Posted on by Kurt Bodling

dogma promulgation

“The time lag between developments in the church and modern society was striking: in the very decade that Charles Darwin announced his theory of evolution to the public, Pius IX for the first time had the idea, as a demonstration of his own fullness of power and de facto infallibility, of promulgating a dogma entirely by himself. Promulgating a dogma is an action which traditionally has always been taken as a council in a situation of conflict to ward off heresy. Pius IX’s intention was to further traditional piety and to reinforce the Roman system. The dogma that he had in mind was that strange dogma of the immaculate conception of Mary (Mary conceived in her mother’s body without original sin), dated 1854. We do not find a word in the Bible and in the Catholic tradition of the first millennium about this, and it hardly makes any sense in the light of the theory of evolution.”

Küng, Hans. The Catholic Church: a Short History. New York: The Modern Library, 2003, p. 162

A certain kind of Protestant will snigger at this and say “See? I told you so!” A certain kind of Roman Catholic will explain, “Küng was a renegade who lost his license to teach as a Catholic theologian; his opinions are all suspect!”

Posted on by Kurt Bodling

sin cannot harm us

“Therefore, just as it is impossible for Christ with his righteousness not to please God, so it is impossible for us, with our faith clinging to his righteousness, not to please him. It is in this way that a Christian becomes almighty lord of all, having all things and doing all things, wholly without sin. Even if he is in sins, these cannot do him harm; they are forgiven for the sake of the inexhaustible righteousness of Christ that removes all sins. It is on this that our faith relies, firmly trusting that he is such a Christ as we have described.”

Luther, Martin. “Fourteen Consolations for Those Who Labor and Are Heavy Laden” (1520) Luther’s Works Vol. 42. Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1969, p. 165.

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cling to Christ’s righteousness

“We are set down, I say, in Christ’s righteousness, with which he himself is righteous, because we cling to that righteousness whereby he himself is acceptable to God, intercedes for us as our mediator, and gives himself wholly to us as our high priest and protector.”

Luther, Martin. “Fourteen Consolations for Those Who Labor and Are Heavy Laden” (1520) Luther’s Works Vol. 42. Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1969, p. 165.

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one Catholic theologian’s view

“Under the direction of Pius IX, an emotionally unstable man untroubled by intellectual doubt who evinced the symptoms of a psychopath, the medieval Counter-Reformation Catholic fortress was now built up against modernity with all available powers. The chill of religious indifference, hostility to the church, and a lack of faith might prevail outside in the modern world. But within, papalism and Marianism disseminated the warmth of home: emotional security through popular piety of every kind, from pilgrimages through devotions for the masses to the May prayers to Mary.”

Küng, Hans. The Catholic Church: a Short History. New York: The Modern Library, 2003, page 161.

Posted on by Kurt Bodling

image and likeness

“In Christian scripture, following the Septuagint tradition, tselem was normally translated by the Greek term eikon (see Col. 1:15, etc.). ‘Likeness’ was rendered by homoiosis or homoioma and their cognates, a linguistic fact that would bear difficult fruit in the great Christological controversies that split the early Church between Orthodoxy and Arianism. Eikon, of course, is the same as ‘icon’ in English, and still refers to the sacred image. It is worth noting that the centuries-long dispute in the Eastern Church, as well as later in Puritan England and New England regarding the propriety of sacred images, has its roots in the apophatic rejection of any representations of the unseen, invisible, incomprehensible God.”

Woods, Richard. Meister Eckhart: Master of Mystics. New York: Continuum, 2011, p. 141.

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unity in contemplation

“The very first step to a correct understanding of the Christian theology of contemplation is to grasp clearly the unity of God and man in Christ, which of course presupposes the equally crucial unity of man in himself. For the soul and body are not divided against one another as good and evil principles; and our salvation by no means consists of a rejection of the body in order to liberate the soul from the dominance of an evil material principle.”

Merton, Thomas. The Inner Experience: Notes on Contemplation. Edited and with an Introduction by William H. Shannon. NY: HarperOne, 2003, pp. 39-40.

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contradictions and paradoxes

“Before long it occurred to me to do what historians are professionally equipped to do. Live with a cluttered mental attic; run a spiritual antique shop; resist the impulse to throw anything away. Hang on after the avant-garde rejects. Save, shuffle, classify, enjoy the relics. Eventually shapes emerge. One learns to live with contradictions and paradoxes, but what is new about that in theology?”

Martin Marty in Theology Today, January 1972, p. 472.

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everyone a theologian!

“This is the work of theology: to comprehend the mystery of the Christian faith. And every Christian is called to be a theologian, that is, to endeavor to penetrate God’s mystery. For this reason, without theology we cannot do lectio divina well.”

Barban, Alessandro. “Lectio Divina and Monastic Theology in Camaldolese Life” in Belisle, Peter-Damian, editor. The Privilege of Love: Camaldolese Benedictine Spirituality. Collegeville, Minn.: Liturgical Press, 2002, p. 49.

Posted on by Kurt Bodling

the perennial tradition

"On that day, you will know that you are in me and I am in you. John 14:20.

“‘That day’ that John refers to in the … epigraph has been a long time in coming, yet it has been the enduring message of every great religion in history. It is the Perennial Tradition. Yet union with God is still considered esoteric, mystical, a largely moral matter, and possibly only for a very few, as if God were playing hard to get. Nevertheless, divine and thus universal union is still the core message and promise–the whole goal and entire point of all religion.”

Rohr, Richard. Immortal Diamond: the Search for Our True Self. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 2013, p. 95.

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“Theology is the main requisite for entering into and embodying Christian wisdom. We read the Scriptures, but without theology, we understand only the letter and do not enter into the spirit of the gospel of Jesus Christ. We read the mystics, but without theology, we do not understand the profundity of their spiritual insights and enter into mystical experience. We have authentic moments of silence, meditation and prayer, but without theological exercise, our life will not become doxological, permeated by prayer and thanksgiving. Theology is the way to enter into God’s mystery.”

(Barban, Alessandro. “Lectio Divina and Monastic Theology in Camaldolese Life” in Belisle, Peter-Damian, editor. The Privilege of Love: Camaldolese Benedictine Spirituality. Collegeville, Minn.: Liturgical Press, 2002, p. 50)

Rest assured that there’s still a place for theology in today’s world! All Christians need at least some theological knowledge so that they can work with the heart wisdom gleaned through the spiritual disciplines.