Hey danteh, there was an article about Opus Dei in Time magazine a few weeks ago, and yeah, it sounded very TWI-like to me, too. Different levels of involvement. The leadership saying they had no control over how people applied what they taught. A belief that Opus Dei was preserving "true Christianity." The most devoted followers live austerely. Women are second-class citizens.
Caveat: I am not a member of Opus Dei. Any information I give is drawn from publically available sources or from people I know who are members of Opus Dei.
Also note: a short thread in doctrinal discussed a little bit about it here.a
From what I understand of Opus Dei, they are a group within the Catholic Church that tries to do for an individual's spritual life what TWI advertised that it was going to do through the PFAL series of classes.
A few major differences:
- Opus Dei operates within the Catholic Church. TWI operated outside of any organized group.
- Opus Dei members are members of their local parish. TWI encouraged its members to abandon ties with any existing group.
- Opus Dei supports and teaches the magesterial teachings of the Church. TWI taught doctrines that were in opposition to any organized Christian group.
There have always been conspiracy theories floating around about Opus Dei since it was founded about 80 years ago.
From what I understand, the best way to consider Opus Dei is sort of like a religious order (Franciscan, Dominican, Carmelite, etc.), but the people who are members do not wear special clothes and don't cloister themselves behind any walls. They do have a common spirituality and receive training to develop that spirituality. There are commitments made by members to (I think) go to daily Mass and go to Confession regularly, to develop their prayer life, and to perform corporal and spiritual acts of mercy, but otherwise there are no vows of poverty or chastity, like religious orders.
But, again, all of the above is based upon my observations and from publically accessible information. I don't have personal experience with this group.
Also, I read something that said that requests for membership are significantly up since Dan Brown's efforts came up. See this article in the Scotsman for more.
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GT
I heard they were involved in some conspiracy to find the holy grail.
Something about Da Vinci?
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shazdancer
Hey danteh, there was an article about Opus Dei in Time magazine a few weeks ago, and yeah, it sounded very TWI-like to me, too. Different levels of involvement. The leadership saying they had no control over how people applied what they taught. A belief that Opus Dei was preserving "true Christianity." The most devoted followers live austerely. Women are second-class citizens.
Regards,
Shaz
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markomalley
Caveat: I am not a member of Opus Dei. Any information I give is drawn from publically available sources or from people I know who are members of Opus Dei.
Also note: a short thread in doctrinal discussed a little bit about it here.a
From what I understand of Opus Dei, they are a group within the Catholic Church that tries to do for an individual's spritual life what TWI advertised that it was going to do through the PFAL series of classes.
A few major differences:
- Opus Dei operates within the Catholic Church. TWI operated outside of any organized group.
- Opus Dei members are members of their local parish. TWI encouraged its members to abandon ties with any existing group.
- Opus Dei supports and teaches the magesterial teachings of the Church. TWI taught doctrines that were in opposition to any organized Christian group.
There have always been conspiracy theories floating around about Opus Dei since it was founded about 80 years ago.
From what I understand, the best way to consider Opus Dei is sort of like a religious order (Franciscan, Dominican, Carmelite, etc.), but the people who are members do not wear special clothes and don't cloister themselves behind any walls. They do have a common spirituality and receive training to develop that spirituality. There are commitments made by members to (I think) go to daily Mass and go to Confession regularly, to develop their prayer life, and to perform corporal and spiritual acts of mercy, but otherwise there are no vows of poverty or chastity, like religious orders.
But, again, all of the above is based upon my observations and from publically accessible information. I don't have personal experience with this group.
Also, I read something that said that requests for membership are significantly up since Dan Brown's efforts came up. See this article in the Scotsman for more.
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WordWolf
So it's something like the secular branch of the Franciscan order?
No formal vows, you train and you just do your best?
Or do orders come down thru Opus Dei in specific things?
I don't mean "read Acts this week", or
"pray for the hurricane survivors",
I mean stuff like "proceed to the next town over..."
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