M
Marsha_Adams
Guest
Wasn’t deChardin silenced by the Pope?
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J
jfoges
Guest
Does the Church still ban books? I really don’t think so, and I hope not.The Church has not banned his books so they are free for us to read.
C
Church_Militant
Guest
Yes, because his writings were causing (and still cause) too much confusion among some people.
I’ve read some of his stuff and in context it’s not all that bad, but I can see where it could be confused and misconstrued.
L
Lisdogan
Guest
This is an unusual thread because it has so many themes emanating from what looks like a simple question:
(1) comments on the alleged ‘sins’ of one of the most eminent Catholics of our age;
(2) the fear of reading Catholic material (Merton) that might challenge our individual beliefs, or at least make us think about them;
(3) the fear of reading any material outside the boundary of the Scriptures and Catholic news-sheets (more or less);
(4) the inherent and explicit danger of exploring the beliefs of other religious systems, as Merton and many others including Bede Griffiths did and still do;
(5) the general lack of knowledge of the great library of Catholic books by fabulous intellectual and/or spiritual Catholics, some of whom have been named above;
(6) the willingness of sinners to take pokes at the alleged ‘sin’ of another (he who is without sin, let him cast the first stone), as if this were a criteria for evaluating Merton’s profound spiritual quest.
There are other themes, but why go on.
The real urgency here is that one come face to face with Merton - and Catholic thinkers like Nouwen, Vanier, Nolan, and even Borg and Crossan who are not Catholics but are thinking Christians - so that our own faith, our own trust in our God, and our understanding of the woundedness of mankind can be strengthened.
Besides, lots of this material is utterly fascinating: some are better than a novel. Certainly Seven Story Mountain has been almost universally praised for its insights. Go for it!
In Christ,
(1) comments on the alleged ‘sins’ of one of the most eminent Catholics of our age;
(2) the fear of reading Catholic material (Merton) that might challenge our individual beliefs, or at least make us think about them;
(3) the fear of reading any material outside the boundary of the Scriptures and Catholic news-sheets (more or less);
(4) the inherent and explicit danger of exploring the beliefs of other religious systems, as Merton and many others including Bede Griffiths did and still do;
(5) the general lack of knowledge of the great library of Catholic books by fabulous intellectual and/or spiritual Catholics, some of whom have been named above;
(6) the willingness of sinners to take pokes at the alleged ‘sin’ of another (he who is without sin, let him cast the first stone), as if this were a criteria for evaluating Merton’s profound spiritual quest.
There are other themes, but why go on.
The real urgency here is that one come face to face with Merton - and Catholic thinkers like Nouwen, Vanier, Nolan, and even Borg and Crossan who are not Catholics but are thinking Christians - so that our own faith, our own trust in our God, and our understanding of the woundedness of mankind can be strengthened.
Besides, lots of this material is utterly fascinating: some are better than a novel. Certainly Seven Story Mountain has been almost universally praised for its insights. Go for it!
In Christ,
- Status