|
|
| ||||||||||
| | ||||||||||
 |
| | | | | | |||||
|
Editor's note: This article recently appeared
as "Theological pitfalls and their consequences"
in the December 2004 issue of Homiletic
& Pastoral Review, edited by Fr. Kenneth Baker, S.J. ©
2004. 1. Modern thought is superior to all past forms of understanding reality, and is therefore normative for Christian faith and life.After each of these assertions the statement added a qualifying paragraph explaining why the idea is wrong, even though it might sound beguiling and contain an element of truth. The statement nowhere mentions the people who have promulgated these false theses, but the discussions at Hartford included references to Harvey Cox (The Secular City), Situation Ethicist Joseph Fletcher and Britain's Bishop John Robinson (Honest to God). As for the pervasiveness of the thinking exemplified in the theses, Jesuit Dulles, now Cardinal, affirmed that the ideas were widespread in the Roman Catholic Church, particularly among popularizers of the late Teilhard de Chardin and liberation theologians who give the Bible a Marxist interpretation. A professor from Manhattan's Union Theological Seminary, an influential Protestant school, said that these theses summarized general belief there. Rev. Richard Neuhaus, now editor of First Things, asserted that even the World Council of Churches had become "a gargantuan exercise in such cultural capitulation." Neuhaus and Lutheran Peter Berger, author and sociologist at Rutgers, were the originators of the Hartford protest. Exasperated by what they considered a church sellout to such man-made ideologies as scientific rationalism and socialism, they wrote the original draft of the statement in 1974, mailed it to 50 churchmen for their reactions and summoned the Hartford meeting to prepare the final declaration. Though the Hartford discussions brought forward many theological differences, conservatives and liberals alike agreed on the necessity of Christian social involvement. However, a paradox was noted. The declaration insisted that politically based theologies, which were created to foster social impact, had done just the opposite. Even political activist Coffin joined the group in condemning an idea on which he had often preached, that "the world must set the agenda for the Church." The view from Hartford was that Christianity will be too weak for sustained attack on social evils–or for anything else–unless it first seeks the transcendence, power and will of God. After all, the Hartford Eighteen declare, "We did not invent God; God invented us." Theological malaise and its effects Richard Ostling's article, "The Battle for Latin America's Soul" (Time, Jan. 21, 1991, pp. 46-47) describes the religious shift that is steadily gaining momentum throughout traditionally Roman Catholic Latin America. Evangelicals, as Protestants of all types are called, had increased in 1991 from 15 million to at least 40 million since the late 1960s. Catholicism, says the Rev. Paulo Romeiro, Protestant director of an interdenominational research institute in Sao Paulo, is facing "a serious crisis." As the Evangelical movement grows stronger by the day, the Catholic Church is getting weaker and weaker." Two U.S. books describe this dramatic trend. Is Latin America Turning Protestant? is the provocative title of a volume by Stanford graduate student David Stoll, who argues that Evangelism's spiritual appeal "calls into question the claims made for its great rival," the Marxist-tinged liberation theology that was the hope of the Catholic left. By all appearances, says Stoll, "born-again religion has the upper hand." In Tongues of Fire: The Explosion of Protestantism in Latin America, David Martin of the London School of Economics asserts that the growth of conservative Protestantism in Latin America, Asia and Africa is as significant as the rise of revolutionary Islam. During Pope John Paul's 1990 tour of Mexico, designed in part to counter the inroads of Evangelicalism, the Pontiff directed clergy to abandon "timidity and diffidence" in combating their rivals. The Vatican is especially concerned about Brazil, supposedly the world's No. 1 Roman Catholic nation, with 126 million on church rolls in l99l. Barely a tenth of those registered Catholics are regular churchgoers. That means that, astonishingly, there are almost certainly more Brazilian Protestants in church on Sundays than Catholics. Protestants in l991 boasted a minimum of 20 million churchgoers and were expanding twice as fast as the overall population. While there is much talk about their political meddling and impact, most Evangelicals appear to succeed because they usually preach a purely spiritual message. Henrique Mafra Caldeir de Andrada, head of the Protestant program at Rio's Institution of Religious Studies, thinks Catholic advocates of the social gospel failed to realize that "these people are hungry for more than just food. The Evangelicals met the peoples' emotional and spiritual needs better. Or, as Brazil's top Baptist, the Rev. Nilson Fanini, puts the paradox, "The Catholic Church opted for the poor, but the poor opted for the Evangelicals." Papal concern for solid doctrine in dialogue John Paul II, at the audience of January 19, 2001, in the light of theological problems in dialogue with world religions, confirmed the Notification from the Offices of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, January 24, 2001, and ordered its publication. I. On the sole and universal salvific mediation of Jesus Christ. 