I grew up in the Catholic Church, and left because I could not help feeling the full weight of Catholic belief regarding authority and the role of the Church, and feeling it as an unbearable weight upon my own sanity, integrity, and individuality. Now here I am in evangelicalism, feeling almost the exact same thing. But there is a difference. The Catholic Church has a visible, official authority structure which is honest enough to proclaim that this is what we believe and here it is in our official teaching. But in evangelicalism, there is no official authority structure or official teaching; instead, the things which weigh against our sanity, integrity, and individuality are everywhere and nowhere–in the very air we breathe.

Some years ago I did computer consulting as a hobby. I remember a person who asked for help. She was experiencing frequent screen freezes, software incompatibilities and all sorts of strange symptoms. Her computer was on the verge of not functioning at all. When I examined it, I found that she had modified the operating system in so many ways that it barely resembled the original operating system. The solution: reinstall the original operating system, which solved all the problems (except she could not operate some flashy screen savers and nifty games – which was part of the reason she had fiddled with the operating system).

You can see where this is going, can you not? The church has fiddled with the original operating system so much that it is barely recognizable. While some might describe this as the “natural evolution” of things, other of us see it as inventing a new syncretistic religion with Christian elements. Study the theology and practice of our churches. Many, many elements are present that were not part of the original operating system. The church is not Microsoft or Apple. It is the bride of Christ. He founded the OS, and we have no business constantly fiddling with it/updating it. Instead, we need to reinstall the original OS and see what happens.

Not that many are willing to try – they have too much invested in the way things are – their paychecks, positions of authority and a million other things.

Why should we be surprised when there are those who recognize that our current system is in an almost constant state of “screen freeze”? Now that is such a worthwhile endeavor – staring at screen freeze and tapping on the screen a bit like some miracle is going to happen and everything will right itself.

There is only one solution – junk the extensively modified OS, and return to the original OS, which was designed by the Creator Himself. Who are we anyway to think that we could improve on His OS? Haven’t we just been fiddling with it to make it more like we think it ought to be?

Return to Jesus and His church, as described in His Word (not interpreted in light of current church practice). Rediscover the “lost Gospel” ( a good place to start would be Luke 10:27 and James 1:27). I know, I know – You just can’t bear the thought of giving up your flashy screen savers, the nifty games and wonderful widgets.

Then again, the literal neighbors of your church (building), who came to understand long ago that you have no interest in them (so they have no interest in you), are standing in the street in front of your building asking me questions about Jesus at the same moment you are inside that building singing songs asking God to come into your midst. On your way into the building you did not recognize me, but told me to clean up the trash in the street because it made your church look bad. (True story – I don’t have an imagination capable of making up stuff like this.) Who am I?

This post was chosen as newsworthy at Sensus Divinitatis News….

http://www.usccb.org/nab/bible/

This includes a link to the Preface which explains why and how this new translation was made the way it was, and why it differs from previous and other translations used by other denominations.

You’re not the only one who has wondered why a particular translation was used, Michael (though mostly, it’s the clunkiness of the language that makes me go “Why?”)

And just to be awkward, the version used in Masses in Ireland is the Jerusalem Bible (apparently we’re not even using the New Jerusalem Bible version) and the Revised Standard Version – Catholic Edition is the one used in the English translations of the Catechism.