Catholics need help to realize the spiritual war
that must be waged
against the forces that would destroy the Church.

Stealing the thunder
of fundamentalism

By Nancy M. Cross

n The Bishops, always aware of the damage Bible fundamentalists do around the fringes of the Church, in 1987 distributed a Pastoral Statement on Fundamentalism meant to counter inroads of fundamentalist sects among the Catholic faithful. In the ten years since that pastoral statement was issued, the leaching of baptized Catholics toward sola scriptura religion continues unabated, not just in South America where hundreds of thousands are reported to have left the Church for these Bible-based evangelistic sects, but also in the United States where such groups are proliferating. Many like the immense Evangelical Free Church in Crystal, Minnesota, have become institutions drawing thousands, as many as 40% of whom are fallen-away Catholics.

The Bishops clearly hoped to promote good preaching and teaching, and that surely can help. However, the Pastoral Statement on Fundamentalism may have been too polite and not hard-hitting enough, thus overlooked not only by the vigilante, anti-Catholic media, but also by priests and teachers. This is a serious problem that needs musculature in prayer, in grappling with the Bible fundamentals, and in reliance in an ever deeper way on the Holy Spirit to inspire preaching, even fiery preaching, from the Holy Word of God.

The fundamentalist leader gains his mesmerizing appeal not only by his vision of the Bible as having been dictated miraculously whole and intact by the Holy Spirit, but by thinking he himself is peculiarly blessed with similar interpretative, infallible earphones. (With so many infallible teachers in these sects, why is it so hard for the fundamentalist to believe in one who is truly authorized, and who on certain specified occasions, inspired by the Holy Spirit, really speaks infallibly? This might be considered in homilies.) The Catholic Church has long been the dog for this kind of Bible-believing person-or rather the Beast, or worse, the whore of Babylon (Revelation 17). That much does not change over the years. With uncompromising vigor, Catholics are pursued to bring them to a "born-again," "saved" place. Those most susceptible are sincere, simple souls who are seeking more of God and fervently looking for certitude of faith, or lately, immigrants to this country who seek an accepting community.

Leading people down blind alleys

The fundamentalist leader plays on this need with an amazing egocentricity that has no room in it for history with its times and climes, for the age-long line of believers that has brought wisdom of interpretation to the Word of God, and certainly not for a God-given authority that has sorted through this accumulated insight separating the false from the true. Creation, time, God himself, are reduced; there is no place for any idea of "mystery." Indeed, it is a word freely mocked by Jehovah's Witnesses. The leader sees himself as the progenitor of the truly faithful. It is as though the whole world and the Bible itself were created just prior to the birth of this individualist, who is given a clean page upon which he alone writes for the spiritual blessing of all and generations to come. Where was Christian faith before Amy Semple MacPherson and her Four Squares, before Charles Russell, founder of Jehovah's Witness, before Joseph Smith and his Book of Mormon, likewise, before this proselytizing group that meets just around the corner in a storefront or an abandoned denominational church? Catholics in the pew need to be reminded often of the vast tree with its massive roots that is their faith, and how those roots, unlike any other, are being fed by the Life himself in unbroken continuity since the Apostles. They need to know the record of these groups which are broken off by their own doing from the vine, and what happens to such branches.

Leaders of these groups, powerful in a religious spirit which can be, and often is, demonic, lead people into blind alleys. Witness Jim Jones and the outcome of his leadership. In Minnesota we have observed one group who believes it is being prepared to rule the world after the Second Coming. These groups are everywhere; there will be quite a battle as to which are chosen to do this ruling if they ever cross paths. Seeing the need for order and rule, they cannot conceive of it having already been given to the apostles and their successors. The naive under their spell are eventually bound by fear, if unintentional, through the controlling leadership. My files bulge with sad accounts.

With no patience for submission to a place on the periphery of God's circle-God alone being the center, or for the need for an authorized mediator-that Church ordained by Jesus himself who must have left provision for the fulfillment of his fervent prayer that "they all be one"-rather, a fundamentalist sees himself as in the center of that circle with a wire from God running right into his ear. He believes with certainty that the Catholic Church's connection was cut off long ago, or is, worse, now attached to hell. This incorrigible spiritual pride is one of the dangers of fundamentalism to the human soul. "Thank God I am not like other men, adulterers, fornicators, . . ." (the Pharisee viewing the Publican).

In a commendable openness to ecumenical dialogue the Bishops do not warn about these dangers in their Pastoral Statement; but the susceptible Catholic needs to be reminded that "the devil prowls around like a lion, seeking someone to devour" ( 1 Peter 5:8-written by the first pope of the Church), and that he must not trust every Bible teacher, but must "beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep's clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves" (Our Lord speaking in Matthew 6:7). These would make a fine homily on how we as Catholics discern the true from the false; a homily to be preached often. For the apostles, being Christian was not enough; we sometimes forget that; and Christian heresy was precisely what got their dander up. Just reread 2 Peter, Jude and 2 John, alongside the struggles of St. Paul with the usurpers of the apostolic role in 2 Corinthians.

