Showing posts with label Gnosticism. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Gnosticism. Show all posts

Sunday, May 4, 2014

Jesus: Two Millennia of Truth and Alternatives

John the Baptist identified Jesus as the Lamb of God, so quite a few churches display pictures of a young sheep with a halo. That's a visual metaphor, though. WiseGEEK has a fairly painless discussion of visual metaphor, and I'm drifting off-topic.

I don't worship a lamb, of course. Jesus is human, which is how my Lord is often portrayed. Details vary with time and place.

Jesus, All Over the World

The artist's image Jesus I've seen most often looks very European, hardly surprising since my native culture is rooted in Europe.

Folks in other parts of the world often show Jesus and Saints as nice, normal people from that region.

We don't know what Jesus looked like, at least not before the Resurrection. My guess is that my Lord's appearance was Middle-Eastern, but that's just an educated guess.

Tradition tells us that Mary is a descendant of David, and Joseph, husband of Mary and foster-father of Jesus, is "of the house of David." That makes Jesus a descendant of David: legally and by ancestry. (Luke 1:26-27; Catholic Encyclopedia, Genealogy of Christ)

Anyway, my Lord gave tacit approval to being called the son of David. (Matthew 21:8-16) He also pointed out that the Almighty is — all-mighty: "...God can raise up children to Abraham from these stones...." (Matthew 3:9; Luke 3:8)

True God and True Man: Really

Jesus is human on his mother's side.

I wouldn't worship a fellow-creature, and I don't: Jesus isn't just human. His father is God. (Luke 1:26-38)

For two millennia, the Church has said that Jesus is true God and true man; fully human and divine. (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 464-469)

"...Jesus is inseparably true God and true man. He is truly the Son of God who, without ceasing to be God and Lord, became a man and our brother...." (Catechism, 469)

In some circles, that went over about as well as "eat my flesh." (John 6:53-60)

Some folks who had no trouble believing that Jesus is divine balked at accepting my Lord's humanity. They claimed that Jesus is:
  • Created by God
    • And therefore subordinate to God
    (Arianism)
  • Not human
    • His apparent humanity was an illusion
    (Docetism)
  • Human and divine
    • Not at the same time
      • Was human first
      • Then became divine
      (Monophysitism)
    • At the same time
      • But the divine and human natures didn't mix
      (Nestorianism)
I think some of the trouble is a distaste for the physical world that's endemic to Western civilization. (March 5, 2012)

Another objection to the mysterious union of God and man may be that the crucifixion is undignified, to say the least.

I don't like the idea that God voluntarily became one of us, and was nailed to a cross: I'm too aware of my unworthiness. But as a Christian I must embrace the Cross and my Savior who died and rose from the dead. (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 595-618)

For my Lord's death to mean anything, Jesus must be the Son of God and Son of man: fully human, fully divine. (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 456-478)

"Before Abraham Came to be, I AM."

Jesus said, in no uncertain terms, "I am God."
"So the Jews said to him, 'You are not yet fifty years old and you have seen Abraham?' 23

"24 Jesus said to them, 'Amen, amen, I say to you, before Abraham came to be, I AM.' "
(John 8:57-58)
"Philip said to him, 'Master, show us the Father, 7 and that will be enough for us.'

"Jesus said to him, 'Have I been with you for so long a time and you still do not know me, Philip? Whoever has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, "Show us the Father"?

"Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? The words that I speak to you I do not speak on my own. The Father who dwells in me is doing his works.

"Believe me that I am in the Father and the Father is in me, or else, believe because of the works themselves."
(John 14:8-11)
Jesus looked and acted like one of us. He was in a particular time and place, learned to speak, and grew up: just like we do. (January 16, 2013)

I'd like to think that I could believe that Jesus is God with nothing to go on but my Lord's word. Happily, I can also "believe because of the works themselves." After twenty centuries, going on twenty one, we've got quite an accumulation of works: that's yet another topic.


(From AnonMoos/Sumudu Fernando, via Wikimedia Commons, used w/o permission.)

Related posts:
Posted by No comments:
Labels: , , , , , , , ,

Wednesday, January 16, 2013

Jesus, Knowledge, and Stories From Egypt

Folks often use words like "infinite" and "almighty" when trying to describe God.1 (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 268-271)

The idea of God being immeasurably vast, all-powerful, and all-knowing, isn't too difficult to believe.

Believing that Jesus is God: not so much. Folks have had trouble believing that from the start, even when Jesus was right there, talking to them:
"So the Jews said to him, 'You are not yet fifty years old and you have seen Abraham?' 23

"24 Jesus said to them, 'Amen, amen, I say to you, before Abraham came to be, I AM.' "
(John 8:57-58)
"Philip said to him, 'Master, show us the Father, 7 and that will be enough for us.'

"Jesus said to him, 'Have I been with you for so long a time and you still do not know me, Philip? Whoever has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, "Show us the Father"? "
(John 14:8-9)
Maybe believing was hard because God was right there, quite visible, taking up a specific amount of space, speaking literally face-to-face. Later, after Jesus stopped being dead - - - and that's another topic. (March 11, 2012)

Metaphysical Knots and Pondering the Infinite

Folks have tied themselves in metaphysical knots, trying to explain how God Almighty could fit 'inside' one human being: or explain that God didn't.

I like to understand things, but have long since had to admit that God's God, and I'm not. I'm a finite creature, using a few pounds of neural circuitry to ponder the infinite and eternal.

The Incarnation

That brings up an interesting point. God is almighty. A human being is not. How could Jesus, the Son of God, possibly be God and human: and keep all that infinite power?

He didn't. As Paul put it, Jesus "emptied himself" to become one of us. (Phillipians 2:7)

I'd better back up a little. Jesus is human. Jesus is God. How, I don't know: and I don't need to. I accept the Incarnation as the least-complicated explanation for what's happened. Occam's razor, and all that.

