Moral relativity vs. pragmatic Catholicism

[Jerusha]

My philosophical orientation is towards using logic, science, psychology, etc., in proving that Catholicism is true. It works, and has been proven to work, through two thousand years of history. Catholicism, with its logical flow and coherence of doctrine, can thus be proven as right and God-inspired. I call it pragmatic Catholicism, in opposition to orthodox Catholicism. However, once the testing process is completed, I practice as orthodox.

Some more conservative Catholics, fearing examination of their faith, might say that I tread on dangerous ground, towards moral relativism.

What would be the response, among the participants of this forum?

Augustine, Aquinas, and others, followed this path. Is it wrong today?

 

[nuntym]

+JMJ+

That is my approach to Catholicism too.

 

[TS_Aquinas]

My philosophical orientation is towards using logic, science, psychology, etc., in proving that Catholicism is true. It works, and has been proven to work, through two thousand years of history. Catholicism, with its logical flow and coherence of doctrine, can thus be proven as right and God-inspired. I call it pragmatic Catholicism, in opposition to orthodox Catholicism. However, once the testing process is completed, I practice as orthodox.

Some more conservative Catholics, fearing examination of their faith, might say that I tread on dangerous ground, towards moral relativism.

What would be the response, among the participants of this forum?

Augustine, Aquinas, and others, followed this path. Is it wrong today?

Those that say the faith cannot stand against the rationality of the intellect or hard proves of science are committing dangerous heresy and is condemnable by excommunication. Such examination, done properly, always leads to the absolutism of Christianity in the Church.

 

[Gorgias]

Catholicism, with its logical flow and coherence of doctrine, can thus be proven as right and God-inspired.

‘Ratio’ is good and valid, as far as it goes. However, you seem to be eschewing the ‘fides’ part…

However, once the testing process is completed, I practice as orthodox.

Orthopraxy is certainly good. However, you seem to be elevating a sort of “right reason” in place of “right belief” (i.e., orthodoxy).

Some more conservative Catholics, fearing examination of their faith

And these, I would assert, are clinging to a well-formed sense of ‘fides’ without recourse to a correspondingly robust acceptance of the role of ‘ratio’ in our spiritual lives…

 

[Jerusha]

However, you seem to be eschewing the ‘fides’ part…

Moving closer to it. There are some things which must be accepted on faith. I have trouble with Adam and Eve having been an actual event which happened once. It is a matter of balance.

 

[Gorgias]

Moving closer to it. There are some things which must be accepted on faith. I have trouble with Adam and Eve having been an actual event which happened once. It is a matter of balance.

As an example, then, how do you perceive of the ‘Adam & Eve’ narrative? That is, what do you perceive of, as a requirement of the Church on you, and what causes you trouble with it?

 

[Jerusha]

I have no problem with the meaning of the Adam and Eve narrative, as the doctrine of the Catholic Church states it. I have studied Mormonism, and their understanding of the meaning of the narrative is in 180 degrees in opposition to it.

Some of my faith issues, and resorting to reason has had to do with the fact that I lived with faith, but faith failed because I was confronted with unreasonable people who saw me as someone to abuse. No matter how deep my faith, no matter how exemplary a life I led, i was subjected to malicious criticism. I see comfort, now, in knowing how Jesus suffered, and offering up my own suffering, but there are still some challenges to be resolved.

The natives of the Americas have been here for 14,000 years. I know the Adam and Eve narrative is very old, but not older than that. If the Natives of the Americas have been here that long, with minimal contact from Europe before 1492, yet the Catholic Church has decreed the Natives (including some of my ancestors) to be fully human, then are they also descendants of Adam and Eve? Unless we have to accept on faith that their descendants left Africa 80,000 years ago, and we have received the story through Divine Revelation.

Again, it makes no difference on how I practice my faith, I AM fully human, no matter how others regard me. It is difficult to wrap my mind around it.

This Catholic science fiction novel addresses some of the issues of free will and original sin and sentient creatures. amazon.com/Children-God-Ballantine-Readers-Circle/dp/044900483X

Fascinating subject.