Religious Faith and the Public Square: Recent Episodes
Fr. John Holleman
We live in a society of confusing, competing voices, some strident, which overtly or covertly suggest that religion has nothing to offer in the debates concerning the important issues we face today. First of all, it is impossible to avoid religious categories since they deal with the most fundamental of human concerns, namely, where do we find purpose and meaning in life? What is my purpose in being alive? Is life absurd as the existentialists claim? What was I born for? I believe that we are inherently spiritual creatures whether we like it or not. Denying the existence of God involves an unspoken faith just as much as affirming the existence of God. It is important that we examine our unspoken assumptions. My approach is not to insist on any one answer, but give people a perspective that will help them to recognize more adequate answers than some that are out there.
Conclusion of the Book of Revelation. Overview of The Relevance of Scripture to Religious Faith and the Public Square. Knowledge comes in a variety of forms which on the surface may seem to be incompatible, but which in reality are snapshots from different perspectives. They are all needed to fill out the whole picture. The current obsession with Science and Technology has led some to conclude that anything which does not conform to the standards and norms of science is outdated and irrelevant. Such a reductionist view of knowledge impoverishes the human spirit. As the old saying goes, Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Just because different people find beauty in different places does not mean that there is no such thing as beauty, and life without it is impoverished indeed.
Continuing exploration of the symbolism used by John. This gives us a snapshot of what the earliest Church was having to contend with during the first 300 years of its existence. While ostensibly an analysis of seven church communities, it also functions as an epistle to all the Churches. The spiritual difficulties these churches are encountering are not confined just to them, for they also give us insight into the problems of today.
The last book in the New Testament is bewildering and confusing for many. I will attempt to clarify its message and show how it can have relevance and meaning for us today.
With the passage of time without a Second Coming of Christ, it became necessary for the Church to develop mechanisms for preserving the Gospel as handed down by the Apostles. It became necessary to deal with heresies and set standards for what writings should be considered authoritative. This led to the establishment of the Magisterium, which is not a committee of theologians but includes all the bishops throughout history. They are the successors of the Apostles. Much of this development can be traced in the New Testament itself. We wrestle with many of the same issues today. There really is nothing new under the sun where human is concerned.
We will finish up with covering St. Paul's take on the Christian faith, with particular attention to his views on justification by faith (in Romans). Then we begin putting the preceding discussions including Paul in a more general perspective by considering the relationship between the Church and the (Roman) world and its implications for us today. Finally, we will be considering why and how the Church became an institution. This will not just be history per se, but an analysis of how we got where we are and what it means for contemporary concerns.
Matthew's Gospel makes the point that ethics is NOT a matter of mere conformity to a legal code, but a way of life that conforms to God's will as revealed by Jesus. It is not confined to an individual's behavior: it involves the fulfillment of God's purposes in the Kingdom of God at the end of time. Thus, there is a corporate dimension as well. The whole community is responsible for the welfare of the little ones. Works of kindness are not to be done for reward, bit solely on the basis of human need. Still, we cannot wait until Judgment Day to settle matters of good & evil. There must be some system of adjudicating disputes and some structure of authority. His famous depiction for Peter's confession of Jesus' true identity as the Messiah emphasizes Peter's role as regulating the inner life of the community rather than administrator. From this seed sprouts the idea of Magisterium[from the Latin word 'magister' = 'Teacher'], or the teaching office of the church.
Last week we finished with the Old Testament, so this week we begin with the New. It starts with historical developments and a description of the players such as Pharisees, etc. to provide a framework for understanding the dynamics at work to help us better appreciate what the issues were. After that brief sketch, we turn to the first of the Gospels, that of Mark.
The Babylonian armies attacked and captured Jerusalem twice: 597 and 587 B.C. But nationalism flourished nevertheless, and they attempted independence again 10 years later. This time the Babylonians reduced the city of Jerusalem to ruins and carted off yet more of the population, leaving a devastated Judah behind. It would be some 70 years before Cyrus the Persian would defeat the Babylonians and allow captive populations to return to their homelands. Needless to say, this was a very traumatic experience in their history and it would produce some of the most profound spirituality in the Old Testament. Trauma is an effective tool for forcing us to reflect on who we are and where we are going with our lives. It is not surprising that in this material there is much that can benefit us too.
