K
KindredSoul
Guest
“Let no one deceive himself. If anyone among you considers himself wise in this age, let him bercome a fool, so as to become wise. For the wisdom of this world is foolishness in the eyes of God, for it is written: ‘He catches the wise in their own ruses,’ and again: ‘The Lord knows the thoughts of the wise, that they are vain.’” -1 Corinthians 3:18-20
I’ve been thinking. Sometimes, debating about Catholic teaching, and arguing in defense of it, can be intimidating. I find that it can cause me great anxiety. I ask myself, “Why?”
And I think the answer is this: “Because if I end up stumped, if I end up not being able to find a compelling argument for some Church teaching or the other, I’m afraid that it means I should consider giving up that belief.” In the interests of avoiding treating Catholicism like a buffet of sorts, where some beliefs can be dropped if one finds no compelling reason to keep them, this obviously creates problems.
What I’ve come to realize is that I am buying into the “wisdom of this world.” The wisdom of this world says that if I cannot find a valid argument for why some religious belief should be held, that the only intellectually honest thing to do is to either abandon the belief or at the very least hold it with less conviction. For example, if I cannot prove that contraceptives are wrong (and this is just a hypothetical example, not a denial of the effectiveness of the arguments against contraception), if as far as I could see contraception had no negative effects in people’s lives, etc., the wisdom of the world would say that I should be willing to relax my beliefs on that, despite Church teaching. “It would not be intellectually honest,” they might say, “to staunchly hold this belief if you can find no evidence for it.”
But, as the scripture says, such “wisdom” is foolishness in the eyes of God. The truth of the matter is that being a Christian, and especially a Catholic, involves trust and obedience. Yes, I believe that there are reasonable arguments to defend Catholic teaching and dogma, and perhaps there are reasonable arguments to defend each single one. Because our Faith is not irrational, at the very least it will never be against reason. But that doesn’t mean I will always be able to find those arguments. And it certainly doesn’t mean that my beliefs should be at the mercy of whether or not I can find evidence or good arguments for them. As long, at least, as I am Catholic, then the only reason I need in order to hold a belief (in fact, to be obligated to hold a belief) is because the Catholic Church teaches it.
Now it’s important to note that I mostly (bordering on always) do find good reasons to believe whatever the Church teaches. I rarely need resort to mere faith or “because the Church says so.” But my own fears and anxieties always revolve around the fear that, just around the corner, some argument will perpetually “stump” me, or I will suddenly realize that I can find no basis for some Church teaching or the other. I wonder, “What then?” Well, I believe the Godly response to “what then” is “Then I will believe simply because the Church teaches it to be so.”
Far from an excuse for laziness regarding research into truth, this conviction would give me greater freedom to explore truth, knowing that I am fortified by faith against compromising my Catholic beliefs. If I know that I’m still going to believe whatever the Church teaches at the end of the day, then I don’t have to be afraid of “stumbling” onto extreme difficulties. It also enables me to be honest, yet without compromising my faith, because it means that, if I personally don’t see any good arguments for a Catholic teaching, I can just admit: “Well, I don’t know why the Church teaches this, I can’t personally find any reason to believe it,” while still continuing to believe it anyway out of faith. The temptation, otherwise, would be either to abandon said belief (which is incompatible with Catholicism and would constitute a crisis of faith) OR to force or “tweak” the available evidence to support the conclusions Catholicism requires, because I have bought into the world’s “wisdom” saying that if I don’t have a good argument to believe something I should abandon it, making me desperate to “make the evidence fit.”
Alas, I know that this willingness to be faithful to Catholic teaching even IF “I don’t know why” I should believe some specific teaching or other would make me an object of scorn to opponents of the Faith, for it seems foolish to “the world.” It seems “closed minded” or uneducated. And truth be told, that’s what bothers me. I care too much about appearing intelligent, about appearing intellectual. I want to be taken seriously by the wise, by the intellectual elite, by those who will be lauded as sensible, rational. So I’m afraid of the possibility of ever having to admit “I don’t know why,” while still holding some belief or other in spite of it, because I know that “the world” (and perhaps even many fellow Catholics) would see that as a weakness in my beliefs.
