Do All Clergymen Believe What They Teach?

THE woman’s husband has just died. Her priest explains that her husband was neither good enough to go directly to heaven nor bad enough to be consigned to the fires of hell. So, according to the priest, he is suffering punishment until he qualifies for heaven. She pays the priest to say prayers so that her husband may be released from purification sooner. The widow is content with this, feeling that the priest shares her sincere beliefs.

Do you think that the widow would be disillusioned if she found out that her priest did not really believe in punishment after death? Many are disturbed to learn that a large number of clergymen do not believe in much of what they themselves teach. The National Catholic Reporter, addressing what it called “a deeper clerical problem than sex,” stated: “Among the clergy in general, there are enough who have ceased to believe in the existence of God or the doctrine of rewards and punishments or the resurrection . . . that the clerical culture carries this disbelief as part of its atmosphere, somewhat like smog.”

Other churches face a similar dilemma. A survey of vicars of the Church of England revealed that many “do not believe in fundamental features of traditional Christian faith such as the virgin birth, Jesus’s miracles and the second coming of the messiah,” reports Australia’s Canberra Times.

Religion writer George R. Plagenz asked regarding a minister how he could, in good conscience, recite a creed that he himself did not believe in. One minister said that he simply replaced the creed’s opening words, “I believe.” He said: “I begin the creed by saying, ‘THEY believe in God the Father Almighty . . .’” Plagenz called such hypocrisy “the biggest con game in the country.”

Sadly, such clerical disbelief and insincerity disillusion many people about religion in general. But it is not the only disturbing aspect of religion today. Most churchgoers have been taught that the Bible is the Word of God. Would they be surprised to learn that some long-accepted church doctrines are not taught in the Bible? The following article will consider one example.