Protestants and Secularists

Protestants set out to deny the supernatural character of the church. They saw all the great things done by the church over the years and agreed they were great. The only thing is they saw them as purely individual accomplishments. People did great things by the grace of God through faith. Sure they were members of the church but the church was not the reason for their holiness. They would have said it was if you had asked them but now we know better. We know it was their personal faith that mattered and the organizational church didn't actually make the difference.

Now secularists come and seek to deny the power of Christianity. They see the great things done by Christians over the years and they agree they were great. The only think is they see them as purely human accomplishments. People do great things though the power of the human spirit. Sure they were Christians but their Christianity was not the reason for their greatness. They would have said it was if you had asked them but now we know better. We know it was their personal human strength that mattered and their faith didn't actually make the difference.

Protestants and secularists use the same tricks when looking at history. One wants to deny the role of the church. One wants to deny the role of God completely. Just different levels of the same thing. They are right to a degree. Catholics do need to have a strong personal relationship with Jesus. So you can find a ton of references in history to that. But if you latch onto them and ignore the references to the Eucharist or Mary or the papacy then you get a false picture.

Similarly Christians do talk about conscience and reason. So you can find many references to that. But if you latch onto them and ignore references to worship, scripture or prayer you are going to get a false picture.

The reverse works with bad people. Protestants will connect bad Catholics as strongly with the church as they can. Just like secularists will connect bad Christians as strongly to their faith as they can. The idea is that getting rid of the church will eliminate the bad things from Christianity but keep all the good things. Similarly getting rid of Christianity would eliminate the bad things from humanity and keep the good things.

It boils down to a progressive denial of the supernatural. Protestants deny Christ's ability to teach infallibly, to give Himself physically, and the be present visibly through His church. Secularists deny Jesus' ability to do anything except provide a inspirational narrative for people's lives. A good story but not a true story. A story that is purely human and therefore can be replaced by modern man with something else, anything else.