Some folks balk at the idea that God would really become human. Maybe it doesn't seem 'spiritual' enough. They've said that Jesus is:
  • Is not really human (Gnosticism)
    • Catechism, 465
  • Is human, with a God implant (Nestorianism)
    • Catechism, 466
  • Started human, then became purely divine (Monophysitism)
    • Catechism, 467
    (December 26, 2012)
Then there's the currently-fashionable notion that God isn't involved, and that's yet another topic.

A Human Soul

A decade or so back, I ran across a discussion of the stories and parables Jesus told. Apparently they're a lot like stories folks told in Egypt around that time. That's hardly surprising. Jesus spent time in Egypt. He or his parents could easily have picked up a few stories while there. (Matthew 2:14-21)

I think it's a mistake to imagine Jesus as merely a wise man - who said "before Abraham came to be, I AM"?! I also think it's a mistake to imagine Jesus as purely 'spiritual,' someone who was just pretending to be human.

Jesus has a human soul: and had human, limited, knowledge. He was born in a particular time and place, learned to speak, and grew up: just as we all do. (Catechism, 472)
"And Jesus advanced (in) wisdom and age and favor before God and man."
(Luke 2:52)
"He asked them, 'How many loaves do you have? Go and see.' And when they had found out they said, 'Five loaves and two fish.' "
(Mark 6:38)
"6 Now Jesus and his disciples set out for the villages of Caesarea Philippi. Along the way he asked his disciples, 'Who do people say that I am?' "
(Mark 8:27)
"When Jesus saw her weeping and the Jews who had come with her weeping, he became perturbed 7 and deeply troubled,

"and said, 'Where have you laid him?' They said to him, 'Sir, come and see.'"
(John 11:33-34)
About questions like "Who do people say that I am," I suppose Jesus could have been using the Socratic method: asking questions to elicit answers. It's a pretty good method for getting students to think about a subject, rather than just record what an instructor says: and that's yet again another topic.

Some commentary on the fifth chapter of Mark focuses on belief that physical contact and faith in Jesus' saving power. I'm also interested in this brief glimpse of my Lord's awareness:
"Jesus, aware at once that power had gone out from him, turned around in the crowd and asked, 'Who has touched my clothes?'

"But his disciples said to him, 'You see how the crowd is pressing upon you, and yet you ask, "Who touched me?" '

"And he looked around to see who had done it."
(Mark 5:30-32)
Jesus not knowing everything doesn't make my Lord seem 'too human,' as far as I'm concerned. If the Son of God wasn't human, Christ's death on Golgotha would have been an interesting bit divine play-acting. And that's still another topic.

More:
Related posts:
1 Titles of God include:
Posted by No comments:
Labels: , , , , , , , ,

Wednesday, December 26, 2012

Jesus, God, and What St. Augustine Said

God's decision to become fully human, Jesus the Christ, doesn't make sense. Not to me, not if by "make sense" I mean fully understanding the Almighty's motives and methods.

As I've said before, God's God, I'm not: and there are some things I probably can't understand. Not with the few pounds of neural circuitry that's between my ears.

I like to understand things, but think St. Augustine was right:
"If you understood him, it would not be God"
(St. Augustine)
(Quoted in Catechism of the Catholic Church, 230)
I have decided to follow the Word made Flesh, Jesus who in the beginning was with God, and is God. (John 1:1-14)

Sidestepping the Incarnation

Having trouble with the idea that Jesus is God and human isn't new. Neither is someone coming up with an alternative to that pivotal reality.

Two ways to sidestep the Incarnation showed up fairly early; three, counting a sort of 'compromise.'

Folks have said that Jesus:
  • Is not really human (Gnosticism)
    • Catechism, 465
  • Is human, with a God implant (Nestorianism)
    • Catechism, 466
  • Started human, then became purely divine (Monophysitism)
    • Catechism, 467
My guess is that variations on Gnosticism, Nestorianism, and Monophysitism, will continue to pop up. I wrote about the first two earlier this month. (December 18, 2012; December 12, 2012)

A new wrinkle is to take the Nestorian idea that Jesus started human; and wasn't divine at all. Pretending that God doesn't matter, or doesn't exist, has been been very 'in.' (August 8, 2012)

Faith, Philosophy, and History

Saying that Jesus was human, and nothing more, is probably still a good way to be considered 'intelligent' in some circles.

But sometimes it's prudent to ask 'do I really want their approval?'

I've decided to follow the man who wouldn't stay dead; whose outfit has been riding out the rise and fall of empires and civilizations for two millennia.

There's full-bore dualism, too, and that's another topic. (August 31, 2011)

Monophysitism: Having it Both Ways

Monophysitism comes from two Greek words that mean "one" and "nature." It's the idea that Jesus was human, and divine: but not at the same time. I'm oversimplifying the concept, but that seems to be the gist of it.

I'll grant that it may be easier to believe that God couldn't - or didn't - become one of us, human, with a divine nature and a human nature. But my Lord didn't promise us "easy:" and, yep, that's yet another topic.

The fourth ecumenical council, at Chalcedon in 451, said that Jesus is God and man. Again.

They said that Jesus Christ is:
  • Perfect in
    • Divinity
    • Humanity
  • Truly God and truly man
    • Composed of
      • Rational soul
      • And body
    • Having the same substance or essence as
      • God the Father
        • Being divine
      • You and me
        • Being human
    (from Catechism, 467)

"Two Natures Without ... Separation"

Discussions of Who, and What, Jesus is can get quite technical: using terms like consubstantial, hypostasis, and πρόσωπον (prosopon). Here's part of what the Council of Chalcedon said, translated into my native language:
"...We confess that one and the same Christ, Lord, and only-begotten Son, is to be acknowledged in two natures without confusion, change, division, or separation. The distinction between the natures was never abolished by their union, but rather the character proper to each of the two natures was preserved as they came together in one person (prosopon) and one hypostasis.92"
(Catechism, 467)
Jesus grew and learned, like we do; and was tempted, as we are: but did not sin. (Luke 2:52; Hebrews 4:15)

When my Lord was executed, a very real human life ended. What happened after that is - what else? - another topic.

