tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24717892217766475202024-03-07T23:54:56.037-08:00The Main EventIn today's <b>philosophical conflict of reason vs. mysticism</b>: Who are the main <i>advocates</i> on each side? What are their key <i>ideas</i>? What social <i>actions</i> are they taking to win?Burgess Laughlinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13865479709475171678noreply@blogger.comBlogger65125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2471789221776647520.post-26036668654384875142014-08-29T22:37:00.002-07:002014-08-29T22:37:57.148-07:00To all who admired Burgess Laughlin, I'm sorry to say he has passed away. Please find his obituary message on his main website:<br />
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<a href="http://www.reasonversusmysticism.com/">http://www.reasonversusmysticism.com/</a></div>
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Burgess, you will be missed.</div>
Brad Williamshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09839532299808900672noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2471789221776647520.post-68103703617388076192014-08-06T02:14:00.000-07:002014-08-06T02:14:35.376-07:00Gregg's "Tea Party Catholic"<br />
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<b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: x-small;">Samuel Gregg, <i>Tea Party Catholic: The Catholic Case for Limited Government, a Free Economy, and Human Flourishing</i>, New York, Crossroad Publishing, 2013, 260 pages.</span></b></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">The title of this book, <i>The Tea Party Catholic</i>, suggests the book is about politics. The subtitle shows the author is writing about the principles of politics not the day-by-day parade of politicians and their supporters. Still, why on <i>The Main Event</i> would I write about a political subject? After all, the focus of <i>The Main Event</i> is on the conflict between reason and mysticism, which is an epistemological issue. My hope in reading this book was to see at what point, if any, the Catholic author would resort to mysticism in his argument for "limited government, a free economy, and human flourishing."</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">As usual, the following is a collection of notes rather than a formal review of the book.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><b>AUTHOR'S PURPOSE</b>. The writer of the Foreword, Michael Novak, says "Gregg means to foster three world-transformative ideas: limited government, religious liberty, and economic liberty." (p. 1)</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">Gregg himself distinguishes the "free enterprise Catholics" from other supporters of "free enterprise." In particular Gregg disavows "people like the pro-capitalist but militantly-atheistic philosopher Ayn Rand." He says, "[t]he Catholic case for limited government, the free economy, and religious liberty is very different from that of many self-described libertarians, let alone Randians." (p. 22) The key difference, Gregg says, is that the Catholic argument for free enterprise holds that free enterprise permits human flourishing, that is, "the excellence that every person is capable of realizing through the reasonable use of their freedom—an excellence rooted in our very nature as the<i> imago Dei [image of God]</i>: a being called to freely embrace all those goods that make us flourish precisely as human beings rather than embrace mediocrity." (p.23)</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><i>Explaining the nature and scope of these freedoms to Catholics—indeed anyone interested in understanding distinctly Catholic as well as particular natural law arguments for economic liberty and limited government—is this book's purpose.</i> (p. 28)</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><b>AUTHOR</b>. Samuel Gregg left his native Australia to obtain a doctorate at Oxford University. There he worked under the supervision of John Finnis, an expert on natural law. (p. 1) Moving to the USA in 2001, Gregg began writing a series of books which "steadily established his leadership" in the movement working for three interconnected ideas: limited government, economic freedom; and religious liberty. (p. 1)</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">Novak says Gregg is qualified in three ways to achieve his purpose: He has "a strong grasp of the natural law." He understands "the long Catholic intellectual tradition." He is motivated by "profoundly Catholic reasons." (p. 1)</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><b>SUBJECT</b>. The main title is misleading. The book is not about the Tea Party in the United States, nor about the author's role, if he has any, in it. The subtitle accurately states the subject of the book. Gregg presents the specifically Catholic case for limited government. He bases his argument on Catholic principles.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">Gregg says the Catholic position in favor of limited government differs from other positions because of the Catholic position's grounding in "Catholicism's specific understanding of the nature of human freedom. For Catholics, human freedom in turn is grounded in what man is—an individual, sinful, social being graced with reason and free will—and directed to ... 'integral human flourishing'." (p. 36) Thus, this Catholic position on limited government is tied to the supernatural through grace (which means God's gift).</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">Further, "... the coherence of these positions [on the desirability of limited government] stands or falls upon the Catholic conception of human flourishing...." (p. 37) Citing Pope Gregory VII, Gregg supports the idea that "full freedom in the Christian sense can only be realized through the freedom of life in the Lord in eternity." (p. 38)</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><i>The fact of sin and human imperfectability reminds us that the fullness of the flourishing we seek lies in the world which is to come, the gates of which have been opened for us by Christ's Resurrection.</i> (p.49)</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">Gregg says "the central thesis of this book is that Catholics who underscore the cause of economic liberty can—nay, <i>must</i>—invest the cause for limited government with the same moral depth that Catholics have brought to other issues." (p. 23)</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">When discussing such subjects, Gregg references Catholic sources such as Augustine and William Ockham, but also other writers such as Cicero and Hegel. Gregg also frequently quotes the writings of popes who have lived in the last 200 years. Gregg seldom directly cites the Bible.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><b>STRUCTURE</b>. The book arcs from the history of Catholicism in the USA, to the present socially conflicted state of the Catholic Church, to an explanation of the principled argument that Gregg offers, and finally to examples of applications of the principles.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">The Introduction presents the current situation among Catholics in the USA—including their many disagreements with each other—and the history that led up to it: Since the late 1800s, Catholics generally supported government intervention in the economy; however Gregg sees evidence now of a shift away from economic interventionism: the rise in the 1980s of new generations of Catholics wanting to limit the welfare state; and the spectacle of Catholics publicly debating among themselves—for example, in 2012 Vice President Joe Biden, a Catholic Democrat, debating against Paul Ryan, a Catholic Republican.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">Chapter 1 ("Catholic and Free") presents the core of Gregg's philosophical and theological argument in favor of limited government and free enterprise. Chapter 2 ("An Economy of Liberty") looks at the issues in the proper relationship between government and the economy. </span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">Chapter 3 ("Solidarity, Subsidiarity, and the State") explains two Catholic concepts. <i>Solidarity</i> is materially and spiritually supporting individuals in need. This is an application of the "the commandment to love our neighbor as we would want to be loved ourselves." (p. 101) <i>Subsidiarity</i> is the principle that says that in helping the poor people, superior organizations, such as governments, may assist but not displace the voluntary activities of individuals, families, and businesses who are closest to the problem. For example, a welfare program from Washington, D.C., should not replace a particular Texas parish's effort to feed the hungry people in its neighborhood.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">Chapter 4 ("The First Freedom") describes the history and nature of the freedom of a follower of a religion to live according to his beliefs. Chapter 5 ("But What About ...?") examines several current issues to illustrate the principles that Gregg thinks should guide Catholics in political controversies.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">Chapter 6 ("A Patriotic Minority") describes Gregg's view of the role Catholics can take in today's culture in the USA. He sees a continuing decline of modern liberalism among Catholics and "signs of considerable renewal in the Church in America." (p.197)</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><b>EVALUATION</b>. Gregg is a well organized and moderately clear writer. Non-Catholics can learn the basic principles that Gregg advocates, but finer points may be unclear without studying Catholicism. Careful reading shows non-Catholics that Gregg, like many Catholic intellectuals values integration. He attempts to tie principles he learns from revelation, via the Church, to living amidst conflict in modern society. </span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">Gregg's integration is not objective, that is, drawn, logically from sense-perceptible facts of reality, but it is an attempt to provide a systematic plan of action. That makes Catholicism formidable, possibly the most dangerous advocate of mysticism in our culture today.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">Burgess Laughlin</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">Author of <i>The Power and the Glory: The Key Ideas and Crusading Lives of Eight Debaters of Reason vs. Faith</i>, described here: <a href="http://www.reasonversusmysticism.com/">http://www.reasonversusmysticism.com/</a></span></div>
Burgess Laughlinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13865479709475171678noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2471789221776647520.post-39711860890027357022014-07-21T14:37:00.000-07:002014-07-21T14:37:32.844-07:00McCool's "From Unity to Pluralism"<br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: x-small;"><b>Gerald A. McCool, <i>From Unity to Pluralism: The Internal Evolution of Thomism</i>, New York, Fordham University Press, 1992, 248 pages.</b></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">This post is partly a review of McCool's <i>From Unity to Pluralism</i> and mostly a collection of notes that might aid my own project on the conflict of mysticism and reason in the USA in our time.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><b>SUBJECT</b>. McCool tells the history of a certain movement of European Catholic scholars (theologians and philosophers) in the 1800s. These scholars, the Neo-Scholastic movement, wanted to counter the tide of modernist philosophy that was tearing down religious culture. The modernist philosophers ranged from Descartes (1596-1650) to the successors of Kant (1724-1804).</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">In particular, some Neo-Scholastics looked back to the worldview Thomas Aquinas had developed. They thought (wrongly) that he had developed a worldview that integrated the insights of other ancient and medieval Christian philosophers—such as Augustine and Bonaventure—into a harmonious whole. They also thought (1) that this supposedly integrated worldview had been shared by other Christian intellectuals in the medieval Christian world; (2) that the worldview had been lost at the end of the Middle Ages, and (3) that the worldview had been recovered by post-Renaissance Catholic theologians such as Francisco Suarez (1548-1617). Thomism, these 19th Century Catholic intellectuals thought, was potentially a unifier for modern culture, a culture disintegrating under the effects of post-Descartes philosophers such as Kant.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">These first Neo-Thomists, in the early and mid-1800s, held a vision of Thomas's philosophy as resting on an epistemology of "common sense realism." In this epistemology, a concept in the mind comes from a thing in the world. For Neo-Thomists, the starting point of philosophy, therefore, is sense-perception, not Descartes' <i>cogito</i>. (p. 29) <i>Cogito</i> ("I know") as the starting point of a philosophy is subjectivist; it has no anchor in reality independent of one's own mind. Thus Thomism was radically opposed to the major post-Descartes philosophies.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">In 1879, Pope Leo XIII's encyclical <i>Aeterni Patris</i> officially confirmed the Neo-Thomist estimation of Thomism and directed the Church to incorporate Thomism into higher-level Church education (the universities and seminaries), thus presumably disseminating Thomism to the remainder of Catholic culture. This approach was to be the Church's defense against Modernism (atheism, moral relativism, personal subjectivism, and so forth). Further, the Church would use Thomism, Leo XIII hoped, as a foundation on which to stand while conducting a "dialogue" with contemporary philosophies. (pp. 1 and 9)</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">McCool's purpose in the book is to trace the trajectory of the Neo-Thomist movement from the late 1800s to the 1960s: its rise, expansion, disintegration, and fall. (p. 2)</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><b>STRUCTURE</b>. The general order of the book is chronological. Selecting from many individual intellectuals in the movement, McCool focuses on four main intellectuals (theologians, philosophers, historians) who shaped the internal evolution of the Neo-Thomist movement: Pierre Rousselot (1878-1915), Joseph Marechal (1878-1944), Jacques Maritain (1882-1973), and Etienne Gilson (1884-1978).</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><b>CHRONOLOGY</b>. Unfortunately McCool does not provide a chronology of persons and events in this complicated history. A chronology would have simplified the reading. Here is my brief version:</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">1225-1274: Thomas Aquinas lives.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">c. 1820: Luigi Taparelli d'Azeglio, the pioneer of Neo-Scholasticism, begins influencing Giacchino Pecci to admire Thomism. Pecci is a young seminary student who will fifty years later become Pope Leo XIII. (p. 5)</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">1846: In Naples, Gaetano Sansaverino founds the first academy devoted to the philosophy of Thomas. One of Sansaverino' students is Salvatore Talamo, who later recommends to Leo XIII that Thomism be made the only philosophy taught in Catholic schools. (p. 12)</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">1878: Matteo Liberatore (1810-1892), a prominent Neo-Scholastic who, along with other writers, has campaigned publicly for the restoration of Thomism, writes a draft of the encyclical that will become <i>Aeterni Patris</i>. (p. 12)</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">1879: Pope Leo XIII (reigned 1878-1903) issues his encyclical <i>Aeterni Patris</i> (<i>On Christian Philosophy</i>), calling for a revival of Thomism as an answer to the threat from Modernist philosophers. (pp. 5 and 6)</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">1879-1962: Through support from the papacy, Neo-Thomism acquires a privileged position in Catholic philosophical culture. (p. 5) Here "privileged" means that the support for Neo-Thomism is coming from the hierarchy that administers the Church, not from laymen, who are the vast majority of Church membership. The support (McCool says on p. 32) includes replacing seminary professors who do not support Thomism with Neo-Scholastic professors.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">c. 1900: A third generation of Neo-Thomists arises. Trained in northern European universities (not Italian seminaries) they are familiar with—and ominously more sympathetic to—the philosophies that Neo-Thomists should counter, as Pope Leo XIII had hoped. Four intellectuals of this generation are the main subjects of this book: Pierre Rousselot, Joseph Marechal, Jacques Maritain, and Etienne Gilson. (p. 34)</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">1900-1950: This period is the "Thomistic Revival." (p. 34) This period ends because leading Neo-Thomists themselves no longer believe Thomism alone is adequate as a philosophy and theology. (p. 35) Acceptance of <b>pluralism</b>—the idea that different periods inevitably give rise to different philosophies—dominates Catholic intellectual culture by 1950. (p. 35)</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><b>THEME</b>. McCool's theme is straight-forward: "... [Neo-Scholastic] Thomism's own internal development had to lead inevitably to the undermining of the nineteenth-century conception of [Thomism] which had inspired [Leo XIII's] <i>Aeterni Patris</i>." (p.3) Because the 19th Century Neo-Scholastics inadvertently (or perhaps with wishful thinking) created a false of view of Thomism (that it harmonized the, in fact, discordant philosophical voices of ancient and medieval Catholics), their efforts were ultimately unproductive. The leaders of a movement cannot make accurate plans for changing their culture if they are working from false historical premises.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">The following two paragraphs, at the beginning of Chapter 7, summarize much of the book: </span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><i>In <i>Aeterni Patris</i> Leo XIII envisioned two main paths he was confident would lead to the recovery and authentic development of St. Thomas' own philosophy. One of these was ongoing dialogue between Thomists and other contemporary philosophers; the other was rigorous research into Thomism's historical sources in the texts of the medieval Doctors [the leading theologians] and their [later] commentators.</i> (p. 161)</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><i>As we have seen, Neo-Thomism's dialogue with contemporary [19th and 20th century] philosophy, far from promoting its own internal unity, led to the emergence of systematic pluralism among Thomists themselves. ... Marechal and Maritain were poles apart in their understanding of the nature and function of Thomistic metaphysics. Like Marechal, Rousselot was extremely open to Kantian and post-Kantian idealism. … Gilson, like Maritain, believed that Thomism and idealism were fundamentally incompatible and attempts to reconcile the two were bound to end in failure.</i> (p.161)</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><b>OBSERVATIONS ON THE NEO-THOMIST MOVEMENT</b>. Following are notes I have drawn from McCool's insights about the Neo-Thomist movement. Some of these insights, properly generalized, might apply to other movements.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">First, in the perspective of the struggle between reason and mysticism, why would the rise or fall of Thomism be important? Thomism, like all Catholicism, tries to "integrate" the supernatural and the natural. Thomas at least worked inductively from observation of this world, thus philosophically maintaining some contact with it. The post-Cartesian rationalists looked inside their own minds, not at the world. (p. 20) A revival of Thomism might offer a chance for Catholicism to move toward a more objective worldview.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><i>St. Thomas' metaphysics does not descend, as do the post-Cartesian systems of metaphysics, from an intuitively grasped God to finite and sensible reality. Starting from sensible reality and discovering its structure through metaphysical analysis, it follows an ascending order from the world to God.</i> (p. 20)</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">Second, movements do not perfectly overlap with organizations. A new movement might win the allegiance of some members of an established organization, but not others. The result can be conflict within the organization. For example, consider the Society of Jesus. Some Jesuit scholars were enthusiastic supporters of the idea of making Thomism the official philosophy taught in Catholic schools; other Jesuits were indifferent; and still others opposed the suggestion. (p. 13)</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">Third, even if they are not concise and always clear, books written by members of a movement do influence other members of the movement. An example is the massive five-volume work on theology by Joseph Kleutgen, whose works were published successively for 20 years (1853-1874). Its influence continued into the early 20th Century. (p. 21)</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">Fourth, for decades, the Neo-Thomist movement also used the textbooks of Neo-Thomist leaders to convey their view to the next generation. (p. 32) Books are transmitters from generation to generation as well as disseminators within a generation.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">Fifth, after the first, pioneer generation of Neo-Thomist thinkers, no deep thinkers followed in the second generation. Equally limiting was the failure of the Neo-Thomists to disseminate Neo-Thomism among the lay intellectuals in the Church. (For example, most Neo-Thomist writings remained in Latin.)</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><b>EVALUATION</b>. I would recommend this book only to a specialist focusing on theological and philosophical history of European-American Catholic intellectual culture in the last 150 years. Reading is often difficult and the author provides few aids such as a chronology or brief biographies for the main characters..</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">Burgess Laughlin</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">Author of <i>The Power and the Glory: The Key Ideas and Crusading Lives of Eight Debaters of Reason vs. Faith</i>, described here: <a href="http://www.reasonversusmysticism.com/">http://www.reasonversusmysticism.com/</a></span></div>
Burgess Laughlinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13865479709475171678noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2471789221776647520.post-8255296130006719122014-06-06T08:11:00.000-07:002014-06-06T08:11:25.257-07:00A Donor's Network for Reason Activists<br />
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<i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">This is a preliminary draft for initial review and public critique of its clarity, feasibility, and pitfalls. In comments, remember the rules of etiquette, including the need to state your name. Reason activists and potential donors can privately ask questions or express interest at burgesslaughlin@gmail.com.</span></i></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><b>PURPOSE</b>. A Donor's Network for Reason Activists (DNRA) intends to help certain activists connect to potential donors.[1] The donors hope their grants will enable activists in the U.S.A. to create cultural products that will disseminate the idea of reason—its nature, its applications, its implications, and its history, as well as its opposition to mysticism.[2, 3] DNRA's purpose is not to reward activists for existing projects, but to ease their financial struggle in creating and distributing future projects.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><b>RATIONALE</b>. The Objectivist movement—the movement that promotes Ayn Rand's philosophy of using reason alone to understand reality and guide one's life—is more than fifty years old. Particularly through The Ayn Rand Institute, proponents of Objectivism have made her philosophical writings available for study. Others, through public commentary and discussion groups, have further disseminated her philosophical ideas. Still others are laboring to apply the principles of Objectivism—particularly its ethics of egoism and politics of capitalism—to issues debated today.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">A need remains for specialized activists to champion the key idea of each fundamental branch of the philosophy.</span></div>
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<li style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">In metaphysics, <b>philosophical naturalism</b>: We live in one world, and every entity in it has a particular nature.</span></li>
<li style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">In epistemology, <b>reason</b>: It alone is our source of knowledge.</span></li>
<li style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">In ethics,<i> </i><b>rational egoism</b>: The individual should be the beneficiary of his actions.</span></li>
<li style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">In politics, <b>capitalism</b>: The sole purpose of government should be the protection of individual rights from aggression and fraud.</span></li>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">DNRA supports one specialization: promotion of the idea that reason is one's only means of knowledge, rejecting mysticism in all forms. </span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">Ideally, DNRA will give small donations each year to individuals who are full-time activists specialized in promoting reason and rejecting mysticism. Unfortunately in the U.S.A today there are no such individuals. However, there might be other individuals who are working on the sort of individual projects that a full-time, specialized activist would undertake. DNRA's small donations will support such projects.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><b>PLAN</b>. No money will pass through DNRA. Money will flow directly from individual donors to individual activists. Perhaps I will be the only donor. The amounts I can donate will be small, totaling perhaps $2000/year.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><b>REQUIREMENTS FOR ACTIVISTS</b>. To receive a donation that will support your activist work, you must:</span></div>
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<li style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><b>Be planning to produce a particular intellectual product</b>, suitable for public dissemination, that supports reason by examining its nature, or its applications, or its implications, or its history, or its contrasts to mysticism. Example products are: a book, a conference paper, a videotape of a lecture, an online transcript of a lecture, an online magazine essay, or a website devoted to reason or some major aspect of it.</span></li>
<li style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><b>Submit a brief proposal</b>: What is the product you expect to create and offer to the intellectual public? When will it be available? How will it promote reason in U.S.A. culture? Describe the planned product in enough detail to allow a potential donor, if any, to make a decision about supporting it; and, after completing the project, describe the product so that interested viewers can decide whether to obtain it. The proposal should also provide (1) your name, (2) location, (3) contact information,and (4) current professional affiliation, if any. I will not make these last four items public but I or you will make them available to potential donors, if any.</span></li>
<li style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><b>Make the completed product available to the public</b>, either for purchase at a competitive price or through other access (such as an open library archive).</span></li>
<li style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><span style="font: 12.0px Lucida Grande;"></span><b>Allow DNRA, in a public list of achievements, to identify the completed project</b> (your name, the product title, abstract of the product, type of product, and the product's location for access). </span></li>
</ul>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><b>EXAMPLES</b>. Existing products that would certainly qualify if proposed today are: </span></div>
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<li style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">Ayn Rand's lecture, "Faith and Force: The Destroyers of the Modern World," a lecture read at Yale University in 1960, and then printed in <i>Philosophy: Who Needs It</i>, 1982.</span></li>
<li style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">Ayn Rand's book, <i>Introduction to Objectivist Epistemology</i>, originally published as a series of articles in the periodical, <i>The Objectivist</i>, and re-published in 1990 in an expanded second edition.</span></li>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">Imaginary products that would qualify are:</span></div>
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<li style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">A paper describing reduction, a tool of reason, for an academic conference.</span></li>
<li style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">A video explaining the nature of reason to young people mature enough to begin philosophizing.</span></li>
<li style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">A podcast surveying the types of mysticism active in our culture today.</span></li>
<li style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">An essay focusing on a particular current controversy, showing the way in which reason could solve the problem.</span></li>
<li style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">A lexicon of reason, that is, a short book that defines reason, its components, and the manner in which they relate to each other. </span></li>
<li style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">A lecture demonstrating the use of reason in a particular historical setting—for example, a scientist solving a problem. </span></li>
<li style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">A speech for a wide audience, championing reason by defining it, illustrating it, and suggesting the consequences for our lives if it were widely and consistently applied, even if only by intellectuals.</span></li>
<li style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">An essay explaining why there is one reason but many forms of mysticism.</span></li>
<li style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">An essay refuting the Christian, Muslim, and Judaic idea that we can use both reason and mysticism in some sort of compromise.</span></li>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><b>UNSUITABLE EXAMPLES</b>. Examples of projects <i>not</i> suitable for donations from DNRA are: </span></div>
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<li style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">Products which treat reason tangentially.</span></li>
<li style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">Products created by using reason but not explaining it, its applications, its history, or its implications for the other branches of Objectivism.</span></li>
<li style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">Products that focus mainly on "reason" as it appears in non-objective philosophies such as Catholicism or Kantianism—unless the author fully compares each form to actual reason as characterized in Objectivism.</span></li>
