Editorial
Misplaced Charity Beats The Truth
by Paul Stenhouse, M.S.C., Ph.D
It was an after-Mass discussion, but it could have been any occasion; even though it was Sunday it could have been any day of the week. The lady speaking with raised voice and heightened complexion on the Church steps was echoing the feelings of many a person these days, who demands the right to have his/her views on 'religion' heard.
The subject in question was the Protestant reformation, and specifically the teaching of Martin Luther and John Calvin. Luther, the gathering was assured, was 'a good man,' who was 'appalled by the corruption in the Church of his time'. The speaker couldn't say what corruption especially scandalised Martin Luther, but she hinted darkly at all sorts of 'goings-on,' like those in "In God's Name" and even worse'. And concluded by urging fellow-parishioners to reconsider many of their religious attitudes in the light of her strong belief in the 'goodness,' of the reformers.
At this stage, a listener demanded to know what the alleged 'goodness' of the reformers or of the followers of the myriad churches they spawned, had to do with their doctrines. And for that matter what the alleged 'corruption' of the sixteenth century Catholics (which ones?) or of Catholics in 1991, had to do with the truth or otherwise of the Church's teaching.
In shock, the speaker's face and the tone of her voice showed her low opinion of people who cannot see that 'goodness' is far more important than fussiness about matters of doctrine.
Annals would not be so bold as to set itself up as a judge of the goodness or otherwise of Martin Luther or John Calvin; those kinds of judgements properly belong to God, and are best left to Him.
But Annals can be forgiven for taking a lively interest in what is or what is not 'Christian' doctrine. Jesus himself warned us that 'many false prophets will arise and will mislead many,' (Mt 24,11) and called such people 'imposters' (Mt 24,24).
Jesus praised the person 'who holds out to the end'. (Mt 24,13) If you hold out, you do so against something or somebody. And this assumes that you are in a position to judge that 'something' or 'somebody' is opposed to the truth of Christ's teaching.
How do you tell if the well-spoken, sincere and 'good' man or woman next door is speaking the truth or is an 'imposter' or a 'false prophet'. The answer is not hard to find, for 'holding out' is but one side of the coin; the other side is 'holding on'.
What are these 'good' or 'sincere' people holding onto?
If what these persons believe is what Jesus taught, and what the Church has always believed, then you can be sure that as well as being 'sincere,' and 'good,' they are 'correct,' and their teaching is sound.
Let's listen to John Henry Newman — a convert to Catholicism, a thoroughly English man, one of the greatest intellects of the nineteenth century and a priest not given to uncharity towards anybody — as he discusses the subjects of our parish meeting: 'Luther himself at one time rejected the Apocalypse, called the Epistle of James "straminea" ("garbage" Ed.), condemned the word "Trinity," and in a particular case sanctioned bigamy. Calvin himself seems to have denied our Lord's eternal sonship and ridiculed the Nicene Creed'. — Development of Christian Doctrine, 1890 ed. p. 198.
Good people often may be, and indeed often are, quite wrong in the judgements that they pass on other people, on their ideas and especially on the past. They can be especially prone to error in matters of faith and religious truth.
Good people, who happen to have peculiar ideas — whether about politics, religion, history or philosophy, gardening or pigeon-racing — may well find themselves and their ideas tolerated as long as they keep their ideas to themselves and don't set themselves up as 'prophets,' and 'teachers'.
But, whether they found a church or simply talk loudly outside one, they need to be sure that they are 'right' (and to have strong reasons for being so sure) before they defend the opinions of those who dismiss the traditions of the early Church as 'garbage,' and its followers as 'masters of perdition'.
One could go further and ask the speaker if she would go along with Luther who on one occasion boasted that his hatred of cardinals and popes was so great that he would gladly 'wash (his) hands in their blood'?
Good people who have great difficulty in seeing the connection between 'charity' and 'truth' would do well to remain silent when they have nothing but feelings to support what they say.
To her critics, to 'reformers' and to self-styled 'prophets' who delight in defaming her, the Catholic Church, down through the ages echoes her Master's reply when struck on the face by one of the High Priest's guards: 'If I spoke amiss, produce the proof; if I spoke well, why do you strike me?' (John 18,23)
From "Annals Australia" June 1991
See "Annals Australasia's Un-official Home Page
What's New? at Sean Ó Lachtnáin's Home Page
Sean Ó Lachtnáin's Home Page