1. It must be firmly believed that Jesus Christ, the Son of God made man, crucified and risen, is the sole and universal mediator of salvation for all humanity.II. On the unicity and completeness of revelation of Jesus Christ. 3. It must be firmly believed that Jesus Christ is the mediator and fulfillment and the completeness of revelation. It is therefore contrary to the Catholic faith to maintain that revelation in Jesus Christ (or the revelation of Jesus Christ) is limited, incomplete or imperfect. Moreover, although full knowledge of divine revelation will be had only on the day of the Lord's coming in glory, the historical revelation of Jesus Christ offers everything necessary for man's salvation and has no need of completion by other religions.IV. On the orientation of all human beings to the Church. 6.It must be firmly believed that the Church is sign and instrument of salvation for all people. It is contrary to the Catholic faith to consider the different religions of the world as ways of salvation complementary to the Church.V. On the value and salvific function of the religious traditions. 8. In accordance with Catholic doctrine, it must be held that "whatever the Spirit brings about in human hearts and in the history of peoples, in cultures and religions, serves as a preparation for the Gospel" (cf. Dogmatic Constitution Lumen Gentium, 16). It is therefore legitimate to maintain that the Holy Spirit accomplishes salvation in non-Christians also through those elements of truth and goodness present in the various religions; however to hold that these religions, considered as such, are ways of salvation, has no foundation in Catholic theology, also because they contain omissions, insufficiencies and errors regarding fundamental truths about God, man and the world.A call for a new apologetics for a new evangelization Salvation has a specific content for Christians: It entails an interpersonal communion, made possible by Christ, between human persons and the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Human beings are called to nothing less than communion with the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, and with each other in them. The community of Christian faith affirms that the triune God could not bring about a more intimate union with created persons than that which has already been initiated in baptism and will be fulfilled for us in Christ. Ultimately communion involves nothing less than becoming part of the Trinitarian family. The principle and agent of this communion is for us Christ. Just as Christ is Son by nature–a member of the divine family of the Trinity in virtue of his being the Son of the Father–so human persons are called to be sons and daughters by adoption. Our fellowship with Christ and with each other in him brings us into the divine Trinitarian family. The Christian community of faith believes and teaches that the ultimate aim of life is a communion of life with the Father, through the Son, and in the Holy Spirit. This is a truth proclaimed by Christ and a destiny made possible for us by his passion, death, and resurrection. This is what Christians mean by salvation: the term embraces both the goal of ultimate communion and the empowerment to attain and enjoy it. As a communion formed by preserving and sharing Christ's gifts, the Church best fulfills her mission of apologetics and evangelization when she ministers with Our Lord's combination of respect for persons and for the truth that fulfills them. In other words the Church is both Catholic and apostolic. As Catholic, she reaches out to everyone. But as apostolic, the Church also reaches out with faith that comes to us from the apostles, without compromises that would contravene the dignity and vocation of beings made in the image of a self-giving God. The liberal-conservative rift that undermines the Church's unity and mission can, at least in part, be explained by the failure to integrate the apostolic and the Catholic aspects of our ecclesial identity and the objective and subjective aspects of the human person. Political labels often prevent us from understanding the Church as she understands herself. Although labels do point to real and important problems, they can leave us divided and paralyzed unless we go beyond them to see the Church as a mystery of faith and love. A new apologetics in a new evangelization will, following Christ's example, combine truth with charity. Apologists need both clear minds and open hearts. Since only the truth transforms and unites, much work needs to be done to understand and articulate the Magisterium's moral and doctrinal positions, with particular attention paid to cultivating an authentic understanding of conscience and religious freedom, as taught by Vatican II. Much of this work of telling the truth should take place in homilies, youth and adult catechetical programs, seminaries, diaconate formation programs, and Catholic schools and universities. The implementation of Ex corde Ecclesiae is a necessary first step toward a renewed understanding of how our faith supports and sustains in truth the institutions of Catholic higher education. However, given our fallen human nature, the call to conversion at the heart of the Gospel will only be heard if it is made with love for the one who has not yet adequately accepted the faith. Since no Christian evangelizer preaches himself or herself, the call to conversion must be made with humility, and to all. And given our modern appreciation for the uniquely subjective dimension of any human act and of human freedom, the call must presuppose the goodwill and respect the dignity of those in need of conversion. Read part two of "The Consequences of Bad Theology". |
|