<li style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">Products that commit the fallacy of the frozen abstraction by equating reason with mathematics, logic, or science (such as physics).</span></li>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><b>SUMMARY</b>. A Donor's Network for Reason Activists offers small donations in trade for seeing new products become available for promoting reason or fighting mysticism in the U.S.A. today.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">Burgess Laughlin</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">Author, <i>The Power and the Glory: The Key Ideas and Crusading Lives of Eight Debaters of Reason vs. Faith</i>, described here: <a href="http://www.reasonversusmysticism.com/">http://www.reasonversusmysticism.com/</a></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">[1] DISCLAIMER: Donor's Network for Reason Activists has no connection—commercial, organizational, or philosophical—to The Reason Foundation (<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reason_Foundation">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reason_Foundation</a>), <i>Reason</i> magazine, or any other entity that happens to use the word "reason" in its title.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">[2] For my meaning of "reason," see: <a href="http://reasonversusmysticism.blogspot.com/2009/08/what-is-reason.html">http://reasonversusmysticism.blogspot.com/2009/08/what-is-reason.html</a>.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">[3] For my meaning of "mysticism," see: <a href="http://reasonversusmysticism.blogspot.com/2009/08/what-is-mysticism.html">http://reasonversusmysticism.blogspot.com/2009/08/what-is-mysticism.html</a>.</span></div>
Burgess Laughlinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13865479709475171678noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2471789221776647520.post-39556958240365932642014-05-22T07:42:00.000-07:002014-05-22T07:42:58.822-07:00Is James Randi a full-time, specialized activist for reason?<br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">Here, on May 16, 2014, I asked for the name of anyone in the USA who is a full-time, specialized activist for reason. I received several suggestions. One was James Randi (b. 1928). Is he a specialized activist for reason?</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">Unfortunately no one has yet published a biography of James Randi's long, productive career. Trying to decide whether Randi is worth furher investigation as a candidate, I studied three publications, one about and two from Randi. First, the long and informative Wikipedia article [1] does nothing to substantiate the claim that Randi is a full-time, specialized activist for reason. To the contrary, the article makes clear that, though Randi likes reason, he has been focused on two other goals: </span></div>
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<li style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">GOAL 1: Investigating the claims made by a variety of individuals, such as advocates of extrasensory perception, and, where those claims are shown to be false or even fraudulent, overturning ("debunking") the claims.</span></li>
<li style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">GOAL 2: Defending the methods of science, and, as a corollary, refuting pseudo-scientific claims (for example, by supporters of homeopathy). Thus Randi rightly takes both a positive approach to science and a negative approach to pseudo-science (and "flim-flam" in general).</span></li>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">Randi explains and supports science, but he is not a full-time, specialized promoter of reason. Science is not reason. Science uses reason in particular ways, but is not the same thing as reason.* Nor does Randi, as far as I can tell from the titles in his list of publications, contrast reason with mysticism, thereby explaining both reason and mysticism.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">The second publication I examined was an informative and entertaining lecture by James Randi on his own channel, "skeptitube." This video is apparently a recording of a lecture he gave at Caltech in 1992.[2] Here Randi describes himself as a "skeptic." He says nothing about promoting reason. He conducts an imaginary experiment. The conclusions he draws are severely limited, which is appropriate for science. A philosopher, by contrast, can survey the world around him and draw general or even universal conclusions—for example, about the nature of reason. Randi's lecture supports science, not reason. They are not the same.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">A third sampling of Randi's long list of works is an article he wrote for an online journal he apparently established. The article is "Science, Pseudoscience: the Differences."[3] Once again, the subject is science, not reason. And once again Randi is an able defender of science, but he has little to say about reason. Minor points in his article raise questions about Randi's philosophy, particularly his epistemology. For example, after placing the words <i>the truth</i> in scare-quotes, thus throwing doubt on the idea, he says that truth is unreachable, "though in spite of Zeno's Paradox, we do eventually and essentially get there. But let's not examine <i>that</i> can of worms." (p. 1 of a five-page printout) </span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">Does Randi think that truth is possible? Or is Randi a philosophical skeptic, a person who believes that knowledge is impossible, at least to some degree? Either way, his dismissal of discussion of a "can of worms" is not the stance of a specialized, full-time activist for reason. Such an activist would welcome every opportunity to strengthen confidence in reason by solving puzzles about it.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">Randi also makes clear (p. 1) that he opposes religion because religion is based on faith and rejects "reason, investigation, and logic." Randi does not go further in describing either mysticism or reason. So, here too there is evidence of Randi's personal support of reason but no full-time specialization in activism for reason.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">In summary, working only from these three samples and from his newsletters which I read decades ago, I can say James Randi has had a long, productive, successful career as a defender of science and an exposer of "flim-flam." He is not a specialized, full-time activist for reason. Randi's relationship to reason is analogous to the imprint a seal makes in wax. The imprint in the wax is a result of the seal. Likewise, Randi's work in supporting science is a result of his respect for reason, but respect for a subject is not the same as specializing in promoting it.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">Burgess Laughlin</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">Author of The Power and the Glory: The Key Ideas and Crusading Lives of Eight Debaters of Reason vs. Faith, described here: http://www.reasonversusmysticism.com/</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">* </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">For the meaning of reason, see my post on August 25, 2009: </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><a href="http://reasonversusmysticism.blogspot.com/2009/08/what-is-reason.html">http://reasonversusmysticism.blogspot.com/2009/08/what-is-reason.html</a></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">.</span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">[1] "James Randi," May 18, 2014, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Randi">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Randi</a>.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">[2] James Randi, lecture on proving the negative, <a href="http://skeptitube.com/james-randi.php">http://skeptitube.com/james-randi.php</a>, 1992. I am not certain of the location and time of this lecture.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">[3] James Randi, "Science[,] Pseudoscience: the Differences," <a href="http://www.mukto-mona.com/new_site/mukto-mona/Articles/randi/science_pseudoscience.htm">http://www.mukto-mona.com/new_site/mukto-mona/Articles/randi/science_pseudoscience.htm</a>, no date of publication.</span></div>
Burgess Laughlinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13865479709475171678noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2471789221776647520.post-90804344182025821712014-05-16T18:43:00.000-07:002014-05-17T04:14:45.985-07:00$100 Finder's Fee: Can you name a full-time activist for reason?<br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">I am offering a small finder's fee to the first person who can identify a specialized activist, in the USA, working full-time to support reason as a specialized subject. <i>Identify</i> means providing the activist's name and a link to him. <i>Support</i> means explicit, sustained advocacy as a career path. <i>Reason</i> means the human faculty that integrates sense-perceptions into concepts, creates principles, forms generalizations, develops theories, and so forth—all following logic as the art of noncontradictory identification of the facts of reality. </span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">(An example of a specialized activist is Alex Epstein of Center for Industrial Progress. For the distinction between specialized and general activism: <a href="http://aristotleadventure.blogspot.com/2012/12/specialized-vs-general-activismwhich-is.html">http://aristotleadventure.blogspot.com/2012/12/specialized-vs-general-activismwhich-is.html</a>)</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">The specialized activist for reason would be taking steps such as:</span></div>
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<li style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">Collecting a flood of examples of the use of reason, from history and today.</span></li>
<li style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">Showcasing the tools of reason: induction, deduction, reduction, analysis, and so forth.</span></li>
<li style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">Defining reason at various lengths, for a variety of audiences.</span></li>
<li style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">Showing the benefits of reason in our world today.</span></li>
<li style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">Contrasting reason with mysticism—examples of it, its nature, its many forms, and its consequences in history and in life today.</span></li>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">The specialized activist for reason would engage in various tasks such as:</span></div>
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<li style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">Writing weblog posts.</span></li>
<li style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">Producing videotapes or podcasts.</span></li>
<li style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">Welcoming interviews on radio and television.</span></li>
<li style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">Engaging debaters on university campuses and elsewhere.</span></li>
<li style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">Writing magazine articles.</span></li>
<li style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><span style="font: 12.0px Lucida Grande;"></span>Lecturing on reason in general or specific facets of reason and mysticism.</span></li>
<li style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">Conducting seminars.</span></li>
<li style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">Teaching classes.</span></li>
<li style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><span style="font: 12.0px Lucida Grande;"></span>Writing books.</span></li>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">If you know of such a person (or organization), please comment below or email me at burgesslaughlin@gmail.com.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">Burgess Laughlin</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">Author of <i>The Power and the Glory: They Key Ideas and Crusading Lives of Eight Debaters of Reason vs. Faith</i>, described at <a href="http://www.reasonversusmysticism.com/">http://www.reasonversusmysticism.com/</a></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">P. S. — If you are aware of no such person but you think there <i>should</i> be a full-time activist for reason and you would be willing to support him, please tell me. Perhaps we can collaborate, if not immediately, then perhaps in the future. My resources are small, but I am prepared to donate $2000/year to that person to support his work. </span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><b>In the movement that supports a philosophy of reason, the time has come for someone to speak for reason: full-time, radically, and at length.</b></span></div>
Burgess Laughlinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13865479709475171678noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2471789221776647520.post-36842162734189116492014-05-15T07:26:00.000-07:002014-05-15T07:27:43.749-07:00BkNotes: Nichols's Conversation of Faith and Reason<br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">Aidan Nichols, <i>Conversation of Faith and Reason: Modern Catholic Thought from Hermes to Benedict XVI</i>, Chicago, Hillenbrand Books (Liturgy Training Publications), 2011, 222 pages.</span></b></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><b>AUTHOR</b>. Aidan Nichols is a Dominican theologian. (p. iv) He is a "historical theologian" (p. 1), that is, he focuses on studying the <i>history</i> of theology. He is also a "fundamental or dogmatic theologian, concerned to found more securely the faith of the Church." (p. 1) Thus he is both descriptive and prescriptive in his work. He seeks to draw his prescriptions from the descriptions. (pp. 1-2)</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><b>AUDIENCE</b>. In his foreword to <i>Conversation of Faith and Reason</i>, Matthew Levering (a professor of theology, University of Dayton) says that Aidan Nichols, the author, wrote <i>Conversation</i> for readers "looking for high-level discussions of how humans come to know, to desire, and to express the truth about God and human beings"; the book is not for readers "who seek popularized depictions of faith and reason." (p. iv) </span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">Levering's warning to readers is understated. Unless you are already familiar with the issues and history of this subject, you will need to read slowly, take notes, and research some of the many names that Nichols includes in his complex account. This slim book requires a lot of effort, but it helps identify the roots of Catholic activism for the Church's support of both faith and reason (as the Church defines it).</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><b>SUBJECT</b>. <i>Conversation of Faith and Reason</i> is a chronological examination of Catholic theologians as they examine the nature and interrelationship of faith and reason (that is, theology and philosophy) within the Catholic worldview. The Table of Contents outlines the book. Each of the eleven chapters discusses one or two theologians. The period which the book covers is mostly 1800 to 2005, but the author—and the theologians he discusses—refer back to Bonaventure, Thomas Aquinas, Anselm, Augustine, and others. Most of the theologians examined in the main chapters were Europeans who were, at one time or another, working in academia. Five of the thirteen men in the debate also became popes.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">The chapters are:</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">1. Introduction.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">2. A Kantian Beginning: George Hermes.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">3. A Catholic Hegel? Anton Gunther.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">4. The Response of Fideism: Louis Bautain.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">5. Magisterial Interventions: Gregory XVI and Pius IX.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">6. Return to the Schoolmen: Joseph Kleutgen and Leo XIII.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">7. Embodying the Leonine Project: Etienne Gilson.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">8. The Philosophy of Action: Maurice Blondel.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">9. The Dispute over Apologetics: From Blondel to Balthasar.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">10. A Synthetic Outcome? John Paul II's Letter <i>Fides et Ratio</i>.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">11. From Cracow to Regensburg: Benedict XVI.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">The introduction features a brief history of Catholic views of the nature of faith, from the Old Testament writers to the Council of Trent (1545-1563). The Council declared that there are two kinds of faith. The first is a merely human faith: We accept a revelation as believable because it fits within what we already know as acceptable. The second is divine faith: We accept a revelation because God, the supreme speaker of truth, said it. To have this sort of faith, the believer must have received God's grace. (p. 15)</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><i>So far as authoritative or classical sources for Catholic thought are concerned—Church Fathers, doctors, ecumenical Councils, papal definitions of doctrine, there the position, taken by and large, may be said to stand as the nineteenth century opens.</i> (p. 15)</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><b>THEME</b>. Most of the book is devoted to presenting and discussing the main Catholic theologians of the 19th and 20th Centuries. However, to anyone studying Catholic philosophical or theological activism today, the author's own views are key. He is an activist through his teaching and writing.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">The main point of the book is that the selected theologians have understood reason, faith, and their relationship in a variety of ways. Sometimes popes were able to synthesize those varying views; and sometimes popes overruled some of the interpretations. For example, Pope John Paul II's encyclical Fides et Ratio (1998) identifies the sides of the debate, says Nichols. (p. ix)</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">What are Nichols's definitions of reason and faith? He draws from three sources: "Scripture, Tradition, magisterium." (p. 2)</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><i>Faith comes from hearing. It is the welcoming acceptance of a message issuing from Christ and his apostles, an 'apostolic preaching' which ... is confirmed by divine acts. These acts may be outer and public in the form of 'signs' of some description ... or they may be inner and altogether personal, invisible movements within the human soul. ... To sum up the conclusions so far: for the New Testament, taken very broadly, faith is the reception of a message.</i> (p. 3)</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">Nichols says that Saint Paul believed faith to enable individuals to "only glimpse its own object remotely." (p. 4) Saint John, however, thought of faith and knowledge as nearly synonymous. (pp. 4-5) Faith, according to John, is essentially mystical. (p. 5) </span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">In discussing Augustine's saying, <i>Crede ut intelligas</i> ("Believe that you might understand"), Nichols defines "believing." "What Augustine meant by 'believing' is, at its most intense and comprehensive, a form of religious understanding where, under the enlivening action of charity, faith 'expands into a theological elaboration and mystical penetration' of its own object." (p. 7) Nichols further offers Thomas Aquinas's definition of faith as "the habit of mind whereby eternal life begins in us, causing the mind the assent to things that do not appear." (p. 5)</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">Nichols also discusses definitions of reason. Among the beliefs of the Latin Church fathers, Nichols says, "reason" meant "reasoned account" or "coherent explanation." (p. 5) Following the laws of logic is a necessary condition of rationality, but not a sufficient one. (p. 17) In looking at Enlightenment era thinkers' views of the nature of reason, he finds major differences. (p. 17) Nichols is a moderate pluralist: He sees various traditions each having its own meaning of "reason." However, he does not surrender to pluralism. He suggests a minimum definition of (1) following rules of logic in (2) argumentation from principles and to principles. (p. 18)</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">Nichols thinks that humans have one form of reason, the form they share (in a limited way) with God's reason. If you set aside that sharing, then there are a variety of forms of reason ("multiplicity of rationalities"). He names metaphysical reason, existential reason, and aesthetic reason. Divine reason is the unifier, for those who believe in God. (pp. 19-20)</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">The sentence that best captures the theme of the book is: "Revelational thinking assists both conceptual amplitude and argumentative solidity, desirable qualities of philosophical reason as such." (p. 211)</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><b>STYLE</b>. Nichols is generally clear when he relates the history of the "conversation" among Catholic theologians—the names, places, and times. Nichols is often unclear when he attempts to describe the theological views of those theologians. One reason might be because the theologians wrote about subjects that do not exist, such as God, the Holy Spirit, and revelations. Clearly describing the nonexistent is difficult. A second reason for lack of clarity in Nichols's account might be that his sources, the theologians he examines, were themselves unclear in their own explanations. Some were influenced by Kant and Hegel, who wrote in a floating, rationalistic and therefore vague style. </span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">(By rationalism I mean the notion that the key to correct thinking is merely to make sure that all of our conclusions follow syllogistically from our premises, never mind where those premises come from; reason, by contrast, begins with sense-perception and proceeds inductively and deductively from there.)</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">Here is an example of rationalistic writing:</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><i>In its activity, divine grace constitutes a higher principle which overarches natural created reality. In giving access to this higher principle, faith englobes reason without truncating it. Divine grace in its essential supernaturality is not counterposed to the natural experiencing, reasoning and knowing subject as though it were antithetical to that subject in the latter's native modes of moving around the world. ...The difficulty about faith for post-Renaissance people is that they do not approach their rational and free 'I' as naturally ordered beyond itself. Not surprisingly, then, Christian faith, originating in the divine action of revelation, loses for them its proper intelligibility.</i> (pp. 18-19)</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><b>CONCLUSION</b>. For a slow, careful reader, Nichols's <i>Conversation of Faith and Reason</i> offers a convenient one-volume summary of Catholic theologians' views of faith, reason, and their relationship. Though the book focuses mostly on the 19th and 20th centuries, it also surveys the Church's long earlier history. Unfortunately the book is difficult to read because of the author's style.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">Burgess Laughlin</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">Author, <i>The Power and the Glory: The Key Ideas and Crusading Lives of Eight Debaters of Reason vs. Faith</i>, described here: <a href="http://www.reasonversusmysticism.com/">http://www.reasonversusmysticism.com/</a> </span></div>
Burgess Laughlinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13865479709475171678noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2471789221776647520.post-73394240444027971272014-04-28T14:58:00.000-07:002014-04-28T14:59:35.776-07:00Example of Fundamental Conflicts within a Mystical Movement<br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">In the two preceding posts I provided my notes on Richard M. Gula's <i>Reason Informed by Faith: Foundations of Catholic Morality</i>. In the post below I focus on one element of the book, Gula's account of a debate among Catholic theologians in the 20th Century. </span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">Catholicism is a 2000-year old religion. Its theologians have always debated about the ideal relationship between reason and mysticism (faith in particular). Most Catholic theologians have tried to integrate them. Philosopher Leonard Peikoff has rightly called this attempt "misintegration." It is logically impossible to integrate contradictories. "Misintegration" is the result of such an attempt. (See the Nov. 28, 2012 post (<a href="http://reasonversusmysticism.blogspot.com/2012/11/bkrev-peikoff-dim-hypothesis.html">here</a>) for a review of Leonard Peikoff's <i>The DIM Hypothesis</i>.)</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">The following example, taken from Gula's confusing account, looks at the debate among Catholic theologians from about 1940 to about 1990 (and presumably today). The key question in the debate was: <i>What should be the source of Catholic morality?</i> Should theologians start with the principles provided by mystical sources (Holy Scripture, Church Tradition, and the magisterium guided by the Holy Spirit)? Or should theologians begin with natural law, that is, principles which thinking about the world (which God created) can produce?</span></div>
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<b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">THE EVENTS</span></b></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><b>Early 20th Century</b>: The manuals which Catholic teachers used to teach Catholic morality presented the "classical moral theology" of Catholicism. Gula is unclear here, but apparently the classical moral theology was the result of Catholic theologians thinking about ("reflecting on" ) moral problems as <u>natural law</u>, without referring directly to the roots of Catholic morality in specifically Christian beliefs. (p. 1, par. 1)</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><b>1940-1970</b>: A movement arose wanting to "<u>Christianize</u>" Catholic morality by rooting that morality directly into Holy Scripture and "the mysteries of faith." (p. 1, par. 2) Gula does not say so, but apparently this Christianizing movement was a reaction against an earlier movement to root Catholic morality in natural law.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><b>1962-1965</b>: The Second Vatican Council calls for radical revision of the manuals of morality. (p. 1, par. 1)</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><b>Late 1960s-early 1970s</b>: Some Catholic theologians agreed with the Second Vatican Council's call to revise the manuals but broke from the early revisionists, the ones who wanted to base morality directly on Holy Scripture and other specifically Catholic sources. These new theologians instead wanted to use a <i>philosophical</i> method to develop "<u>autonomous ethics</u>," that is, ethics based on, not God's revelations (in Holy Scripture), but on thinking about the human person who was created by God to have a certain nature and must discover morality for himself through reason. (p. 1, par. 2)</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">Why did many Catholic theologians of the autonomous-ethics movement in the 1960s to 1970s want to revise Catholic morality's roots? They had two motivations. First was that the non-Catholic culture around them was becoming more secular, and a <i>philosophical</i> approach would be more acceptable to secularists. Second was that Catholic theologians of the autonomous-ethics movement reacted against the earlier Christianizing phase of renewal, the phase that began in the 1940s and wanted to ground Catholic morality in Catholic mystical sources. Apparently the Catholic theologians of the autonomous-ethics movement of the 1970s objected to relying on specifically Catholic roots for two reasons. First, the earlier renewalists, the Christianizers, apparently published essays that were "uncritical," that is, they did not meet rigorous academic standards and therefore were an embarrassment. (Gula is not clear here.) Second, the earlier, Christianizing renewal movement's products (which were rooted in specifically Catholic sources) were too sectarian, that is, too Catholic. That was a problem in the 1970s and later because by then Catholic theologians wanted to appeal to intellectuals all over the world regardless of their religious choices. (Apparently these Catholic autonomous- ethics theologians of the 1970s wanted to be "multicultural" in appeal.) (p. 1, par. 3)</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><b>1970s</b>: Apparently still another movement arose among Catholic theologians. (Gula is not clear about the timing.) This movement, the "<u>faith ethics</u>" movement, arose in reaction against the autonomous-ethics movement. The faith-ethics movement's theologians said that mysticism (specifically in the form of God's revelations) must have a role in forming Catholic morality. Thus this movement of the late 1970s wanted to restore the Christianizing renewalist movement of the 1940s to 1950s. (p. 1, par. 4)</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><b>1980s</b>: At the time of Gula's writing (1989), Catholic theologians, considered as a group, were in "tension." (That is the academic word for "contradiction.") They were trying to meet both demands—"trying to include the orientation of faith ethics, while preserving at the same time reason's critical reflection on human experience which characterizes autonomous ethics." </span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">In other words, Gula says, Catholic theologians generally wanted to avoid relying on either sectarianism (faith ethics) or humanism (autonomous ethics) in isolation. (p. 1, par. 4) Instead, the Catholic theologians of the 1980s wanted to speak of Catholic morality "in a language accessible to nonbelievers" as well as Catholic believers. (p. 1, par. 4 continuing onto p. 2) This is an example of the Catholic "both/and" approach to many issues. ("Faith and reason" is an example.) It is "misintegration," and the Church advocates both at the same time.</span></div>
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<b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">SUMMARY</span></b></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">Catholic theologians from around 1940 to around 1990 turned from one pole to another, that is, from open mysticism to the truncated, Catholic version of reason. They made their turns sometimes for loyalty to their mystical sources and at other times for the hope of reaching their modern goal of being able to talk to all individuals everywhere, regardless of religious or cultural background. Catholic theologians continue today trying to find the right mix of contradictory sources of knowledge. Trying to "integrate" mysticism and (alleged) reason is an effort that is inherently unstable. The instability leads to conflict and confusion in the movement.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">Burgess Laughlin</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">Author, <i>The Power and the Glory: The Key Ideas and Crusading Lives of Eight Debaters of Reason vs. Faith</i>, described at <a href="http://www.reasonversusmysticism.com/">http://www.reasonversusmysticism.com/</a></span></div>
