Catholic, Big and Small C

Richard John Neuhaus was one of the great Christian minds of the 20th and early 21st century; he died earlier today. He showed up on my radar first with his book The Naked Public Square back in the late 80s. Crossing the Tiber to go from being Lutheran minister to Catholic priest didn't diminish his influence; it actually increased it, as he headed up a dialog with conservative evangelicals on how to achieve a pan-Christian orthodox front on the moral issues of the day.

That is one of the things that he will leave behind; the ability of Catholic and evangelical groups to work together on social issues where they are on the same page, which is quite a few.

One thing that Neuhaus lets us note; Catholic and evangelical aren't mutually exclusive. Ben Domenech's obit notes that "Time magazine named him one of the most influential evangelicals in America, in spite of his Catholicism..."

I'll have a bone to pick with the "in spite." It is Neuhaus' small-c catholicism that had him reaching out to his brothers in Christ elsewhere in Christendom. If the Catholic church were more like Neuhaus, the ferry service across the Tiber would be a lot more active.

There is another post here, but the evangelical community doesn't have too many serious thinkers and writers like Neuhaus. That's why a lot of evangelical intellectuals troll in Catholic waters for serious reflection on public policy that don't merely regurgitate GOP talking points.