Related posts:
Posted by 2 comments:
Labels: , , , , , ,

Wednesday, December 12, 2012

Son of Man, Yes: Flower Child, No

I was talking about the Incarnation last week:
I quoted part of this bit then, but it bears repeating:
"...Jesus Christ is true God and true man. During the first centuries, the Church had to defend and clarify this truth of faith against the heresies that falsified it."
(Catechism of the Catholic Church, 464) [emphasis mine]
That didn't stop after the first centuries. For two millennia now, the idea that Jesus really is God, had been God from before the beginning, and really is human, has seemed rather - unusual.

Maybe one reason why folks have occasionally decide that Jesus isn't God, or isn't human, is that we can't explain how God did the Incarnation - and that's almost another topic.

Icky!

I've run into a few variations of this joke:
"If it's green or wiggles, it's biology. If it stinks, it's chemistry. If it doesn't work, it's physics. And if it doesn't make sense, it's math."
(www.Pithypedia.com)
Quite a few folks aren't entirely comfortable around green, wiggly, things: and remarkable number of biological things stink.

In a way, it's no wonder that so many folks have decided that God shouldn't have much to do with green, wiggly, stinky, stuff. Particularly when it's sticky, too.

Diapers and Divinity

I didn't find biology repulsive before my wife and I started raising children. Since then I've changed diapers, cleaned up messes, and still think biology is fascinating: but I don't expect everyone to be just like me.

On the other hand, even if I couldn't abide wet, sticky, things: I wouldn't think it was prudent to assume that the Almighty shares my limitations. At least, I hope not.

That brings me to this bit:
"The first heresies denied not so much Christ's divinity as his true humanity (Gnostic Docetism). From apostolic times the Christian faith has insisted on the true incarnation of God's Son 'come in the flesh.'87 But already in the third century, the Church in a council at Antioch had to affirm against Paul of Samosata that Jesus Christ is Son of God by nature and not by adoption...."
(Catechism, 465)
Maybe it was easier to think that Jesus, Son of God, became divine after those awkward early years.

Think about it. When was the last time we saw Christmas-themed art include something like a changing table?

Jesus: God and Man

My Lord didn't pop into existence, fully grown and with a beard. The Gospels are clear on that point: Matthew 1:18; Luke 1:26.

Is the baby Jesus divine? The apostle John says so: John 1:1-5. So did John the Baptist: John 1:29-30, 35-36.

Physical growth aside, Jesus learned as he grew:
"Jesus, with his human heart, learned how to pray from his mother and from the Jewish tradition. But his prayer sprang from a more secret source because he is the eternal Son of God who in his holy humanity offers his perfect filial prayer to his Father."
(Compendium of the Catechism of the Catholic Church, 541; quoted in "General Audience of Pope Benedict XVI" (November 30, 2011))
I've wondered how God is God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit, Three Persons, One God; and how the infinite and eternal got packed into a finite body: without bursting this physical creation.

Wondering is one thing, understanding is another. I don't expect to know, or understand, exactly how God works. God's God, I'm not, and I've discussed Job 38:1-42:6 before.

"...God from God, Light from Light..."

One of my favorite parts of the Bible are those first verses of John:
"1 2 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

"He was in the beginning with God.

"3 All things came to be through him, and without him nothing came to be. What came to

"through him was life, and this life was the light of the human race;

"4 the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. "
(John 1:1-5)
"...and the Word was God..." seems clear enough, but folks having trouble believing that Jesus is God is nothing new.

Catechism, 465 talks about the first ecumenical council of Nicea. That was almost 17 centuries ago.

Someone had decided that God had zapped some dude, making the Son of God from a created being. We got the Nicene Creed from that council:
"...We believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ,
the only Son of God,
eternally begotten of the Father,
God from God, Light from Light,
true God from true God,
begotten, not made,
one in Being with the Father...."
(Nicene Creed)
There's more to it than that, of course.

Jesus, Books, and a Goofy Idea

Nifty new, and not-so-new, ideas about Jesus keep popping up. One is that Jesus isn't divine; another is that Jesus is God, but not human. Conspiracy theories have been popular, at least for the last few decades.

Writing a book about Jesus 'really' being a failed political leader, a flower child, or a plot to enslave women, is a fairly reliable way to get attention. I wouldn't do that, since I'll have enough trouble during my particular judgment. (August 27, 2011)

One goofy idea that's been popular for a while now is that Jesus of Nazareth was just a wise man: and that we should do what he says. That sounds nice: except that Jesus also said, with no possibility of misunderstanding, "I am God:"
"24 Jesus said to them, 'Amen, amen, I say to you, before Abraham came to be, I AM.' "
(John 8:58)
Sane men don't say, "I am God;" and I don't think doing what a crazy man teaches makes sense.

Crazy men don't stop being dead, Jesus did: so I think Jesus is sane, and is God. (March 11, 2012)

Radical, Yes; Flower Child, No

A flower child is "someone who rejects the established culture; advocates extreme liberalism in politics and lifestyle" (Princeton's WordNet)

Jesus didn't exactly reject the establish culture, but I can see how folks get that idea:
"He said to him, 22 'You shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.

"This is the greatest and the first commandment.

"The second is like it: 23 You shall love your neighbor as yourself.

"24 The whole law and the prophets depend on these two commandments.' "
(Matthew 22:37-40)
This isn't the sort of fluffy sentiment we find in greeting cards. It's the cold, hard, unrelenting love that walked to Golgotha, and will never end. That sort of love was radical two millennia back, still is, and that's another topic.

Related posts:
Posted by No comments:
Labels: , , , , ,

Sunday, June 3, 2012

Fasting, Penance: and Infinite Depths of Joy

I follow the Man:
  • Who said
    • "...take courage, I have conquered the world."
      (John 16:33)
    • "Amen, amen, I say to you, before Abraham came to be, I AM."
      (John 8:58)
    • And made it stick
  • Who was killed
  • Who gave his followers orders
    • Which we are still carrying out
      • Two millennia later
I hope for an unending life of joy and peace with my Lord. Following Jesus isn't always fun: but even now there's an echo of the "glorious joy" that, God willing, is ahead.