Burgess Laughlinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13865479709475171678noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2471789221776647520.post-88664113451345689682014-04-26T08:18:00.000-07:002014-04-26T08:18:34.241-07:00A Catholic Theologian's View of Reason and Mysticism<br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">In the previous post, I briefly reviewed Richard M. Gula's <i>Reason Informed by Faith: Foundations of Catholic Morality</i>. The post below records some of my notes on Gula's views of reason and mysticism.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><b>REASON</b>. What is reason? Gula provides no direct answer. Curiously, in a book dedicated in part to reason, the index has no entry for reason. The reader must infer Gula's meaning of "reason" from clues. Here is one clue. At one point he implies that reason is "critical reflection on human experience." That sounds promising. He says that critical reflection is "a valid source for coming to know what is morally required." However, his justification for doing so is the "principle of mediation: "... only through the human ... do we come to know God and respond to what God is ... requiring us ... to do." That principle in turn rests on "a commitment of faith by which we accept the mystery of Christ as the full revelation of God and accept the sources of faith as valid sources of coming to the truth about God, being human, and living in the world." (p. 8) So, according to Gula, "reason" works on the material provided mystically by God. This is not reason as the faculty of forming abstractions logically from sense-perception of the natural world. </span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">"Reflection" is a synonym for reason in Gula's view. At one point (p. 46), Gula even speaks of "reflection informed by faith" as he spoke of "reason informed by faith in the title of his book. "Reflection" is an appropriate word here. The Catholic thinker reflects on ideas that come from outside of him; he does not create these ideas. He reflects on them as premises of some sort in his chain of thinking. </span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">When should we use reason and how? In a section called "Reflection," Gula says: "We turn to the language of the mind when we want to support, analyze, and communicate what we grasp by heart." (p. 16) Again Gula says that in ethics, reason (which he refers to as "rational explanations" and "conceptual knowledge") is useful if we want "to communicate values and to argue for or against a position." (p. 84) Reason, then, is for persuasively conveying ideas to other individuals, not for gaining new ideas of our own. Reason is rhetoric.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><i>The strict logic of a scientific nature is necessary in morality in order to defend publicly what we have decided. But we do not actually make our decisions in the same logical way that we try to justify them. Ordinarily in the oral life, we lead with the heart. Judgments of rationality follow in a complementary way.</i> (p. 316)</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">We get ideas—in least in the field of ethics—from God via revelation and our "heart," and then we use reason to tidy up our position when speaking to others. So much for reason, at least in the field of ethics. (Gula's view of the roles of reason in other fields are not clear in this book.)</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><b>MYSTICISM</b>. Gula does not use the word "mysticism" to identify the class of alternatives to reason. Instead he identifies each form of mysticism individually. For example, early in the book Gula names three "theological sources of faith—scripture, Jesus, and the church." (p. 4) A Catholic takes on faith the ideas conveyed through scripture, through Jesus's words as preserved in Catholic tradition, and through the Church's magisterium, its special teaching ability, as guided by the Holy Spirit. The following passage makes those sources explicit:</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><i>The Christian conviction about the good is governed by the religious beliefs expressed in the stories of the Bible, especially in Jesus, and further expounded in the theological tradition of the church.</i> (p. 44)</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">Another form of Catholic mysticism is "sensitivity," as shown in two passages:</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">(1) <i>Sensitivity is fundamental. It implies that moral living begins in the heart and not with an abstract principle about the nature of being human from which we draw crisp conclusions. ... The foundational experience that awakens our moral consciousness ... is the experience of the sacredness of human life, or the value of persons as persons. All morality is organically linked to this foundational experience. The value of persons as persons can only be appreciated. It is not something we reason to or can prove with satisfaction of a logical syllogism. That is why the foundational moral experience is a matter of the heart. ... To bring sensitivity to moral analysis, then, is to engage artistic or mystical insight in the service of the moral life and moral reflection.</i> (pp. 13-14)</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">(2) <i>The sensitivity required for the moralist to engage in moral 'theological' reflection is a sensitivity of the heart attuned to the presence of God. ... Without this prayerful attentiveness to God, moral reflection [that is, "reason"] stops short of attending to the fullness of the relationships which make up the moral life.</i> (p. 15)</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">Yet another form of mysticism appearing in Gula's book is the mysticism of "theological code words." For example, Gula says, the term "Trinity" is a "theological code word" for the "freedom and totality of God's self-giving." (p.65) You see or hear the word "Trinity" and then you "know" something about God.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">Gula identifies a last form: the mysticism of experience. </span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><i>Evaluative knowledge, symbolized by the heart, is the kind of knowledge we have when we are 'caught up' in someone or something through personal involvement or commitment. Evaluative knowledge is more personal, more self-involving than conceptual knowledge of facts or ideas, for it has to do with grasping the quality of a person, object, or event. We do not gain evaluative knowledge by words but by touch, sight, and sound, by experiencing victories and failures, sleeplessness and devotion. ... In short, evaluative knowledge is a felt knowledge which we discover through personal involvement and reflection.</i> (p. 84)</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><b>IMAGINATION</b>. In Gula's Catholicism, reason is not the faculty of integration of sense data into abstractions. Reason is instead merely a faculty of argumentation, that is, lining ideas up syllogistically, mainly for persuasion.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">Catholicism values integration, connecting things into a system, as Gula says through out his book. If not reason, then what in Catholicism performs integration? Gula's answer is the faculty of "imagination." Four passages illustrate it.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">(1) <i>Understood in its deepest sense, the imagination ... is the capacity to construct a world. By means of the imagination we bring together diverse experiences into a meaningful whole.</i> (p. 71) </span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">(2) The imagination connects "diverse beliefs and experiences." (p. 72)</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">(3) <i>When religious beliefs, for example, are part of the imaginative process, they enter into the content of what we experience and contribute toward connecting the many dimensions of experience with the values entailed in those beliefs.</i> (p. 72) </span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">(4) <i>The imagination informs what we think, what we see, the way we feel, our readiness to act, and the direction of our actions.</i> (p. 72)</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><b>RELATIONSHIP OF REASON AND MYSTICISM</b>. We have seen above that Gula cites various sources of mysticism, that is, non-rational claims to "knowledge." He restricts "reason" to reflection on ideas that have come into the mind in various ways. He thus expands mysticism and shrinks reason. What is the relationship between them? The next three passages show that Gula's Catholicism claims adherence to both faith and reason.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">(1) <i>Characteristically, Catholic moral theology relies on 'mediation' for coming to know God and what faith requires. This means that it takes seriously not only revelation and the tradition of the Church, but also critical reflection ["reason"] on ongoing human experience as well. Both faith and reason, then, are the fundamental sources to which we appeal in giving content to ethics [theory] and morals [practice] within Catholic moral theology.</i> (p. 10)</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">(2) <i>Our affective commitment to ... the value of persons ... are 'reasons of the heart' which ultimately cannot be proven, yet which will always remain the final court of appeal for our moral judgments. We appeal to 'reasons of the head', or rational arguments, to confirm and demonstrate in a way that can be convincing to another what we already know by heart. In the moral life, head and heart work together.</i> (p. 14)</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">(3) <i>The Catholic tradition has not maintained ... a complete dependence of morality on faith. It holds to a relative autonomy for faith and morality. Faith informs reason, but it does not replace it. Faith</i> and <i>reason are the two sources of moral knowledge to which the Catholic tradition appeals.</i> (p. 45)</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">Gula acknowledges the central problem in claiming both faith and reason: How does one decide to use one or the other claim to knowledge?</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><i>The challenge to moral theology today lies in maintaining the proper relationship of faith and reason for determining what constitutes morally good character and right moral action.</i> (p. 46) </span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">When pressed for demands for a rational approach, Gula resorts to polylogism and subjectivism: </span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><i>Thus, the 'therefore' which links morality to religious beliefs is not by way of a strict inference of syllogistic logic. [Instead, the] inference is made by way of ... 'the logic of self-involvement'.</i></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">Such a "logic" considers the believer's "certain manner of living" and "having certain attitudes and feelings." (pp. 48-49) An additional form of Catholic mysticism, the mysticism of Christian symbols, ties up any loose ends left by other forms of mysticism.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><i>Using a Christian symbol of some sort to look on a situation, then, will determine to some extent what one sees [the is, the facts] and what one does [the ought, the values]." (p.50)</i></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><b>SUMMARY</b>. In Gula's Catholicism, mysticism is broad and takes many forms; reason is narrow and is truncated to being a tool of rhetoric. The Church insists on claiming both, leaving no room for the mind that starts from sense-perception, forms abstractions about the world, and then selects values from among those facts. For the Church, mysticism is the means for obtaining morals from another world, and "reason" is the means the Church uses to argue for its positions.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">Burgess Laughlin</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">Author, <i>The Power and the Glory: The Key Ideas and Crusading Lives of Eight Debaters of Reason vs. Faith</i>, described at <a href="http://www.reasonversusmysticism.com/">http://www.reasonversusmysticism.com/</a></span></div>
Burgess Laughlinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13865479709475171678noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2471789221776647520.post-37171061900023870512014-04-21T17:34:00.000-07:002014-04-21T17:34:51.500-07:00BkRev: Reason Informed by Faith<br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><b>Richard M. Gula, S.S., <i>Reason Informed by Faith: Foundations of Catholic Morality</i>, New York, Paulist Press, 1989, 334 pages</b>.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">Two posts will collect notes I have made on Richard M. Gula's <i>Reason Informed by Faith</i>. The first post, below, is an informal book review. The next post will examine Gula's Catholic view of reason, mysticism, and their relationship. </span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><b>AUTHOR</b>. Richard M. Gula is a Catholic intellectual activist. He disseminates his understanding of his worldview—its supernaturalism, mysticism, altruism, and statism—to other, more specialized Catholic intellectuals and particularly to the Catholics involved in "pastoral care," which means the bishops, the priests, and lay workers who make daily contact with the great flock of Catholics who look to the Church for guidance in their lives. Gula trains these trainers. </span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">The back cover of the book says that Richard M. Gula was—in 1989, the year of publishing <i>Reason Informed by Faith</i>—the Professor of Moral Theology at St. Patrick's Seminary in Menlo Park, California. A seminary is a sort of university, one reserved for training the intellectuals of the Church—the priests, the bishops, the cardinals, and the popes, as well as the Catholic intellectuals who work outside the hierarchy of the Church but in universities, "think-tanks," and advocacy organizations.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">The "S.S." after Gula's name means Society of Saint-Sulpice, a Catholic organization devoted to training the intellectual leaders of the Church: <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Society_of_Saint-Sulpice">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Society_of_Saint-Sulpice</a>. Gula's central purpose in life appears to be an extension of his training. The <i>Logos Almanac of the Christian World</i>, at <a href="http://almanac.logos.com/">http://almanac.logos.com/</a>, speaks of Richard_M._Gula thus:</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><i>As a Sulpician priest, Rich has dedicated his life to the education and formation of ministers in the Church. After teaching in diocesan seminaries for twenty-three years, Rich came to [the Franciscan School of Theology] in 1996 to participate in a more diverse and ecumenical effort in preparing ministers for the Church. As a moral theologian, Rich has tried to be a bridge between the community of academic theologians and the community of pastoral ministers. Besides teaching, Rich is on the workshop circuit lecturing to clerical and lay ministers on topics in moral theology, medical ethics, and professional ethics. He is also involved in the world of health care as an ethics consultant to hospitals. His several books and many articles have addressed a variety of moral issues which pastoral ministers have to face today.</i></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">As a writer, lecturer, and teacher, Richard M. Gula is a fount of not only particular principles of Catholicism, but also, and more importantly, the conveyor of an intellectually systematized worldview. That systematization—an act of integration— makes Catholicism a potent weapon in the war between reason and mysticism. </span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><b>SUBJECT</b>. Gula's <i>Reason Informed by Faith</i> is a tour of Catholic morality. It covers the fundamental principles that "inform" (shape) Catholic positions in debates over abortion, war, welfare, and other issues. It also identifies the intermediate steps, the methods of thinking about moral issues. Finally it offers guidelines for the skill of "discernment of spirits." By "discernment" Gula means making a judgment of a particular person, action, or situation. The term "spirits" refers to Gula's belief that God is present in everyone we judge and we need to learn to seek God's presence as a guide to our judgment. </span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">Gula draws his information from theologians who have written since the Second Vatican Council (1962-1965). The theologians Gula consults are mainly Catholics, but some are Protestants.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><i>We are experiencing a convergence of Protestant and Catholic thinking in more and more areas, especially in one of the major areas of concern in this book—the integration of the rational aspects of morality with a perspective of faith. Therefore, while the primary emphasis here is on the foundations of Roman Catholic morality, many Protestant voices will be heard throughout.</i> (p. 3) </span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">What distinguishes a partucular ethics is its sources, Gula says. Catholic ethics grows from Catholic sources. Three such sources are the Catholic Bible, the Catholic Tradition, and the Catholic magisterium (the mystical teaching authority given by God to the Church). (p. 10)</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">Questions arise. "How does faith inform Catholic morality? What relation do religious convictions have to Catholic moral thinking which prides itself on being 'rational' and based on 'nature'?" (p. 2) Gula sets out to answer.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><b>AUDIENCE</b>. The book, the author says, "is written for those who are seriously interested in Catholic morality but who do not have the time to make their way through all the scholarly work which has gone on in Catholic moral theology." (p. 4) Academic teachers could use this book as a textbook because it surveys moral theology as a whole—both its foundations and the positions (and controversies) that stand on the foundations. A serious layman, given sufficient time, could work through this book and gain an introduction to the field of Catholic moral theology, both its history and its contemporary landscape. Gula says he tries to write to "the 'people in the pews'." (p. 4)</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><b>STYLE</b>. Gula makes the structure of the text clear. He writes previews, summaries, and reviews. Unfortunately his convoluted sentence-by-sentence style is often difficult to follow. For clarity, a careful reader must often reread, parse, and restate the author's point in the reader's own simple, declarative sentences. </span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><b>THEME</b>. A Catholic, Gula says, should strive for "discernment." This is a complex skill that leads a person to making the best possible moral judgment—of oneself, another person, or a situation—in particular circumstances at a particular time. Discernment thus is an attempt to integrate fundamental moral principles with the particulars of an individual case.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">Elements of discernment include the following: </span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">1. <i>One should have faith</i>. Without faith, "discernment of spirits" is impossible. "Discernment of spirits" is the "process of discovering the presence of God in one's inclinations and choices." (p. 316). "Discernment of spirits is only possible for a person who looks on life from the perspective of one committed to God in Christ and through the Spirit. ... For the person of faith, every human experience, if given a chance, could disclose God." (pp. 317-318) </span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">2. <i>One should realize that an individual's heart is the place in him where he makes contact with God.</i> Here "heart" refers to the deepest level of one's nature. "This is the level of the human person which escapes clear conceptual knowledge." (p. 321)</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">3. <i>One should gather complete and accurate information about the subject being judged</i>. (pp. 323-324)</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">4. <i>One should confirm one's initial judgment</i> internally (for example, by having a feeling of harmony) and externally (for example, by consulting the needs of the community). (pp. 324-326)</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">The four points above produce a "reasoning heart" (p. 316), that is, an integration of faith and reason, at a non-conceptual level (p. 321, with a summary at p. 328) Thus, Catholicism "integrates" faith and a crippled version of reason, basing decisions ultimately on feeling of one sort or another. </span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">Burgess Laughlin</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">Author, <i>The Power and the Glory: The Key Ideas and Crusading Lives of Eight Debaters of Reason vs. Faith</i>, described at <a href="http://www.reasonversusmysticism.com/">http://www.reasonversusmysticism.com/</a></span></div>
Burgess Laughlinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13865479709475171678noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2471789221776647520.post-87636846111064002572014-04-02T08:44:00.000-07:002014-04-03T06:19:24.387-07:00BkRev: Catholicism for Dummies<br />
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<b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">John Trigilio, Jr., and Kenneth Brighenti, <i>Catholicism for Dummies</i>, 2nd ed., Hoboken (New Jersey), John Wiley & Sons, 2012, 414 pages</span></b></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">I reviewed the <i>Catechism of the Catholic Church</i> on December 19, 2013, <a href="http://reasonversusmysticism.blogspot.com/2013/12/bkrev-catechism-of-catholic-church.html">here</a>; and I focused on particular aspects (reason, mysticism, the holy spirit) in later posts in that series.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">While the <i>Catechism</i> is generally clear, it is also sometimes difficult to read because it is condensed; it is a handbook of teachings, not a tutorial. Trigilio and Brighenti's <i>Catholicism for Dummies</i> corrects the problem of difficult reading. Trigilio and Brighenti's writing is clear. They cover generally the same ground that <i>Catechism</i> covers and in the same order:</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">- Part I: What Do Catholics Believe?</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">- Part II: Celebrating the Mysteries of Faith [the Sacraments]</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">- Part V: The Part of Tens ["Ten Famous Catholics" and so forth]</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">- Part VI: Appendices (a 2000-year history of the Catholic Church in about 20 pages; and a collection of popular Catholic prayers]</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">(I read some parts closely; I skimmed some sections; and I skipped over some sections.)</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">If <i>Catholicism for Dummies</i> covers the same subjects as the Catechism, why review it here on TME? <i>Catholicism for Dummies</i> is an example of one of the many actions that philosophical activists can take to disseminate their ideas to a wide audience—in this case, an audience outside Catholic academic and administrative circles. <i>Catholicism for Dummies</i> includes checklists, simple icons ("Remember," "From the Bible," and "Warning!") that mark special or secondary text. The format includes wide margins and aims for ease of reading.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">For the most serious advocates of reason who are also activists, <i>Catholicism for Dummies</i> serves as a test: Has the reader failed to understand or misunderstood Catholic doctrines and practices described in more formal documents such as the <i>Catechism</i>?</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">For the few, most serious advocates of reason, another advantage of reading this book is seeing the form of arguments that a well informed Catholic activist might use to explain Catholic ideas to an audience standing in front of him. For example, the following quotation is an excerpt from a three-page explanation of the relationship of reason and faith. The title of the section is "Backing Up Your Faith with Reason: Summa Theologica."</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><i>So are having faith and hoping to be saved the same as believing in the Tooth Fairy and hoping for a dollar bill under your pillow? Of course not. The First Vatican Council (1869-1879; also known as Vatican I) taught that you need the intervention of supernatural revelation to be saved, but certain truths, like the existence of God, are attainable on your own power by using human reason. </i></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><i>In the 13th Century, St. Thomas Aquinas (see Chapter 21), a philosopher, explained how the human mind seeks different kinds of truth. He said that</i></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><i>- <b>Scientific truth</b> (also known as empirical truth) is known by observation and experimentation. So, for example, you know that fire is hot by burning your finger with a lit match.</i></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><i>- <b>Philosophical truth</b> is known by using human reason. You know that two plus two equals four, for example. So if two chairs are in a room and someone says, "I'll get two more," you know by using reason that the total will be four chairs. You don't need to count the chairs after they arrive.</i></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><i>- <b>Theological truth</b>, known only by faith, is the final and highest level of truth. It can't be observed, and it can't be reasoned; it must be believed by faith—taken on God's word, because He revealed it.</i> (pp. 33-34)</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">Parts of the book defend Catholicism from false charges, for example, rebutting (the authors hope) the charge that Catholics are polytheists because they worship three gods (the Holy Trinity of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit). (pp. 11, 32, 51, and 101-102) This function of defense is a standard function of activists. Christian intellectual activists who do so are called "apologists" (from the Greek word for "defense," <i>apologia</i>).</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">This book has a compound theme: The Catholic Church, the authors say, is here on earth to help save your soul for heaven—and the Church, through divine inspiration and 2000 years of diligent intellectualizing, has answers for almost all relevant questions. Anything that the Church cannot explain is a mystery and requires faith. In <i>Catholicism for Dummies</i>, as elsewhere, the Church's advocates convey the idea that the Church is "both-and." The Church supports reason <i>and</i> mysticism, supernaturalism <i>and</i> naturalism, achieving one's own success <i>and</i> sacrificing to others (as well as God).</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><i>Catholicism for Dummies</i>, like the <i>Catechism</i>, does not speak of "mysticism," though it does speak of the elements of mysticism: revelation; inspired Holy Scripture; the Church hierarchy's divinely-given ability (under some circumstances) to teach infallibly; and faith in all those mystical sources. </span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">In conclusion, this book is worth reading for any individual who is seriously planning, in the decades ahead, to confront the most powerful pro-mysticism institution in the USA today.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">Burgess Laughlin</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">Author, <i>The Power and the Glory: The Key Ideas and Crusading Lives of Eight Debaters of Reason vs. Faith</i>, described at <a href="http://www.reasonversusmysticism.com/">reasonversusmysticism.com/</a></span></div>
Burgess Laughlinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13865479709475171678noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2471789221776647520.post-65851723452085619922014-03-18T07:34:00.000-07:002014-03-26T19:23:55.187-07:00BkNotes: Pope John Paul II's encyclical, Fides et Ratio<br />
