The People of Praise, Charismatic Catholics, and Fringe Religious Groups

Charismatic Catholics are an odd group - remaining in the Catholic Church (for a variety of reasons) and also accepting the “charismatic gifts” because the NT church used them at times. Accepting a belief/practice because “that’s what the early church did” yet part of the Catholic Church which is nothing like the early church.

It seems that it’s been Catholicism’s method to adapt and expand in order to maintain organizational unity. So if you go to Mexico or South America, there’s more of an air of magic and miracles. If you go to the suburban US, you’ll find charismatic Catholics and Catholics holding Bible studies that look very much like an evangelical Bible study…even though older Catholics remember when the church discouraged self-study.

When I lived in Omaha, I’d meet regularly for years with an Evangliecal-ish Catholic…who may have really known the Lord despite the doctrinal cooties. He had grown up in a liberal mainline church, converted to Evangelical beliefs, and then eventually to Catholicism. The way he parsed Catholic doctrine pulled it more toward Evangelical sensibilities. So if you asked him the classic, “If you were to die tonight, and God asked you why He should let you into heaven?” he would have absolutely repudiated any answer that began with “Because I…” Very unlike your typical nominal Catholic who couldn’t beat their way out of a theological wet paper bag.