Category Archives: Deep Thoughts

Why Metaphysics is Hard

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James Chastek has an excellent post on why metaphysics (in the philosophical sense, not in the metaphysical bookstore sense) is so hard. About metaphysical proofs for the existence of God, he says:

Theist proofs that attempt to be scientific might have some value- I have little ability to judge them. They seem far too human to me. They occur in the comfortable human world of the most reasonable explanation. The metaphysical proofs are like staring at the sun or trying to hold your breath and explore deep underwater. Things are there, and there is occasional clarity; but much is blurry, you can’t see it for long, and you have to keep going down again and again to get a clear view of even relatively shallow things.

Read the whole thing; it’s short, and (unlike metaphysics) both clear and straightforward.

Reflections on the Joyful Mysteries

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The Annunciation

Gabriel came to Mary, and announced to her that she would bear the Messiah; and she said, “Let it be done to me as you say.” In the same way, Christ comes to us, asking to come in; and we must choose to let him in or not. Sometimes we hear his knock, but do not go to the door; and all too often we do not even hear him, knock as he may.

The Visitation

Mary conceived; and shortly thereafter she went to her cousin Elizabeth, to assist her in the final months of her pregnancy. Just so, when Christ is conceived in our hearts he calls us to bear him to others in service as Mary bore him to Elizabeth.

The Nativity

In due course, Mary, a humble woman, gave birth to the Lord God Almighty. Just so, if we bear Christ in service to others as he directs, so will we bear fruit beyond all that we can imagine or understand. Christ is what we bear, and Christ is the fruit that results.

The Presentation in the Temple

Mary brought Jesus to the Temple; and there was met by Simeon. Simeon was a holy man who had been waiting patiently for his messiah for his entire life, trusting in the Lord to preserve him until that day. We must bear Christ to others; and among them will be those whom Christ has been preparing to receive us. Sometimes we will know those to whom we are going; but more often it will be a surprise. Indeed, often we will not know how others received Christ in us until we meet them again in Heaven.

Jesus and the Teachers of the Law

Mary and Joseph brought Jesus to Jerusalem, to the Temple, when he was twelve. And later, having missed him, they found him there in his Father’s house, doing his Father’s business. When we bear Christ to others, he will act; and he need not act as we expect. Instead, he will do more than we can ask or imagine. We are his instruments; it is not for the hammer to decide where the nail shall go.

And yet, when Mary and Joseph called to him, Jesus came and was obedient to them. Christ will never override our wills. We cannot say to him, “Do this,” or “Do that,” but we can say to him, “I will” or “I won’t.” Because he wills to use us as his instruments, we can thwart his purpose in our lives by refusing to be used—or, by insisting on being used as we see fit.

It was proper for Jesus to be obedient to his parents, for they were in authority over him. Just so, it is proper for us to be obedient to our Lord and King, and to seek to be moved by his will in all things. We must bear Christ with us where ever we go; and if we are ready to his hand we will bear much fruit.

The Catholic Church and Conversion

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Whilst I was raiding the theology shelves at Powells Books in Portland, I came across G.K. Chesteron’s The Catholic Church and Conversion, which I’d not previously read. Which is to say, I sometimes felt like I’d previously read it, as it turns out that many of the Chesterton quotes one runs across from time to time originated here.

My own journey of faith has been rather different than Chesterton’s. His family were English Unitarians, and he came only slowly to Christianity, first as an Anglican, and then as a Catholic. I started out as a Catholic, became an Anglican, and then returned. So my experience is rather different than his, and large portions of this book seemed somewhat remote (although I enjoyed them anyway). But there is one passage that very much describes my feelings on re-discovering the Catholic Church and its teachings:

Nothing is more amusing to the convert, when his conversion has been complete for some time, than to hear the speculations about when or whether he will repent of the conversion; when he will be sick of it, how long he will stand it, at what stage of his external exasperation he will start up and say he can bear it no more…. The outsiders, stand by and see, or think they see, the convert entering with bowed head a sort of small temple which they are convinced is fitted up inside like a prison, if not a torture-chamber. But all they really know about it is that he has passed through a door. They do not know that he has not gone into the inner darkness, but out into the broad daylight. It is he who is, in the beautiful and beatific sense of the word, an outsider. He does not want to go into a larger room, because he does not know of any larger room to go into. He knows of a large number of much smaller rooms, each of which is labelled as being very large, but is quite sure he would be cramped in any of them.

The feeling Chesterton describes, of having stepped from a smaller world into a larger one, is very much the feeling that I’ve had for the past couple of years. The Protestant project, these days, seems to be, “What’s the minimum of doctrine we all have to agree on in order to be considered Christian?” Catholicism says, “Let’s be sure of everything we possibly can know.” And when you add the principle that truths known by divine revelation and truths known by examination of the world around us cannot, in the final analysis, be in conflict (for God revealed the one and created the other), the Catholic perspective takes in not only all of the world of faith, but also all of the world of science as well. Nothing true is alien to the Catholic mind, despite all of the foolishness one hears about the Church being anti-science. (Did you know that the Big Bang was first theorized by a scientist who was also a Catholic priest? True story.)

False Dichotomies: Peter, Paul, and Mary

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My eldest son is in 7th grade this year, and he’s taking world history. And he delights in bringing his teacher’s statements home and asking me what I think about them. The other day he told me that his teacher had said that some think that Peter was the most important of the apostles but that Paul had more influence on the course of history.*

And I said, “Well, no…it’s more complicated than that.”

As stated, it is a false dichotomy. It suggests that we must choose either Peter or Paul; which is rather like saying we must choose the heart or the lungs. Frankly, I’d hate to lose either one. It also suggests that there is a single measure of importance, and that all historical figures can be precisely ranked using it.

I remember my CCD teacher asking the class, “Which is more important: Christmas or Easter?” I raised my hand and answered the question: “Christmas!” She told me I was mistaken; Easter is more important. She’s right of course; but she was also wrong. She no doubt assumed (as you probably did) that I thought Christmas was more important because I liked Christmas presents better than Easter eggs. In fact, I thought Christmas was more important because it’s logically prior to Easter: if Jesus isn’t born, He can’t die on the cross. She was saying that Easter is more important due to its immediate effects.

There are multiple ways of looking at things. When you make a judgement like, “Paul is more important than Peter,” you need to define your standard of importance.

How is Paul important? He spread Christianity through much of the Roman World, and the churches he founded had a lasting effect. And he wrote most of the New Testament, and that had a lasting effect. He was undeniably influential, and certainly essential.

How is Peter important? He was the chief of the Apostles, and was given pre-eminence throughout the early Church, as is clear just from a reading of the New Testament. He was the first Pope, the guardian of the deposit of faith. The Christian Church was founded upon him, as Christ himself says in the Gospel of Matthew. He was undeniably influential, and certainly essential. He wrote less; but that’s not the only measure of a man’s influence.

I used the metaphor of the heart and lungs above; and it’s like that with Peter and Paul. You need both…as the Church recognizes. July 29th in the calendar of saints is the Feast of Saints Peter and Paul. They are always celebrated together.

Oh, and Mary? Without Mary, no Christmas. Without Christmas, no Easter. Without Easter, no Peter and no Paul.

* I paraphrase; and I’ve no idea whether this is what the teacher actually said, or whether it’s simply what my son understood.