The "And" or "Or" Mentality

For those of you who don't know, I am Catholic. Over the course of this last school year, I have been reading a very good book series on how to explain and defend the faith to others. It's covered a lot of topics, but one of the most interesting things I came across recently was an explanation from a former Presbyterian minister on one of the fundamental differences in mentality between the beliefs of Catholics and the beliefs of other Christians. This is the difference of "and" or "or."  

What this man pointed out is that Christians tend to divide what Catholics unite. It's the Bible or tradition; faith or works; prayer to God or prayer to Mary and the saints; and all this just led me to think . . . Why? Why is it that most Christians insist on dividing these things? All are gifts of God and therefore complement each other, yet many people hold them as a dichotomy. I don't understand why Christians would always want to pit these things against each other. Christ commanded us to accept all of His teachings, but in so many cases people pick and choose when it comes to what they want to believe. Christ didn't teach that. He taught one Church, one Faith, one way to believe and no other. Yet so many people (yes, even Catholics) pick what they want to believe and only that. That's not being a true Christian . . . That's not living the life Jesus asked us to live.


As a Catholic, I believe in following the Bible and tradition; in practicing faith and works; in praying to God and Mary and the saints. I see no reason to divide these practices, all of which were taught by Christ. I am striving to live a life that is the most accurate I can see in following the teachings of Jesus; my conscience will not let me do otherwise. So as a Christian and Catholic I challenge all of you to think and let your conscience guide you when striving to follow the teachings of Christ. And tell me . . . Why do you believe what you believe?




Thank you for reading.




Material borrowed sometimes word for word from Beginning Apologetics 6.