"You're Only Catholic Because..."

“You’re only Catholic because you were born in America.  If you were born in Iraq you’d be Muslim.”  So runs a common objection to religion in general.  Religious belief, so says the objection, is not based on truth, but on geography and custom.  And if religion isn’t based on truth, it shouldn’t be believed.  How can we answer such an objection?

First, we must concede that religion is, generally speaking, geographically predictable.  Looking at a map of the world, religious groupings are generally geographic, and people tend to be the religion of their families.  But we have to ask further, what does this say about the truth claims religions make? 

Nothing.  The objection may say something about anthropology or human psychology, but this objection says nothing about whether or not the claims of any religion are true.  The objection short-circuits questions about evidence or truth, and that is the fatal flaw in the objection.  How, then, can we respond?

First, if the person making the objection happened to be raised Catholic or Christian, it can be pointed out that the objector’s own experience contradicts his objection.  If the objection holds that “you’re only Catholic because you were born into a Catholic family,” the objector should be Catholic!  The objector himself is a counter-example to his own argument.

More fatal to the objection, however, is that it is a clear example of a logical fallacy known as the Genetic Fallacy.  The Genetic Fallacy is when a belief is attributed solely to someone's history or the belief’s source.  For instance, “you’re only a Democrat because your dad was,” or “you’re only a capitalist because you were born in America.”  The fallacy fails to assess the claim on its own merit. But a good argument must have bearing on the truth or falsity of the claim in question.  Genetic accounts of an issue may be true, and they may help illuminate the reasons why the issue has assumed its present form, but they are irrelevant to its merits.

Moreover, the objection and the fallacy it entails can cut both ways.  One could similarly reply to the objector that he is only skeptical because he was raised in a skeptical culture, or a culture antithetical to religion, or because he went to a secular university with atheist professors!  This might drive home to the objector the problem of the fallacy.

The bottom line is that religious claims need to be evaluated on their truth or fallacy, on the evidence for the claims, and the merits of the arguments.  This objection is irrelevant to any of those questions.  It’s an intellectually lazy red-herring that refuses to engage the real issue of truth.

The Story of Ben

My wife Mary Beth wrote a beautiful summary of the story of our failed adoption over the last week, and the beautiful little boy who will always hold a place in our hearts.  You can read it at our adoption website, Grace of Adoption.

Video Series - The Blessed Trinity

Here's a series of seven videos I did on the doctrine of the Most Blessed Trinity.

Back to Basics: Being Born Again

Q. My friend calls herself a “born again Christian,” and has asked me if I am “born again.”  How should I respond?

Many of our Protestant brothers and sisters put a great deal of emphasis on the moment when one places trust in Jesus Christ for salvation.  Asking, “Are you born again,” often means something like “have you accepted Jesus Christ as your personal Lord and Savior?”

Now, first thing’s first.  For all of us as Christians, the answer to that question should be a resounding “YES!”  But is that what scripture means by being “born again?”

While a personal relationship with Christ is at the heart of the Christian life, it may be surprising to some that the Bible never talks about “accepting Jesus Christ as your personal Lord and Savior.”  The phrase “born again” comes from the encounter between Jesus and Nicodemus.

Jesus declared, "I tell you the truth, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again." "How can a man be born when he is old?" Nicodemus asked. "Surely he cannot enter a second time into his mother's womb to be born!" Jesus answered, "I tell you the truth, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless he is born of water and the Spirit.” (John 3:3-5)

In Greek, the word here for “again” can also mean “from above.”  Jesus probably intended the double meaning: you must be born again, from above.  How?  Jesus clarifies: “Of water and the Spirit.”  Christ is referring to Baptism!

The context of John 3 makes this clear.  Our Lord’s teaching that it is necessary for salvation to be born (again) from above by water and the Spirit (John 3:1–21) is followed shortly thereafter by: "Jesus and his disciples went into the land of Judea; there he remained with them and baptized" (John 3:22).

This idea of rebirth through baptism is clear elsewhere in the Scriptures.  Paul writes to Titus: “But when the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit…” (Titus 3:4-5)

What’s more, when the early Christians mentioned being “born again,” they inevitably linked it to Baptism.  For example, Justin Martyr writes in the middle of the second century:

"As many as are persuaded and believe that what we [Christians] teach and say is true, and undertake to be able to live accordingly… they are brought by us where there is water and are regenerated in the same manner in which we were ourselves regenerated. For, in the name of God, the Father . . . and of our Savior Jesus Christ, and of the Holy Spirit [Matt. 28:19], they then receive the washing with water. For Christ also said, ‘Unless you are born again, you shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven’ [John 3:3]" (First Apology 61 [A.D. 151]).

