N.T. Wright on Roman Catholicism

The good bishop says Protestantism is a much better alternative than Rome. In describing Rome’s view of authority he writes:

Rome is a big, splendid, dusty old ocean liner, with lots of grand cabins, and, at present, quite a fine captain and some excellent officers — but also quite a few rooms in need of repair. Yes, it may take you places, but it’s slow and you might get seasick from time to time. And the navigators have been told that they must never acknowledge when they’ve been going in the wrong direction . . .

And concerning Trent’s teaching he says:

Sacramental, yes, but in a muddled way with an unhelpful ontology;

Transformational, yes, but far too dependent on unbiblical techniques and practices;

Communal, yes, but don’t let the laity (or the women) get any fancy ideas about God working new things through them;

Eschatological? Eschatology in the biblical sense didn’t loom large, and indeed that was a key element in the Reformers’ protest: the once-for-allness of the events of Jesus’ death and resurrection as producing, not a new system for doing the same stuff over and over, but a new world.