False prophecy is endemic in these groups from the beginning; false, because time proves their universally catastrophic prognostications unfulfilled. (How many times the Jehovah's Witnesses have been wrong should be rehearsed now and then by the preacher whose flock is being stalked by relentless Jehovah's Witnesses. It is not, as I read in a Catholic magazine, "a Christian" organization, to be smiled upon.) These attributes are present in all fundamentalist groups, even to some extent charismatic prayer fellowships, which the last two popes have been very positive about generally, but whose members need to be aware of the dangers of demands for spiritual conformity. I write from experience. This is quite a different matter than submitting to an authoritative orthodoxy which transcends the psychological and is Truth.

False for all their glitter and startling insights, one is reminded of St. Paul (Gal. 1) warning that if even an angel should come with a different doctrine than the one he has preached (he preached only the apostolic tradition, the kerygma-see Gal. 1:15-20, 2:2 and 2:9) the hearers should reject it and a curse be put on the messenger! Catholics need help to realize the spiritual war that must be waged against the forces that would destroy the Church and its life-saving, life-giving Word and Sacrament. Even the popular Bible Study Fellowship is not free from assumptions that are anti-Catholic. Too many Catholics are naive.

The document by the Bishops mentions the warmth of these Bible-believing groups, but eventually fundamentalists do not get along together for the above reasons. Yes, these communities are very loving exteriorly for a time, but they are seed beds of new fundamentalist weeds as "holier" leaders arise to contend with the old, leading splinters off to greener spiritual pastures. The spirit here is not the Holy Spirit discerned by submission to Godly authority which insures the unity of the Body of Christ. Besides power plays they are also very prone to excesses of sensuality as is so well pointed out by Ronald Knox in his analysis of the phenomenon in his excellent Enthusiasm ( it was his favorite book, too).

The Bishops' 1987 paper lacked warning about tactics of the Enemy of Souls, and the subtle deception which is his forte. Alongside the fact of the origin of the Bible in the Church as part of her Tradition, the faithful need the protective discernment of the Church which Christ specifically left, or the Bible is used by Satan. The Bible itself reports this and tells the further struggles of St. Paul and St. John with those who, empowered by the Spirit, felt no need for any authoritative discernment. These early fundamentalists ignored apostolic authority, and were smitten with their own pipeline, input from Satan and all (1 Corinthians and 2 Corinthians, 3 John).

Teaching the fundamentals

There is, however, a positive side of fundamentalism which the Catholic Church is more in a position to appropriate than the fundamentalists themselves. The Holy Church has the mandate to teach authoritatively The Fundamentals, for she is the fundamental Church. She believes in the inerrant Scripture more than any other so-called Christian Church-just note how much of the Bible is ignored in fundamentalism! ( i.e., "unless you eat my body and drink my blood, you have no life in you." That's a pretty big ignor-ance. Note how Jehovah's Witnesses bypass Jesus' calling himself I AM in John 8:58-their founder has retranslated this, wishing it away in order to fit his rehashed Arian doctrine.)

Yet, Catholicism is also the calculus of Christian belief, but most of us in the pews, and some of those who preach are not aware of the fact that one and one are two. There we are, ignorant babes just waiting for the fundamentalist to explain how his Bible arithmetic works. "Wow! You mean that the Bible says that if I generously give first to God, I will be able to better pay my bills? Why didn't the Church ever tell me that?"

In a series published in Faith and Reason based on his doctorate dissertation, Father Peter M. J. Stravinskas has presented much research about the phenomenon of fundamentalism, what its content is, and how the Church may best react to the dangers present in fundamentalist proselytism. "The failure of the Church, however, to impart her own teachings unambiguously cannot be blamed on the Fundamentalists" he writes, and further cites the Holy Father in his 1992 opening address to the bishops of Latin America. "(T)he Holy Father very bluntly locates the burden of responsibility on the shoulders of those who should exercise a shepherd's care . . . ."

One of the weaknesses in the Church has developed because "Clergy and religious are exposed to 'abstract' training." That, along with the current splits because of ideological differences which are taking missionary and evangelistic energy from the Church, and which displace any simple but appealing Bible presentation. These red-herrings are making the inroads of Fundamentalists easier.

The fundamentals that all Christians can rely upon for the living of their daily lives can be taught from the Bible. The Bishops' paper warned about "simplistic answers," but a holy and blessed way of life is laid out in the Bible, and many of the daily problems are given solutions. More today than ever, people need these fundamentals stressed. The spiritually starving are just as vulnerable to the politics of fundamentalism as the starving are politically vulnerable to power-hungry manipulators. The Bible is full of promises that can be relied upon as fundamental to faith-true, these are just the milk of Christian faith, there is also meat to come, but milk is where to start.

