bluekumul
Full Member
Christian humanist, democratic socialist, world citizen
Posts: 196
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Post by bluekumul on Mar 9, 2024 17:51:30 GMT
I've recently started to wonder: Would it be correct to say that Western Civilization is the new chosen people? Can a non-Westerner be a Catholic without rejecting his native culture?
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Post by homeschooldad on Mar 9, 2024 18:03:52 GMT
I've recently started to wonder: Would it be correct to say that Western Civilization is the new chosen people? Can a non-Westerner be a Catholic without rejecting his native culture? I wouldn't go quite that far --- Christianity spread out to various parts of the world, some of them not Western, in the earliest days of the Church (Ethiopia, the St Thomas Christians of India, et al) --- but in Providence, Europe became the center and bulwark of Catholic Christianity, and had the resources to bring the Faith to myriad nations (not always under ideal conditions or with the best execution), in a way no other civilization did. It took hold in Greece and Rome, and expanded from there. Belloc treats this very phenomenon in his book Europe and the Faith. And, no, a non-Westerner who embraces Catholicism doesn't reject his culture in the least, aside from those things that are incompatible with the Faith (such as polygamy or indigenous pagan worship). Again, Ethiopia, the St Thomas Christians, and others.
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bluekumul
Full Member
Christian humanist, democratic socialist, world citizen
Posts: 196
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Post by bluekumul on Mar 12, 2024 14:37:11 GMT
I've recently started to wonder: Would it be correct to say that Western Civilization is the new chosen people? Can a non-Westerner be a Catholic without rejecting his native culture? I wouldn't go quite that far --- Christianity spread out to various parts of the world, some of them not Western, in the earliest days of the Church (Ethiopia, the St Thomas Christians of India, et al) --- but in Providence, Europe became the center and bulwark of Catholic Christianity, and had the resources to bring the Faith to myriad nations (not always under ideal conditions or with the best execution), in a way no other civilization did. It took hold in Greece and Rome, and expanded from there. Belloc treats this very phenomenon in his book Europe and the Faith. And, no, a non-Westerner who embraces Catholicism doesn't reject his culture in the least, aside from those things that are incompatible with the Faith (such as polygamy or indigenous pagan worship). Again, Ethiopia, the St Thomas Christians, and others. Ethiopia is a good example of a non-Western Christian society, but it is not in communion with the Pope. I was thinking about South America, where indigenous nations have been converted to Catholicism by the Spaniards, but pagan beliefs are so connected to their way of life, that their Catholicism is on the verge of heresy. On the other hand there are societies which are faithful to Catholic teaching, but they have adapted Western culture and the Spanish language as well. Also, there is the theory that Catholic family values shaped the Western mindset: generational-theory.com/forum/thread-6341.html
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