I recently saw a survey of Roman Catholics regarding how important they felt about their church teachings. Here is the results of a few of the items
73% thought the resurrection of Jesus to be very important
64% saw the Mother of God, Mary, as being very important
63% saw sacraments such as the Eucharist as very important
46% saw daily prayer life as very important
This means 27% do not see the Resurrection to be very important, 36% so not see the Mother of God to be very important, 37% do not see the Sacraments to be very important and 54% do not see daily prayer as very important. So what kind of Christianity is this? For Orthodox Christian these are all supposed to be very important. I have seen similar surveys that show Orthodox Christians to have views similar to the Catholics.
So I have a few questions for you: How important are these to you? What does it mean to be a good Christian? What do you consider to be very important in the growth of your faith?
Reference: USA Today
I hold that everything is equally important, not one more important than the other, not one less important than the others; and at the same time, neither one or combination of any of them is over-important, and neither all of them together are over-important.
ReplyDeleteInteresting point of departure. Think I'd be the sort that protests the whole is the whole and the parts can't be and aren't properly considered separately as though they were "features" to add on to a stripped down car: "Chrome door handles, push-button windows, convertible top, stick shift", etc.
ReplyDeleteOn the other hand, if you were to look at these things in a different way, so that the lower the % on the list, the higher the degree of difficulty of understanding and sustaining one and incorporating it into one's daily practice, it makes more sense. There are tougher things not on the list... like confession, icons (for some), tradition, obedience to the church, etc. My guess would then be that the hardest listed here (daily prayer) is the key to all the rest fitting together and being more than part of a nominalist identity or touchstone.
I agree daily prayer is essential and for most of us is a most difficult discipline as we can easily put it off because we are too busy or too tired.
ReplyDeleteThanks for your comments.
Is the almsgiving/helping the neighbors on the list?
ReplyDeleteIf Jesus commanded it, lived it, and died for it, must be important!
ReplyDelete