Conscience vs. Doctrine

In this USA Today poll 74% of US Catholics indicated that they would follow their own conscience over the teachings of the new pope. While this is a triumph of modern individualism it shows a major weakness in American Christianity - and not just among Roman Catholics. Individualism is a great thing, the Bible even talks about making your own decision to follow Christ, among other things. But there is an end to individualism and it comes shortly after that decision for Christ. Now I have to admit my own personal point of view with a long list of descriptors of myself. I am a protestant charismatic leaning Wesleyan Methodist that is smitten with the Eastern Orthodox church. I am also a scholar of historical theology that is in love with the universal church - warts and all. What all that means is that I am quite the traditionalist in many ways, which is not to say that I am opposed to change just simply hesitant. The teaching of the church cannot simply be pushed aside every time they conflict with our feelings - or even our conscience. The teachings of the church are supposed to represent absolute truths, we need to be willing to submit to them even when they conflict with our conscience. If we think that a teaching of the church is wrong then we need to work through the appropriate process to see that teaching changed. Simply ignoring the teaching is essentially saying that it is a good guide, but it doesn't really matter in the end because I'm going to do what I want anyway.

There are many things that I hear people are upset about concerning the new pope - the biggest being his opposition to the use of birth control. This is understandable in our age when sexual relations among a husband and wife are no longer simply an issue of reproduction. The church's teaching on birth control goes much deeper than Catholic's need to fulfill themselves, it goes all the way back to the doctrine of original sin as proposed by Augustine in the 420s. To change the Church's view of birth control you would have to change the doctrine of original sin and from that the doctrine on sexual relations. You see for the pope to say it is all right for Catholics to use birth control would be to admit that the teaching of the church for the past 1500+ years on sexual relations and the transmission of original sin - not to mention baptism - was wrong. I happen to believe that they are wrong - then again I disagree with almost everything that Augustine taught, but that's a side point. All this is to say that if Catholics want birth control it's going to take more than the pope agreeing with them - unless he speaks ex cathedra which I seriously doubt he would on birth control - it's going to take a major council to reevaluate all the doctrine surrounding it. That's the way many of the topics that people are upset about are going to have to be approached, because many of them are deep doctrinal issues that have a lot of repercussions.

All of this is to say that when you align yourself with a Christian denomination you need to be willing to submit to its teachings. Otherwise you're not really aligning yourself and that is the cause of disunity in the church. If you're a Roman Catholic, follow cannon law it's good for you. If you're a United Methodist, follow the book of discipline it's good for you. The same goes with all the other Christian denominations. Change can be good, but don't expect it really quick because quick changes tend to be bad - especially in the church.