Catholics and Christians. Towards the end of the conversation, Sharon asked me, “How come everything in the Bible only centres on one part of the world?”
My response was, “Because we’re all adopted Jews,”
Leonard laughed. I had a sneaking suspicion he knew much more than he let on. Sharon, on the other hand, did not understand.
“Jesus was a Jew,” I explained, “Jesus’ disciples did not want to create a new religion. They just believed that Jesus was the culmination of the prophecies in the Old Testament.”
I continued, “In fact, in Israel, the Holy Land, you’ll only ever find Roman Catholic or Eastern Orthodox churches. Catholics are Christians. The Muslims also hold Jerusalem as a very holy place, and revere Jesus,”
Sharon said, “Yes, but they don’t believe he is the Christ. To me, Jesus is the Christ,”
I asked her directly and unflinchingly, “What is the meaning of ‘Christ’?”
She fidgeted and looked down. Then she whispered, “Jesus lah!”
Leonard, changing the subject, asked, “Then how come the Muslims here don’t talk about Jesus, even as a prophet?”
“I don’t know,” I responded, “Maybe they should read the Quran? I mean, how many Christians can say they’ve read the Bible from Genesis to Revelations?”
Sharon fidgeted again, then whispered, “But just because you read the Bible doesn’t mean you’re saved what?”
This time, Leonard was the one who blew up, for I was too shocked to respond. He said, “But reading the Bible will give you a fuller and better understanding of your faith!”
Honestly, I felt guilty. There is a lot to say about Sharon’s child-like innocence in her faith. After all, is that not what God asked of us? That we need to be like children? Yet, I cannot understand this mentality common in Malaysians of doing things in half-measures. Believe strongly against the ISA? Learn what the ISA has to say. Want to talk about the social contract? Learn what the social contract is!
Recently I met a bunch of Marxists. One of them said, “Yes, Marxism is the way to go! See, even Europe practices social democracy!” I thought it best not to point out the world of difference between the two ideologies.
But with Sharon, I was conflicted. My principle that one should learn what one claims to believe in was battling against the innocence in faith which God asks for.
Later that night, I called another Christian friend about this situation. He just laughed, and didn’t stop laughing. “Why do you feel bad? She’s lucky it wasn’t me! You were right to confront her. She needs to learn. You must also remember that she’s perpetuating a myth on fellow Christians. She might be hurt now. But in a year, maybe even tomorrow, she will learn. And she will be grateful. Don’t feel bad.”
And I felt as if God had spoken those words to me through a friend.
November 25th, 2008 at 8:20 pm
I am in agreement with you that a lot of Christians, unfortunately, hold that view about Catholics. Well, I must admit that I used to be one of them too till I was enlightened by friends and also readings. Hehe! Perhaps more education is needed from pulpit?
November 26th, 2008 at 10:33 am
To me it seems pretty clear that childlike innocence is all one needs to have faith, believe in God, follow His teachings and observe His injunctions.
But if one wants to talk about religion, one had better be well read. If reading is too difficult, then perhaps it’s better to keep one’s opinions to oneself.
December 2nd, 2008 at 7:44 am
Once I met a senior Filipino at a conference. He had been “compelled by a terrorist leader (read ‘dean of the faculty’)” to come and speak about spiritual leadership. He came apparently ill-prepared and reluctant, because he felt speaking on the subject was utterly incompatible with his own assessment of himself.
The venue was the chapel of a Methodist seminary. While others during the course of the week had used fancy Powerpoint presentations & other magnificently edited materials, BM had two very poorly reproduced transparencies. The first was of Mother Teresa. The second was of Chairman Mao. He had no image of Christ, but it was clear BM was infected by Christ.
BM spoke of passion and commitment, a life spent as a disciple of Christ. He spoke of co-working with Catholics and others to bring down Marcos, camping in a public square and leading the singing of “amazing grace.” He said much else which I remember vividly many years on, including his desire in retirement to go live amongst “the Muslims in the South” and serve their medical needs – at a time of kidnappings and murders of Christians in the South.
If the eloquent sceptic G B Shaw were alive today, I could sit and talk with him – his controversies with the Catholic Mr Chesterton make for lively reading. I had a chance to sit and talk with BM. I chose not to.
I trust the baptism of Leonard’s child will be an infectious one – it’s not the water, it’s the congregants and their Christ that make the difference.
December 2nd, 2008 at 4:26 pm
Well, not surprising when Christians from the same denomination can feel more superior just because they are from different churches, what more different denominations…
December 2nd, 2008 at 5:37 pm
Of course, the whole challenge echoes back at us, we run in danger of feeling superior over those who feel superior over others.
I think both sides (evangelicals/protestants and roman catholics) need to reflect and introspect why there are so much misunderstanding…
Steven Sim
December 2nd, 2008 at 6:13 pm
What Ramanathan said about BM rings so true. When one wants to witness for one’s faith, what one needs in abundance is faith. In fact book learning may even get in the way.
But when one wishes to speak about religion, faith alone may turn out to be too shallow. In a discussion, clear ideas and comprehension are necessary. And clear ideas can certainly be conveyed without slick powerpoint slides.
December 3rd, 2008 at 1:11 am
Sometimes I wonder why God chose Paul, the learned pharisee who was well-versed in Greek and Hebrew, to write most of the books in the New Testament? I wonder whether Peter could take on the philosophers in Athens and relate the story of “the unknown god” with the Gospel? Sadly, the most poignant question is, can evangelical Christians think?
But I also have to admit, being a half-Roman Catholic, Catholic Christians should take some responsibilities in this ignorance. I have in numerous times, pointing to Catholic Christians that “Catholics are Christians also!”
December 3rd, 2008 at 10:11 am
Eddy, that’s a fascinating question – in the past it only occurred to me to compare Paul and John. Your question made me go back to Prof James Stewart’s 1935 book “A Man in Christ: The Vital Elements of St Paul’s Religion.”
[Some may know Prof Stewart - he was an ordained minister in the church of Scotland - from his book/s Heralds of God.]
I found some notes from my 1999 reading of his book. In the context of this discussion, I think the following conclusions of Stewart are striking:
1. For Paul, love, joy, longsuffering was orthodoxy, not theological minutiae.
2. Precise definition is dangerous when dealing with a man like Paul who thinks in pictures: nailing curse on a cross, the cross as chariot in victorious procession (Col 2:14, Phil 2:5)
3. Define Paul’s doctrine closely at risk of losing his Christ completely.
4. A heart aflame for Christ has vision, conviction, love – not precision of doctrine or skill of definition.
5. The authentic gospel first changes a man’s life, then moulds his thought.
I do think that in the New Testament Peter appears more “moralistic” and “rule-bound” than Paul the ex-Pharisee.
Stewart notes that unlike the Stoic and pagan moralists of his day, Paul promulgated no ethical code, preferring instead to promote an inner consistency and unity.
Perhaps the answer to your question was found by John Sung when he threw his doctoral and other diplomas overboard on his journey from the US back to China.