Michael Coren and the Gospel of Experience

A lot is going on in our world right now.  This year has been brutal in terms of terrorist attacks.  The two attacks in London yesterday are only the most recent example.  We could also talk about the increasing secularization of Western society which has been plaguing us since the French Revolution, though it seems like recently it’s been put in fast forward.  Many things could be talked about.  However, instead of talking about the problems, I’m going to talk about the solution.

The solution is to turn back to the two sources that Christianity uses to draw it’s faith and morals.  Those two sources are Scripture and Tradition.  I can’t advocate for this position enough.  They are the fountains where Christians are to nourish.  Now, the basic question is, why these sources and not additional ones?  The answer is simple; adding another source to this mix usually results in heresy.  It seems odd doesn’t it?  Even if you have a heretical source, doesn’t one still have two orthodox sources – Scripture and Tradition?

The problem is that this third source actually becomes the only source.  It nullifies Scripture and Tradition.  A good example of this is from the clip above.  After speaking much heresy, at 6:32, Michael Coren says:  I’ve used the phrase recently: The fifth Gospel – The Gospel of Experience.  The gospel of experience, sounds charming doesn’t it?  There is only one problem, and that is while Scripture and Tradition never change, the gospel of experience does.  After all, don’t we all have different experiences?  We all read the same Scripture and draw from the same Tradition but we all have different experiences.  That is precisely why the so-called gospel of experience is a sham and needs to be held up in light of Scripture and Tradition.

The third source doesn’t have to be the gospel of experience, it could be anything but no matter what it is, it must be fought against.  Not only is this method used to add heresy, but it is used to erode the orthodoxy that we find in Scripture and Tradition. It grieves me how people aren’t promoting this in the slightest.  Last night, conservative pundit Lauren Southern bemoaned the attacks on Londoners by Muslims.  Very true, it’s pretty sad what happened, but she never pointed to the answer.  She never told the citizens of England that they have no other option than to turn to Scripture and Tradition.  She never mentioned that the Muslims need Scripture and Tradition.

It isn’t just her though.  Sadly, many who call themselves Christians no longer believe or adhere to these two fountains of wisdom.  It seems that a lot of people need to hear this message.  If you want to delve into Scripture and Tradition, here are some basic sources to get one started:

For Scripture:

• The Holy Bible – The original Greek and Hebrew are good but not many people know them, so if you don’t know these ancient languages, it is best to use the Vulgate or the Douay-Rheims translation
• Scriptural Commentaries by the Fathers and Doctors of the Church

For Tradition:

• The writings of the apostolic Fathers
• The writings of the later Fathers of the Church mentioned in the Second Council of Constantinople
• The writings of the great medieval and Scholastic theologians
• The writings of the Saints of the Counter-Reformation
• The Catechism of the Council of Trent
• The Documents of the Ecumenical Councils such as Nicaea, Trent and others

From this post, two things are clear.  The first is that we are to look to Scripture and Tradition.  The Second is that we know where to start.  Discard the gospel of experience(or any other bogus sources) as it could lead one to heresy which it most certainly has in the case of Michael Coren.  Delve into Scripture and Tradition!  Ready?  Go!

Watch for yourself, not one mention of Scripture or Tradition:

Here is the post that I made about the Church Fathers mentioned in the Second Council of Constantinople:

Church Fathers….Which Church Fathers?