Life Highlights: The 500 Year Protestant Experiment

In honour of the 500th anniversary of the Protestant Reformation, my friend Michiru invited me to a lecture by Dr. Peter Kreeft at NYU about the Roman Catholic and Protestant divide!

It was great to get the marriage between faith and intellectualism once more (something I had begun to take for granted during my later years at Biola), and I greatly enjoyed his talk, which referenced some "oldie-but-goodies" from my Torrey days (looking at you St. Aquinas, Aristotle, Kierkegaard, St. Augustine, and Chesterton).

For the most part, his optimism about unity between Roman Catholics and Protestants wasn't particularly shocking to me. His reasoning was something I had discussed at Biola before, and many of his conclusions were founded on readings I was privileged to have already read and considered in Torrey. However, 10 memorable quotes and ideas from him were as follows:

1) "Christianity is a work of art, and you have to see it as a whole"

2) [Referencing a quote from St. Augustine] "In essentials, unity; inessentials, diversity; in all things, charity" - and that inessentials are usually those things that are "changeable/of humans"

3) Considering the idea that one of the main tenants of Protestantism, "Scripture/The Bible Alone" is actually self-refuting because it does not say in Scripture, "Scripture/The Bible Alone" (his admittedly cheeky answer to the question about resolving that particular conflict)

4) That the Protestant tradition can benefit the Roman Catholic tradition with how Christocentric it is; That the Roman Catholic tradition can benefit the Protestant tradition with it's emphasis of Jesus' connection to the Church (which is sacred because it is His body)

5) God's brilliant sermon to the mystic St. Catherine can be summed up in 4 words, (or 3 words and 1 contraction), or 2 sentences: "I'm God. You're not."

6) That the Church is an organism, not an organization. It is fluid and living - more than any earthly, static corporation

7) Conservative protestants emphasize Christ's divinity, while liberal protestants emphasize His humanity. The Truth, of course, is that it is not either/or, but a both/and

8) Considering the idea that the reason God created matter is to manifest spirit, and that the question "What does a human soul look like?" is answered with the response, "A human body"

9) Challenging the idea that helpful dialogue between people occurs when we doubt what we believe. Instead, it is only when people have firm convictions that they are able to think hard and reasonably (as in "to reason") with each other. Doubt and "wishy-washiness" doesn't get anywhere

10) God goes into you by Faith, and out of you by Love

His book recommendations (long-form):

The Essential Roman Catholic Book: Summa Theologica (Thomas Aquinas)

The Essential Protestant Book: The Complete Works of Søren Kierkegaard ( Søren Kierkegaard)