I am grateful for each of the articles in this series about “crossing the Tiber”, particularly for the authors’ understanding, compassion, and holistic approach.
“Eventually, we became so accustomed to the shocking notion that a Holy God could pardon filthy sinners that we forgot there was anything particularly odd about it. . . . Rather than standing confidently before Him clothed in the righteousness of Christ, we waltz casually into his presence with gym shorts and a latte.”
“Our historical awareness of the Christian faith must rise above the popular Protestants tropes of the “Ditch Theory.”. . . To be sure, the Ditch Theory is a caricature; and yet, its storyline is implicit in much Protestant teaching. As Tom Howard, a Protestant-turned-Catholic, writes, “[Evangelicals] speak of the ancient faith as though the Bible had swum into view just this morning and as though one’s approach to it is simply to open it, read, and start running.” And the more independent and separatist a church, the deeper the ditch, and, conversely, the more attractive will be the Catholic claim to an unbroken and historic church.”
“To reason from “my evangelical megachurch is a joke” to “Rome has the answers” might not be a compelling logical syllogism, but it is a compelling emotional one.”
“The Reformers were dedicated to Scripture above all else, but not to the exclusion of all else…They were avid students of human history and human nature. In a word, they were humanists.”
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