"Listen: there was once a king sitting on his throne. Around Him stood great and wonderfully beautiful columns ornamented with ivory, bearing the banners of the king with great honor. Then it pleased the king to raise a small feather from the ground, and he commanded it to fly. The feather flew, not because of anything in itself but because the air bore it along. Thus am I, a feather on the breath of God."
This quote and a brief bio of St. Hildegard of Bingen can be found at the website Biographical sketches of memorable Christians of the past. It is an Anglican website.
Notice the phrase “not because of anything in itself.” That is what Protestants also believe. Hildegard lived in the 12th Century, long before the Reformation. In fact, she was a reformer herself.
The fact is that there have been many great reformers in the Church, but most of them have stayed inside the Church to reform her from the inside. I am not saying that non Catholic Christians have no place in God’s Kingdom. No, not at all. I am saying that many Protestants would be blessed to think outside the box. Take a look at Church history and see what a rich heritage of “by grace through faith” God has deposited into His Church. Check out what the Church teaches about grace and faith and the fact that apart from Him, we can do nothing.
Ephesians 2:8-9English Standard Version (ESV)
8 For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, 9 not a result of works, so that no one may boast.
Ephesians 2:8,9 Catholic -
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