.gif)
Aron Ben Gil'ad gives us insight into an Evangelical Catholic Thailander's struggle against Roman Catholicism. Keep in mind that I have made the distinction between Evangelical and Non-Evangelical (Regular, Actual Orthodox) Roman Catholicism several times. Evangelical Catholics-- even if they share differences with us Non Catholics (e.g., Protestants and Anabaptists), Jewish and gentile, re Miryam Ha'Almah v'Ima shel Yeshua, Kefa, etc.-- believe the following:
And I could go on, but you get the point.
Anyway, here's part of what the Thailander Evangelical Catholic struggled against:
"He was liked and respected by his priests until he had a conversion to orthodox Catholicism. Most of his priests turned on him except for a handful. Any one who knows the church in Thailand knows that its priests are very arrogant and full of their own importance. They all want to be in charge of big Catholic Schools that have over 90 percent Buddhist teachers and students not because they have a missionary spirit but because they want to make money. Many of the priests have girlfriends or boyfriends and are not very spiritual at all. They have no sense of mission (even to the refugees in camps on the borders of Thailand)."
The Thailander bishop actually converted to Evangelical, and away from Orthodox, Catholicism (Given that I went to the Orthodox Roman Catholic College of Notre Dame of Maryland, and come from Anusi v'Katoli families, I should know.). The Thailander bishop dealt with a similar problem to that at Notre Dame and in the rest of the Roman Catholic Church-- they do not believe in the inerrancy of the Word of G-d, target Evangelical (Christian) Catholics and Non Catholics as "fundamentalists" (in the derogatory sense; and at Notre Dame, "fundamentalists" were often very persecuted), and specifically fill their institution with Non-Evangelical Roman Catholic and even other Non-Messianic (Non-Christian) people.
By the way, for example; I can name you a Non-Messianic professor who teaches at Notre Dame and openly admitted that he is not a Christian: Dr. Alan Walden, and Dr. Walden was one of the very few people at Notre Dame by whom I not even at all persecuted (though we had our disagreements and tiffs, none of which were persecutory) and for whom I had kavod. As much as we have the First Amendment and the Vatican is their own schtick; Dr. Walden, Buddhists, and other Non Messianics would not be hired at Roman Catholic schools were Roman Catholicism actually Christianity.
And the Evangelical Catholic Thailander bishop faced Roman Catholic opposition to Tanakh for all of his days. I just hope that Aron ben Gil'ad understands that he and the Thailander bishop have been among the very few Evangelical (Christian) Catholics throughout history.
- The inerrancy of Tanakh
- That Tanakh ze d'var l'dvar shel Adonai, lo shel ha'ishim u ishot (i.e., Tanakh is ad verbatim from G-d, not any words of any man or human)
- That enumah, lo avodot, ze haderekh el yeshuat (i.e., faith, not works, is the way to salvation)
And I could go on, but you get the point.
Anyway, here's part of what the Thailander Evangelical Catholic struggled against:
"He was liked and respected by his priests until he had a conversion to orthodox Catholicism. Most of his priests turned on him except for a handful. Any one who knows the church in Thailand knows that its priests are very arrogant and full of their own importance. They all want to be in charge of big Catholic Schools that have over 90 percent Buddhist teachers and students not because they have a missionary spirit but because they want to make money. Many of the priests have girlfriends or boyfriends and are not very spiritual at all. They have no sense of mission (even to the refugees in camps on the borders of Thailand)."
The Thailander bishop actually converted to Evangelical, and away from Orthodox, Catholicism (Given that I went to the Orthodox Roman Catholic College of Notre Dame of Maryland, and come from Anusi v'Katoli families, I should know.). The Thailander bishop dealt with a similar problem to that at Notre Dame and in the rest of the Roman Catholic Church-- they do not believe in the inerrancy of the Word of G-d, target Evangelical (Christian) Catholics and Non Catholics as "fundamentalists" (in the derogatory sense; and at Notre Dame, "fundamentalists" were often very persecuted), and specifically fill their institution with Non-Evangelical Roman Catholic and even other Non-Messianic (Non-Christian) people.
By the way, for example; I can name you a Non-Messianic professor who teaches at Notre Dame and openly admitted that he is not a Christian: Dr. Alan Walden, and Dr. Walden was one of the very few people at Notre Dame by whom I not even at all persecuted (though we had our disagreements and tiffs, none of which were persecutory) and for whom I had kavod. As much as we have the First Amendment and the Vatican is their own schtick; Dr. Walden, Buddhists, and other Non Messianics would not be hired at Roman Catholic schools were Roman Catholicism actually Christianity.
And the Evangelical Catholic Thailander bishop faced Roman Catholic opposition to Tanakh for all of his days. I just hope that Aron ben Gil'ad understands that he and the Thailander bishop have been among the very few Evangelical (Christian) Catholics throughout history.