Despondency isn't a Virtue?

I've heard "Joyful, Joyful, We Adore Thee" sung as if it's a funeral dirge; and met folks whose theme seems to be "oh woe, all ye faithful."

There seems to be a confusion of despondency with virtue in some American subcultures. I think it's partly connected with this country's cultural history. Some of the folks who set the spiritual tone for America managed to present Christianity as a rather grim affair:
"Puritanism: The haunting fear that someone, somewhere, may be happy."
H. L. Mencken, The Quotations Page
Long before Mencken, Puritans, and the Mayflower, some folks got the idea that tangible, physical, things are evil. The idea caught on, and has been repackaged quite a few times over the centuries. Millennia, actually.

Knowing Stuff; Being 'Spiritual;' and Icky, Sticky, Physical Things

I can see an appeal to believing that knowing stuff, and being really 'spiritual,' is good - not like icky, sticky, physical things. I like knowing stuff, and learning more.

But believing that what can be seen, touched, tasted, are bad because they're physical? That would force me to assume that God is a klutz, and doesn't know good from bad:
"Then God said, 'Let there be light,' and there was light.

"God saw how good the light was. God then separated the light from the darkness."
(Genesis 1:3-4)
"God called the dry land 'the earth,' and the basin of the water he called 'the sea.' God saw how good it was. "
(Genesis 1:10)
I think the idea that there are two eternal, balanced, equally-matched, principles locked in an unending struggle between Good and Evil, could make a really good story. But I don't think it's true.

More to the point, the Church says that's not how it works.
"...Still others have affirmed the existence of two eternal principles, Good and Evil, Light and Darkness, locked in permanent conflict (Dualism, Manichaeism). According to some of these conceptions, the world (at least the physical world) is evil, the product of a fall, and is thus to be rejected or left behind (Gnosticism)...."
(Catechism of the Catholic Church, 285)

"The truth about creation is so important for all of human life that God in his tenderness wanted to reveal to his People everything that is salutary to know on the subject. Beyond the natural knowledge that every man can have of the Creator,124 God progressively revealed to Israel the mystery of creation. He who chose the patriarchs, who brought Israel out of Egypt, and who by choosing Israel created and formed it, this same God reveals himself as the One to whom belong all the peoples of the earth, and the whole earth itself; he is the One who alone 'made heaven and earth.' 125"
(Catechism, 287)

Genesis and Getting a Grip

America's cultural assumptions about Genesis, the Bible, science, and psychiatric disorders being what they are, I'd better explain that I'm a practicing Catholic.

I don't have to hate science, or believe that the Bible was written by Americans: Or by folks who were as poetically-challenged and literalistic as some of my fellow-citizens.

I take the Bible, Sacred Scripture, very seriously. But I don't refer to the Bible when trouble-shooting my computer, and it's not a science textbook:

Emotions, Faith, and Something Indescribable

Fasting, Confession, penance, and other serious matters, are part of being a Catholic. So is joy. I don't mean a sort of Giggle Gospel, encouraging folks to 'get high on Jesus.'

Not that emotions are bad: but I can't and won't rely on a 'feel-good faith,' and that's another topic. (March 3, 2009)

"Joy" can be a noun or a verb:
  • Noun
    • The emotion of great happiness
    • Something or someone that provides a source of happiness
  • Verb
    • Feel happiness or joy
    • Make glad or happy
    (Princeton's WordNet)
"Joy" is "the emotion of great happiness:" so if I stop feeling "great happiness," I've lost my faith? No, I really don't think so. I've posted about the "dark night of the soul" before. (April 22, 2010)

If this "joy" thing that Christians are supposed to experience isn't just an emotional buzz, how would I describe it? Part of the answer is in the first chapter of Peter:
"Although you have not seen him you love him; even though you do not see him now yet believe in him, you rejoice with an indescribable and glorious joy,

"as you attain the goal of (your) faith, the salvation of your souls."
(Peter 1:8-9)
Knowing that it's "an indescribable and glorious joy" doesn't give me the sort of definite answer I might want: but I've gotten used to the idea that God's God, and I'm not. I don't expect to have all the answers. Not now, anyway.

Joy and Jesus

I converted to Catholicism because it made sense: but there's more to it than that.

I've followed Jesus for as long as I can remember. After I found out who held the authority that my Lord gave Peter, I only had one viable option. (Matthew 16:13-19, John 6:68)

For two millennia, the Catholic Church has been telling folks about Jesus:
"The transmission of the Christian faith consists primarily in proclaiming Jesus Christ in order to lead others to faith in him. From the beginning, the first disciples burned with the desire to proclaim Christ: 'We cannot but speak of what we have seen and heard.'11 And they invite people of every era to enter into the joy of their communion with Christ:
"That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon and touched with our hands, concerning the word of life-the life was made manifest, and we saw it, and testify to it, and proclaim to you the eternal life which was with the Father and was made manifest to us-that which we have seen and heard we proclaim also to you, so that you may have fellowship with us; and our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ. And we are writing this that our joy may be complete.12"
(Catechism of the Catholic Church, 425)

What About All Those Rules?

There's something to the stereotype that the Catholic Church has lots of rules. The Vatican's "Secret Archives," a sort of office library for the Holy See, has about 85 kilometers of shelving now.

The basic principles are simple: Love God, love your neighbor; everybody's your neighbor. (Matthew 5:43-44; Matthew 22:36-40; Mark 12:29-31; Luke 10:25-27, 29-37; and Catechism of the Catholic Church 1822, 1825)

I think the proliferation of rules and explanations is partly the result of two millennia of folks trying to weasel out of the basic principles, simply stated. (September 26, 2011)

There's an attractive notion that all a person has to do is 'really believe' in Jesus. Yes, belief is important. But so is doing something about it. (James 2:18-20) I never could see the point in believing something: and not acting as if that belief mattered.

