If that bishop possesses a mind which has fallen prey to the denial of substantiality inherent in Modern Physics, and if he is also an evolutionist: then, despite the fact that the good instincts he has inherited from the past may indeed have led him to vote correctly, he is not at all established in those foundational principles which are necessary for truly “thinking with the Church”. His orthodoxy, his conservativism, in other words, is built on sand, and is eventually bound to crumble – if not in himself personally before his death, then in his spiritual children. He may believe in the indissolubility of marriage, but he has no substantial basis for so believing. He may believe in the concepts of mortal sin and sanctifying grace, but these beliefs fly directly in the face of his being in bed with Science and Evolutionary Theory. He has feet of sand.To which Noir adds a bit of text in Saxon Runes in mockery of my ignorance of them ...
"... Which explains the ongoing tragedy that we witness unfolding in the well-meaning but impossibly-conflicted papacies of the last six popes. Meanwhile we witness the incredible spectacle of Ignatius Press adding more bricks to its literary memorial to Vatican II.(And I do mean bricks: peruse Fr. De Lubac's Paradoxes or More Paradoxes for confirmation; also note his biggest fan of late is John Milbank)."Well enough. I never found Milbank rewarding enough to read anyway. I liked de Lubac's The Drama of Atheist Humanism,
which shed some interesting new light on Auguste Comte and Ludwig Feuerbach, but I remain in two minds about some of his other work. My head hurts.
[Disclaimer: Rules 7-9]
War Against Being has long been on the reading list for Catholic men of a certain bent but reading it will likely result in, at first, spiritual depression but, pursued with pertinacity, the reading of it will result in an increased faith in our Triune God and in Jesus Christ who is the Head of His Church.
ReplyDeleteAnd here is a great piece about Bishop Emeritus Ratzinger, as Pope, promoting condoms
ReplyDeletehttp://www.superflumina.org/pope_&_condoms_conflated.html
Try to name three Prelates who opposed the then Pope's great gaffe...
On the other hand, uncountable were the ultramontanists who averred that...
He was misquoted
He didn't mean in THAT way
He was right
This is what the average Catholic has to contend with in reading apologetics now, the descent to the lowly place from objective truth,
Thank you for this. I went to "War Against Being" and am finding it very comforting and helpful because it is truly, solidly Catholic. He explains a lot of the things I have found confusing. This is a very difficult time for a non-intellectual lay person in the pew - how do we cope with the massive disorder in our beloved Church? There are things in my family I am trying to discern while I have a few months of "normalcy". My cancer is in remission at the moment. The doctor said it would be months rather than years, but so far so good. How is your sister?
ReplyDeleteDear Ellen,
ReplyDeleteThanks for asking about my sister. She remains physically well, but spiritually quite dead. Please keep her in your prayers as we shall keep you in ours. God bless you and give you strength and health!