I'm still intrigued by an article in the December issue of New Directions in which Bishop Roald Flemestad of the Nordic Catholic Church urges (soon to be?) unchurched orthodox Anglicans to consider the Union of Scranton and communion with the Polish National Catholic Church in the U.S.A. [here].
I'm particularly intrigued by the suggestion in the light of a recent comment by Fr John Zuhlsdorf (Fr Z) that the PNCC rejects the doctrine of original sin [here], famously described by Chesterton as "the only part of Christian theology which can really be proved.”
I must admit that Fr Z's comment did surprise me and alarm me more than a little. Can anyone cast any light on this?
[There is this article on the PNCC, written in the 1950s by the Jesuit, Father John A. Hardon, which makes reference to a 'modern catechism' which states as much, but without any indication as to how authoritative that catechism may have been or may be now]
From the PNCC prayer book (or at least as it was in 1939):
ReplyDeleteWe do not teach original sin as in the Roman Catholic Church - that it comes down to us from the origin of the human race, and that we inherit it through our descent from Adam. We do not teach that man is born with a depraved nature.
We do teach that man is born with an inclination to do evil; but that is not original sin in the Roman Catholic sense.
Consistent with this denial, the rite of Baptism has been changed. Where the Roman ritual says: “Depart from him, thou unclean spirit, and give place to the Holy Spirit, the Comforter,” the schismatic version reads: “Receive the Holy Spirit, the Comforter, promised by Jesus Christ.”
People tend to forget that Hodur was a Universalist; and one of the Theosophist bent too.
Fr Hardon in turn got the paragraphs I quoted above from a book on the PNCC by an Episcopalian clergyman called Theodore Andrews.
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