Large numbers in the Church of England adopted this opinion, which came to be known as Liberalism or Latitudinarianism. We need to avoid giving the impression that non-Catholic religions, even Christian ones, are as good as the true faith or that a union exists between us which really doesn’t. As a result, large numbers of Protestants have abandoned all distinctly Christian belief, while others, still clinging to the name, have emptied their creed of all its essential dogmatic contents. The principle that it does not signify what a man believes is in direct opposition to the teaching of the Gospels, in which we find our Blessed Lord so often demanding faith in himself and his doctrine (see, for example, chapter XV). Indifferentism, therefore, “would be a claim, or a practice, by a Catholic that positively states or suggests by action that being a Catholic and adhering to the faith and life of the (Catholic) Church has no greater spiritual and eternal value than being a non-Catholic Christian or even a non-Christian,” he said. What is the meaning of Acts 10:35? There is only one true God, one Savior, and one true faith, which Jesus Christ taught and bequeathed to the Church that he founded. If you find fulfillment in your faith or lifestyle, great, the idea goes; but that doesn’t mean it’s true for me or anyone else. In a sense yes, but as the Catholic Encyclopedia describes it, the type of indifferentism we are talking about here is what is known as “latitudinarian indifferentism”. Personal intercourse fosters the spirit of tolerance, and whoever does not unflinchingly hold to the truth that there is but one true religion is apt to be guided in his judgments by the maxim, “From their fruits ye shall know them.” On observing that probity and good intention mark the lives of some of his associates who differ in their religious beliefs, he may easily come to the conclusion that one religion is as good as another. Our present state of indifferentism is laid out in these first two paragraphs of Nostra Aetate of Vatican II: that all faiths supposedly seek the same common unity of belief. Mid This article has been rated as Mid-importance on the project's importance scale. Along with the intellectual cause just noted, another has been what one might call the automatic influence proceeding from the existence of many religions side by side in the same country. All religions, indeed, may be said to contain some measure of truth; and God may accept the imperfect worship of ignorant sincerity. Religious Indifferentism From the Catholic Encyclopedia The term given, in general, to all those theories, which, for one reason or another, deny that it is the duty of man to worship God by believing and practicing the one true religion. Religious Indifferentism. The theory of evolution applied to the origin of man, Biblical criticism of the Old and the New Testament, the comparative study of religions, archaeology, and ethnology, in the hands of men who assume as their primary postulate that there is no supernatural, and that all religions, Christianity included, are but the offspring of the feeling and thought of the natural man, have propagated a general atmosphere of doubt or positive unbelief. How so great a variety of opinions can make the way clear to effect the unity of the Church We know not; that unity can only arise from one teaching authority, one law of belief and one faith of Christians. Answer: And Peter opened his mouth and said: “Truly I perceive that God shows no partiality, but in every nation any one who fears him and does what is right is acceptable to him” (Acts 10:34-35). Indifferentism, in the Catholic faith, is the belief held by some that no one religion or philosophy is superior to another. (b) Criticism.—It would be beyond the scope of this article to develop, or even briefly sketch, the argument contained in the Scriptures and in the history of the Church for the truth that, from the beginning, Christianity was a dogmatic religion with a rule of faith, a rule of conduct, a definite, if not fully developed, system, with promises to be fulfilled for those who adhered to the creed, the discipline, and the system, and with anathemas for those who rejected them. INDIFFERENTISM A doctrinal system that exalts the attitude (internal) that all philosophical opinions, all religions, and all ethical doctrines regarding life are equally true and valuable. Rationalistic speculation gave rise successively to the English Deism of the eighteenth century, to the school of the French Encyclopedists and their descendants, and to the various German systems of anti-Christian thought. Catholic Articles. And when I went off the Catholic reservation in the 1980’s, my life went to hell. It is the antithesis of the principle of authority which asserts that God, by a supernatural revelation, has taught man religious truths that are inaccessible to our mere unaided reason, as well as other truths which, though not absolutely beyond the native powers of reason, yet could not by reason alone be brought home to the generality of men with the facility, certitude, and freedom from error required for the right ordering of life. Indifferentism is not to be confounded with religious indifference. The exposition and the proof of these facts constitute, in theology, the treatise on the Church (see Church). It is a valuable resource for subjects related to theology, philosophy, history, culture, and more. Inspiring quotes from Catholic Saints: “Pain and suffering have come into your life, but remember pain, sorrow, suffering are but the kiss of Jesus — a sign that you have come so close to Him that He can kiss you.” St. Turn to the ethical side of the question. If it be a matter of indifference what faith a man holds, then the whole revelation of God would have been unnecessary, and it would have been quite superfluous for our Lord Jesus Christ to have come into the world, to have taught the true faith, and founded his Church. This religious Indifferentism is to be distinguished from political indifferentism, which is applied to the policy of a state that treats all the religions within its borders as being on an equal footing before the law of the country. Masonry is a parallel religion to Christianity. Since various religions are in disagreement, it follows that, wherever they conflict, if one possesses the truth the others are in error. For one thing, the Catholic Church is a seasoned veteran when it comes to facing cultural resistance to its mission: it always finds a way to persevere against the odds and get the job done. It’s time for people to wake up. Indifferentism … View Catholic faith formation for all ages! But it is also true that, as Newman has said, the tendency of the human intellect, as such, has been, historically, towards simple unbelief in matters of religion: “No truth, however sacred, can stand against it in the long run; and hence it is that in the Pagan world, when our Lord came, the last traces of the religious knowledge of former times were all but disappearing from those portions of the world in which the intellect had been active and had a career” (Apologia, chap. Indifferentism, the Heresy that All Religions are Equal ... Catholic Resistance. If, as this theory admits, God did reveal any truth to men, then He surely intended that it should be believed. Any indifference in matters of faith, or any admiration of it in others must come from a want of firm religious convictions, and is a grievous sin against faith (F.J. As divisions increased in the general body of Protestantism, and as domestic dissensions arose in the bosom of particular denominations, some of the leaders endeavored to find a principle of harmony in the theory that the essential doctrines of Christianity are summed up in a few great, simple truths which are clearly expressed in Scripture, and that, consequently, whoever believes these and regulates his life accordingly is a true follower of Christ. Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre. There is only one true God, one Savior, and one true faith, which Jesus Christ taught and bequeathed to the Church that he founded. If no account was to be made of holding the true faith, St. Peter need not have preached to Cornelius, and need not have baptized him. 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