Again, around 190 AD, St. Irenaeus of Lyon wrote:

"For as we are lepers in sin, we are made clean, by means of the sacred water and the invocation of the Lord, from our old transgressions, being spiritually regenerated as newborn babes, even as the Lord has declared: ‘Except a man be born again through water and the Spirit, he shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven’" (Fragment 34).

The list goes on.  The early church Fathers all unanimously held that being “born again” meant being baptized.

So, if you’re ever asked, “have you been born again?” you can respond, “yes, I have accepted Jesus Christ as my personal Lord and savior.  But I have been born again the Bible way, through water and the Spirit, at my baptism.”

"Providence and Pain" or "Theology and Real Life"

This past Sunday I wrote the article below for our parish bulletin.  I chose the topic somewhat at random, somewhat because I know people struggle with faith especially during times of suffering.

The next day, Monday, we received a call that we had finally been matched with a birthmother after 6 years of infertility and 3 years in the adoption process.  The baby was born that night and we met him Tuesday afternoon.  We took our new baby home Wednesday afternoon.

After being home with the baby just over six hours, we learned that the birthmother had a change of heart, and our social workers removed the baby from our house a little after midnight.

Our hearts are broken.  Without exaggeration, this was the worst day of our lives.  We have never been so sad.  We really fell in love with the little guy and thought of him as our own son.

Reading what I wrote just a few days ago, it strikes me as both ironic, and itself providential.  I was almost writing to myself a few days in the future.  Theology, our understanding of God, is not simply academic.  Theology speaks about reality.  Theology speaks about the deepest realities of the most important aspects of our lives.  Theology gives light to the mystery of our human existence.

Back to Basics: Divine Providence

God’s creation has its own goodness and order, but it is not a “finished product.”  All of creation, including each of us, is in a “state of journeying” to our ultimate perfection.  However, God did not simply create us and leave His creation abandoned.  God’s providence consists of the dispositions by which God guides all his creatures with wisdom and love to their ultimate end.  God continues to uphold creation and guide it to its final perfection.  This ongoing protection and guidance of all creation is called divine providence.

We believe, of course, that while God is in ultimate control, we are still free agents of our own actions.  God’s power and wisdom are so great that He makes use of His creatures as “secondary causes” within His providential plan.  In other words, God’s providence does not remove our free will.  God not only directs the course of history, but He does so through the free choices of His creatures.

This providence directs matters universal, like the formation of all existence, and the plans of nations.  But divine providence also cares for the minutest details of our lives. “Are not five sparrows sold for two small coins?  Yet not one of them has escaped the notice of God.  Even the hairs of your head have all been counted. Do not be afraid. You are worth more than many sparrows” (Luke 12:6-7).

The greatest challenge to seeing God’s providence is the scandal of evil.  We experience the existence of evil in our own hearts, in injustice done to us, and in the physical suffering of illness and other disasters.  There are times when the evil in the world can be overwhelming: wars, persecutions, sickness, death, depression, addiction, senseless violence, the breakdown of marriages and families, poverty, corrupt governments, the holocaust of abortion…the list could go on.  Where is God’s providence in the midst of all of this?

“The fact that God permits physical and even moral evil is a mystery that God illuminates by his Son Jesus Christ who died and rose to vanquish evil. Faith gives us the certainty that God would not permit an evil if he did not cause a good to come from that very evil, by ways that we shall fully know only in eternal life” (CCC 324).

The belief in God’s providence asks us to make a fundamental decision about our existence.  Is all this pain and evil simply pointless?  Is it just the cruel joke of a random universe?  Is there no meaning, no ultimate justice?  Or perhaps there is a God, but he is either wicked, weak, or unconcerned with us.

Or, will we make a fundamental decision to trust in God’s goodness and His guidance over everything?  Do we choose to believe that “in everything God works for good for those who love him” (Romans 8:28)?  Despite our lack of vision, our shortsightedness, belief in divine providence is a fundamental decision to believe in meaning, goodness, and justice, even when we can’t see it now.

Our belief in divine providence in the face of evil is the fundamental choice to hope rather than despair.

 

 

Back to Basics: Why can’t my Protestant Friend Receive Communion at a Catholic Mass?

With very few rare exceptions (usually involving the danger of death), Protestant Christians cannot receive communion at Catholic Masses.  This can be difficult to understand and explain, especially when it involves a family funeral or wedding where there may be many non-Catholics present.  So, why doesn’t the Catholic Church allow non-Catholic Christians to receive communion?