Rather than lean toward intellectual, scholarly explanations of Scripture, the times, circumstances, the sitz im leben, of the books of Scripture, emphasized by the Bishops' paper, people long for knowledge of God's will for their lives and the power of it. We have all experienced the mysterious working of God's word-having the daily lectionary reading, or the readings at Mass, speak directly to our need. We have all in distress or in deep questioning opened our Bibles to find exactly those words that in the most satisfying way eased our distress. So perfectly came this answer that no one could convince us that it was "too simplistic."

The Church protects and guides

Yes, we need to know the situational bearing of a text, but it is more important to realize that God's word speaks on many levels, and even though written ages ago in a different situation than my own, addresses my spirit intimately. The Church is there to protect me from deceptions and autonomous, independent interpretations, but it is not there to water down the truth that God wishes to speak to me, or to diminish my faith that his Word gives insight and direction. Fundamentalists do see God working in the ordinary everyday experiences-they pray, often successfully, for everything from parking places, to healings for their children, to financial concerns right down to the penny. It is in this very area that the Church can steal some of the fire of fundamentalism.

Let the Church teach her children in the way they understand. We realize that many Catholics will never be versed in historical, textual criticism, but yet have a basic common sense approach to God's Word which says 1) it's eternal (speaks to me where I am), 2) it's no nonsense (means what it says), and 3) it has power (will help me do what it directs). In this, averting the problems of fundamentalism, the Church reclaims fundamentalism's thunder by affirming much of that approach with this important difference: Satan wants to use Scripture to divide Christ's Church; we must have the Church's protection. This demands a submission of heart that keeps Satan out. Devotion is no guard against deception. Fervently wanting God is not enough when coupled with a disregard for the safeguards God has already given against deception. Fervent desire to accomplish a journey even when headed in the right direction is not enough to save us from grave accidents if we do not believe in the system of stoplights and refuse to obey them.

There are Scriptural guidelines for many dimensions of life that the Catholic seeker wants to be put in touch with. Many more resources are available for direct Bible teaching than are mentioned in this sketchy outline:

1) On Healing. This is inner psychological and outer physical healing as per Fathers DiOrio, Kelleher, McDonough and Scanlan, are often preliminary to the healing of the soul. Sermons on the healing tradition in the Church may include the continuation of Biblical-type healings at Lourdes.

2) On Deliverance. Evil stalks the unsuspecting in astrology, New Age, etc. The reality of the spirit world as per Jesus' petition-"deliver us from evil," Fr. Scanlan's work and Fr. Mitch Pacwa will alert Catholics to the Bible's and the Church's continual vigilance against the tactics of Satan.

3) On Stewardship. The right use of money, tithing and fruits, identifying needs from wants, and denying the siren-song of materialism, is a critical area for every Catholic family and the Bible has the basics they should all know.

4) On Morality. Fearless teaching of consistent Bible views on sex, relationships, the love of money, honesty, etc.-whenever such themes are preached or taught their origin in God's Word, especially from the mouth of Jesus, must be made clear. These are not ideas concocted by moral theologians.

5) On Selfhood. People are swept by psychological fads, but the Bible teaches how to become really whole not according to psychology but according to "lose your life for my sake and the gospel." It is not "I'm OK, You're OK"; but something quite different that the Bible lays down as being the way to being complete.

6) On Brotherly love which is the care and concern for others. Charity requires the cup of cold water be given to the needy as though given to Jesus himself; and this teaching of true brotherly love begins in the Holy Scripture, not in the local Justice Commission, and often is quite different from their emphasis.

7) On Womanhood. The Holy Father's Mulieris Dignitatem, Helen Hull Hitchcock and her Women for Faith and Family, books by Donna Steichen, and William Oddie will help clarify the Bible's and the Church's positive teaching on woman and her meaning and role over against the deceptions of feminism. The Bible's clear and edifying teaching on man, woman and family, cry to be thoroughly understood and preached without dissembling.

Considering the span of centuries and cultures represented by the human authors, the Bible is amazingly consistent in these areas-proof of the overarching authorship of the Holy Spirit who speaks today to the believer. The fundamentalist tackles all these areas with lopsided emphases, but the Catholic Church can present an overview with clear teaching. The Pope does it! Unfortunately the seeker is too often subjected to a variety of "isms" in preaching and teaching which are anti-Bible-feminism, Buddhism, Jungianism, transcendentalism, psychologism, aneagramism. The common man is fed up with these things. Who can blame him if he ends up someplace where these things are refuted and the Word itself addressed?

The Church should rise in defense of her teachings which are all more truly Biblical than the sects. Catholic Bible apologetics is carried on by Scott Hahn, Patrick Madrid, Peter Kreeft, and others, along with Mother Angelica's Scripture-based programs. They cry to be heartily supported by our Bishops who give the undergirding that all apologists and Bible preachers must have. The Catholic Church can within her tradition and upon her solid Scriptural foundation enthusiastically proclaim fundamental "born-againness" with all its implications in daily life, and in the only true sense. n