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<b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: x-small;">John Paul II, <i>Fides et Ratio</i> (an "Encyclical Letter to the Bishops of the Catholic Church on the Relationship between Faith and Reason"), Boston, Pauline Books & Media (Daughters of St. Paul), 1998, 131 pages.</span></b></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><b>WHAT IS AN ENCYCLICAL?</b> An encyclical is a "letter" which a pope writes to the bishops of the Catholic Church. Each bishop is responsible for disseminating the information in the encyclical to Catholics in the bishop's jurisdiction. Around the year 2000, I attended a discussion of <i>Fides et Ratio</i> (<i>Faith and Reason</i>) held in the main auditorium of the University of Portland, a Catholic school in Portland, Oregon, USA. The auditorium was full, with many individuals sitting in the aisles as well. On stage, a panel of Catholics spoke about the main points of the encyclical. Panel members also answered questions from some of the three hundred members of the audience, including priests, monks, and nuns, but mostly laymen. The discussion was both intense and respectful.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">The Church does not consider an encyclical to be infallible unless a pope chooses to speak <i>ex cathedra</i> in the encyclical. (An <i>ex cathedral</i> announcement is one that speaks solemnly, not casually, states a doctrine of faith or morals, and applies to all Catholics.) Nevertheless, if an encyclical contains doctrines applying to the Church, then the Church expects all Catholics to give their interior and exterior assent to the doctrine ("Encyclical," <i>A Catholic Dictionary</i>, general editor Donald Attwater, 3rd edition, 1958, reprinted by TAN Books in 1961.)</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><b>JOHN PAUL II'S PURPOSE</b>. In <i>Fides et Ratio</i>, Pope John Paul II (1920-2005) writes for three purposes. First, he wants to make easier the life of those Catholic individuals who are struggling intellectually to establish truth in today's post-modernist, secular culture. Second, he wants to "restore to our contemporaries a genuine trust in their capacity to know and [he wants to] challenge philosophy [which post-modernists have damaged] to recover and develop its own full dignity." (pp. 15-16) Third, he wants to explain the nature of truth and its relation to faith as fundamental. (p. 16)</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><b>SUBJECT</b>. The book explains the Catholic view of the relationship of faith, reason, and culture. The author also examines the relationship of theology (which relies on faith) and philosophy (which relies on reason). (p. 5) John Paul II says that ideas, especially fundamental ideas, shape culture. He speaks of "[p]hilosophy's powerful influence on the formation and development of the cultures of the West." (pp. 11 and 16) As a related insight, John Paul II also identifies the existence of "implicit philosophy" in a culture: Broad principles are held by individuals but in an unthinking or uncritical way. (p. 13)</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><b>STYLE AND STRUCTURE</b>. At least in this English translation, John Paul II's style varies with his changes in subject. For example, the first two chapters are more difficult to read than the third chapter. The fourth chapter is easiest. It is historical, a survey of the history of Western philosophy in Christian culture.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">The chapter titles show the general structure of the book:</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">Introduction</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">Ch. I. The Revelation of God's Wisdom</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">Ch. II. Credo ut Intelligam (I believe so that I might understand)</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">Ch. III. Intellego ut Credam (I understand so that I might believe)</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">Ch. IV. The Relationship between Faith and Reason</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">Ch. V. The Magisterium's Interventions in Philosophical Matters</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">Ch. VI. The Interaction between Philosophy and Theology</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">Ch. VII. Current Requirements and Tasks</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">Conclusion</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><b>THEMES</b>. The main message of the book is that truth depends on faith as its foundation. (p. 16) A prefatory statement presents the theme: </span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><i>Faith and reason are like two wings on which the human spirit rises to the contemplation of truth; and God has placed in the human heart a desire to know the truth—in a word, to know himself—so that, by knowing and loving God, men and women may also come to the fullness of truth about themselves (cf. Ex 33:18; Ps 27:8-9; 63:2-3; Jn 14:8; 1 Jn 3:2).</i> (p. 7)</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">One sub-theme holds that truth is metaphysically objective: Truth is out there in the world, where God has made it available to us. For example, on p. 9, John Paul II speaks of humanity "engaging" truth. Where is this truth? As the book repeatedly tells readers, truth is in God's words as he revealed them to mankind. (p. 10, sec. 2) </span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">Another, though often only implied sub-theme is that humans need to integrate their items of knowledge and that the total has a structure resting on a foundation, that is, on fundamental principles. For example, John Paul II refers to "fundamental questions" (p. 9); he refers to the "unity of truth, natural and revealed" (p. 48); and he speaks of "a systematic body of knowledge," saying, "... every philosophical <i>system</i> ... should always be respected in its wholeness." (p. 12)</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">A third sub-theme, but one which I infer, is the standard Catholic approach to issues: "both-and." Here is an example of the Church's even-handed, "both-and" orientation: The Church has issued more censures of Catholics formulating philosophies since 1850 than before. The reason is that defective, non-Catholic philosophers were in that century producing defective philosophies, and Catholic philosophers were responding, but with errors of their own. The Church's censures of new <i>Catholic</i> philosophies were "even-handed." For example, on the one hand, the Church censured both fideism (the notion that only faith is required) and radical traditionalism (the notion that only strict compliance with tradition is a suitable guide to Church policy); and, on the other hand, the Church has censured rationalism and ontologism "because they attributed to natural reason a knowledge which only the light of faith could confer." The First Vatican Council (1870) set the standard on issues about reason and faith. The Council "showed how inseparable and at the same time how distinct were faith and reason, revelation and natural knowledge of God." (pp. 69-70) </span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">At the root of the "both-and" approach of the Church is an intention to integrate its various positions. For example: </span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><i>The 'supreme rule of [the Church's] faith' derives from the unity which the Spirit has created between Sacred Tradition, Sacred Scripture, and the Magisterium of the Church in a reciprocity which means that none of the three can survive without the others.</i> (p. 74) </span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><b>WHAT CAN ONE KNOW, IN GENERAL?</b> Let's look at knowledge in general first, and then at knowledge through reason. Truth is "born of ... a consonance between intellect and objective reality." (p. 75) According to John Paul II, one can know three "modes" of truth: </span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">(a) Sense-perceptible truths that "depend on immediate evidence or are confirmed by experimentation." (Perhaps John Paul II intends this to include knowledge of science and technology.)</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">(b) Philosophical truths, which are "attained by means of the speculative powers of the human intellect."</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">(c) Religious truths, which are partly grounded in philosophy and partly grounded in religious traditions. (pp. 42-43)</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><b>WHAT CAN REASON KNOW?</b> John Paul II does not systematically present his views on reason. (His publication is a "letter," not a treatise.) His scattered comments about reason's capabilities do sketch reason's scope. Consider the following comments from John Paul II:</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">[1] <i>The First Vatican Council teaches, then, that the truth attained by philosophy and the truth of revelation are neither identical nor mutually exclusive: 'There exists a two-fold order of knowledge, distinct not only as regards their source, but also as regards their object. With regard to the source, because we know in one by natural reason, in the other by divine faith. With regard to the object, because besides those things which natural reason can attain, there are proposed for our belief mysteries hidden in God which, unless they are divinely revealed, cannot be known'. Based upon God's testimony and enjoying the supernatural assistance of grace, faith is of an order other than philosophical knowledge which depends upon sense perception and experience and which advances by the light of the intellect alone. Philosophy and the sciences function within the order of natural reason; while faith enlightened and guided by the Spirit, recognizes in the message of salvation the 'fullness of grace and truth' (cf. in Jn 1:14) which God has willed to reveal in history and definitively through his Son, Jesus Christ (cf. 1 Jn 5:9; Jn 5:31-32).</i> (p. 18-19)</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">[2] <i>But our vision of the face of God is always fragmentary and impaired by the limits of our understanding. Faith alone makes it possible to penetrate the mystery in a way that allows us to understand it coherently.</i> (p. 22)</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">[3] By reading the "book of nature," John Paul II says, reason can bring an appreciation and perhaps even some knowledge of God. (p. 31) In John Paul II's comments, there is little discussion of using reason and the benefits it brings in technology for example. Why? Because the pope does not think reason is required? Or because he assumes that this reason is merely "instrumental" and not worth considering? Or because the issue is outside his subject, which is mostly religion and philosophy? I do not know.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">[4] <i>Not only is it [reason] not restricted to sensory knowledge [alone], from the moment that it can reflect critically on the data of the senses, but, by discoursing on the data provided by the senses, reason can reach the cause which lies at the origin of all perceptible reality." </i>This ability "affirms the human capacity for metaphysical enquiry." (p. 33)</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">[5] The Church is "pro-reason," he says: <i>On her part, the Church cannot but set great value upon reason's drive to attain goals which render people's lives ever more worthy. She sees in philosophy the way to come to know fundamental truths about human life.</i> (p. 13)</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">In my summary, John Paul II says the Church's position is to laud both faith and reason but place faith as superior because it sets the ethical and other broad contexts for what we do. Further, faith and reason working together are superior to the philosophical skepticism of the post-modernists.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><b>WHAT ARE REASON'S LIMITS?</b> John Paul II frequently speaks of "human reason." (p. 13) He sees it as a flawed vehicle distinguished from "divine reason," which is perfect. In general, there are two limits to reason. First, it is inherently finite and God is infinite, so there is only so much that reason can understand about God. (p. 24). Second, reason requires great toil and is wearisome (p.33). In the field of philosophy in particular there are two particular limitations of reason. First, formulations of a philosophy are shaped by their place in history. Second, every philosophy is "produced by human reason wounded and weakened by sin. This is why no historical form of philosophy can legitimately claim to embrace the totality of truth, nor to be the complete explanation of the human being, of the world and of the human being's relationship with God." (p. 68)</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">Despite reason's limits, it can achieve some success, but only by following three rules: (1) Be prepared for a long, hard journey. (2) Be prepared to accept help outside of one's own efforts. (3) Fear God. (pp. 30-31)</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><b>JOHN PAUL II'S VIEWS OF FAITH</b>. Faith is not merely a virtue that the Church happens to recommend to everyone. Faith is fundamental. </span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">[1] <i>Underlying all the Church's thinking is the awareness that she is the bearer of a message which has its origin in God himself (cf. 2 Cor[inthians] 4:1-2). The knowledge which the Church offers to man has is origin not in any speculation of her own, however sublime, but in the Word of God which she has received in faith (cf. 1 Th[essalonians] 2:13).</i> (p. 17)</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">[2] It is a "fundamental truth of Christianity" that "'the obedience of faith must be given to God who reveals himself'." (p. 22) "By faith, men and women give their assent" to God's revelations, which are God's "divine testimony." (p. 22) Faith leads to certainty of knowing. (p. 23)</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">[3] Faith is assent to the "knowledge" that comes through one form of mystical channel or another. <i>This opening to the mystery, which came to him [Biblical man] through revelation, was for him, in the end, the source of true knowledge. It was this which allowed his reason to enter the realm of the infinite where an understanding for which until then he had not dared to hope became a possibility.</i> (pp. 32-33)</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><b>WHAT CAN FAITH KNOW?</b> Faith can know ideas that are beyond man's natural limits. Ethical ideas in particular are the payoff of having faith:</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><i>The symbol [of the tree of knowledge of good and evil, in the Garden of Eden] is clear: man was in no position to discern and decide for himself what was good and what was evil, but was constrained to appeal to a higher source. The blindness of pride deceived our first parents into thinking themselves sovereign and autonomous, and into thinking that they could ignore the knowledge which comes from God. All men and women were caught up in this primal disobedience, which so wounded reason that from then on its path to full truith would be strewn with obstacles.</i> (p. 34)</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">Faith brings supernatural knowledge. John Paul II favorably quotes Thomas Aquinas: </span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">[<i>W]hat you neither see nor grasp, faith confirms for you, leaving nature far behind; a sign it is that now appears, hiding in mystery realities sublime.</i> (pp. 23-24)</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><b>THE RELATIONSHIP OF REASON AND FAITH</b>. John Paul II offers a view of faith and reason that integrates the two, leaving reason as subordinate: </span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><i>[T]here is a profound and indissoluble unity between the knowledge of reason and the knowledge of faith. The world and all that happens within it, including history and the fate of peoples, are realities to be observed, analyzed and assessed with all the resources of reason, but without faith ever being foreign to the process. Faith intervenes not to abolish reason's autonomy nor to reduce its scope for action, but solely to bring the human being to understand that in these events it is the God of Israel who acts.</i> (p. 29)</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">Reason needs starting points that come from faith. Faith needs reason for thorough understanding of faith. </span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><i>Therefore, reason and faith cannot be separated without diminishing the capacity of men and women to know themselves, the world and God in an appropriate way. </i>(p. 30)</span></div>
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<i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">There is thus no [justification] for competition of any kind between reason and faith: each contains the other, and each has its own scope of action. (p. 30) Exploring truth (coming from faith) by using reason is noble. (p. 30)</span></i></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">"Right reason" (<i>orthos logos</i> in Greek and <i>recta ratio</i> in Latin) means reasoning which is logical in process and consistent with the principles of Catholic ethics (based on God's revelations). (pp. 12-13) Note the implications: Right reasoning is reasoning that operates in the context set by mysticism. This supports the Catholic position, which is that mysticism overrides reason. Reason should, whenever there is a seeming conflict, yield to mysticism. The mystery of "Christ crucified and risen" is "not only the border between reason and faith, but also the space where the two may meet." (p. 36)</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">The following passages summarize John Paul II's positions on faith and reason: </span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><i>In brief, human beings attain truth by way of reason because, enlightened by faith, they discover the deeper meaning of all things and most especially of their own existence.</i> (p. 32) </span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><i>The truth, which God reveals to us in Jesus Christ, is not opposed to the truths which philosophy perceives. On the contrary, the two modes of knowledge lead to truth in all its fullness. The unity of truth is a fundamental premise of human reasoning, as the principle of non-contradiction makes clear. Revelation renders this unity certain, showing that the God of creation is also the God of salvation history. It is one and the same God who establishes and guarantees the intelligibility and reasonableness of the natural order of things upon which scientists confidently depend, and who reveals himself as the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.</i> (pp. 47-48)</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><i>Even if faith is superior to reason there can never be a true divergence between faith and reason, since the same God who reveals the mysteries and bestows the gift of faith has also placed in the human spirit the light of reason. This God could not deny himself, nor could the truth ever contradict the truth.</i> (p. 71)</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><b>FOR CHRISTIANS, WHAT IS THE ROLE OF PHILOSOPHY?</b> John Paul II says philosophy has a role: "Among these ['resources for generating greater knowledge of truth'] is <i>philosophy</i> .... Philosophy emerges, then, as one of the noblest of human tasks." (p. 11, sec. 3) While the Church does not have an official philosophy, the Church does evaluate philosophies for their compatibility with revelation and Church doctrines. (pp. 66-67)</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">Two statements summarize the Catholic view of the relationship of faith and reason. First, John Paul II says that historically Christians have valued not only reason, if it was "open to the absolute" (p. 55) coming from the supernatural world, but also valued a synthesis of philosophy and theology, as in the works of Augustine and Thomas (p. 54). Further, John Paul II notes: </span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><i>The fundamental harmony between the knowledge of faith and the knowledge of philosophy is once again confirmed. Faith asks that its object be understood with the help of reason, and at the summit of its searching reason acknowledges that it cannot do without what faith presents.</i> (p. 57)</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">Second, John Paul II says: <i>... I make this strong and insistent appeal ... that faith and philosophy recover the profound unity which allows them to stand in harmony with their nature without compromising their mutual autonomy.</i> (p. 65)</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">John Paul II is not "tolerant," in the meaning of passively accepting anything. He denounces some streams of modern philosophy which, for example, emphasize reason's limits more than its strengths. He says that agnosticism, relativism, and skepticism—which Catholics reject—arise from that emphasis. (p. 14)</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><b>CONCLUSION</b>. The Catholic position of faith and reason, as described by Pope John Paul II, is historically and philosophically sophisticated. The Church does not adopt an official philosophy. It accepts reason, as subordinate to mysticism (faith in Holy Scripture, revelation, tradition) but as useful within limits set by an ethics learned from revelation.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">Burgess Laughlin</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">Author of <i>The Power and the Glory: The Key Ideas and Crusading Lives of Eight Debaters of Reason vs. Faith</i>, described <a href="http://www.reasonversusmysticism.com/">here</a></span></div>
Burgess Laughlinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13865479709475171678noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2471789221776647520.post-25530311281905839752014-03-11T14:20:00.000-07:002014-03-11T14:47:28.220-07:00Five-Year Review (2009-2014)<br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">In 2009, I started this weblog as a way of recording my notes for my next project, a broad look at the state of the war between the supporters of reason and the supporters of mysticism in the USA in our time. Until 2013, I spiraled slowly above the battlefield. I briefly looked at each of a wide range of mystics and their cultural products (mainly their books). I have been reserving—as dessert—my look at the advocates of reason. There are few of them. (I did look at the work of one supposed advocate of reason, Sam Harris, and I showed that he is a mystic.) </span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">After four years of sampling various forms of mysticism, I turned to a closer look at one institutional advocate of mysticism, the Catholic Church. It is wealthy. It sends representatives into every major sector of the society of the USA. It is large and growing. It has long historical and intellectual roots. It is philosophically sophisticated and articulate.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">In the last half year or so, I have recorded—in various book reviews and essays—my notes on the Catholic Church and particularly its scattered views of reason and mysticism. For example, I have examined <i>The Catechism of the Catholic Church</i>, the long book that the Church uses as its handbook for educating Catholics, especially new members of the Church.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">From my preliminary study of the Catholic Church and its role in the war of mysticism against reason, I have tentatively concluded that financially, socially, politically, and intellectually, the Catholic Church is the most formidable movement working for mysticism in the USA today. Now I am ready for my next step: To determine the Church's exact position on mysticism versus reason and then to find out what steps Catholics are taking to spread their ideas. Pope John Paul II's encyclical <i>Fides et Ratio</i> (Faith and Reason) present's his official position in 1998. My next post, perhaps in a few weeks, will review it.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">Burgess Laughlin</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">Author of <i>The Power and the Glory: The Key Ideas and Crusading Lives of Eight Debaters of Reason vs. Faith</i>, described <a href="http://www.reasonversusmysticism.com/">here</a></span></div>
Burgess Laughlinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13865479709475171678noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2471789221776647520.post-91790892747906124552014-02-09T06:38:00.000-08:002014-02-09T06:38:51.788-08:00The Catechism's View of the Holy Spirit's Role in Catholicism<br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">The previous post, on February 4, 2014, frequently mentions the role of the Holy Spirit in various forms of mysticism, according to the <i>Catechism of the Catholic Church</i>. What is the Holy Spirit? What actions does it take? What is the significance of the Holy Spirit in Catholicism's mystical worldview?</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">The <i>Catechism</i> devotes Part One, Section Two, Chapter Three to the Holy Spirit. The title is "I believe in the Holy Spirit." The <i>Catechism</i> also includes many other references to the Holy Spirit, as shown in the Index.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">WHAT IS THE HOLY SPIRIT? The Holy Spirit is a "person," one of the three "persons" in the mysterious Holy Trinity of God (the Father), Jesus (the Son of God), and the Holy Spirit (which emanates from God). (<i>Catechism</i>, pars. 236 and 684) </span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">We can know of the Holy Spirit through his effects. (par. 688) In historical order, the <i>Old Testament Bible </i>initially revealed God the Father, the first person of the Trinity. Next, the <i>New Testament Bible</i> revealed Jesus the Son, the second person. The <i>New Testament</i> also revealed the existence of the Holy Spirit by identifying some of its actions and attributes, though in less detail than the Father and the Son. (par. 686)</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">SYNONYMS AND SYMBOLS. The Holy Spirit appears more frequently in the <i>New Testament</i> than a casual reader might realize at first. In the <i>New Testament</i> and in Catholic literature generally, synonyms for "Holy Spirit" are "Paraclete" (Consoler), "Spirit of Truth," and "Spirit" with various attributes such as "Spirit of promise." (par. 692) </span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">In the <i>Bible</i>, symbols for the Holy Spirit are: the "Finger of God" (700), fire ( 696), the "Hand of God" (699), the dove (701), the seal (698), water (694), and cloud and light (697).</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">WHAT DOES THE HOLY SPIRIT DO? In historical times, the Holy Spirit was the "principal author" of Holy Scripture (304). It illustrates his repeated role in bringing knowledge to men.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">In our time, the Holy Spirit acts in various ways among individual men on earth. The Holy Spirit can: awaken faith (684) enable men to communicate with Christ (683), help men grow in spiritual freedom (1742), teach praying (741, 2652), reveal God (687), reveal the Trinity (244, 684), be a source of holiness (749), and give "gifts" (<i>charisma</i>, in Greek), that is, special abilities such as "speaking in tongues" (768, 798-801, 1830)</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">The Holy Spirit also has particular roles to take within the Church (the community of believers, which is the temple of the Holy Spirit [pars 797-798]). The Holy Spirit has the special tasks of unifying the Church (813), directing the Church (768), supporting the Church (747), participating in the liturgy (1091-1109), providing the living memory of the Church (1099), and taking responsibility for the Church's mission (852).</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">Perhaps most importantly, the Holy Spirit "kindles faith in us," specifically faith in Jesus Christ. (par. 683) Beyond that, the Holy Spirit conveys information from the Father and the Son (the other two "persons" of the mysterious Holy Trinity). (par. 684) While the Holy Spirit enables us to know some things about the Father and the Son, the Holy Spirit reveals nothing about himself. (par. 687) </span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">WHAT IS THE SIGNIFICANCE OF THE HOLY SPIRIT? Of the three persons of the mysterious Holy Trinity, the Holy Spirit is the least known but perhaps (Catholics say) most present among Catholics. The Holy Spirit is, one can infer, primarily a conveyer, an enabler of God communicating with and thereby guiding man. In effect, the Holy Spirit is the form in which God is present on earth, in particular aiding the Church in its mission of saving souls. Thus, the Holy Spirit is the bridge between the supernatural world and the natural world. The Holy Spirit provides a structure of integration in the Catholic worldview—making Catholicism a more formidable opponent of reason.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">Burgess Laughlin</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">Author of The Power and the Glory: The Key Ideas and Crusading Lives of Eight Debaters of Reason vs. Faith, described at <a href="http://www.reasonversusmysticism.com/">http://www.reasonversusmysticism.com/</a></span></div>
Burgess Laughlinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13865479709475171678noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2471789221776647520.post-91387468350660600342014-02-04T15:57:00.001-08:002014-02-04T15:57:46.489-08:00What is the Catholic Catechism's view of mysticism?<br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">Today, in the United States of America, the Catholic movement may be the largest, most influential, and most dangerous movement on the mysticism side of the war between reason and mysticism. In its instruction manual for new members, the <i>Catechism of the Catholic Church</i>, the Church has distilled its views on reason and mysticism, as well as many other subjects. In the preceding post, I outlined the <i>Catechism</i>'s view of reason, which is a minor part of Catholic epistemology presented in the Catechism. </span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">This post, below, examines the main part of Catholic epistemology: mysticism. For the notes that this post collects, I am using the classifications I suggested in an August 26, 2009 post <a href="http://reasonversusmysticism.blogspot.com/2009/08/what-is-mysticism.html">here</a>.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><b>MYSTICAL SOURCES</b>. The <i>Catechism</i> does not use the term "source" or even the term "mysticism" (as defined in this weblog). Nor does the Catechism present a systematic view of <b>mysticism</b>, that is, the various ways in which believers acquire "knowledge" outside of reason. The <i>Catechism</i> does, however, frequently speak of God (or his earthly incarnation, Jesus) as the origin of words designed for man's guidance. </span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><i>In order to reveal himself to men, in the condescension of his goodness God speaks to them in human words: 'Indeed the words of God, expressed in the words of men, are in every way like human language, just as the Word of the eternal Father, when he took on himself the flesh of human weakness [as Jesus], became like men'.</i> (paragraph 101)</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">God's actions on earth 2000 or more years ago "communicate" to believers today: </span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><i>Christ's whole earthly life—his words and deeds, his silences and sufferings, indeed his manner of being and speaking—is </i>Revelation<i> of the Father</i>. (par. 516)</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">Intermediate sources, such as the Bible, pass God's Word in some way to ordinary believers. The <i>Catechism</i> describes intermediate sources, though without using that term. Intermediate sources might—in electrical terminology—also be called "transmitters" or "repeaters".</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">Following is a brief list of various ways (channels, routes) in which God directly or indirectly sends his messages to men. One element, the Holy Spirit, appears frequently in the communication process. A later post will describe the Holy Spirit.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><b>MYSTICAL WAY 1: GOD TALKS TO THE CHURCH NOW</b>. The Bible records historical instances in which God spoke to particular individuals, such as Moses. The writers of the <i>Catechism</i> say God continues to talk to the Church, who is "the Spouse of his beloved Son" (paragraph 79). Note that here, and elsewhere in the <i>Catechism</i>, "the Church" refers to all the believers together. It does not refer to the Church's hierarchy alone.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><i>The Father's self-communication made through his Word in the Holy Spirit, remains present and active in the Church: 'God, who spoke in the past, continues to converse with the Spouse of his beloved Son'.</i> (par. 79)</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">Nothing in the context for the passage quoted above indicates that the <i>Catechism</i> is speaking of "conversation" metaphorically. The passage means what it says.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><b>MYSTICAL WAY 2: GOD SPEAKS THROUGH HOLY SCRIPTURE</b>. The Bible is "the word of God." God talks with his children through Scripture. (par. 104) "God is the author of Sacred Scripture." The men who wrote the Scripture were inspired by the Holy Spirit. (par. 105) "God inspired the human authors of the sacred books." (par. 106) "Still, the Christian faith is not a 'religion of the book'," that is, a believer should not interpret the text with literalism alone. Understanding scripture requires Christ, working through the Holy Spirit, to open the minds of the readers of scripture. (par. 108)</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><i>In order to discover</i> the sacred authors' intention, <i>the reader must take into account the conditions of their time and culture, the literary genres in use at that time, and the modes of feeling, speaking, and narrating then current. 'For the fact is that truth is differently presented and expressed in the various types of historical writing, in prophetical and poetical texts, and in other forms of literary expression'.</i> (par. 110)</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">Reading sacred scripture requires a double form of mysticism: </span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><i>'Sacred Scripture must be read and interpreted in the light of the same Spirit by whom it was written'.</i> (par. 111)</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">Holy scripture also provides an example of Christians valuing integration, here called "unity." </span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><i>Different as the books [of the Bible] which comprise it may be, Scripture is a unity by reason of the unity of God's plan, of which Christ Jesus is the center and heart, open since his Passover.