This gets me to morality - which sounds an awful lot like what those grim 'oh woe, all ye faithful' folks are so grimly sanctimonious about.

Like I've said before, "morality" isn't just about "morality." Ethical behavior includes what we do about our sexuality: but there's a lot more to being human than sex.

Where was I? Joy, Jesus, rules: right.

"Sing for Joy to the Living God"

By cherry picking in the Catechism, and elsewhere, I could find 'proof' that the Catholic Church only accepts perfect people. We're supposed to work at perfection: but it's a goal, not an entrance requirement.

There's a sort of 'payoff' to being perfect, apparently:
"Moral perfection consists in man's being moved to the good not by his will alone, but also by his sensitive appetite, as in the words of the psalm: 'My heart and flesh sing for joy to the living God.' 46"
(Catechism, 1770)
Somehow, I don't think I'll find out what that sort of "moral perfection" feels like this week. Or this month, or year - but it's still a good goal.

Meanwhile, I can work at developing virtues: human and otherwise.
"Human virtues are firm attitudes, stable dispositions, habitual perfections of intellect and will that govern our actions, order our passions, and guide our conduct according to reason and faith. They make possible ease, self-mastery, and joy in leading a morally good life. The virtuous man is he who freely practices the good.

"The moral virtues are acquired by human effort. They are the fruit and seed of morally good acts; they dispose all the powers of the human being for communion with divine love."
(Catechism, 1804)
The human virtues are rooted in the theological virtues: faith, hope, and charity. (Catechism, 1812-1829)

Joy: Short-Term and Long-Term

My long-term goal is the joy of Heaven. In the short term, I realize that there's no guarantee that I'll have a worry-free life. I follow Jesus: and my Lord went through some rough terrain:
"1 Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us rid ourselves of every burden and sin that clings to us 2 and persevere in running the race that lies before us

"while keeping our eyes fixed on Jesus, the leader and perfecter of faith. For the sake of the joy that lay before him he endured the cross, despising its shame, and has taken his seat at the right of the throne of God."
(Hebrews 12:1-2)
I'd just as soon not be tortured and executed for my faith: and don't think it's likely that I will face that.

God, Rain, and Me

On the other hand, I don't expect following Jesus to result in fame, fortune, and a rollicking good time. Although my life has been pretty good.

I've been blessed with good parents, and a mind that's thirsty for knowledge. My wife stood by me through some very rough times. Four of our six children survived birth, and are as wonderfully varied a new generation as I could have hoped for.

Some of what I've experienced isn't obviously good news. I've:
  • Been used as a sort of lab rat
    • Without my parents' knowledge
  • Lived for decades with
    • Undiagnosed
      • Major depression
      • ADHD-inattentive or
        • Asperger syndrome
        • Something else
    • Pain in my hip joints
      • Until getting them swapped out
        • In my '50s
  • Lost a dear friend to suicide
  • Lost two of six children
    • Nearly lost my wife when the second died
I think God's given me lots of opportunities to practice patience and other virtues. Which is just as well, since I'm not a very patient man. Actually, I need improvement in all the virtues.

As nearly as I can tell, God loves all of us. He showers blessings on everyone, pouring sunshine and rain "on the just and the unjust." (Matthew 5:45)

Joy: "At the Heart of the Christian Experience"

Earlier this year, Pope Benedict XVI discussed joy, and reasons for rejoicing:
"...Joy is at the heart of Christian experience. At each World Youth Day we experience immense joy, the joy of communion, the joy of being Christian, the joy of faith. This is one of the marks of these gatherings. We can see the great attraction that joy exercises. In a world of sorrow and anxiety, joy is an important witness to the beauty and reliability of the Christian faith...."

"...A yearning for joy lurks within the heart of every man and woman. Far more than immediate and fleeting feelings of satisfaction, our hearts seek a perfect, full and lasting joy capable of giving 'flavour' to our existence...."
("Message for the 27th World Youth Day," Pope Benedict XVI (March 15, 2012))
There's quite a bit more: I strongly recommend following that link and reading the rest.

Jesus, Joy, and Standing Orders

Here's why my Lord endured torture and death:
"1 2 When Jesus had said this, he raised his eyes to heaven and said, 'Father, the hour has come. Give glory to your son, so that your son may glorify you,
...
"But now I am coming to you. I speak this in the world so that they may share my joy completely.

"I gave them your word, and the world hated them, because they do not belong to the world any more than I belong to the world.
...
"Consecrate them in the truth. Your word is truth.

"As you sent me into the world, so I sent them into the world.
...
"I made known to them your name and I will make it known, 8 that the love with which you loved me may be in them and I in them.' "
(John 17:1, 13-14, 17-18, 26)
Later, after Jesus stopped being dead, my Lord gave His disciples the standing orders that we're still carrying out:
"11 Then Jesus approached and said to them, 'All power in heaven and on earth has been given to me.

"Go, therefore, 12 and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the holy Spirit,

"teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. 13 And behold, I am with you always, until the end of the age.' "
(Matthew 28:18-20)

"Infinite Joy"

I've had a few unpleasant experiences: a stubbed toe; the death of a baby; hurting one way when I moved, and another when I didn't.

But I'm convinced that it is all overwhelmed, lost in an infinite ocean of joy: if I keep my wits about me, remember to look at the 'big picture,' and accept the love of God.

One more excerpt, and I'm done:
"...Whatever brings us true joy, whether the small joys of each day or the greatest joys in life, has its source in God, even if this does not seem immediately obvious. This is because God is a communion of eternal love, he is infinite joy that does not remain closed in on itself, but expands to embrace all whom God loves and who love him...."
("Message for the 27th World Youth Day," Pope Benedict XVI (March 15, 2012))
Related posts:
Posted by No comments:
Labels: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Monday, March 5, 2012

Gnosticism: Dissing God's Creation

This post started as Footnote 1 in "Benedict XVI in Germany, My Take: Harlots and Pharisees, Agnostics and Routine Believers" (September 29, 2011), and "Humans are Animals: But Not Just Animals" (August 31, 2011).