As Christianity was still young, St. Paul wrote to the Corinthians, in part addressing abuses that were occurring as they gathered for the Eucharist.  He says, “The cup of blessing that we bless, is it not a participation in the blood of Christ? The bread that we break, is it not a participation in the body of Christ?  Because the loaf of bread is one, we, though many, are one body, for we all partake of the one loaf.” (1 Cor 10:16-17)

Here we see that St. Paul connects sharing in the one loaf (the Eucharist) with being one body (the Church).  We, like St. Paul, believe that the Eucharist is a sign and instrument of our real unity.  We receive communion together, because we are in communion with one another.  Since the unity of Christians has been ruptured, it would be a false sign at this point to share communion with other Christians.  To do so would be to say, through the language of the liturgy, “We are fully united in belief and practice with one another.”  That would be to sacramentally say something that isn’t true.

Back to Basics: What is Apostolic Succession?

Perhaps you’ve heard the term Apostolic Succession.  It’s a very important concept in our Catholic tradition, but what does it mean?  In a way, we are asking how we are connected or linked to what Jesus did and taught 2000 years ago.  Christ was sent to reveal God’s identity as Trinity. He was sent to bring us the Good News that we are called to share in the life of the Trinity. And He was sent to bring us into that communion of life and love through his suffering, cross, and resurrection. Christ entrusted all His words and deeds to His Apostles.  He then sent them out to teach and preach everything He had taught them: “He who hears you, hears me and he who rejects you rejects me” (Lk 10:16).  He gave them authority to teach in His name: “As the Father has sent me, so I send you” (John 20:21).  Christ also promised that the Holy Spirit would lead them into all truth (John 16:13). 

But what happened as the apostles died?  They entrusted the message to others in their place.  They appointed successors in each local community.  They handed on to their successors what they had seen and heard from Jesus.  This is what Paul wrote to Timothy near the end of his life: “What you have heard from me before many witnesses entrust to faithful men who will be able to teach others also.” (2 Tim 2:2)  God sent His Son Jesus, Jesus sent Paul, Paul sent Timothy, and Timothy was told to send successors of his own, and so on.

Back to Basics: Why did God become Man?

God taking on flesh and becoming man is known as the Incarnation.  The Second Person of the Trinity, the Son, while remaining fully God, assumed a full human nature.  He took on a true human body, intellect, and will.  He was like us in all things but sin (Hebrews 4:15).  Belief in the true Incarnation of the Son of God is the distinctive sign of Christian faith.  St. John begins his Gospel by proclaiming, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God…. And the Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us” (John 1:1,14).  We also proclaim in the creed at Mass, “For us men and for our salvation he came down from heaven, and by the Holy Spirit was incarnate of the Virgin Mary, and became man.”  So, the creed tells us that God took on flesh and became man for us and out salvation.  But we can ask further, why the Incarnation?  Why did God become man?  Our tradition offers us at least four answers.

First, the Word became flesh for us in order to save us by reconciling us with God.  Being born in original sin, and falling into personal sin, our communion with God was radically ruptured.  On its own, humanity was incapable of making a return to God, since the offense of sin was so immense, against an infinitely loving God.  In his love, God became one of us to make that return on our behalf, to restore communion between humanity and God.  Only God himself could have offered the perfect act of love and sacrifice necessary, but only from man was this act due.  In the God-man, the one person Jesus Christ is fully God and fully man, and can thus draw us back to God. 

The “Sanctus”: A Catechetical Signpost for the Mass

A while back, Homiletic and Pastoral Review published another article of mine.  Go check it out there.   It discusses how the "Holy, Holy" at Mass signals what is about to happen in the Eucharistic Prayer.

Back to Basics: What is Faith?

If you’ve ever been in a conversation with an atheist, perhaps you’ve heard something like this:  “Faith is believing in something in the absence of any evidence.”  And certainly, on the face of it, that does make faith sound silly.  Why believe something with no evidence?  But is that what we mean by “faith?”  What is the Catholic understanding of faith?

The Church actually teaches that God can be known with certainty by human reason alone.  There are “proofs” for the existence of God which begin by reflecting on the created world and on the human person.  We can look upon these proofs as “converging and convincing arguments.”  Like evidence accumulating in a court of law, these arguments lead us to the knowledge of God beyond a reasonable doubt.

Our human reason, however, only leads us so far.  Of ourselves, we can know nothing of the inner life of God as Trinity or about His loving plan of salvation for us.  For that we need God’s self-communication to us, which we call revelation.  God’s revelation is an invitation that we might know Him and be received into His own inner life of love.  If revelation is an invitation, our response is faith.  So what then is faith?  Faith is both a gift of God and a human act by which the believer gives personal adherence to God and freely assents to the whole truth that God has revealed.