Seems I care a lot about what people think of me, and am often afraid to “appear foolish for Christ.”
Thoughts? Comments? Feelings?
Blessings in Christ,
KindredSoul
I’ve been thinking. Sometimes, debating about Catholic teaching, and arguing in defense of it, can be intimidating. I find that it can cause me great anxiety. I ask myself, “Why?”
And I think the answer is this: “Because if I end up stumped, if I end up not being able to find a compelling argument for some Church teaching or the other, I’m afraid that it means I should consider giving up that belief.” In the interests of avoiding treating Catholicism like a buffet of sorts, where some beliefs can be dropped if one finds no compelling reason to keep them, this obviously creates problems.
What I’ve come to realize is that I am buying into the “wisdom of this world.” The wisdom of this world says that if I cannot find a valid argument for why some religious belief should be held, that the only intellectually honest thing to do is to either abandon the belief or at the very least hold it with less conviction. For example, if I cannot prove that contraceptives are wrong (and this is just a hypothetical example, not a denial of the effectiveness of the arguments against contraception), if as far as I could see contraception had no negative effects in people’s lives, etc., the wisdom of the world would say that I should be willing to relax my beliefs on that, despite Church teaching. “It would not be intellectually honest,” they might say, “to staunchly hold this belief if you can find no evidence for it.”
But, as the scripture says, such “wisdom” is foolishness in the eyes of God. The truth of the matter is that being a Christian, and especially a Catholic, involves trust and obedience. Yes, I believe that there are reasonable arguments to defend Catholic teaching and dogma, and perhaps there are reasonable arguments to defend each single one. Because our Faith is not irrational, at the very least it will never be against reason. But that doesn’t mean I will always be able to find those arguments. And it certainly doesn’t mean that my beliefs should be at the mercy of whether or not I can find evidence or good arguments for them. As long, at least, as I am Catholic, then the only reason I need in order to hold a belief (in fact, to be obligated to hold a belief) is because the Catholic Church teaches it.
Now it’s important to note that I mostly (bordering on always) do find good reasons to believe whatever the Church teaches. I rarely need resort to mere faith or “because the Church says so.” But my own fears and anxieties always revolve around the fear that, just around the corner, some argument will perpetually “stump” me, or I will suddenly realize that I can find no basis for some Church teaching or the other. I wonder, “What then?” Well, I believe the Godly response to “what then” is “Then I will believe simply because the Church teaches it to be so.”
Far from an excuse for laziness regarding research into truth, this conviction would give me greater freedom to explore truth, knowing that I am fortified by faith against compromising my Catholic beliefs. If I know that I’m still going to believe whatever the Church teaches at the end of the day, then I don’t have to be afraid of “stumbling” onto extreme difficulties. It also enables me to be honest, yet without compromising my faith, because it means that, if I personally don’t see any good arguments for a Catholic teaching, I can just admit: “Well, I don’t know why the Church teaches this, I can’t personally find any reason to believe it,” while still continuing to believe it anyway out of faith. The temptation, otherwise, would be either to abandon said belief (which is incompatible with Catholicism and would constitute a crisis of faith) OR to force or “tweak” the available evidence to support the conclusions Catholicism requires, because I have bought into the world’s “wisdom” saying that if I don’t have a good argument to believe something I should abandon it, making me desperate to “make the evidence fit.”
Alas, I know that this willingness to be faithful to Catholic teaching even IF “I don’t know why” I should believe some specific teaching or other would make me an object of scorn to opponents of the Faith, for it seems foolish to “the world.” It seems “closed minded” or uneducated. And truth be told, that’s what bothers me. I care too much about appearing intelligent, about appearing intellectual. I want to be taken seriously by the wise, by the intellectual elite, by those who will be lauded as sensible, rational. So I’m afraid of the possibility of ever having to admit “I don’t know why,” while still holding some belief or other in spite of it, because I know that “the world” (and perhaps even many fellow Catholics) would see that as a weakness in my beliefs.
Seems I care a lot about what people think of me, and am often afraid to “appear foolish for Christ.”
Thoughts? Comments? Feelings?
Blessings in Christ,
KindredSoul