</i> (par. 112) </span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">The unstated premise here is that God is integrated in all his actions and therefore we can expect to see connections in the world and in Scripture. The <i>Catechism</i> speaks of "the unity of the divine plan." (par. 128) and identifies the cause of unity within scripture: "The unity of the two Testaments proceeds from the unity of God's plan and his Revelation." (par. 140)</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><b>MYSTICAL WAY 3: CHURCH TRADITION</b>. The handing of an idea or practice from one individual to another and so on down through history is a <b>tradition</b>. It may be written, oral, or institutional. (An <b>institution</b> is an organization which the founders of the organization designed to continue beyond their own lives.) The <i>Catechism</i> explains that the information that Jesus's apostles handed to later generations was information which the apostles learned by: (1) listening to Christ; (2) observing Christ's way of life and works; and (3) learning "at the prompting of the Holy Spirit." (pars. 76) "The first generation of Christians did not yet have a written New Testament, and the New Testament itself demonstrates the process of living Tradition." (par. 83)</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">The tradition of the Church (as the group of believers, including the hierarchy) interacts with holy scripture. The <i>Catechism</i> advises: </span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><i>Read the Scripture within 'the living Tradition of the whole Church'. According to a saying of the Fathers, Sacred Scripture is written principally in the Church's heart rather than in documents and records, for the Church carries in her Tradition the living memorial of God's Word, and it is the Holy Spirit who gives her the spiritual interpretation of the Scripture ('according to the spiritual meaning which the Spirit grants to the Church').</i> (par. 113, deleting original emphasis on the first sentence) </span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><b>MYSTICAL WAY 4: APOSTOLIC SUCCESSION</b>. Bishops have a special place in the Church. A <b>bishop</b> is an administrator of a <b>diocese</b>, which is a geographic territory of the worldwide church. (A diocese is divided into parishes, each of which ideally has its own church building and a priest.) Spiritually more important is the teaching role of each bishop. He is responsible for educating the believers in his sheep flock. Collectively, bishops, when assembled and joined by the pope, are infallible in their decisions. Bishops are successors to the original apostles of Jesus. Bishops, the Church believes, speak for Christ:</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><i>Hence the Church teaches that 'the bishops have by divine institution taken the place of the apostles as pastors of the Church, in such wise that whoever listens to them is listening to Christ and whoever despises them despises Christ and him who sent Christ'.</i> (par. 862)</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">An idea closely related to tradition as mysticism is the concept of "authority." Objectively defined, <b>authority</b> is an expert's ability to "author" judgements about issues in a particular area of knowledge. Such an authority must meet certain qualifications. The rationale for accepting the authority of the Church is not objective rationale but supernatural: the Church is the body of Christ, who is its head. (par. 669) The authority of the Church—for example, in interpreting Scripture— leads Church members to believe in Christianity. The <i>Catechism</i> quotes Augustine: "But I would not believe in the Gospel, had not the authority of the Catholic Church already moved me." (par. 119) </span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><b>MYSTICAL WAY 5: MAGISTERIUM</b>. The ideas of apostolic succession and authority are related to the idea of "magisterium." This is the ability of the Church to correctly interpret the "sacred deposit" (Scripture plus Tradition from the apostles) and teach the Church accordingly. The interpreters and teachers here are the bishops in consultation with the bishop of Rome, the Pope. (par. 85) The Holy Spirit assists the bishops in their interpretation.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">The interpretations made by bishops are not merely subjects for discussion among Catholics. The Church intends Catholics to follow their bishops' advice. Based on the words of Jesus in scripture, the Church expects "the faithful [to] receive with docility the teachings and directives that their pastors give them in different forms." (par. 87)</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">A <b>dogma</b> is a statement which the Church makes and expects "irrevocable adherence" to accepting on faith. The statement must consist of "truths" already "contained in divine Revelation or also when it proposes, in a definitive way, truths having a necessary connection with these." (par. 88)</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><i>A Catholic Dictionary</i> explains: "Magisterium" is "[t]he Church's divinely appointed authority to teach the truths of religion ...." The Biblical citation for that authority is Matthew 28, 19-20. "This teaching is infallible ...." The Church specifies certain conditions for producing infallible statements; the Church does not claim that everything said by every member of the Church in general or the hierarchy in particular is infallible. There are two levels of magisterium. </span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">(Level 1) <i>The solemn </i>magisterium<i> is that which is exercised only rarely by formal and authentic definitions of councils or popes. Its matter comprises dogmatic definitions of ecumenical councils or of popes teaching </i>ex cathedra<i>, or of particular councils, if their decrees are univerally accepted or approved in solemn form by the pope; also creeds and professions of faith put forward or solemnly approved by pope or ecumenical council.</i> </span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">(Level 2) <i>The ordinary </i>magisterium<i> is continually exercised by the Church especially in her universal practices connected with faith and morals, in the unanimous consent of the Fathers … and theologians, in the decisions of Roman Congregations concerning faith and morals, in the common sense … of the faithful, and various historical documents in which the faith is declared. All these are founts of a teaching which as a whole is infallible.</i> (Donald Atwater, general editor, <i>A Catholic Dictionary</i>)</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><b>MYSTICAL WAY 6: THE GIFT OF INFALLIBILITY</b>. The <i>Catechism</i> says:</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><i>The mission of the Magisterium is linked to the definitive nature of the covenant established by God with his people in Christ. It is this Magisterium's task to preserve God's people from deviations and defections and to guarantee them the objective possibility of professing the true faith without error</i>. </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><i>Thus, the pastoral duty of the Magisterium is aimed at seeing to it that the People of God abides in the truth that liberates. To fulfill this service, Christ endowed the Church's shepherds with the charism [gift] of the infallibility in matters of faith and morals.</i> (par. 890) </span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">This infallliblity applies to the pope in certain circumstances, and to "the body of bishops" when they and the pope meet in ecumenical councils. (par. 891)</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><b>MYSTICAL WAY 7: "SENSE OF FAITH" (CHURCH CONSENSUS)</b>. In various forms, consensus is yet another way of reaching "knowledge" of the supernatural or of the application of supernatural principles to human life. </span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><i>In order to preserve the Church in the purity of the faith handed on by the apostles, Christ who is the Truth willed to confer on her a share in his own infallibility. By a 'supernatural sense of faith' the People of God, under the guidance of the Church's living Magisterium, 'unfailingly adheres to this faith'.</i> (par. 889)</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><i>[T]he faithful share in understanding and handing on revealed truth. They have received the anointing of the Holy Spirit, who instructs them and guides them into all truth.</i> (par. 91)</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><i>The whole body of the faithful…cannot err in matters of belief. This characteristic is shown in the supernatural appreciation of faith (</i>sensus fidei<i>) on the part of the whole people, when, 'from the bishops to the last of the faithful,' they manifest a universal consent in matters of faith and morals.</i> (par. 92) </span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">There is also an implication in the <i>Catechism</i> that ecumenical (worldwide) councils of bishops reach truth through consensus. (par. 242)</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><b>MYSTICAL WAY 8: COMMUNICATION THROUGH COMMUNION</b>. The <i>Catechism</i> suggests too that believers can gain knowledge from the supernatural by a communion with Christ: </span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><i>Believers who respond to God's word and become members of Christ's Body [the Church], become intimately united with him: 'In that body the life of Christ is communicated to those who believe, and who, through the sacraments, are united in a hidden and real way to Christ in his Passion and glorification'.</i> (par. 790) </span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><b>MYSTICAL WAY 9: PERSONAL CHANNELS OF MYSTICISM</b>. The <i>Catechism</i> says man has two personal channels of mysticism: </span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><i>When he listens to the message of creation and to the voice of conscience, man can arrive at certainty about the existence of God, the cause and the end of everything</i>. (par. 45)</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">Students of philosophy may recognize these two channels as the mystical routes that Kant cites: a sense of awe that comes from viewing the starry skies above, and the inner voice of conscience. (See Ch. 7, "Kant," of <i>The Power and the Glory: The Key Ideas and Crusading Lives of Eight Debaters of Reason vs. Faith, </i><a href="http://www.reasonversusmysticism.com/">here</a><i>.</i>)</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><b>SUMMARY</b>. The <i>Catechism of the Catholic Church</i> states or implies at least nine ways in which "knowledge" in some form can pass from the supernatural world to the believers living in this world. Some sources of that knowledge are direct. Others are "repeaters" in the transmission lines from the other world to this world. These descriptions of mysticism are scattered throughout the <i>Catechism</i>; they far outnumber descriptions of reason. Truly, Catholic Christianity is a religion, that is, a worldiview formed on principles acquired from supernatural sources.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">Burgess Laughlin</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">Author of <i>The Power and the Glory: The Key Ideas and Crusading Lives of Eight Debaters of Reason vs. Faith</i>, described here: <a href="http://www.reasonversusmysticism.com/">http://www.reasonversusmysticism.com/</a></span></div>
Burgess Laughlinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13865479709475171678noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2471789221776647520.post-82682237390989694242014-01-27T07:09:00.003-08:002014-04-01T07:03:36.142-07:00What is the Catholic Catechism's view of reason?<br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">In a December 19, 2013 post <a href="http://reasonversusmysticism.blogspot.com/2013/12/bkrev-catechism-of-catholic-church.html">here</a>, I reviewed the <i>Catechism of the Catholic Church</i> as a book. In a January 15, 2014 post <a href="http://reasonversusmysticism.blogspot.com/2014/01/what-metaphysics-does-catholic.html">here</a>, I provided my notes about the metaphysical principles that the <i>Catechism</i> teaches. </span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">The next level of the Catholic worldview is its epistemology. The Catechism devotes many paragraphs to describing and illustrating Catholic epistemology. The most educational approach to it is an inductive one: Consider a series of narrow subjects, one in each post, and then, at the end, summarize in a final post.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">There are two major components of Catholic epistemology: mysticism and reason. The <i>Catechism</i> says much more about mysticism, in its many forms, than it says about reason. The relatively few paragraphs that discuss reason are indirect. They speak of the limitations of reason, some of its potential benefits, and some applications. They do not define reason. Nor do they provide clear guidance for deciding when to use reason and when to rely on mysticism for "knowing." Consider a few example points in the notes below.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><b>1. KNOWING GOD</b>. Paragraphs 36-38 assert several points about reason. Man does have reason, the <i>Catechism</i> says, but the <i>Catechism</i> does not here define it except by implication: Reason is a faculty of understanding things. First among the things reason can understand is God:</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><i>'… God…can be known with certainty from the created world by the natural light of human reason'.</i> (par. 36, quoting Vatican Council I; also, par. 286)</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">(Elsewhere, however, the <i>Catechism</i> says God is ineffable. At par. 42, the writers of the <i>Catechism</i> say, "Our human words always fall short of the mystery of God. Quoting St. John Chrysostom (347-407), a passage in par. 42 says that God is "the inexpressible, the incomprehensible, the invisible, the ungraspable." Par. 230, in an "In Brief section," says (in part quoting Augustine [354-430]): </span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><i>Even when he reveals himself, God remains a mystery beyond words: 'If you understood him, it would not be God'."</i></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">Nevertheless, the Church, relying on revelation in holy scripture, does speak about God. For example, God is "abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness" (<i>Old Testament</i>, Exodus, Chapter 34, Verse 6).</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">At this point, we can summarize: the <i>Catechism</i> says reason can know God—at least his existence—through arguments (which the <i>Catechism</i> does not provide)—but he is ineffable to reason except by inference from observing God's creatures, though our words expressing what we "know" fail to convey meaning and we are left with mystery. This account of "reason" presents the reader with a tangle of contradiction: You can know God and you cannot know God.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><b>2. KNOWING NATURAL (MORAL) LAW</b>. Second among the things that man's reason can come to know is "the natural law [of morals] written in our hearts by the Creator." (par. 37, quoting Pope Pius XII [papacy, 1939-1958]) These natural laws for guiding our actions are innate ideas, though the <i>Catechism</i> does not use that term.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">What are examples of these "natural [moral] laws"? The <i>Catechism</i> does not give examples, but, in one much later passage (par. 1955) the <i>Catechism</i> does say that natural law's "principal precepts are expressed in the Decalogue," that is, the Ten Commandments revealed by God in the <i>Old Testament Bible</i>. </span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">Why does the <i>Catechism</i> confusingly call <i>revealed</i> law "natural law"? The explanation is equally confusing: "This law [the Ten Commandments] is called 'natural', not in reference to the nature of irrational beings, but because reason which decrees it properly belongs to human nature." (par. 1955) That is, reason in man tells man to follow the laws which God "wrote" inside man. </span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">How do revealed laws come to be inside man? From the Bible "the law passes into the heart of every man who does justice, not that it [the law] migrates into it [the heart], but that it [the law] places its imprint on it [the heart], like a seal on a ring that passes onto wax, without leaving the ring." (par. 1955, quoting Augustine) </span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><i>The natural law is nothing other than the light of understanding placed in us by God; through it we know what we must do and what we must avoid. God has given this light or law at creation.</i> (par. 1955, quoting Thomas Aquinas [1225-1274])</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><b>LIMITS TO REASON</b>. How effective is reason, according to the <i>Catechism</i>? Quoting Pope Pius XII, the <i>Catechism</i> says:</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><i>…there are many obstacles which prevent reason from the effective and fruitful use of this inborn faculty. For the truths that concern the relations between God and man wholly transcend the visible order of things, and, if they are translated into human action and influence it, they call for self-surrender and abnegation. The human mind, in its turn, is hampered in the attaining of such truths, not only by the impact of the senses and the imagination, but also by disordered appetites which are the consequences of original sin.</i> (par.37)</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">The <i>Catechism</i>, speaking by its own writers, then adds:</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><i>This is why man stands in need of being enlightened by God's revelation, not only about those things that exceed his understanding, but also 'about those religious and moral truths which of themselves are not beyond the grasp of human reason, so that even in the present condition of the human race, they can be known by all men with ease, with firm certainty and with no admixture of error'.</i> (par. 38, again quoting Pope Pius XII)</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">Further supporting the idea that reason is capable but crippled is this passage:</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><i>The precepts of natural law are not perceived by everyone clearly and immediately. In the present situation sinful man needs grace and revelation so moral and religious truths may be known 'by everyone with facility, with firm certainty and with no admixture of error'.…</i> (par. 1960, quoting Pope Pius XII)</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><b>HUMAN REASON AND DIVINE REASON</b>. The Catechism speaks of "human reason" and "divine reason." They are not the same. God's reason is higher; we must submit our lower reason to God's reason, which we come to know through revelation. (par. 1954, citing Pope Leo XIII [papacy, 1878-1903])</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><b>SYNONYMS FOR REASON</b>. At paragraph 286, for example, the Catechism speaks of "human intelligence." Possibly "understanding," used elsewhere, is also a synonym of reason.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><b>CONCLUSION</b>. Catholicism's epistemology is an elaborate Rube Goldberg machine. Its framework is philosophical skepticism—the notion that we can know little or nothing. That skepticism arises from the belief that reason is crippled. The engine that operates within the skeptical framework is a kluge of forms of mysticism. They will be identified in later posts.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">Burgess Laughlin</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">Author of <i>The Power and the Glory: The Key Ideas and Crusading Lives of Eight Debaters of Reason vs. Faith</i>, described here: <a href="http://www.reasonversusmysticism.com/">http://www.reasonversusmysticism.com</a>/</span></div>
Burgess Laughlinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13865479709475171678noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2471789221776647520.post-18681755334347929212014-01-15T08:15:00.000-08:002014-01-15T08:15:16.887-08:00What metaphysics does the Catholic Catechism present?<br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">In a December 19, 2013 <a href="http://reasonversusmysticism.blogspot.com/2013/12/bkrev-catechism-of-catholic-church.html">post</a>, I reviewed the <i>Catechism of the Catholic Church</i>. In a series of new posts, I intend to look at particular aspects of the <i>Catechism</i> that relate to the war between reason and mysticism in the USA in our time. The series begins with a look at the Catholic worldview. The first post, below, collects my notes on the nature of the metaphysics that the <i>Catechism</i> presents.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">The most fundamental branch of a worldview is its metaphysics, that is, its view of the nature of the world around us. The Catholic metaphysics is generally clear. God is "the first principle and last end of all things ...." (<i>Catechism</i>, paragraph 36) God is the cause of all things that exist, and he is the end toward which all things are moving. What is God's nature? He is omnipotent: "Nothing is impossible with God, who disposes his works according to his will." Consequently, God "is the master of history ...." (par. 269)</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">The world that God created is orderly, not chaotic. Quoting the Old Testament Bible's Book of Wisdom, the <i>Catechism</i> says: "Because God creates through wisdom, his creation is ordered: 'You have arranged all things by measure and number and weight'." This passage appears in a section having the title, "God creates an ordered and good world." (par. 299) God's plan for his created things has "unity," that is, it is an integrated whole. (par. 117)</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Adding to the orderliness is a metaphysical hierarchy, that is, an arrangement of created things from the least perfect, such as worms, up to the more perfect, such as man. (par. 342) Presumably near the top of the hierarchy are angels. God created them as spiritual, non-corporeal beings. (par. 328) Above the hierarchy is God, who is perfect. (See Arthur O. Lovejoy, <i>The Great Chain of Being</i> for a history of the idea of a metaphysical hierarchy.)</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">The world that God created is lawful: </span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><i>In creation God laid a foundation and established laws that remain firm, on which the believer can rely with confidence, for they are the sign and pledge of the unshakeable faithfulness of God's covenant. For his part man must remain faithful to this foundation and respect the laws which the Creator has written into it.</i> (par. 346)</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><i>The universe was created 'in a state of journeying' (<i>in statu viae</i>) toward an ultimate perfection yet to be attained, to which God has destined it. We call 'divine providence' the dispositions by which God guides his creation toward this perfection....</i> (par. 302)</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">God causes everything that is and acts. Often God acts through secondary causes, that is, through the actions of his creatures acting on other creatures. (pars. 306 and 308) There is, however, no chaos. Everything that exists and everything that happens does so according to "the unity of God's plan." (par. 117) This is a kind of metaphysical integration. Everything is connected to its common cause.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">(Curiously, the detailed, 65-page Subject Index for the Catechism contains no entry for "miracle," that is, events which God creates outside the operation of naturally occurring actions. The Catechism does, however, speak of the miracles of Christ, such as Christ dying and then rising from death—for example, at pars. 639-655. The Catechism calls this a "mystery." It is one of many mysteries in Catholicism, as will be explained in a later post here.)</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">In summary, the reader of the Catechism can infer that God is all powerful; he has created everything that exists; and he controls the actions of everything, but generally in a regular pattern. That state of being raises questions: Is God himself knowable? Is the universe he created knowable? If so, how?</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Next: The Catholic epistemology. as presented in the <i>Catechism</i>.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Burgess Laughlin</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Author of <i>The Power and the Glory: The Key Ideas and Crusading Lives of Eight Debaters of Reason vs. Faith</i>, described at <a href="http://www.reasonversusmysticism.com/">http://www.reasonversusmysticism.com/</a></span></div>
Burgess Laughlinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13865479709475171678noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2471789221776647520.post-55976005556137762562013-12-19T15:44:00.001-08:002013-12-20T17:23:52.470-08:00BkRev: Catechism of the Catholic Church <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></b></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Helvetica;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">The Holy See, <i>Catechism of the Catholic Church</i> (with modifications from the editio typica), New York, Doubleday, 1997 (publication of English translation of 1997 Latin second edition), 826 pages.</span></b></span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">(In the lower right hand column, see the key words "Catechism" and "Catholic" for more posts summarizing my notes on the role of the Catholic Church in the war between mysticism and reason in the USA today.)</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><b>DEVELOPMENT OF THIS CATECHISM</b>. For some projects, the Catholic Church moves rapidly. In 1566, Pius V (pope, 1566-1572), acting under the authority of the Council of Trent, quickly developed a comprehensive catechism. (For the idea of "catechism," see the Dec. 15, 2013 <a href="http://reasonversusmysticism.blogspot.com/2013/12/what-is-catechism.html">post</a>.) However, severely limiting the audience facilitated the writing of the 1566 catechism. The authors of the catechism of 1566 directed it to clergy, that is, priests and bishops, not to the mass of untrained Catholic laymen. The authors expected the clergy to use the catechism of 1566 as a guide in instructing laymen who were joining the Church. This narrowly used catechism stood without major revision for 400 years.[1]</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">In the years 1962 to 1966, the Second Vatican Council met to set the direction of the Church in the modern world. Among other projects, the Second Vatican Council produced "doctrinal statements and pastoral norms" as guidelines meant to be applied to the whole Church (p. 2) In 1985, John Paul II (pope, 1978-2005) convoked a synod of bishops to ensure that the Second Vatican Council's work was actually used to reform the Church. (p. 2) </span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">The bishops meeting in the synod said they saw a need for a revised catechism, a collection of principles and practices which all Catholics should know. The bishops expected the revised general catechism would be a reference for briefer catechisms developed in each region for each region's special needs. (pp. 3 and 11)</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">In the next year, 1986, John Paul II established two committees to produce the new general catechism. The larger committee had twelve bishops and cardinals as members; it was responsible for producing the catechism. The second committee was advisory; it had seven bishops who were experts in theology or in the writing of catechisms. (p. 3) Through nine drafts, the committee of seven wrote the catechesis and the committee of twelve reviewed it. The two committees sought review by the other bishops of the world. (pp. 3-4) After a series of revisions, translations, critique by the papacy, and further revisions by the committee of writers, the Church published the new catechism. The book reviewed here was published in English in 1997—thirty years after the Second Vatican Council.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><b>THEME OF THE BOOK</b>. At one level, this long book is simply a record of the information that the Church today thinks all Catholics should know. At a second level, the book defines Catholicism: These ideas make Catholicism what it is. Some of the ideas here are shared by other Christians, but other ideas distinguish Catholics. At a third level, I think, this book as a whole shows the serious reader that the Church—which is the successor to the apostles Jesus named and sent into the world to spread his ideas—covers everything that is most important in life: what we should believe about God and the world, how we should behave in the world, what the Church should do for its members (perform sacraments, for example, to connect this world to the supernatural world), and how we should pray to God.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">The answers this book provides are sometimes particular: doing certain rituals at certain times, such as the sacrament of anointing the sick (also called the sacrament of "extreme unction" when applied to a dying person). (paragraphs 1499-1525) At other times, the answers are fundamental principles which the individual Catholic must then apply to his situation. An example is the long discussion of the Decalogue, the Ten Commandments which God mystically revealed to man.(Paragraphs 2072 and 2083-2550)</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">The point is that Catholicism applies to everyone, everywhere, and at all times—which is what a <a href="http://aristotleadventure.blogspot.com/2007/10/worldview-philosophy-ideology.html">worldview</a> does. The Catechism of the Catholic Church is a 756-page distillation of all of that.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><b>RELIGIOUS PURPOSE OF THE BOOK</b>. An "apostolic constitution" written by John Paul II (pope, 1978-2005) is a preface. This eight-page letter ("To my Venerable Brothers … all the People of God") serves several functions. First, this letter is in part a statement of papal approval, an important step in a hierarchical Church. Second, the letter connects this catechism to the assignment that Jesus gave to his church (the apostles and other followers) two millennia ago: preserve my words and take them to everyone in the world. (p. 1) The Catechism, the preface says, primarily presents the positive ("the strength and beauty of the doctrine of the faith"), rather than attempt to rebut the many errors that arise from misunderstanding or misrepresenting Christian doctrines. (p. 1) </span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><b>RELIGIOUS SOURCES FOR THE BOOK</b>. In one long sentence, Pope John Paul II lists the four sources for the Catechism and states the two main purposes of the Catechism: </span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><i>A catechism should faithfully and systematically present the teaching of [1] Sacred Scripture, [2] the living Tradition in the Church and [3] the authentic Magisterium [the authority of the Church to teach], as well as [4] the spiritual heritage of the Fathers, Doctors, and saints of the Church, to allow for [1] a better knowledge of the Christian mystery and for [2] enlivening the faith of the People of God.</i> (p. 4, square brackets added)</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">In the same statement, Pope John Paul II vaguely alludes to the Holy Spirit, a mysterious entity that, in some unspecified manner, conveys information from God to man. (p. 4) The Holy Spirit appears frequently in this catechism. The Church refers to the Holy Spirit to explain many of the Church's positions. As far as I can tell, the Holy Spirit is the deus ex machina of Christianity.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><b>USES OF THE BOOK</b>. Who might use this book? Pope John Paul II, in his cover letter identifies two uses of this book: </span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><i>This text is given to them [the Catholic faithful who advocate Christianity to others] that it may be a sure and authentic reference text for teaching catholic doctrine and particularly for preparing local catechisms. It is also offered to all the faithful who wish to deepen their knowledge of the unfathomable riches of salvation (cf. Ephesians 3:8). … The Catechism of the Catholic Church, lastly, is offered to every individual who asks us [Catholics] to give an account of the hope that is in us (cf. 1 Peter 3:15) and who wants to know what the Catholic Church believes.</i> (p.6, with square brackets added)</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><b>STRUCTURE OF THE BOOK</b>. The Table of Contents shows that the authors divided the book into parts and then successively into sections, chapters, articles, and sub-articles. The authors have numbered every paragraph so that the authors can refer readers to earlier or later paragraphs for further explanation. Unobtrusive footnotes identify the sources of quoted passages in the Bible and a variety of Church documents.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">This Catechism of the Catholic Church follows the same general order developed under Pope Pius V in 1566. Part One describes beliefs, which are what Christian take on faith. Part Two describes the liturgy (Church rituals), especially the sacraments, in which Christians celebrate the beliefs they hold on faith. Part Three describes the Christian ethics that guide Christian actions, as stated in the Ten Commandments. Part Four describes praying. (p. 5)</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><b>EMPHASIS ON INTEGRATION</b>. The <i>Catechism of the Catholic Church</i> frequently states or implies a need to present Christianity as an integrated body of ideas and actions. Examples are "the 'symphony' of the faith" (p. 4); the need for "unity and coherence" in the text of the <i>Catechism</i> (p. 4); repeatedly seeking consensus, at least among some groups (p. 4, "Bishops of the whole world" and "the harmony of so many voices" and others); "the wonderful unity of the mystery of God" displayed in the <i>Catechism</i> (p. 5); and the aim of this modern catechism as "presenting an organic synthesis of the essential and fundamental contents of Catholic doctrine, as regards faith and morals" (p. 11).</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">The book itself emphasizes integration: </span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><i>This catechism is conceived as </i>an organic presentation<i> of the Catholic faith in its entirety. It should be seen therefore as a unified whole. Numerous cross-references in the margin of the text (italicized numbers referring to other paragraphs that deal with the same theme), as well as the analytical index at the end of the volume, allow the reader to view each theme in its relationship with the entirety of the faith.</i> (p.13)</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><b>FLAWS OF THE BOOK</b>. The book needs a glossary, especially for special Catholic terms such as <i>sensus fidei</i> (sense of the faith), magisterium (the mysterious Church teaching authority), and mystery (a hidden knowledge). However, the index is detailed and helps readers locate definitions or at least discussions of key concepts such as "faith." A Catholic dictionary at hand will make reading this catechism easier and more productive.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><b>CONCLUSION</b>. Is this a book for general readers? <i>No</i>. Is this a book for general students of the war between reason and mysticism in our time? <i>Probably</i>. It locks in one place all the key points that the most powerful mystical organization in the USA today presents to its members—and which they presumably spread into the non-Catholic culture. Is this a book for observers of the Catholic Church in particular? <i>Yes</i>.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">Burgess Laughlin</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">Author of <i>The Power and the Glory: The Key Ideas and Crusading Lives of Eight Debaters of Reason vs. Faith</i>, described at <a href="http://www.reasonversusmysticism.com/">http://www.reasonversusmysticism.com/</a></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">NOTES</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">[1] "Catechism of the Catholic Church," <i>Wikipedia</i>, December 5, 2013.</span></div>
