September 28-October 4, 2008 Issue |
Posted 9/23/08 at 10:33 AM
Pope Benedict
XVI launched the Year of St. Paul on June 28 during vespers at the Basilica of
St. Paul Outside the Walls. Thus began a new year with an ecclesial focus on
Christianity’s most prolific apostle.
Interestingly, less than a week
prior to the commencement of the Pauline Year, the Pew Forum on Religion &
Public Life released a summary of its most recent survey. In this study, 78% of
the 35,000 Americans queried affirmed the existence of “absolute standards of
right and wrong.” Nonetheless, only 29% of these said that they relied on
guidance from their religion to adjudicate between right and wrong, with the
majority (52%) relying upon subjective “practical experience and common sense.”
In other words, it would seem that
most Americans believe that there is such a thing as objective truth, but few
seem to rely upon an objective means to find it.
Among the Catholics surveyed, 77%
claimed that “there is more than one true way to interpret the teachings of my
religion,” and 57% of these said that Catholic teaching should “adjust to [fit]
new circumstances” and that the Church needs to “adopt modern beliefs and
practices.”
As I read the findings of the Pew
survey, followed by the Pope’s Pauline homily a few days later, I was struck by
how fitting it is that in God’s sovereign timing these two things should
coincide. How remarkable that at the beginning of a year dedicated to the great
Apostle to the Gentiles — the apostle who spared nothing in his efforts “to
further the faith of God’s elect and their knowledge of the truth” (Titus 1:1)
— that we should be reminded of the rampant relativism which remains
malignantly entrenched in our society.
Ours is a culture antagonistic to
(or, at least, inconsistent about) the notion of objective truth. And yet, we
have embarked on a year dedicated to a man who sacrificed his life for love of
the truth.
Ironic? Perhaps. Coincidental?
Hardly. For what better person is there than St. Paul to liberate us from what
Pope Benedict has referred to as the “dictatorship of relativism”? After all,
was it not St. Paul who exhorted his readers to “guard the truth that has been
entrusted to you by the Holy Spirit” (2 Timothy 1:14)?
The findings of the Pew study remind
us that one of the greatest challenges facing the Catholic Church in America is
the loss of truth. In some ways this is nothing new. Truth, because it is
related to the very being of God himself, has always been under attack. In
fact, as students of history and philosophy will be quick to point out,
relativism itself is quite old (remember Protagoras and the sophists). There is
certainly “nothing new under the sun,” and the enduring presence of relativism
in our contemporary culture merely verifies this dictum.
But this begs the question: Why,
exactly, is relativism so dangerous? Sure it leaves an open door for people
wishing to escape those Church teachings commonly perceived as being less than
desirable (e.g. contraception), but what’s the big deal? After all, why can’t I
“pick and choose” a few “minor” teachings to sweep under the rug with my
subjective broom, while still qualifying for the “good Catholic” award because
I adhere to the “really important” Church doctrines?
There’s no real
harm in this, is there?
Actually, there is. The fundamental
danger with relativism is not that it will permit couples to contracept (among
other things). No. The danger is that relativism is intrinsically and
necessarily insular. It isolates people. It destroys the
relationality and the community we need in order to be fully and happily human.
It erects barriers between us and reality, making us victims of ourselves.
In short, relativism isolates
and it enslaves.
Now, this point is counterintuitive
and may strike some as odd. Doesn’t relativism enable freedom (albeit,
sometimes it leads to a warped freedom, but still a real freedom, nonetheless)?
Doesn’t it let people discover who they really are, free from oppressive rules
and external pressures? Is not community cultivated by relativism because it
enables peaceful interaction with those from contradictory perspectives?
Not exactly. Relativism, perhaps
more than any other societal mindset, fails to deliver its promised rewards. It
cuts its adherents off from everything (and everyone) else. There is no one
more alone than a true relativist.
Why? Well, relativism works off the
principle that “truth” is a fluid concept that is determined by one’s own
subjective preferences, experiences and perspectives. Pope Benedict described
relativism as a “dictatorship that does not recognize anything as for certain
and which has as its highest goal one’s own ego and one’s own desires.” In
other words, I determine truth for myself. You determine truth for yourself. I
create my reality. You create your reality. And never the twain shall meet.
And that’s exactly the problem:
never the twain shall meet. Ever. I am completely cut off from all others as
long as I view reality through a relativistic lens. It’s, well … just me.
What I think. What I
want. What I prefer. What I
create. It’s me and my world. Period.
I’ll acknowledge the validity of your
beliefs — but only for you. I have my subjective bubble. You have your
subjective bubble. And because we both deny a common, shared reality
that exists whether we like it or not, we are completely cut off from
everything else.
Relativism is an isolationistic
philosophy. Community for the relativist is merely accidental and facile, even
at best.
This
is why relativism is so dangerous. It runs contrary to the very foundation of
our Catholic identity. Our faith is intrinsically relational. Indeed, the
Eucharist is itself referred to as holy Communion, which is nothing less than
the center of reality itself. Our Lord didn’t come to leave us as isolated
orphans (John 14:18). He came to make us God’s beloved children who share in
the loving reality of his truth. The Eternal Son assumed human nature so that
we might receive his divine nature and participate in the sacred fellowship of
the communio sanctorum (the communion of saints).
This is why relativism is so deadly.
Truth unites. Relativism divides. Truth creates community grounded in an
objective, shared reality. Relativism erects individuals isolated and enslaved
by the very “I” they are seeking to safeguard and liberate.
The Catholic Church is commonly
viewed as being an oppressive institution that prevents people from discovering
who they really are. Nothing could be further from the truth. It is only in
such a community that one will be able to find his true identity. Real
solidarity — true and authentic communion — is
absolutely essential to a happy life.
This is the great challenge that
lies before all Catholics as they seek to follow St. Paul’s example and
evangelize the world. Tragically, the majority of young people in our
contemporary culture have fallen prey to the clutches of this relativistic
slavery. There is a very real sense in which people need to be converted to
truth before they can be converted to Christ, the truth incarnate.
It is only by preaching the truth in
love (Ephesians 4:15) that the world will come to recognize the Truth who is
Love (1 John 4:16).
May this year of St. Paul help us to
recognize the real danger of being “tossed to and fro and carried about with
every wind of doctrine” (Ephesians 4:14). May it liberate us from a
dictatorship far worse than that of ancient pharaoh for a freedom far greater
than even that of the Exodus — the freedom of Our Lord himself: “and you will
know the truth, and the truth will make you free” (John 8:32).
Christopher
Cuddy is a
research
associate of the St. Paul
Center
for Biblical Theology.
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