"God Is The Issue" | The Temptation in the Desert and the Kingdoms of This
World | Fr. James V. Schall, S.J. on Benedict XVI's Jesus
of Nazareth | June 29, 2007
"The alleged findings of scholarly exegesis have been
used to put together the most dreadful books that destroy the figure of Jesus
and dismantle faith." -- Benedict XVI, Jesus
of Nazareth, 35.
"Earthly kingdoms remain earthly human kingdoms, and
anyone who claims to be able to establish the perfect world is the willing dupe
of Satan and plays the world right into his hands." -- Benedict XVI, Jesus of Nazareth, 44.
I.
Somehow, I find it
refreshing to have a Pope who, gentle man that he is, can still alert us to the
presence of "most dreadful books" produced by "allegedly scholarly exegesis"
and, at the same time, of "willing dupes of Satan," who promise us a "perfect
world." I still remember with something of a thrill the first time that I ever
fully realized the meaning of the observation that very little about politics
is found in the New Testament. The thrill comes with the insight that the New
Testament was not designed to be a political treatise or handbook. Though this
same Testament speaks rather frequently of "the Kingdom of God," it has
significantly little to say about politics. What it does say is that there are
"things of Caesar" circumscribed by the "things that are God's."
Why is this important? It is often charged against
Christianity that, since it has been around for a couple of thousand years and
the world is still full of pain, toil, corruption, and angst, it therefore must
be either ineffective or untrue--or both. This is not quite Nietzsche's problem
with Christianity. He thought it preached a doctrine fit for patsies and thus
practiced by a bunch of weaklings, unworthy of nobility. In fact, as the Compendium
of the Social Doctrine of the Church seeks
to spell out, if we practice what we are taught in the Gospels, the world will
indeed be better--not perfect, but better. On the other hand, the New Testament
also warns us that we will be most persecuted precisely when we do practice
what Christ teaches, something that seems to be an historic fact, beginning
with the Crucifixion.
But why did not God reveal to us everything that we must
know and do so that we would just have to follow directions for everything to
be fine?
Read the entire article...
Often, the demand for bread (or any other material good) is the justification of an ideology that is not particularly effective in producing it, but becomes useful as a means of control over those who eat it.
The history of the 20th century, in one sentence.
Posted by: Carl Olson | Saturday, June 30, 2007 at 10:40 AM