Sunday, October 09, 2022

We want a king!

We should keep in mind that one of the reasons people can have for being Roman Catholic or finding Catholicism appealing is the sort of interest in a king that the ancient Israelites had, an interest that can be sinful. People can have sinful reasons for desiring some other belief system, including Protestantism, but my focus here is on Catholicism and the connection between the papacy and a monarchy. We should keep in mind that a desire for a monarchical form of church government can be, and I think often is, part of why people are Catholic or are attracted to Catholicism. And the motives for wanting that sort of authority structure don't have to be entirely sinful in order to be partly sinful or to be inadequate to justify accepting the papacy.

"your wickedness is great which you have done in the sight of the Lord by asking for yourselves a king" (1 Samuel 12:17)

2 comments:

  1. I've read where certain personality types are highly susceptible to this kind of thinking. For these people, the Roman Catholic Church has a similar appeal that cultic groups have. People are looking for the love, acceptance, self-worth and even personal identity that an authoritative and structured upbringing (they never received) can provide for them. This is possibly why the Roman Catholic Church, with its Mother and Father (pope), has stood the test of time regardless of its glaring defects.

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