Early Prophets such as Elijah and Elishah: by putting them into their context, to show what they had to say about their own time and any implications for us today.
This will be the final show of the Pilot Program. It will deal with David, the rise of the monarchy in Israel, and early. I will also give some introductory remarks concerning the new show which will be entitled The Relevance of Scripture to Modern Concerns.
Last week, I mentioned that many today view Scripture as dated in the past and therefore not relevant to our highly mechanized world dominated by science and technology. I made the point that Scripture deals with human nature (which has not changed) and its relationship with the divine. Today I will be discussing some specific passages from the Book of Genesis to justify that assertion using the findings of contemporary Scripture scholars.
Finishing up R. R. Reno's book Resurrecting the Idea of a Christian Society + some observations of my own.
A continuation of last week's topic. After a quick review of last week's show, I go on to outline why the author of the book Resurrecting the Idea of a Christian Society believes that Christianity not only has a legitimate role to play in the Public Square, it has a vital contribution to make. The current 'cult of Freedom' is based on a serious flaw which can be redeemed if Christians have the courage to speak up. By Christian Society he does not mean domination, but a leaven in the loaf, as it were.
Early in his Presidency, Obama made the claim The U.S. in no longer a Christian country. One problem in evaluating this statement is to be clear what one means by Christian. With the extensive number of denominations, beliefs, theologies, it might be daunting to answer this. Is it good or bad for a nation to be identified with idea of a Christian Society? Such questions will be the starting point for this week's show.
Modern sensibility tells us that not only is the holding of dogmatic/doctrinal beliefs about the world somewhat presumptuous, but that it also causes the rigidity and inflexibility that prevents rational public discourse on important topics. In a chapter of his book What's wrong with the world and in a typical Chestertonian flourish, the great Catholic writer turns this modern proposition on its head. We'll discuss Chesterton's claims and how they explain so much of the increasing polarlization and futility that characterizes modern conversation.
There can be little argument that religion does not play a significant role in the political arena in the U.S. today. Indeed, there seems to be a movement afoot to marginalize if not eliminate any religious input into the issues that preoccupy us currently. One case in point is the attempt to force religious institutions to obey dictates by the federal government such as the Health and Human services Dept. mandate on insurance policies. The Little Sisters of the Poor [who minister to the indigent poor] were told they had to include birth control and abortions in the insurance coverage of their employees despite the teaching of the Catholic Church. The issue has been resolved for the moment, but another change in administrations could change all that. How did we get to this point? I'll be offering at least one ingredient by examining the theological crisis in the American Civil War. I hope you will find it instructive.
A fair number of Americans today subscribe to the loose collection of ideas called Relativism. I deal with its tenets and try to show how it is unworkable both in theory and practice. Its basic tenet is that there is no moral Truth: What's good for the goose may or may not be good for the gander. To each his own truth. The focus is on doing your own thing so long as you do no harm to another person. The first problem with this is Who determines what harm is? There are a host of unforeseen consequences to any act. But the basic problem is that it considers acts isolated from loving relationships. It's all about what I consider good for me. It glorifies selfishness. It is popular because it can be used to justify what I want to do. The end result is an enslavement to the self. Thus it can be used to mask my behavior versus conventional morality.
There is a popular notion today that Science and Religion are at odds if not hostile to each other. Historical evidence indicates that not only is this in error, the opposite is true. It is no accident that science as we know it today not only arose in an European environment, it was fostered by the Catholic Church. The case of Galileo in particular will be examined.
It will deal with 3 Questions:
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What is the purpose of a parish in the Mission of the church as a whole?
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What is the specific nature of an inner city parish?
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What is unique about his current parish (it's history and its present environment)?
I thought I would introduce myself to the listeners & use that as a way of outlining some of the life lessons I've learned that most people can identify with. Then I would address a principal problem at the heart of many controversies today, namely The value of human life. It is crystal clear that many in our society today place little value on it. This is not something applicable to the big topics like abortion & euthanasia alone, for with the model of ISIS we also have the mass shootings that seem to be commonplace. Not even the persons perpetrating such outrages place any value on their own life. They seem to think the only way they can draw attention to themselves is to kill as many innocent persons as they can in the knowledge that they themselves will be a casualty. I will outline the Christian perspective on this problem & show why human life has a special value in the scheme of things. I would end with a few words about the guest coming on next week's show.