Burgess Laughlinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13865479709475171678noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2471789221776647520.post-85325624496791314382013-12-15T15:36:00.000-08:002013-12-15T15:48:30.139-08:00What is a catechism?<br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><b>THE NATURE OF CATECHISM</b>. In the USA today, the Catholic Church is the most powerful institution working for mysticism. While the Catholic Church loses some members to other mystical groups and a few to the movement for reason, the Church also steadily gains new members. To join the Catholic Church, a new Catholic takes several steps. One early step is understanding certain ideas about God, man, and their relationship. Learning those ideas comes partly through oral instruction. <i>Catechesis</i> is the ancient Greek term. The instructor, the <b>catechist</b>, may be a priest or other agent of the Church; the student is a <b>catechumen</b>. Often the catechist teaches from a book, a <b>catechism</b>.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Throughout the 2,000-year history of the Catholic Church, writing a catechism has been a local or regional matter. </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Some catechisms are long, and others are short. Some catechisms are collections of short essays, and others are dialogues with questions and answers brief enough to memorize. Some catechisms emphasize theology or ritual or prayer. Some catechisms emphasize answers to local problems, such as the best way in Africa for a formerly pagan man having several wives to move toward lifetime Catholic monogamy. Some catechisms are written for adults, and others—such as <i><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Totally-Catholic-Catechism-Parents-Teachers/dp/0819874795">Totally Catholic!</a></i>—are written for children. </span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><i>1. What is Faith? Catechism[:] </i>A longing for God is written in our hearts …<i> Did you know that our sun is one star in the Milky Way galaxy, which has at least 200 billion other stars? … Looking up at the stars at night, don't you wonder: Where did everything come from? Why am I here, living on planet earth? We Catholics can answer questions like these because we have <b>faith</b> or belief. We believe in God, the Supreme Being who loves us and communicates with us. We believe that in Jesus, God came to earth and taught us. </i>… [<i>Totally Catholic: A Catechism for Kids and Their Parents and Teachers</i>, p. 1]</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">The Church has generally relied on local officials, especially the bishops, to examine each catechism for quality and orthodoxy.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><b>WHY ARE CATECHISMS IMPORTANT?</b> Catechisms are training manuals. They educate candidates who want to convert to Christianity. Catechisms prepare Christians to be activists because being Christian includes an obligation to spread Christianity in some manner, even if only by example. Catechisms are a lens. Through it, the Church focuses and transmits its main messages to all prospective members of the Church. Some members, the non-intellectual majority, may engage in no further study, though they will hear similar messages from Catholic lay-preachers, priests, bishops, and popes. A few new members will study further through formal education in Catholic schools, through special study groups, or through reading the articles and books of Catholic intellectuals (for example, George Weigel, whose recent book. <i>Evangelical Catholicism</i>, reviewed in the October 18, 2013 post, <a href="http://reasonversusmysticism.blogspot.com/2013/10/bkrev-weigels-evangelical-catholicism.html">here</a>).</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><b>SUMMARY</b>. A catechism arms new Catholic Christians with ideas about God, man, and the Church—ideas which the new Catholic will use to guide him in supporting the Church and in spreading Christianity to other individuals in the world. Those ideas include concepts about mysticism, such as revelation and faith.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">P. S. — In my next post, I hope to review the relatively new, official <i>Catechism of the Catholic Church</i>. It is an archetype of local or specialized catechisms.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Burgess Laughlin</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Author of <i>The Power and the Glory: The Key Ideas and Crusading Lives of Eight Debaters of Reason vs. Faith</i>, described here: <a href="http://www.reasonversusmysticism.com/">http://www.reasonversusmysticism.com/</a></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">PRELIMINARY RESOURCES</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">1. "Catechism," "Catechist," and "Catechumen," <i>A Catholic Dictionary</i>, Donald Attwater general editor, Rockford (Illinois), Tan Books, 1997 (a reprint of the 1958 3rd edition by Macmillan).</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">2. "Catechism of the Catholic Church," <i>Wikipedia</i>, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catechism_of_the_Catholic_Church.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">3. "Roman Catechism," <i>Catholic Encyclopedia, Catholic Online</i>, http://www.catholic.org/encyclopedia/view.php?id=2660.</span></div>
Burgess Laughlinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13865479709475171678noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2471789221776647520.post-65947545324953536142013-10-18T06:22:00.000-07:002013-10-18T06:43:09.202-07:00BkRev: Weigel's Evangelical Catholicism<br />
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<b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">George Weigel, <i>Evangelical Catholicism: Deep Reform in the 21st Century Church</i>, New York, Basic Books, 2013, 291 pages</span></b></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><b>Who is George Weigel?</b> The author, born 1951, is a lifetime Catholic. He studied in Catholic schools. He taught theology in a Catholic seminary. He has written seventeen books, beginning in the mid-1980s. All of the books are about Catholicism, the Catholic movement, or applications of Catholicism to subjects such as "just war" theory. </span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">George Weigel is not a recluse. After teaching, he became a scholar-in-residence at the World Without War Council of Greater Seattle, a fellow at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, the founding president of the James Madison Foundation, a chairman of Catholic studies at the Ethics and Public Policy Center, and a co-signer of the "[Protestant] Evangelicals and Catholics Together" document in 1994.[1] George Weigel is thus an activist, specifically an intellectual activist, one who applies the fundamental principles of his worldview to current problems.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><b>To whom is Weigel writing in this book?</b> In <i>Evangelical Catholicism</i>, Weigel writes to Catholics interested in reforming the Church to make the whole movement focused on identifying the message of Christ and then taking that message to the world. The Catholics he writes to, however, are not thoroughly educated in Catholicism. He explains his terms, especially those terms he draws from history. He educates as he proceeds. His instruction, however, is "in-line," that is, presented in small bites as he presents his main argument.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">Most of all, Weigel is talking to intellectuals. In Ch. 11, he speaks about reforming professional intellectuals in the Church; examples are theologians teaching in seminaries and universities. However, Weigel's approach throughout the book is geared to intellectually inclined Catholics in all areas of the Church. It is they who will advocate reform and carry it through into action. Weigel is a strong supporter of the principle that ideas cause human actions. See, for example, pp. 173-174, for Weigel's brief discussion of the destructive effects of "bad theology" on even the most dedicated Catholics.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><b>What is the purpose of the book?</b> Weigel wants to reform the Catholic Church, that is, the whole movement of Catholics. He wants the Church to be focused on what Jesus asked his followers to do: Spread the "good news" (gospel) of Jesus to the entire world. To do that effectively, the Church must be evangelical, that is, geared for propagating the gospel. Changing the Church will require "deep" reform, which means reform at every level of the Church and down to fundamental principles of the Church.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><b>What are the subject, theme, and structure of the book?</b> Weigel is a writer's writer. His table of contents is not merely a listing of headings. It is an outline of the book, showing part, chapter, and section headings.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">The overall structure of the book is simple. The book has two parts. The first part presents Weigel's view of the reform that the Catholic Church has been supporting for 125 years and is still undergoing, though haltingly and without clarity and consensus. (p. 2) The essence of the reform is reaching back to the time of Jesus, when he charged his followers with the duty of following his commands, including evangelism. In its reform, the Church should be guided by two values, Weigel says. The first is the <i>truths</i> which God revealed, and the second is the <i>mission</i> of spreading Christianity. (p. 92)</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">The second part of the book suggests ways for Catholics to reform the Church. Weigel offers reforms for each segment of the organized Catholic movement—from the pope down to the great mass of lay Catholics around the world. Weigel does not, however, begin with the top or bottom but with the middle of the hierarchy, the bishops. They, Weigel says (for example, pp. 70, 79, 111-112) are the individuals in the Church who are most directly responsible for the Church in each geographic area (a bishopric, also called diocese).</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">Weigel next presents reforms for: <i>priests</i> (administered by bishops), the <i>liturgy</i> (the ceremonial rituals), <i>"consecrated" Catholics</i> (nuns, monks, friars), <i>"lay" Catholics</i>, <i>intellectuals</i>, the various<i> individuals who advocate the Church's "public policies,"</i> and the <i>papacy</i> (the pope, the College of Cardinals, and the Roman Curia, who are the advisors to the pope).</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><b>How does this book relate to the war between reason and mysticism in the USA today?</b> In the perspective of this weblog, the important point about the book is that an experienced, popular, Catholic intellectual is providing a blueprint for improving the Catholic movement's ability to spread mysticism—in the forms of faith, revelation, and holy scripture. His blueprint is educational and orderly, making it the sort of document that can influence other mystics to take action to spread their ideas. His audience includes professional intellectuals, but he appeals mainly to nonprofessional intellectualizers who are transmitters of ideas to the broadest audience, the man in the street. </span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><b>Should advocates of reason read this book?</b> I recommend this book only to a few readers, those who are activist advocates of reason and who want to complete their portrait of the Catholic movement—its history, its present state, and its ongoing trends—by looking closely at one influential Catholic intellectual's program of reform to make the Church more evangelical.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">For a start on the <b>history of the Catholic movement</b> in the USA, see: Aug. 5, 2013, "BkRev: O'Toole's <i>The Faithful</i>, http://reasonversusmysticism.blogspot.com/2013/08/bkrev-otooles-faithful.html and March 30, 2013, "BkRev: Carroll's <i>The New Faithful</i>, <a href="http://reasonversusmysticism.blogspot.com/2013/03/bkrev-carrolls-new-faithful.html">http://reasonversusmysticism.blogspot.com/2013/03/bkrev-carrolls-new-faithful.html</a></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">For a start on the <b>present state of the Catholic movement </b>in the USA, see: Aug. 25, 2013, "BkRev: Shaw's <i>American Church</i>," <a href="http://reasonversusmysticism.blogspot.com/2013/08/bkrev-shaws-american-church.html">http://reasonversusmysticism.blogspot.com/2013/08/bkrev-shaws-american-church.html</a></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">For a start on the <b>ongoing trends of the Catholic movement</b> around the world, and their effect on Catholicism in the USA, see: Sept. 25, 2013, "BkRev: The Future Church," <a href="http://reasonversusmysticism.blogspot.com/2013/09/bkrev-allens-future-church.html">http://reasonversusmysticism.blogspot.com/2013/09/bkrev-allens-future-church.html</a></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">Burgess Laughlin</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">Author of <i>The Power and the Glory: The Key Ideas and Crusading Lives of Eight Debaters of Reason vs. Faith</i>, described here: <a href="http://www.reasonversusmysticism.com/">http://www.reasonversusmysticism.com/</a></span></div>
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[1]<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Weigel"> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Weigel</a>.</div>
Burgess Laughlinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13865479709475171678noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2471789221776647520.post-13196537008139721842013-09-25T07:19:00.001-07:002013-09-25T07:29:35.148-07:00BkRev: Allen's The Future Church<br />
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<b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: x-small;">John L. Allen, Jr., <i>The Future Church: How Ten Trends are Revolutionizing the Catholic Church</i>, New York, Crown Publishing (Random House), 2009, 469 pp.</span></b></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">In the USA today, I think, Catholicism is the most powerful advocate of supernaturalism and mysticism. Can a book written about the Catholic movement—by a Catholic, and for Catholics—possibly aid activists dedicated to promoting reason as one's only source of knowledge? This review answers.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><b>What is the subject?</b> The book is about the future of the Catholic Church, the social movement of individuals who support Catholicism as a religion. The author expects no major changes in Catholic doctrines. Instead, the book is partly a prediction about the future relations between potentially conflicting groups within the whole community of Catholics around the world. The book is also about predictions of the Church's relations with the world outside the Catholic community: seculars, Muslims, Jews, and non-Catholic Christians (especially Pentecostal Protestants). </span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><b>Who is the author?</b> John L. Allen, Jr. is a journalist who specializes in reporting about the Catholic movement in general and the Vatican in particular. He has written several books, including a biography of Pope Benedict XVI (now retired). Allen strives for objectivity, by which he means a factually accurate, "balanced" account of his subject, an account that states both the views of critics and the views of the subject himself.[1]</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">Allen (b. 1965) has been immersed in Catholicism all his life: in his early school, in his university studies (philosophy and religion), and in his work as a reporter for CNN, NPR, and others. He developed his ideas and practiced presenting them in a long series of "lectures, keynote speeches, workshops, and addresses" he gave in the two years prior to producing the book. (p. viii) This method of producing a book, first testing the presentation on a small scale, is similar to Leonard Peikoff's long preparation for his book, <i>The DIM Hypothesis: Why the Lights of the West Are Going Out</i>, which I reviewed <a href="http://reasonversusmysticism.blogspot.com/2012/11/bkrev-peikoff-dim-hypothesis.html">here</a>.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><b>Who is the intended audience? </b>Allen writes in this book to Catholics who want to understand the large movements around the world that are affecting the Catholic community. (p. 1)</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><b>What is the purpose?</b> Allen says:</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><i>The aim of this book is to survey the most important currents shaping the Catholic Church today, and to look down the line at how they might play out during the rest of the twenty-first century.</i> (p. 3) </span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">Some of the trends he examines are long-term changes occurring <i>within</i> the Church community; an example is the growing role of laymen, not clerics (priests, bishops, cardinals, and popes) in doing the non-sacred work of the Church (Ch. 5). Most of the other ten trends Allen identifies are long-term changes occurring <i>outside</i> the Church but call for response from Catholics; an example of an outside trend affecting Catholics is the spread of Islam (Ch. 3).</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">Allen defines a "trend" as a slow, impalpable, imponderable movement in culture, a movement that works below the surface of daily news events. (p. 3, citing historian Arnold J. Toynbee) He further defines "trend" in the next to the last chapter, "Trends That Aren't." There he names six criteria for designating a cultural change as a trend.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><b>What is the theme?</b> The main message of the book is that the ten trends that Allen identifies are happening now and they will turn the Church upside down. Allen says:</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><i>It's important to be clear at the onset about what this book is and what it's not. I'm a journalist, not a priest, theologian, or academic. My role is to document what's happening in Catholicism and provide context for it, not tell readers what to think. This book is therefore an exercise in description, not prescription. I'm not trying to argue that these trends are the way Catholicism </i>ought<i> to go, or the issues it </i>ought<i> to face. I'm saying instead that they accurately express the way Catholicism </i>really is<i> going, and the issues it </i>really is<i> facing.</i> (p. 5)</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">Most of the book is descriptive. Some passages are prescriptive. For example, on pp. 446-452 Allen warns about the need of Catholics to consider four factors when they decide what to do in their activism. One example is his warning to not rely on Church hierarchy to solve world problems, such as pressure from Islam. Laymen, not clerics ("the hierarchy"), can take immediate and direct action. This "horizontal" solution has succeeded among pentecostal Protestants. (pp. 450-452)</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><b>What is the structure? </b>Following the Introduction to the book, ten chapters identify trends the author sees in the Church now and expects to continue through this century. The author identifies a trend and projects its consequences. For example, the first chapter is "Trend One: A World Church." This trend began early in the 1900s, when only 25% of the world's Catholics lived outside of Europe and North America. Now 65% of the world's Catholics live outside Europe and North America. This trend has thus "turned Catholicism upside down," that is, caused a "revolution" in some aspect of the Church. As consequences of this trend, the Church as a whole is becoming more evangelical (focused on spreading the message of Jesus), more charismatic (emotional in rituals), and less intellectual.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">Allen organizes each chapter into three sections. (p. 4) The first section is a general introduction to the trend. For the first chapter, "A World Church," the introduction includes imagining an election of a pope from Nigeria. The second section of each chapter is "What's Happening," which describes in detail the trend as it is now; Allen presents that section because he thinks that trends that are evident now and meet certain requirements will likely continue for decades into the future. The third section of each chapter, "What It Means," makes the predictions explicit. Allen is organized; he presents predictions in levels of likelihood: "Near Certain," "Probable," "Possible," and "Long-Shot." Allen says:</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><i>The arc of time under consideration here is the rest of the century, meaning roughly ninety years. Farther out than that, all bets are off.</i> (p. 4)</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">The final chapter of the book is "a stand-alone summary of what impact the trends will have [on the Catholic movement] in the century to come." (p. 4) He summarizes his "descriptive terms for what Catholicism will actually look and feel like in this century." (p. 4) The terms characterizing the future Church are: "Global, Uncompromising, Pentecostal, and Extroverted." (pp. 4-5) "Pentecostal" here means that individual Catholics will be mainly concerned with (1) direct experience of God through the Holy Spirit (accompanied by singing, arm waving, and "speaking in tongues"), and with (2) taking direct action to politically and socially achieve religious goals—rather than relying on the Church hierarchy to plan and implement activities. ("Trend Ten: Pentecostalism," pp. 375-413)</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><b>What are defects of the book? </b>Allen presents a mass of information to illustrate and substantiate his points. In a general way, he often names sources in the main text. Unfortunately he has no notes citing exact sources. At the end of the book, in </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">"Suggestions for Further Reading," </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">he presents a chapter-by-chapter list of documents to consult. Though helpful, it is not an adequate substitute for notes. Being a journalist does not relieve the writer of specifying his sources.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">The two-column, seven-page index is helpful but insufficient. It often does not include special terms such as "base ecclesial communities," which apparently means small groups of laymen who come together for one or more common Catholic purposes (Bible study, mutual support, local activism).</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"> </span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><b>What is the author's style? </b>Allen writes clearly, though loosely and informally. He is organized in presenting his information. If he identifies a number of factors, he then numbers them as he presents them. He presents lists where lists are needed.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><b>Can advocates of reason benefit from reading the book? </b>A slow reading of this book is one course seculars can follow to learn about the Catholic Church: its past, its present, and its likely future. A non-Catholic reader encounters many new terms. Allen often defines special terms as he uses them; for example:</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><i>Inevitably, the global character of Catholicism will push it in the direction of what theologians call "inculturation," meaning expressing the faith differently according to the argot and customs of local cultures. Celebrating the Catholic Mass, for example, is a different experience in Nigeria than in India ….</i> (p. 41)</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">The author's observations about and insights into the mystical Catholic movement might stimulate thinking about the nature of activism for reason. One example is Allen's reminder to readers that various, sometimes competing Christians (such as Catholics and Baptists) can <i>cooperate on common goals without ever uniting organizationally</i>. (p. 53) That might apply to pro-reason activists.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">A second example is the author's term <b>creative minorities</b>. Allen borrows the term from historian Arnold Toynbee. It means "subgroups [of a movement] which, because of their passion and vision, exercise influence beyond their numbers. For that to work, these creative minorities must have a solid sense of their own identity and a strong sense of internal cohesion …." (p. 58)</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">Referring to a Catholic dictionary may aid the serious, pro-reason student who is not already familiar with Catholicism. One example is <i>A Catholic Dictionary</i>, by Donald Attwater; conservative Catholics prefer this. Another example, which I have not yet read, is John A. Hardon's <i>Modern Catholic Dictionary</i>. A third, an online source, is: http://www.catholic.org/encyclopedia/.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><b>Would you recommend this book for pro-reason advocates? </b>I would recommend a careful reading of this book to certain activists promoting reason in the USA today.<b> </b>First, it can be useful as a contrast. How do the barriers and opportunities for advocates of reason differ from the advocates of Catholicism in particular and Christianity in general? One example is the importance, for advocates of reason, of knowing the foundations of one's principles; fideists can take anything on faith (though they do have the problem of deciding which of many competing claims to take on faith). Second, the book can be useful as a comparison, that is, looking for similarities. Do all activists, but especially those advocating fundamental principles, face some common problems? An example is the problem of priorities: What tactical steps should the activist emphasize the most or do first?</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">I am enthusiastic enough about this book that I would like to lead a study group online, a study group devoted to reading and discussing this book in light of Leonard Peikoff's views on predictions in <i>The DIM Hypothesis</i>. The Catholic movement, overall, is a movement of misintegration, the position Dr. Peikoff predicts will dominate the USA within the next generation or two.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">Burgess Laughlin</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">Author of <i>The Power and the Glory: The Key Ideas and Crusading Lives of Eight Debaters of Reason vs. Faith</i>, described <a href="http://www.reasonversusmysticism.com/">here</a>. </span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">[1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_L._Allen,_Jr.</span></div>
Burgess Laughlinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13865479709475171678noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2471789221776647520.post-33848188057765688172013-08-25T07:11:00.002-07:002013-08-25T07:11:54.942-07:00BkRev: Shaw's American Church
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<b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Russell Shaw, <i>American Church: The Remarkable Rise, Meteoric Fall, and Uncertain Future of Catholicism in America</i>, San Francisco, Ignatius Press, 2013 (paperback), 233 pages.</span></b></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><b>For
pro-reason activists, is Russell Shaw's <i>American Church</i>
worth reading? </b> Shaw is a Catholic writing to Catholics, but his <i>American
Church</i> unintentionally aids pro-reason activists in several ways.
