In 2015 the movie Spotlight came out. It was such a hit that it ended up taking best picture at the Academy Awards in February 2016. It was certainly a controversial movie as it dealt with a sensitive subject which was homosexual priests raping children and an entire system covering it up. This system included bishops, priests, lawyers, and others.
At one point in the movie one of the Spotlight journalists Mike Rezendes is talking to a lawyer named Mitch Garabedian. They were talking about the new Jewish editor at the Boston Globe. Garabedian explains to Rezendes that it takes an outsider to get to the root of the problem. He points out that the new Jewish editor of the Globe is looking into this because it takes an outsider. He points out that he’s Armenian. Armenians typically aren’t Catholic so they’re outside of this conflict and can look at it with fresh eyes.
Because people from outside of conflicts aren’t involved in that paradigm, they have an advantage that those(or at least most) on the inside will be oblivious to. I was recently reading a book that I had read a while ago and reviewed. The book is From Islam to Christ by Derya Little. Little is a Turkish born former Muslim who became Christian. Here is my review of her book:
Now, when Little accepted Jesus Christ, she was faced with a choice of Catholicism or Protestantism. She had been exposed to Christianity by Protestants but wanted to check out both sides of the argument. Now, there is very little presence of Catholicism or Protestantism in Turkey. It’s mostly Muslim. Historically the only religion with a real presence their had been Eastern Orthodoxy. In other words, she would have been new to both. She could look at the Catholic vs. Protestant debate with fresh eyes. She was someone from the outside. Turkish Muslims don’t think about Catholic vs. Protestant issues anymore than Western Christians think about Sunni vs. Shia issues.
Catholics and Protestants look at this debate through a theological lens but the event was hardly theological. It was mostly political. This was pointed out by Hilaire Belloc in The Crisis of Civilization and more recently by Catholic writer Dr. E. Michael Jones. Jones points out that the reformation was just monarchs and other politicians using people like Luther and Zwingli as pawns so they could loot church property. I wrote an article on this issue myself.
Most Catholics and Protestants didn’t know about this thesis but thanks to Dr. Jones, it has become more widespread. Now, when Derya Little wanted to learn about Protestantism she read a secular(and therefore neutral) biography of Martin Luther. She was shocked in what she found. This is what she said on page 150 of her book:
The biography did no chronicle the life of a man who heroically stood up against the establishment but the life of a man who was used by those with political aspirations.
To be fair, Little doesn’t tell us what those aspirations are but it’s safe to assume that it was the ceasing of all the monasteries, land, endowments, guilds, chantries down to the last dime. How is this clear to her but not to the average Catholic or Protestant? She’s an outsider.
Dear Mr Ruhl
It is unspeakably sad to see how the World is turning against the Church. The fact that many clergymen contribute to this by their corruptions and hidden perversity’s certainly does not help this. Where is St Peter Damian when we need him ?
There are times when my Catholic faith is under attack from all sides, from both the secular world and from other faiths, for example Mr Paul Williams recently claimed that “all these Christians do is deflect deflect deflect” regarding our Belief in the prophecies of the Passion of Our Lord. I am aware that Mr Williams not not a particularly scholarly figure and more of a controversialist, but over time it is rather wearing.
Yours Sincerely
Tobias Bellhouse
P.S I was recently discussing with a muslim gentleman on twitter, and he constantly stated that Mohammed was mentioned in the Book of the Prophet Haggai, specifically Chapter 2 verse 7. Have you come across this further example of rather peculiar Islamic exegesis ?
“There are times when my Catholic faith is under attack from all sides”
I thought you weren’t Catholic. Am I wrong?
Btw, I’ll write a response on Haggai 2 in a blog post.
Dear Mr Ruhl
I was referring to the Catholic faith of the Orthodox Church, one, holy, apostolic, orthodox in the Lord. Nevertheless I have great respect for certain Latin saints.
Yours in Christ
TB
Ah okay. I understand.
I like to know what secular biography on Luther / history of the reformation put forth the thesis that the reformation was a cover for those in power to loot Church property.
Read Belloc’s book The Crisis of Civilization. Also, when you read any history of the reformation, look out for the looting. It’s in the background but they don’t focus on that. They focus on Luther with the “Here I stand…” speech and other nonsense like that.
I quote from a secular historian in this post. Check it out.
http://allanruhl.com/dr-e-michael-jones-vs-dr-james-white-on-the-reformation/