Posted on 05/07/2012 2:39:34 PM PDT by SeekAndFind
Although the sinless life of Jesus Christ is a foundational tenet of the Christian faith, a study recently released by the Diocese of Camden found that 60 percent of practicing Catholics in southern New Jersey believe Jesus sinned during his time on Earth.
"The number of Catholics who have a very flawed, a seriously flawed, understanding of who Jesus is, that's troublesome," Bishop Joseph Galante of the Diocese of Camden said during a press conference, USA Today reports. "We've got to re-focus on how we teach and inform people. Jesus is the foundation of who we are as Catholics."
The study was commissioned by the diocese with the hope that the results would help it to better evangelize the communities it serves. The study was conducted by the Barna Group, a Ventura, Calif.-based research organization, which surveyed 612 adults living in the six New Jersey counties within the diocese.
Of those surveyed, 34 percent identified themselves as Catholic, but there are some discrepancies between what the church teaches and what some of them believe.
For example, the study showed that four out of ten of these Catholics disagree with the idea that sex should be reserved solely for marriage. While 38 percent of the total residents living within the Camden Diocese agree strongly with the idea that the Bible is "totally accurate in all of the principles it teaches," only 28 percent of Catholics in the diocese believe the same.
Another major issue Galante discussed during the press conference was the high number of Catholics in his diocese who simply don't attend Mass. One-third of lapsed Catholics said they have other priorities or are too busy to attend, while others said they just aren't interested in church (27 percent).
"What intrigued me in particular was the high number of people who don't attend Mass simply because they have other priorities," said Galante.
"One of the things we need to do is emphasize that worship time can also be part of family time as well. These findings are both troubling and a challenge as we begin to deepen our evangelization efforts."
Peter Feuerherd, director of communications for the Diocese of Camden, told The Christian Post on Monday that another thing that struck him from the study was the low percentage of Catholics who invite others to church. The study found that Catholics (33 percent) were half as likely as Protestants (66 percent) to invite someone to visit their church.
"I find that the 'ask' is so important, and Catholics are not in the habit of the 'ask.' Even our parishes are not in the habit of the ask," said Feuerherd.
He also indicated that a major issue all churches have to deal with is the tendency for people to want to always be productive in the American culture. Those who don't take time off from work on the weekends are honored in our society, he says, and other "distractions" like youth sporting events and various forms of entertainment can sometimes take away from church attendance.
"I think we have lost ... the idea that whatever that Sabbath day is, it is valuable. It's important that people have it," he said.
Other interesting findings from the study:
-Of the Catholics surveyed, 38 percent favor attending church only on holidays.
-Among all of the adults surveyed, 51 percent said churches are "too involved" in opposing abortion or same-sex marriage.
-Nine out of ten (89 percent) adults said they know about the clergy abuse scandals that have occurred within the Catholic Church. Among those who are aware of the scandals, 89 percent consider it a "major issue."
-Only 18 percent of Catholics strongly agree that it is their personal responsibility to share their religious beliefs with others, as compared to 40 percent of Protestants and 36 percent of people who believe in non-Christian faiths.
bmflr
But he came close when he drove the money-changers from the Temple with a whip.
On the small-scale, a person’s religious knowledge is their own problem. Lots of lapsed Catholics, or “not practicing” Catholics, or cultural Catholics that don’t know anything by their own doing. Willful ignorance.
But, on the large-scale, with percentages like that ... sounds like there’s a church problem, too. You’ve got to teach people better than that. If just one of those people is in your church — you’ve got to do a better job.
SnakeDoc
Jersey. Enough said.
They’ve been reading too much Dan Brown.
Splendid! The only way from here is UP!
After Mr. Obama is re-elected, we can get their eyes opened yet further and start the praying on our bloody knees.
People may call themselves whatever they wish (i.e. Christian etc.) That don’t make it so. You’ve got to ask yourself if these people have ever read the Bible.
RE: You’ve got to ask yourself if these people have ever read the Bible.
And if they do... BELIEVE IT.
Righteous anger is not a sin, especially when it comes from the One Who has sole rights to judging the wicked.
Amen. Many in the Church recognize that the common denominator among the ex-Catholics, cafeteria Catholics, lapsed Catholics, CINOs and converts to other faiths and denominations is poor catechesis. Most know very little beyond the post Vatican II anecdotal and urban legend doctrines of the Church. Too often this is reinforced by the secular society and those who otherwise hate the Catholic Church. We are taking steps to correct this. Unfortunately, what has taken over 40 years to do cannot be undone over night.
Peace be to you.