The Filthy, Rotten, Despicable, Nasty, Physical World??

I've run into the idea that there's a two-way split in reality:
  • Spiritual world
    • Clean
    • Decent
    • Spotless
    • Undefiled
    • Painfully virtuous
  • Physical
    • Corrupt
    • Obscene
    • Repulsive
    • Revolting
    • Pretty much completely yecchy
I can sympathize, a little, with folks who have a fastidious distaste for the more overtly biological aspects of the visible world. Lacking a sense of smell makes tasks like cleaning the toilet or shoveling manure easier for me than it is for many: but I can understand why many folks would rather do something else.

Preferences and Moldy Cheese

But I don't take my preference for a keyboard over the back end of a horse, and claim that the physical world is intrinsically nasty.

For one thing, I like the physical world. I'm missing one of the standard-issue senses; but it's so much fun, using the others, I don't really miss the smell of roses, fresh-mowed lawns, and moldy cheese.

For another, since I believe God created everything, including the visible world, I'm not going to tell the Almighty that I think He made a cruddy creation. Seriously: dissing1 the Lord of Hosts doesn't seem prudent.

God's Creation: Ordered, Good

We don't live in a perfect world. Part of the explanation is in the Catechism of the Catholic Church, 388-409. Basically, God created a good world. We messed up. Big time. But God still created a good world. That's a huge oversimplification.

Here's part of what the Catholic Church has to say:
"Because God creates through wisdom, his creation is ordered: 'You have arranged all things by measure and number and weight.'151 The universe, created in and by the eternal Word, the 'image of the invisible God', is destined for and addressed to man, himself created in the 'image of God' and called to a personal relationship with God.152 Our human understanding, which shares in the light of the divine intellect, can understand what God tells us by means of his creation, though not without great effort and only in a spirit of humility and respect before the Creator and his work.153 Because creation comes forth from God's goodness, it shares in that goodness - 'And God saw that it was good. . . very good'154 - for God willed creation as a gift addressed to man, an inheritance destined for and entrusted to him. On many occasions the Church has had to defend the goodness of creation, including that of the physical world.155"
(Catechism of the Catholic Church, 299) [emphasis mine]
I haven't run into many folks who say they're Gnostics. But the notion that the physical world - and humanity - is completely yecchy? That, I've run into.

Gnostics: Pessimism as a Virtue

"...The Gnostics, it is true, borrowed their terminology almost entirely from existing religions, but they only used it to illustrate their great idea of the essential evil of this present existence and the duty to escape it by the help of magic spells and a superhuman Saviour....

"...This utter pessimism, bemoaning the existence of the whole universe as a corruption and a calamity, with a feverish craving to be freed from the body of this death and a mad hope that, if we only knew, we could by some mystic words undo the cursed spell of this existence — this is the foundation of all Gnostic thought...."
(Gnosticism, Catholic Encyclopedia)
Definition time:
  • Gnosticism (noun)
    • "a religious orientation advocating gnosis as the way to release a person's spiritual element"
      • "considered heresy by Christian churches"
    (Princeton's WordNet)
  • Gnosis (noun)
    • "intuitive knowledge of spiritual truths"
      • Said to have been possessed by ancient Gnostics
    (Princeton's WordNet: gnosis)
Sort of like "Luke, trust your feelings!" Only not quite.

Gnosticism was a big hit, back in the 2nd century:
"...The second-century Church was threatened by the so-called Gnosis, a doctrine which affirmed that the faith taught in the Church was merely a symbolism for the simple who were unable to grasp difficult concepts; instead, the initiates, the intellectuals - Gnostics, they were called - claimed to understand what was behind these symbols and thus formed an elitist and intellectualist Christianity...."
("General Audience" Benedict XVI (March 28, 2007))
Gnosticism has been back since then, with a new name and updated accessories. It's still a bad idea.2

Then there's the sort of dualism that sees Satan as God's evil twin. More bad ideas: and more than I want to tackle in this post.

Related posts:
Background, mostly about gnosticism:
And see:
1 Language changes, like just about everything else in the visible world. Which is just as well, considering that we sometimes need ways to express new ideas. And sometimes find quicker, more effective, ways to express very old concepts. For example, this word wasn't in general use when I was growing up:
  • Diss (verb)
    • "Treat, mention, or speak to rudely"
    (Princeton's WordNet)
I appreciate having a one-syllable term to describe a sort of rudeness.

2 'Bad idea' when considered as something that's real.
"Since the beginning the Christian faith has been challenged by responses to the question of origins that differ from its own. Ancient religions and cultures produced many myths concerning origins. Some philosophers have said that everything is God, that the world is God, or that the development of the world is the development of God (Pantheism). Others have said that the world is a necessary emanation arising from God and returning to him. Still others have affirmed the existence of two eternal principles, Good and Evil, Light and Darkness, locked in permanent conflict (Dualism, Manichaeism). According to some of these conceptions, the world (at least the physical world) is evil, the product of a fall, and is thus to be rejected or left behind (Gnosticism). Some admit that the world was made by God, but as by a watchmaker who, once he has made a watch, abandons it to itself (Deism). Finally, others reject any transcendent origin for the world, but see it as merely the interplay of matter that has always existed (Materialism). All these attempts bear witness to the permanence and universality of the question of origins. This inquiry is distinctively human...."
(Catechism of the Catholic Church, 285)
Posted by 2 comments:
Labels: , , , , , , ,

Sunday, November 27, 2011

God Doesn't Make Junk: Or Mistakes

I watched a documentary called "The Human Family Tree" this week. National Geographic's summary of their 90-minute DVD reads, in part:
"Join geneticist Spencer Wells and a team of technicians from National Geographic's Genographic Project as they trace the human journey through time and space, from our origins in the heart of Africa to the ends of the world. Cutting edge science, coupled with a cast of New Yorkers...."
("The Human Family Tree," DVD, National Geographic Store)
With a copyright date of 2009, the "cutting edge science" probably isn't quite so much now: but it's still fairly contemporary.