First, the book provides a profile of today's Catholic Church, possibly the
most powerful voice for mysticism in the USA today. That profile enables
pro-reason activists to better plan their strategies and tactics for promoting
reason and for opposing mysticism. (By "pro-reason activist" I mean
someone who concentrates on publicly advocating reason as the only means of
knowledge; other activists—for example, advocates who support the right to
choose an abortion—may be pro-reason but that is not what they invest most of
their time in promoting.)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">As a second benefit,
the book reminds pro-reason readers that mystics inevitably encounter problems.
To the extent that they are mystics in their lives, they are not observing and
thinking about reality. Shaw notes occasionally in the book that many Catholics
refuse to acknowledge the problems. Readers see, through Shaw's account,
Catholics investing money and time into fruitless activities, that is,
activities that do not help them achieve their communal purpose, which is to
evangelize, which means to spread the words of Jesus. (p. vii)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">A third benefit,
also not intended by Shaw, is historical perspective. Pro-reason activists
reading the book see that here too ideas cause actions in history. The evolving
idea of Catholic "Americanism," implemented by leading U.S. Catholics
through several generations, has brought the Church in the USA to its present
low state, Shaw says. Here <b>Americanism</b> means the process of
leading the Church to become "part of the dominant secular culture of the
United States." (p. 24)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><b>What is
the subject of <i>American Church</i>?</b> Its author says <i>American Church</i>:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><i>is not
a history of the Catholic Church in the United States. Rather, it is an attempt
to sketch the process by which American Catholics have been assimilated into
American culture during the past two centuries and to assess the impact
cultural assimilation has had on Catholicism in the United States.</i>
(p. xiii) <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">"Americanization"
is the subject of the book: its origin, its nature, its evolution, and its
effects. Shaw traces the process from the mid-1800s to today, shows the
destructive consequences, and sketches a path to correcting the problems. (p.
24) <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Shaw further
defines "Americanism," as it appeared among some Catholic
intellectuals in the later 1800s: a movement believing at that time that (1)
"the world was undergoing radical change"; (2)"America was at
the cutting edge of change"; (3) "there was a fundamental and
intrinsic compatibility between Catholicism and American culture"; and (4)
"the Church in America had a God-given duty to show the rest of the
Church, and especially the leadership in Rome, the way to the future as that
path was then [in the late 1800s] being marked out in the United States."
(p. 42)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">US Catholics
telling the papacy that America will define the future path of the worldwide Catholic
Church provoked a reaction. In 1895, Pope Leo XIII (reigned 1878-1903)
condemned Americanism, which he defined as including two ideas: the idea of church/state
separation, and the idea that each individual Catholic can be guided by his own
individual experience of the Holy Spirit, thus bypassing the Papacy. Both ideas
contradicted Catholic doctrine. (pp. 44-48 and 50)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><i>Better
than Pope Leo or anyone else could have known at the time, the principal
opinions condemned in [Pope Leo XIII's encyclical] Testem
benevolentiae have by now become central elements in the ongoing
debate about Catholic identity and the future of the Church in the United
States.</i> (p. 50) <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Shaw shows
repeatedly that history matters, though he does not make that lesson explicit.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Around 1900, the
term "Americanism" came to <i>also</i> refer to modernism.
(pp. 51-55) The principles of modernism relevant to a Catholic context are: (1)
"immanentism—the idea that religion expresses a human need rather than
conveys divine revelation"; and (2) religious evolution, the idea that
there is no fixed truth coming from revelation in the ancient past. (p. 52)
Modernism leads to relativism and individual subjectivism. (p. 53) Among the Church
hierarchy, the association of Americanism with modernism doomed Americanism as
an officially promoted Church doctrine, even in the USA. That idea nevertheless
continued to affect American Catholics by leading them to adopt more and more
elements of the secular culture around them. (pp. 57-58 and 68) Meanwhile, the
secular culture was moving farther and farther from its Enlightenment
beginning.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Shaw does not fully
unpack the historical package-deal of "secularity." In the early
1800s, the Enlightenment still heavily influenced secular culture of the USA.
By the 1900s "secular" culture included large elements of
"modernism," in the sense of anti-Enlightenment—that is, anti-reason—elements
such as relativism and skepticism. Thus pro-reason advocates and conservative
Catholics have a common enemy in modernism, but for radically opposed reasons.
The three choices are reason, mysticism, and skepticism. Shaw does not discuss
that trichotomy. His concern is only with the Church of mysticism against the<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>"secular" culture of philosophical
skepticism (which rejects all knowledge, whether rational or revealed).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><b>What
are Shaw's qualifications for writing <i>American Church</i>? </b>
Shaw is a journalist and freelance writer. He is a competent writer. He
explains peculiarly Catholic ideas clearly enough to show their long-term
consequences in action. His historical narrative is the core of the book, but he
stops at appropriate times to introduce required background information.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">For 18 years, Shaw
was director of media relations for two organizations. One was the National
Conference of Catholic Bishops; the other was the United States Catholic
Conference. Both formed in 1966; they combined in 2001 as the U. S. Catholic
Conference (USCC).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Shaw has also written
<i>Nothing to Hide: Secrecy, Communication, and Communion in the Catholic
Church</i> (2008). It examines the destructive role of secrecy practiced
by leaders of the Catholic Church in the USA. Shaw holds that secrecy,
especially by clerics (the priests, bishops, and others mystically
"ordained" for their role), destroys the purpose of the Church, which
is to establish a communion among believers in Christ. Clerical secrecy is only
one element of the story of failures Shaw presents in <i>American Church</i>.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><b>What is
Shaw's purpose in writing his book?</b> Shaw's long-term purpose is to
change the direction of the Catholic Church in the USA. He thinks the main
indicators show the Church is collapsing. He wants to convince other Catholics
of that problem, and then offer them a way to restore the Church to its dual
role of making its members holy and spreading the word of Jesus to
non-Catholics. (pp. xiii, 2, 24, 194)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><b>Is Shaw
writing only to Catholics?</b> Shaw writes to Catholics about Catholics of
the past, present, and future. His choice of audience does not exclude others,
even advocates of reason alone. Many Catholics know little about their own Church.
Shaw explains the facts of what the Church is and does, and then shows the significance
of those facts. An example is the story of Catholic intellectuals and evangelists,
Isaac Hecker (1819-1888) and Orestes Brownston (1803-1876). <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><i>In
their collaboration and also in their conflict, these two unusual men framed
what remains the perennial question for Catholics in the United States: Can
Catholics be both fully American and also faithfully Catholic?</i> (p.
25) <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Shaw then
proceeds to substantiate that claim. (pp. 25-34) At the end of that segment, he
shows the values involved, for Catholics. Further, Shaw, who worries about the
future of the Church he loves, suggests that Hecker and Brownson's conflict
might provide elements for a solution to the problems the Church faces today. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><b>What is
the theme of <i>American Church</i>? </b> The theme has three
parts: First, the Catholic Church in the USA is collapsing. Shaw says:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><i>My own
view is that the current situation of American Catholicism is alarming, with
the future a matter of deep concern. The Mass attendance rate in the United
States on any given Sunday … is now 30% or less nationwide; in the 1950s and
1960s it was around 75%. Similar sharp declines in participation in the rest of
the Church's sacramental life have also taken place—baptisms, confirmations,
and Catholic marriages are all down. Three Catholics out of four receive the
sacrament of penance ("go to confession") less than once a year
[instead of weekly]—or never.<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Vocations ["callings"]
to the priesthood and religious life [in monasteries and convents] have
plummeted …. Poll results repeatedly show that the attitudes, values, and
practices of many, possibly most, America Catholics—including attitudes toward
the Church—mirror secular American attitudes, values, and behaviors rather than
those of their Catholic tradition.</span></div>
(pp. 22-23)<o:p></o:p>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Second, the
Church in the USA is failing because its main intellectual leaders accepted the
idea of Americanism, <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>the idea,
originating in the 1800s, holding that American secular culture is good and the
Church should adapt to it. (pp. 42-45)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Third, the way
to revive the Church in the USA (and around the world), Shaw says, is to reject
secular culture and return to personal holiness, including Jesus's instruction
to take his message to the world at large—evangelism. (pp. 201-202, 205-206,
and 208-210)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Shaw sees some
signs of a new, emerging Catholic subculture. He emphases that this new
subculture might be good or bad, but it is in the process now of growing
"organically." He wants a growth of such a subculture to be by design
not by happenstance. (pp. 194-196) He says:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><i>… the
primary purpose of the subculture … should be to preserve, foster, and transmit
the Catholic identity of Catholics .… </i> (p. 199)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">The new, arising
subculture is a conservative Catholic subculture. (Shaw does not use the word
"conservative.") Two example elements of the new subculture are: (1)
older Catholic institutions, such as universities, publicly reclaiming their
Catholic identity (p. 195); and (2) "Catholic social services" that
are shrinking rather than submitting to secular government requirements (such
as offering contraceptives) and resorting instead to more "personalized,
deinstitutionalized charity." (p. 195)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><b>What is
the structure of <i>American Church</i>? </b> The architect
of the book is simple: an arc rising and then plummeting, as the subtitle suggests.
Shaw traces the history of the Church from its scant beginnings in the early
1800s (Ch. 1), to its rise at its high point, when it was the largest
denomination in the USA in the 1950s and early 1960s (Ch. 2), and then to its
plunge today (Ch. 3). In the final chapter (Ch. 4), Shaw reviews the state of
the Church now and recommends a program for reinvigorating the Church in the
USA. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><b>What
flaws does the book have?</b> Only one error stands out. Throughout the
book, even in the Foreword by Archbishop Chaput (for example pp. xii, 10, 13,
and 217), the author refers to the book by the title <i>The Gibbons
Legacy</i>, which perhaps was the title of the original manuscript. The
editors of the book should have changed the title before publication, to avoid
confusing readers. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><b>Does
<i>American Church</i> offer special insights?</b> <i>American
Church</i> offers a few insights worth further thought by advocates of
reason. Four examples follow. First, in a quoted passage on p. 12, Shaw rejects
the error of attempting to influence events by morally compromising with them. Shaw
illustrates the error by describing the disastrous results of the compromise-to-influence
tactic that some Catholics employed in the early years of Adolf Hitler's rule
over Germany.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Second, Shaw
characterizes opponents of the Catholic Church—who sometimes are also opponents
of reason, egoism, and capitalism. An example is his brief portrait of the
"liberalism" of philosopher John Rawls (1921-2002). (pp. 200-201)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Third, admirers
of Leonard Peikoff's <i>The DIM Hypothesis</i> (reviewed <a href="http://reasonversusmysticism.blogspot.com/2012/11/bkrev-peikoff-dim-hypothesis.html">here</a>
on November 28, 2012) will recognize the value of this report by Shaw:
"Recent converts to Catholicism not infrequently report that they were
repelled by the growing depravity of the secular culture and [were] attracted
to Catholicism as virtually the only serious response to it." (205)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Fourth, Shaw
presents an idea that deserves further exploration. He calls it <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>"<b>plausibility structure</b>."
It refers to the set of cultural, social, and political elements surrounding a
religious person and reinforcing that person's values. The Catholic
plausibility structure in the USA was at its strongest influence around 1950.
Many Catholics at that time lived in Catholic neighborhoods; they walked to their
church; their neighbors were mostly Catholic; the members of their social clubs
were Catholics; their local politicians were Catholics; and their local priest
watched over them. All of these elements of a Catholic's world shared and
reinforced Catholic values. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">This structure,
however, began unraveling in the 1950s. With the growth of the national
economy, young Catholics began moving out of old neighborhoods and into
religiously mixed suburban areas. Catholics came to be like other Americans. More
Catholics began exercising personal choice—for example, in using contraception
and abortion—rather than automatically following Church doctrines. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Is there an
opportunity here for pro-reason advocates? Would developing a strategy of
breaking down plausibility structures advance genuinely secular culture?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">In summary, Shaw's <i>American
Church</i> is a worthwhile read for the few pro-reason activists
specializing in the fight against mysticism in the USA. The book demonstrates
the long chain of events involved in changing a culture.</span><!--EndFragment-->
<br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Burgess Laughlin</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Author of <i>The Power and the Glory: The Key Ideas and Crusading Lives of Eight Debaters of Reason versus Faith</i>, <a href="http://www.reasonversusmysticism.com/">here</a></span>Burgess Laughlinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13865479709475171678noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2471789221776647520.post-15908699926787143372013-08-05T06:23:00.000-07:002013-08-05T18:53:15.715-07:00BkRev: O'Toole's The Faithful<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Four years ago I began this weblog with "Theme Questions" (Aug. 24, 2009). One of my guiding questions for this project has been: "Who are the main advocates of mysticism in our time
(1960 to now)?" I have looked at a wide variety of forms of mysticism in
the USA. I am able now to choose, for further study, a particular form of
mysticism that I think is the most powerful combatant for mysticism in the war
against reason—the most articulate intellectually, the most organized socially,
and the richest fiscally. That movement is Catholicism. The book review below
is the first of several posts focusing<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>on the Catholic movement, a movement that is the largest religious
denomination in the USA, about 25% of religious adults.</span><br />
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">James M. O'Toole, <i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Faithful: A History of Catholics in
America</i></i>, Cambridge (Mass.), Belknap Press (Harvard University
Press), 2008, 376 pages.<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">SUBJECT AND
THEME</b></b>. To completely know what a thing <i>is</i> we
should study how the thing <i>came to be</i>. In large part,
describing the development of today's Catholic laity is the task of Catholic
historian James M. O'Toole in writing <i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The New Faithful: A History of Catholics in America</i></i>.
Through six periods, beginning with the colonial, he describes the
ever-changing mass of laymen. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">In O'Toole's terms, the laity of the Church are the 99% of
the Catholic movement, the followers of the Church, the "sheep"
guided by the priestly shepherds. (p. 3) The hierarchy are the 1% of the
Church; they are the individuals—the priests, bishops, cardinals, and popes—who
are mystically ordained to perform sacred tasks such as conducting a Mass,
receiving a confession, and giving "last rites" to the dying. O'Toole
discusses the hierarchy of the Church, as an institution within the Catholic
movement, but only to the extent that the laity interact with them. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Because O'Toole focuses on the laity, he is writing an
unconventional form of religious history. Most such books focus on a history of
theology, the central institutions, or the most prominent members of the
hierarchy. O'Toole profiles the masses. (pp. 2-3) He asks (pp. 4-6) three main
questions about the Catholic community at each of the six phases of its history
in the USA:</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">1. <i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">What is
the size and structure of the Catholic community?</i></i> This question
covers points such as the number of priests relative to the number of laity;
the number of Catholic schools; and the availability of Catholic charity. The
first two points, I think, affect the dissemination of the Church's message on
reason and mysticism. The last point involves motivation. The Church is an
intensely social institution; it is a place where members can gather, share the
company of like-minded individuals, and aid one another through charity.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">2. <i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">What did
Catholics emphasize as the core of being Catholic in dealing with this world
and in preparing for the supernatural world?</i></i> At each historical
stage, did the laity stress <i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">individual</i></i>
spiritual growth, <i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">communal</i></i>
sacraments such as Mass, or "Catholic action," that is, organized
efforts to change the <i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">social and
political</i></i> world around them? </span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">3. <i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">What was
the relationship between the American laity and the pope?</i></i> The
relationship has been a sort of "double helix." The laity in America
has been changing, often independently of the popes, who were losing political
power in Europe but gaining greater theological and personal influence within
the Catholic world. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
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<div class="MsoNormal">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">O'Toole is not writing an advertisement for the Catholic
Church. He faces defects in the Church movement where he sees them. One example
is a phase of the history of the papacy, a phase in which some popes rejected
innovations.<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Popes</i>
</i>[in the early 1800s]<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"> <i>were
also steadily more enthusiastic in their denunciations of the "rejected
innovators" of modern life. Gregory XVI even condemned the new technology
of railroads, punning that these</i></i> <i>chemins de
fer</i> <i> <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">("roads of
iron") … were</i></i> <i>chemins d'enfer</i> <i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">("roads to hell"). … Possibly
worse</i> [than freedom of conscience in religion], <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">he thought, was "that deadly freedom that cannot be sufficiently
feared, the freedom of the press."</i></i> (p. 89)</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">THE AUTHOR</b></b>.
At Boston College, a Catholic school, Professor O’Toole teaches courses in the
history of American religion, particularly Catholicism. His special interests
are the history of religious practice and popular devotional life.[1] O'Toole's
own religious position appears to be the middle ground between the emotionalist
and the intellectualist streams of Catholicism. I infer from reading his book
that his own position is stated in his description of Charles Carroll of
Carrollton (1737-1832), a Catholic signer of the Declaration of Independence: </span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Here</i> <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">was a religion neither of extreme
emotions—the screwed up faces and grimaces of enthusiastic revivals held little
appeal—nor of so bloodless a rationalism that God disappeared altogether and
faith became mere fiction</i>.</i> (p. 36)</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">STRUCTURE</b></b>.