By definition, God cannot sin. Christians are supposed to believe that Jesus is God. QED.
"And that servant who knew the will of his lord, and prepared not himself, and did not according to his will, shall be beaten with many stripes. But he that knew not, and did things worthy of stripes, shall be beaten with few stripes. And unto whomsoever much is given, of him much shall be required: and to whom they have committed much, of him they will demand the more." Luke 12:47-48
An acquaintance once told me that he lost his faith after watching the first Dan brown movie. I told him it was fiction. He said “Yeah, but still...”. He was offended when I suggested that his faith may not have been that solid to begin with.
An acquaintance once told me that he lost his faith after watching the first Dan brown movie. I told him it was fiction. He said “Yeah, but still...”. He was offended when I suggested that his faith may not have been that solid to begin with.
Yes and over half vote democrat. They would do well to check out a Bible believing Sunday School class.
If Jesus sinned then we have no messiah and certainly no Salvation...
AMEN!!
“They would do well to check out a Bible believing Sunday School class.”
###
Or simply pay attention to the dogma and catechism of their OWN faith, which also is “bible believing”.
Blasphemous...
Fair enough — but this is pretty basic stuff. We’re not talking about complicated theology, or minutiae, or debated denominational differences here.
I’d venture that most Protestants on this forum that claim Christianity could accurately answer this question. Everybody’s wrong about something. You. Me. Everybody. So long as you’re right on the big picture, and improving on the details ... you’re probably OK. Perfect theology is not a requirement of the Christian faith (Hallelujah). But, we’re talking about a major, deal-breaking imperfection ... one of the true essentials of Christianity.
SnakeDoc
My thoughts exactly!! Too many are getting their theological views from Hollywood and Bestselling novels rather than reading the bestseller of all time!
I don’t disagree but I would venture to guess they are democrats first and Catholics second.
This acquaintance of yours lost his faith after watching The Davinci Code, of which the premise of the movie was based upon the painting, “The Last Supper”, painted by an artist long after Christ’s birth, death, and resurection? Yeah, I guess maybe you’re right. His faith may not have been rock solid to begin with.
Nope. Jesus Christ never sinned otherwise the Crucifixion and Resurrection would mean nothing
And over half of NJ Catholics regularly go to tanning salons.
I think I found a link.
I’m a Jersey Catholic.
How does God sin?
How does any Christian believe that?
Jesus was tempted, but it’s not a sin to be tempted. Most of us probably dwell too long on some sinful desires even if we don’t yield in the flesh so I can see how people think there’s a sort of continuum.
I’d be interested in seeing if these Catholics who believe Jesus sinned believe Mary to be sinless.
They need to follow the advice of St. Augustine concerning the Bible: pick up and read.
six of one, half a dozen of the other.
These people are CINO’s. There is nothing religious about them.
Yes. It's not so strange that people believe this. There's a lot of uncertainty about whether being tempted counts as a sin in itself or one has to act on the temptation.
I would bet these that believe He sinned are almost all Chreaster Christians (at church Christmas and Easter only).
Christ could not have sinned and then been accepted by the Father as an acceptable substitute for sinners on the cross. The Old Testament makes it exceedingly clear that the sacrifice had to be perfect to be accepted. From eternity past Christ agreed to drink the wrath that should have been poured out on me for eternity. He drank the cup of God’s wrath for all of His sheep down to the very dregs.
What a Savior!
I wonder what percent of Catholics think Mary sinned....
Betchca it’s less than 50 %
I was confirmed into the Church this Easter. I have accepted and believe that Christ is the Son of God and is free of sin, and died for my (many)sins so I may be welcomed into Heaven. I suspect these misguided souls need to spend more time at Mass and less time watching HBO. I will add them to my prayers.
Welcome home W. Lee! God bless you!
Pretty tame compared to what He did to Saddam.
You can be tempted internally or externally.
I might be tempted to eat a candy bar because I’m hungry and I smelled one. I guess if I entertained the possibility in my mind I sinned.
or
I might be tempted by John with a candy bar but not dismiss him out of hand. If said no and didn’t entertain the possibility in my mind I didn’t sin.
I think Jesus’s temptations were the latter.
Um, let’s pretend eating a candy bar is a sin for the sake of my example.
Indeed.
We read in Psalm 75:8, “For in the hand of the LORD there is a cup, and the wine is red; it is full of mixture; and he poureth out of the same: but the dregs thereof, all the wicked of the earth shall wring them out, and drink them.”
Catholics are not known to read The Bible.
Seriously? Seriously? the people call themselves Christian? Seriously? Lord help them.
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