Genetics, Science, and Getting a Grip

I enjoyed seeing a selection of folks living in New York City react to information about their very distant ancestors. The documentary showed how genetic markers trace the New Yorkers' forebears back, over thousands of generations.

"Enjoyed?" Maybe that sounds odd, coming from a 'religious person:'
  • I'm a Catholic
    • And take my faith very seriously
  • Genetics is a science
    • 'Everybody knows' that science is against religion
      • And vice versa
In this case, 'everybody' is wrong.

Despite what shrill secularists and latter-day Know Nothings claim, science and religion aren't absolutely opposite ways of thinking. Not for someone who learns what the Catholic Church says:
"...'methodical research in all branches of knowledge, provided it is carried out in a truly scientific manner and does not override moral laws, can never conflict with the faith, because the things of the world and the things of faith derive from the same God. The humble and persevering investigator of the secrets of nature is being led, as it were, by the hand of God in spite of himself, for it is God, the conserver of all things, who made them what they are.'...."
(Gaudium et spes, quoted in the Catechism of the Catholic Church, 159)

God, Creation, and Knowledge

The way I see it:
  • God created everything
    (Catechism, 268)
  • We're supposed to seek God
    (Catechism, 1)
  • We can learn some things about God by studying what He created
    (Catechism, 31-36, 282-289)
    • But God has revealed more about Himself, than what's in creation
      (Catechism, 37-38)
One place where we can get into trouble is confusing God's creation with God. Or assuming that God doesn't exist because there's a physical world.

Then there's the idea that 'ignorance is next to Godliness,' or that avoiding knowledge is a virtue.

"The Sky Proclaims Its Builder's Craft"

I see creation as a world of wonder. I also think that not studying the created world is a strange way to honor God the Creator.

The Church doesn't seem to have a problem with paying attention to creation. (Catechism, 280, 282-289) Particularly since "The world was made for the glory of God," and "Creation reveals God's Glory" (Catechism 293-294; "Creation Reveals God's Glory," Pope John Paul II (March 12, 1986))

Again, it's idolizing creation, or some creature, that gets us in trouble. (Catechism, 2112-2114)

Among other things. Job 5:7, and all that.

For me, ignoring what we've learned about creation would feel like saying, "I'll worship you, God: but I refuse to be interested in stuff that glorifies you." That approach to the Almighty isn't quite disrespectful - but it seems odd, to deliberately avoid knowledge about what God has spread across the skies:
"The heavens declare the glory of God; the sky proclaims its builder's craft."
(Psalms 19:2)

"Hallelujah! 1 Praise the LORD from the heavens; give praise in the heights."
(Psalms 148:1)

"Praise him, sun and moon; give praise, all shining stars."
(Psalms 148:3)
I put an excerpt from "Jubilee of Scientists," Pope John Paul II (May 25, 2000) at the end of this post.1 I think these are some key points from that excerpt:
  • Science
    • "...Was considered the only criterion of truth or way to happiness...."
      • In past centuries
      • By some folks
      • Sometimes
    • Reveals
      • Laws which govern the universe
        • Their interrelationships
    • Draws people toward God
      • "...all research ... gives man the possibility of discovering the Creator...."
  • Some folks felt that God wasn't 'scientific'
  • Faith
    • Integrates all research
    • Deepens understanding
    ("Jubilee of Scientists," Pope John Paul II (May 25, 2000))
I don't see that studying God's creation is being criticized.

Dualism, Creation, and a Sticky Science

I suspect that a dislike of science has roots far deeper than the 19th century. For at least a couple thousand years, some folks have been diffident, at best, about the physical world. I've mentioned two high-profile dualistic heresies before: Manichaeism, and Gnosticism. (Catechism, 285)

Gnosticism says that the physical world is evil, which is uncomfortably close to some contemporary Western notions about what 'being spiritual' is.

The Church says that "God creates an ordered and good world." (Catechism, 299) I had no problem accepting that idea. Living in a part of the world with dramatic seasonal changes, but where water melts again each spring, may have helped.

Then there's the sticky, icky, side of biology. Let's face it: living things can be messy.

God: Large and In Charge

Maybe I wouldn't have thought of making a physical creation on the scale that God did: but I'm not going to tell the Almighty, "you can't do that." I've read the book of Job, particularly Job 38-41.

We've learned a few things in the two-dozen-plus centuries since someone wrote Job, but the bottom line hasn't changed. God is large and in charge:
"Then Job answered the LORD and said: 1 I know that you can do all things, and that no purpose of yours can be hindered. I have dealt with great things that I do not understand; things too wonderful for me, which I cannot know. I had heard of you by word of mouth, but now my eye has seen you. Therefore I disown what I have said, and repent in dust and ashes." (Job 42:1-7)
I don't expect to know everything about God's creation, much less why God did things the way He did. But I'm pretty sure that
  • God doesn't make junk
  • Giving us brains and curiosity wasn't a mistake
  • Knowledge of the Infinite God is beyond our abilities
    • But that we're supposed to
      • Be curious
      • Use the reason God gave us
I don't know that I'd quite call it a downside, but being a reasoning, rational, being does raise some issues:
"God created man a rational being, conferring on him the dignity of a person who can initiate and control his own actions. 'God willed that man should be "left in the hand of his own counsel," so that he might of his own accord seek his Creator and freely attain his full and blessed perfection by cleaving to him.'26
"Man is rational and therefore like God; he is created with free will and is master over his acts.27"
(Catechism, 1730)
And that's another topic. Somewhat-related posts:
Links to yet more slightly-related posts:
From National Geographic:
Background:
1 Excerpt from "Jubilee of Scientists," Pope John Paul II (May 25, 2000):
"In past centuries, science, whose discoveries are fascinating, has held a dominant place and at times was considered the only criterion of truth or way to happiness. A reflection based exclusively on scientific elements tried to accustom us to a culture of suspicion and doubt. It refused to consider the existence of God or to view man in the mystery of his origin and his end, as if this perspective might call science itself into question. It sometimes saw God merely as a mental construct which would not stand up to scientific knowledge. These attitudes have estranged science from man and from the service it is called to offer him...."

