Bruce Charlton does NOT understand Catholicism at all

I quite like Bruce in a way, he seems like someone that is genuinely trying to find something out. I’d like to think his fumblings are the products of faulty reasoning rather than a deceptive intent.

That said, his statements concerning Catholicism and “trad Caths” and sedes etc are pretty much retarded.

I have a fault too in that I am not sure I reviewed all the comments on his post here before I made my own comments. Although some comments and replies may have appeared afterwards.

He kept stating that we were all missing the point and that what he was saying was that, in essence, no one can really know anything and all our assumptions are just personal choices. But let me not paraphrase; in his own words:

But now the Roman church is riven by competing claims with respect to authority and correct behaviour, *and yet those engaged in the discourse refuse to declare their own assumptions*. 

Whatever authority a modern Catholic chooses to base his life of faith upon; he ought to be explicit about it – and to acknowledge that *none of the choices are self-validating*. Whichever you choose, you will be making assumptions in order to make that choice.  

So we see a deep vulnerability; and a vulnerability that cannot be addressed because it is denied (or wilfully ignored).

And the above, is, of course, total nonsense.

Sedevacantists are EXPLICITLY stating what their “assumptions” are. They are in fact axiomatic.

1. The Catholic Church is the one and ONLY Church instituted on Earth by God.

2. The Catholic Church, creates the magisterium of the Church, which is infallible.

3. The magisterium of the Church is best summarised in both theory and practice in Canon Law. The final, most vetted version of any document on Earth being the Code of Canon Law of 1917 started by Pope Pius X and finished by Pope Benedictine XV.

4. Canon Law has divine elements, which are infallible and unchangeable and ecclesiastical elements, some of which are just for the better running of the Church and thus not necessarily immutable laws.

5. Some divine elements are the sacraments (The Holy Mass, Baptism, Confession, Confirmation, Marriage, Holy orders, Last Rites) which cannot be changed in form or intent, but also certain principles, such as that a manifest heretic cannot be considered a Catholic and as such cannot speak in any way for the Church. Pretty simple and logical really.

6. Other ecclesiastical elements, such as how many cardinals are required to vote in a Pope, and so on, have changed over time, and the past ways are not invalidated by the newer ways, nor vice versa. Again, pretty simple and logical.

7. The credo encapsulates the core beliefs of a Catholic.

Those are not ALL the rules, of course, but close enough for our purposes here. Given this set of beliefs, which are dogmatic, and not open to discussion, it becomes impossible to say that Catholics are making assumptions.

You might not like our axioms. You might think they are crazy or wrong or whatever, but we are literally the ONLY religion that has all the rules and even more importantly, the logic behind the rules, literally written down.

Being a Catholic means you do and should follow your conscience WHEN YOU CAN, but, and it’s a big but, that doesn’t mean you get to ignore the dogmatic rules of the Church if they don’t suit you.

Being a Catholic ultimately means to obey. Not humans, but the magisterium of the Church, and the Pope who heads it up (when and if there is a living, valid Pope, which hasn’t been the case since 9th October 1958).

So Bruce should really inform himself a bit deeper before going off with Protestant-inspired and cogitated ideas that simply are not part of Catholic reality.

He will likely say that the choices that lead you to sedevacantism are assumptions, but this is utterly untrue. I know of two men who became sede as a result of a pure logical exercise.

As for being self-validating, yes it is, because once you accept the base premises/axioms and subscribe to them, you will see that the rules have a perfect relationship and expression to reality. And a two thousand year history of evidence that Catholicism produces literally the best way for people to live and thrive.

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