For each of the six periods, O'Toole describes a particular individual who
lived in that period and in some ways represents its Catholic culture. (p. 3)
For example, Ch. 1, "The Priestless Church," begins by saying: </span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Roger Hanly
lived with his wife and six children in Bristol, Maine, at the time of the
American Revolution. … Roger and his brother Patrick had come there from
Ireland about 1770, and they found community with other Irish families, the
Kavanaughs and the Cottrills. They wanted to preserve their ancestral Catholic
faith, but that was not easy. Much later, they were able to erect a small brick
church ….<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Building it was a
genuine act of faith, maybe a foolhardy one, for it was rare that a priest
wandered through the region to conduct any services</i>.</i> (p. 11)</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">O'Toole begins with the Hanly family, broadens to cover
other Catholics in the colonies, and then shows the influence that the broader,
non-Catholic society had on Catholics—for example, the secular virtue of
independence that encouraged local Church supporters, rather than a distant
Catholic hierarchy, to organize and fund their own local religious activities. </span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Readers will see not only a tapestry of Catholics in the USA
changing as the generations pass, but also particular revealing threads. One
thread, for example, is the author's mention, at each stage, the size of the
Catholic population—from less than 1% before the Revolution to about 2% fifty
years later, in 1830; a steady rise to about 25% in the mid-twentieth century;
and then stagnation. Since then US born Catholics have been declining in number
as some Catholics have fewer children and other Catholics leave the Church. So
far, Catholic immigrants have barely compensated for those losses.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Another highlighted thread in the tapestry is the stature of
the papacy. The papacy declined in its political strength after the French
Revolution, but its role within the Catholic Church has grown, in part by
appealing not merely through the bishops but directly to Catholic laymen in
mass communications. (pp. 44-49, as one example)</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">In his typically understated manner, O'Toole also makes
clear that one of the characteristics of Catholicism distinguishing it from
most Protestants was Catholic emphasis on "churchifying," that is, regularly
participating in or observing rituals. Mystics of this type are thus as
concerned with orthopraxy ("correct practice") as they are about
orthodoxy ("correct beliefs, teachings"). The central practice
remains the Mass, particularly the Eucharist, in which an ordained priest—that
is, someone specially designated through the mysticism of tradition—performs a
supernatural act: Bread and wine <i>become</i> the body and blood
of Christ. (pp. 177-178, but also<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>the many listings under "Mass" in the index.)</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Thus, though O'Toole is not writing a history of ideas, a
careful reader throughout the book sees the footprints of the supernaturalism,
mysticism, altruism, and statism that are the fundamental principles of
Catholicism.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">AUDIENCE</b></b>.
O'Toole is a skillful narrator. He writes to readers—Catholic or not—who want
to understand both the enduring nature and the evolving nature of Catholicism
in the USA. Non-Catholics can learn the basic elements of Catholicism from
reading this book. O'Toole casually explains Catholic terms as he progresses.
For example:</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Observance of
Lent, for instance, the period of forty days immediately before Easter in the
spring, had for centuries emphasized penitence and self-denial, and Catholics
paid particular attention to dietary practices during those weeks. Some foods
were prohibited, and Catholics were urged to limit their intake of all food and
drink as a reminder of the sufferings of Jesus during his last days on earth</i>.</i>
(p. 23)</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">CONCLUSION</b></b>.
Pro-reason readers who want a clearer understanding of contemporary society in
the USA, including the Catholic quarter, will benefit from a careful reading of
O'Toole's <i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Faithful</i></i>.
Pro-reason activists who want to learn from the activist techniques of their Catholic
opponents will see a range of successes and failures employed by the largest
mystical movement in the USA. Pro-reason activists who are specializing in
tracking and confronting the Catholic Church itself will find an informative
start here.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Burgess Laughlin</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Author of <i>The Power and the Glory: The Key Ideas and Crusading Lives of Eight Debaters of Reason vs. Faith</i>, described <a href="http://www.reasonversusmysticism.com/">here</a>.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">[1] For an academic profile of Professor O'Toole: http://www.bc.edu/schools/cas/history/faculty/alphabetical/otoole_james.html.</span></div>
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<!--EndFragment--><br />
<!--EndFragment-->Burgess Laughlinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13865479709475171678noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2471789221776647520.post-92128634617365372552013-07-04T08:38:00.001-07:002013-07-30T14:14:55.954-07:00BkRev: Rubenstein's Aristotle's Children<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"><b>Richard E. Rubenstein, <i>Aristotle's Children: How
Christians, Muslims, and Jews Rediscovered Ancient Wisdom and Illuminated the
Dark Ages</i>, Orlando, Harcourt, 2003, 368 pages.</b></span></div>
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The usual reason to write a book review is to bring a book
to readers' attention. The usual review either encourages readers to buy it it
or discourages them if the reviewer thinks readers are hearing unjustly
positive views elsewhere. Sometimes book reviews are useful for other purposes.
In the following brief review, one of my purposes is to show that the author
uses his book of history to support his side in the today's war between reason
and mysticism. His book is an example of indirect activism.</div>
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(I have used my own books, <a href="http://www.reasonversusmysticism.com/"><i>The
Aristotle Adventure</i> and <i>The Power and the Glory</i></a>,
for activism, though to support the reason side of the war.)</div>
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<b>SUBJECT OF <i>ARISTOTLE'S CHILDREN</i></b>.
Often the title of a book is a "hook" that catches readers'
attention. The subtitle is the part that follows a colon or appears in smaller
type; it states the subject. That is the case for my book, <i>The Power
and the Glory: The Key Ideas and Crusading Lives of Eight Debaters of Reason
vs. Faith</i>. That is not the case for <i>Aristotle's Children:
How Christians, Muslims, and Jews Rediscovered Ancient Wisdom and Illuminated
the Dark Ages</i>. </div>
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Rubenstein's book is partly about the influence of Aristotle's
philosophy on intellectuals in the religious cultures of Christianity, Islam,
and Judaism. However, the book is mostly about the conflicts that arose in the
Middle Ages when Christian intellectuals tried to "integrate" Aristotle's
philosophy of this natural world with their Christian ethics based mystically
in supernaturalism. (Admirers of philosopher Leonard Peikoff's book,
<i>The DIM Hypothesis</i>, reviewed <a href="http://reasonversusmysticism.blogspot.com/2012/11/bkrev-peikoff-dim-hypothesis.html">here</a>, will recognize the medieval attempt at "integration" as M,
misintegration.)</div>
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Conflicts, as well as the failed attempts to
"resolve" the conflicts, are the dominant subject of the book. That
is a natural choice of subject for the author, Richard E. Rubenstein. He was a
professor of "conflict resolution," at George Mason University, at
the time of the publication of the book, 2003.</div>
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The subject is important, Rubenstein says, because in the
Latin-reading culture of the Middle Ages Aristotle's philosophy "forever
altered the way we think about nature, society, and even about God." (p.
ix) Rubenstein says further that </div>
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<i>[t]he Aristotelian Revolution transformed Western
thinking and set our culture on a path of scientific inquiry that it has
followed ever since the Middle Ages. The confrontation between faith and reason
that turned the medieval universities into ideological battlegrounds continues
to this day in societies around the globe.</i> (pp. ix-x)</div>
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Why study this medieval conflict today? We should study it, Professor
Rubenstein says, because "the concerns of these medieval thinkers resonate
so sonorously with ours." (p. xi); and the underlying conflict of reason
vs. faith is emerging again in our own time. (p. 11)</div>
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In <i>Aristotle's Children</i>, Rubenstein is
mainly a storyteller. He relies on the scholarly research of academics (as I
did in <i>The Aristotle Adventure</i>). He uses a story-teller's
techniques. He begins with a puzzle: The central medieval conflict over
Aristotle's influence was not mainly <i>between</i> the Church and
outside Aristotelians, but a conflict <i>within</i> the Church,
with the Church leadership generally calling for inclusion of Aristotle's works
in the course of university studies. (p. 7) Why did the Church leadership—unlike
religious leaders among Muslims and Jews—do so?</div>
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Throughout the book, Rubenstein makes a case for his answer:</div>
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<i>Rather than choose between the new learning and the
old religion, the popes and scholars of the High Middle Ages tried to modernize
the Church by reconciling faith and reason.</i> (p. xi)</div>
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<b>STRUCTURE OF <i>ARISTOTLE'S
CHILDREN</i></b>. In structure, as well as content, this book is a
history, as both the author's own statement (p. 2) and a reading of the chapter
subheadings in Table of Contents show. Unfortunately, in the Table of Contents
the author does not supply dates to make the progression clear. I have added
them here: Aristotle's philosophy of this world and Aristotle rediscovered (Ch.
1); how Aristotle was lost in the ancient world and found again (Ch. 2); Peter
Abelard and the revival of reason in the 1100s (Ch. 3); Aristotle among the West
European heretics in the 1100s and 1200s (Ch. 4); Aristotle and the friars who
debated the heretics (Ch. 5); friars debating friars at the University of Paris
in the 1200s (Ch. 6); William of Ockham's divorce of faith and reason in the
1300s (Ch. 7); and the emergence of modern science in the 1500s and 1600s,
resulting in today's split between reason and faith (Ch. 8).</div>
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<b>THEME OF <i>ARISTOTLE'S CHILDREN</i></b>.
The Aristotelian Revolution erupted in Latin-reading Western Europe in the late
1100s and early 1200s when Aristotle's philosophy overall became available for
the first time in Latin texts, thanks to translations from Greek and Arabic
sources. Part of the theme of the book is that in the 1300s, a century after
the Aristotelian Revolution, "faith and reason were already headed toward
the conflict-ridden separation that has characterized their relations ever
since." (p. xii) </div>
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Rubenstein sees here an opportunity for modern culture: We
can learn from the medieval attempt at synthesis of faith and reason that
preceded the split. Perhaps we can apply some form of synthesis of faith and
reason to our own time. (See Ch. 8, but especially pp. 272-273, 281, 292, 293,
and 296-298.)</div>
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Today "we have much to learn from their [the
Aristotelians'] vision of science infused by ethics [coming from religion] and
a religion unafraid of reason." Tying together science (reason) and
religious ethics (faith) can lead to "a more humane and integrated global
future." (p. xii) In essence that is the theme of the book: To solve the
many conflicts of religion versus secularity, such as the conflicts over
homosexuality and abortion, modern world culture must integrate religion and
science by integrating faith and reason. </div>
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<i>What is mythical is the idea that faith and reason
have always been implacable enemies—an idea that implies that any other
relationship between them is impossible.</i> (p. 273)</div>
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<i>Reason could transform the earth, if only science
and technology were inspired and guided by a new global morality. Faith would
expand and mature, if only the world's religions addressed themselves to
long-term trends in society and nature, and helped to create that global morality.</i>
(p. 298)</div>
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So, a "global morality"—that would be developed, I
note, in a consensus among the Taliban in Afghanistan, Christian nationalists
in the USA, the orthodox in Israel, Hindu nationalists in India, and others—would
"guide" reason everywhere around the world. Knowingly or not,
Rubenstein is, in his own multi-cultural way, echoing Pope John Paul II
(1920-2005), who in his 1998 encyclical letter (to bishops), <i>Fides et
Ratio</i> (<i>Faith and Reason</i>), called for faith and
reason to work together, with faith providing the guidance, that is, the ethics.
The assumptions of both Rubenstein and John Paul II are that reason cannot
create ethics (our guide to action in this life) and ethics can come only from
God through revelation to religious people. (Philosopher Ayn Rand's 1961 essay,
"The Objectivist Ethics," has developed the foundation of an ethics
using reason alone—<a href="http://www.aynrand.org/site/PageServer?pagename=ari_ayn_rand_the_objectivist_ethics">here</a>.)</div>
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<span style="font-family: Cambria;"><b>CONCLUSION</b>. Rubenstein's call for
"integration" of reason and faith is support for mysticism. Reason
and mysticism are opposites. Any attempt to reconcile them gives mysticism
respect it has not earned. Rubenstein does not object. "Resolving"
conflict is his goal. His book, <i>Aristotle's Children</i>, though
informative historically, argues for mysticism.</span><!--EndFragment--><br />
<span style="font-family: Cambria;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Cambria;">Burgess Laughlin</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Cambria;">Author, <i>The Power and the Glory: The Key Ideas and Crusading Lives of Eight Debaters of Reason vs. Faith</i>, described <a href="http://www.reasonversusmysticism.com/">here</a></span>Burgess Laughlinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13865479709475171678noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2471789221776647520.post-22323067506591004282013-05-21T14:32:00.000-07:002013-05-21T19:01:01.001-07:00Sam Harris on Reason and MysticismThe May 18, 2013 review of Sam Harris's book, <i>The End of Faith</i>, <a href="http://reasonversusmysticism.blogspot.com/2013/05/bkrev-sam-harris-end-of-faith.html">here</a>, shows that Harris rejects religion because it relies on faith. By "faith," Harris means the acceptance of
fundamental principles based on supposed historical authority, not on evidence
that we can examine and debate today. Harris offers two alternatives to faith.
This post examines those alternatives, drawing again from <i>The End of
Faith</i>.<br />
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<b>REASON</b>. We need fundamental principles to
guide us in living our lives. If, as Harris says, we should not rely on
fundamental principles acquired through faith, how should we develop those
principles? Harris has a two-part answer. First is reason. In a manner typical
of his style, Harris offers no concise, rigorous definition of that concept. He
does provide many cognitive elements which he apparently thinks the concept subsumes,
though he does not say so explicitly.</div>
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For example, Harris says we should observe (p. 76), search
for evidence (p. 15), and reject ideas that are not based on evidence. (p. 25)
"Our beliefs should be representations of the world." (p. 58) We
should exercise "commonsense judgments" (p. 75). We should
experiment, at least in the sciences (p. 76). We should ratiocinate (p. 76), as
well as engage in "discursive reasoning" and "rational
discourse" (p. 25) We should critique and discuss our principles, as paths
to progress. Religion is not open to progress. (p. 22) "Whatever is true
now should be <i>discoverable</i> now, and describable in terms
that are not an outright affront to the rest of what we know about the
world." (p. 22) Harris also sees that one's ideas must be logically
consistent; he says our ideas must not contradict one another, but then he
adds: "at least locally." (p. 53) "By recourse to intuitions of
truth and falsity, logical necessity and contradiction, human beings are able
to knot together private visions of the world that largely cohere." (p.
51)</div>
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Most of those cognitive elements, with the exceptions of
"commonsense judgments" and "intuition," are referents of
the concept "reason" objectively formed. So, Harris has basically the
right elements—looking at the world and thinking about it—for forming the
concept of reason.</div>
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Confusingly, Harris sometimes uses the term
"reason" ("rational") to mean merely syllogistic
consistency: "In fact, even the most extreme expressions of faith [such as
"Jehovah's Witnesses refusing blood transfusions"] are often
perfectly rational, given the requisite beliefs." (p. 69) "Which
beliefs one takes to be foundational will dictate what seems reasonable at any
given moment." (p. 69) And: "Given what Islamists believe, it is
perfectly rational for them to strangle modernity wherever they can lay hold of
it." (p. 136) Harris does not grasp that reason is present only when
objectivity is present, that is, when we form ideas logically from
sense-perception of reality. For Harris, a link missing from the cognitive
chain that connects observation to our most fundamental principles is a theory
of concept formation. He has no way to account for logically building concepts
of objects in reality (such as "dog" or "chair") and then
building higher and higher level abstractions. We will see how he fills this
cognitive gap.</div>
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<b>MYSTICISM</b>. Besides his truncated,
unintegrated version of "reason," Harris offers a second alternative
to faith: a certain other type of mysticism. Some background information is
required. For Harris, "spiritual" and "mystical" are
synonyms. (p. 40) Harris defines "spirituality" as "the
cultivation of happiness directly, through precise refinements of
attention," that is, "meditation." (p. 192) Mystical experiences
are experiences of "meaningfulness, selflessness, and heightened emotion
that surpass our narrow identities as 'selves' and escape our current
understanding of the mind and brain." (pp. 39-40) </div>
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<i>There is no denying that most of us have emotional
and spiritual needs that are now addressed—however obliquely and at a terrible
price—by mainstream religion. And these are needs that a mere
<i>understanding</i> of our world, scientific or otherwise, will
never fulfill. There is clearly a sacred dimension to our existence, and coming
to terms with it could well be the highest purpose of human life. But we will
find that it requires no faith in untestable propositions—Jesus was born of a
virgin; the Koran is the word of God—for us to do this.</i> (p. 16)</div>
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If our highest purpose requires understanding a "sacred
dimension" of our world, but neither faith nor science (which is an
application of reason) will provide that understanding, then where will it come
from? Harris's answer is "empirical mysticism." (p. 215)</div>
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<i>For millennia, contemplatives have known that
ordinary people can divest themselves of the feeling that they call 'I' and
thereby relinquish the sense that they are separate from the rest of the
universe. This phenomenon, which has been reported by practitioners in many
spiritual traditions, is supported by a wealth of evidence—neuroscientific,
philosophical, and introspective. Such experiences are 'spiritual' or
'mystical', for want of better words, in that they are relatively rare
(unnecessarily so), significant (in that they cover genuine facts about the
world), and personally transformative. They also reveal a far deeper connection
between ourselves and the rest of the universe than is suggested by the
ordinary confines of our subjectivity.</i> (pp. 40-41)</div>
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<i>The claims of mystics are neurologically quite
astute. No human being has ever experienced an objective world, or even a
<i>world</i> at all. You are, at this moment, having a visionary
experience. The world that you see and hear is nothing more than a modification
of your consciousness, the physical status of which remains a
mystery.</i> (p. 41)</div>
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What then <i>is</i> mysticism? As usual, Harris
defines his terms obliquely.</div>
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<i>Mysticism is a rational enterprise. Religion is
not. The mystic has recognized something about the nature of
<i>consciousness prior to thought</i>, and this recognition is
susceptible to rational discussion. The mystic has reasons for what he
believes, and these reasons are empirical. The roiling mystery of <i>the
world</i> can be analyzed with concepts (this is science), or it
<i>can be experienced free of concepts (this is
mysticism)</i></i>. (p. 221, emphasis added)</div>
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A mystical state thus is a state of consciousness, that is,
a state of awareness. Awareness of what? Of "the world," but without
thinking about it. Thus mysticism is some sort of direct apprehension of the
world, without concepts, without thoughts, without reasoning. That conclusion
is confirmed by Harris in statements such as: </div>
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<i>There is something to realize about the nature of
consciousness, and its realization does not entail thinking new
thoughts</i>. (p. 218) </div>
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<i>Now we live in ignorance of the freedom and
simplicity of consciousness, prior to the arising of thought</i>. (p.
219)</div>
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Mysticism, as Harris conceives it, is thus preconceptual
consciousness, which, the reader may realize, is the consciousness of an
animal.</div>
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"My debt to a variety of contemplative traditions
that have their origin in India will be obvious to many readers," Harris
notes. "The esoteric teachings of Buddhism . . . and Hinduism . . . have
done much to determine my view of our spiritual possibilities." (n.
12, Ch. 7, on p. 293)</div>
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Harris supports two other forms of mysticism (defined
objectively <a href="http://reasonversusmysticism.blogspot.com/2009/08/what-is-mysticism.html">here</a>),
though he does not call them that. First is <b>self-evidency</b>.
Harris sometimes claims certain insights are "self-evident," even
when they are complex and abstract. (See p. 31 for an example.) (For a brief
discussion of rational and mystical uses of the term "self-evidency,"
see: <a href="http://www.aristotleadventure.blogspot.com/search/label/self-evidency">aristotleadventure.blogspot.com/search/label/self-evidency</a>.)
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Harris's second additional form of mysticism is
<b>intuition</b>. </div>
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<i>Whatever its stigma, 'intuition' is a term that we
simply cannot do without, because it denotes the most basic constituent of our
faculty of understanding. . . . When we can break our knowledge of a thing down
no further, the irreducible leap that remains is intuitively taken. Thus, the
traditional opposition between reason and intuition is a false one: reason is
itself intuitive to the core, as any judgment that a proposition is
'reasonable' or 'logical' relies on intuition to find its feet.</i> (p.
183) </div>
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Intuition is thus the same as claiming "It is
obvious." (p. 184) (See other discussions <a href="http://reasonversusmysticism.blogspot.com/2012/07/laura-day-popularizer-of-intuitionism.html">here</a>
and <a href="http://reasonversusmysticism.blogspot.com/2012/06/academics-intuition-and-intuitionism.html">here</a>.)
Harris says: </div>
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<i>How the loom of cognition first begins weaving is still a
mystery, but there seems little doubt that we come hardwired with a variety of
proto-linguistic, proto-doxastic (from the Greek <i>doxa</i>,
'belief') capacities that enable us to begin interpreting the tumult of the
senses as regularities in the environment and in ourselves.</i> (p. 248, n.
14 of Ch. 2, from p. 58)</div>
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<b>RELATION OF REASON AND MYSTICISM</b>. The
advocates of the major Abrahamic religions often say they support reason
<i>and</i> faith, each in its own domain, but usually relying on
faith to "establish" such notions as the existence of another world,
a god, and the god's ethical rules. Harris rejects the notion of peace between
reason and faith as "delusional." (p. 16) What then is Harris's view
of the relationship of reason and mysticism as he has defined these concepts
(if he has)? </div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span></div>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">"We cannot live by reason alone," Harris states. (p. 43) To
handle the greatest stresses in life—such as losing a loved one or facing an
incurable fatal disease—we need something that will give us "an abiding
sense of the sacred." (p. 43) Harris says, however, that we do not need to
be irrational in order to have that sense of the sacred. "On the contrary,
I hope to show that spirituality [which Harris says is synonymous with
mysticism] can be—indeed, <i>must</i> be—deeply rational, even as
it elucidates the limits of reason." (p. 43)<!--EndFragment--></span><br />
<div>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">In conclusion, Sam Harris is indeed an opponent of faith, in the form of religion, but also an advocate of other forms of mysticism, alongside a form of "reason" so limited that we must "intuit" the ethical principles that serve as our guides in life. Adding his reductionism and determinism (not discussed here) to the mixture, one can say that he is not an advocate of reason.</span></div>
<div>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Burgess Laughlin</span></div>
<div>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Author of <i>The Power and the Glory: The Key Ideas and Crusading Lives of Eight Debaters of Reason vs. Faith</i> at <a href="http://www.reasonversusmysticism.com/">http://www.reasonversusmysticism.com/</a></span></div>
Burgess Laughlinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13865479709475171678noreply@blogger.com0