"...Based on an attentive observation of the complexity of terrestrial phenomena, and following the object and method proper to each dicipline,[!] scientists discover the laws which govern the universe, as well as their interrelationship. They stand in wonderment and humility before the created order and feel drawn to the love of the Author of all things. Faith, for its part, is able to integrate and assimilate every research, for all research, through a deeper understanding of created reality in all its specificity, gives man the possibility of discovering the Creator, source and goal of all things. "Ever since the creation of the world his invisible nature, namely his eternal power and deity, has been clearly perceived in the things that have been made" (Rom 1:20)...."
("Jubilee of Scientists," Pope John Paul II (May 25, 2000))
Posted by No comments:
Labels: , , , , , , , , , ,
Subscribe to: Posts (Atom)

Like it? Pin it, Plus it, - - -

Pinterest: My Stuff, and More

Visit Brian H.'s profile on Pinterest.

Advertisement

Unique, innovative candles


Visit us online:
Spiral Light Candle  • Find a Retailer
• Spiral Light Candle Store

Popular Posts

  • A 'Saint Brian,' Sort of
    My name is Brian Gill. In keeping with the customs of my culture, the first name is one which my parents chose for me, the last is the name ...
  • Blind Mice; Heroism During the 'Batman' Killings
    The London 2012 Olympics start today: but instead of analyzing the significance of a South Korean flag being displayed with a North Korean...
  • A Catholic Citizen in America: New Location
    The good news is still that Blogger's changes haven't made images in my posts here unviewable. ( May 6-16, 2016 ) Instead of jumpi...
  • Mass Murder in Orlando
    I'd be writing a longer, more detailed, post about this; but still haven't resolved some technical issues. ( May 6, 2016 ; updated M...
  • Elijah and Pushing a Rock
    10th Sunday in Ordinary Time, 2016: 1 Kings 17:17 - 24 Galatians 1:11 - 19 Luke 7:11 - 17 Third Sunday of Easter, 2016 by Deacon L...

Label Cloud

1277 abortion ADD ADHD-Inattentive Adoration Chapel Advent Afghanistan Africa America Amoris Laetitia angels animals annulment Annunciation anti-catholicism Antichrist apocalyptic ideas apparitions archaeology architecture Arianism art Asperger syndrome assumptions asteroid astronomy Australia authority balance and moderation baptism being Catholic beliefs bias Bible Bible and Catechism bioethics biology blogs brain Brazil business Canada capital punishment Caritas in Veritate Catechism Catholic Church Catholic counter-culture Catholicism change happens charisms charity Chile China Christianity Christmas citizenship climate change climatology cloning comets common good common sense Communion community compassion confirmation conscience conversion Corpus Christi cosmology creation credibility crime crucifix Crucifixion Cuba culture dance dark night of the soul death depression designer babies despair detachment devotion discipline disease diversity divination Divine Mercy divorce Docetism domestic church dualism duty Easter economics education elections emotions England entertainment environmental issues Epiphany Establishment Clause ethics ethnicity Eucharist eugenics Europe evangelizing evolution exobiology exoplanets exorcism extremophiles faith faith and works family Father's Day Faust Faustus fear of the Lord fiction Final Judgment First Amendment forgiveness Fortnight For Freedom free will freedom fun genetics genocide geoengineering geology getting a grip global Gnosticism God God's will good judgment government gratitude great commission guest post guilt Haiti Halloween happiness hate health Heaven Hell HHS hierarchy history holidays Holy Family Holy See Holy Spirit holy water home schooling hope humility humor hypocrisy idolatry image of God images Immaculate Conception immigrants in the news Incarnation Independence Day India information technology Internet Iraq Ireland Israel Italy Japan Jesus John Paul II joy just war justice Kansas Kenya Knights of Columbus knowledge Korea language Last Judgment last things law learning Lent Lenten Chaplet life issues love magi magic Magisterium Manichaeism marriage martyrs Mary Mass materialism media medicine meditation Memorial Day mercy meteor meteorology Mexico Minnesota miracles Missouri moderation modesty Monophysitism Mother Teresa of Calcutta Mother's Day movies music Muslims myth natural law neighbor Nestorianism New Year's Eve New Zealand news Nietzsche obedience Oceania organization original sin paleontology parish Parousia penance penitence Pentecost Philippines physical disability physics pilgrimage politics Pope Pope in Germany 2011 population growth positive law poverty prayer predestination presumption pride priests prophets prostitution Providence Purgatory purpose quantum entanglement quotes reason redemption reflections relics religion religious freedom repentance Resurrection robots Roman Missal Third Edition rosaries rules sacramentals Sacraments Saints salvation schools science secondary causes SETI sex shrines sin slavery social justice solar planets soul South Sudan space aliens space exploration Spain spirituality stem cell research stereotypes stewardship stories storm Sudan suicide Sunday obligation superstition symbols technology temptation terraforming the establishment the human condition tolerance Tradition traffic Transfiguration Transubstantiation travel Trinity trust truth uncertainty United Kingdom universal destination of goods vacation Vatican Vatican II veneration vengeance Veterans Day videos virtue vlog vocations voting war warp drive theory wealth weather wisdom within reason work worship writing

Marian Apparition: Champion, Wisconsin

Background:Posts in this blog: In the news:

What's That Doing in a Nice Catholic Blog?

From time to time, a service that I use will display links to - odd - services and retailers.

I block a few of the more obvious dubious advertisers.

For example: psychic anything, numerology, mediums, and related practices are on the no-no list for Catholics. It has to do with the Church's stand on divination. I try to block those ads.

Sometime regrettable advertisements get through, anyway.

Bottom line? What that service displays reflects the local culture's norms, - not Catholic teaching.