Wednesday, May 20, 2009

"To mislead, if possible, even the elect." (Matthew 24)

Change: A new gospel too?
.
President Barack Obama's speech at Notre Dame Sunday held out as a central thesis a false theology of faith; a false theology contradicted by the Bible, by ancient Christian writers and by the Catechism of the Catholic Church.
.
A central point in the President's speech was "faith" and its supposed inherent "doubt." Obama told the students: "Remember, too, that the ultimate irony of faith is that it necessarily admits doubt. It's the belief in things not seen. It's beyond our capacity as human beings to know with certainty what God has planned for us or what He asks of us … And this doubt should not push away our faith. But it should humble us. It should temper our passions, cause us to be wary of too much self-righteousness. It should compel us to remain open and curious and eager to continue the spiritual and moral debate."
.
The Christian vision of faith, however, excludes doubt about the articles of the faith and does not admit it as Obama suggests that it "necessarily" does.
.
The Bible, in the book of Hebrews, defines faith as "the substance of things to be hoped for, the evidence (or certainty) of things that appear not." (Hebrews 11:1)
.
The Catechism of the Catholic Church notes specifically: "Faith is certain. It is more certain than all human knowledge because it is founded on the very word of God who cannot lie. To be sure, revealed truths can seem obscure to human reason and experience, but the certainty that the divine light gives is greater than that which the light of natural reason gives."
.
John Henry Newman, while admitting intellectual difficulties with articles of the Christian Creed, he never doubted the doctrines attached to them. He said famously: "Ten thousand difficulties do not make one doubt."
.
Christians need never doubt the evil of abortion, or the immorality of sexual relations between two persons of the same sex. These are absolute and unchangeable truths taught by faith but also knowable by human reason - and therefore doubly certain. - Source
.
H/T to Paula.

7 comments:

  1. PeeWee's Big Adventure, or what.. Why does anyone call him "President"? This is all such a farce, it would be amusing if it wasn't spiritually so deadly.

    I was immediately and am more and more reminded of Soloviev's *fictional* tales of the antichrist.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Thanks for posting on that statement. I exclaimed a hearty WTF when I first read it.

    But you can see the problem, can't you? Those "Catholic" Notre Dame students cheered a man who completely subverted the teachings of the Church because THEY DON'T KNOW THEIR FAITH!!

    ReplyDelete
  3. They do not know the faith because they were not taught the faith.

    ReplyDelete
  4. I doubt that many Obamabots will lose faith in him. To their detriment.

    ReplyDelete
  5. The irony of faith is that you believe in something, example God is supreme and is above all things. God puts it to the test by lets say taking away your job and you suddenly realize that money was maybe a bit more important than God so your faith is tested and form it you learn.
    That Mr. Obama is the irony of faith.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Seriously Terry? I'm living proof that you don't have to actually be taught the faith to know it.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Someone should tell the law degree honoree that, since the Incarnation, if faith-doubt is inherent, it is personal, not collective--except in non-Christian creeds. (Like in the foreign nation of his birth..?)

    I would ask Catholics who voted for Mr. Change, "Where is it?" Not only isn't anyone home from Iraq, but that quiet little Mama/child-shelling war in Afghanistan has just been able-bodied up...again. And maybe it's just me, but I don't see any low-rent housing flying up all around us. The thousands of soup kitchens and food pantries do not lack for guests, rather, they are gaining entire families and *retirees* at the same pace. There is one job listed in my newspaper's classifieds. So far, the sum total of *change* has been against family, in every way.

    Truth said, the root of all evil is the love of (mammon). When we become accustomed to being pampered in this life (and thus, no longer ready to suffer for Truth, as seems so for Mr. Jenkins), we are soon deluded as to what's mammon, and what's truly Good. A good rule of thumb for the confusees of this age: Jesus was not pc, and He didn't invite false disciples to speak for Him. One would think that Catholics would always be the first, never the last, to grasp this.

    ReplyDelete


Please comment with charity and avoid ad hominem attacks. I exercise the right to delete comments I find inappropriate. If you use your real name there is a better chance your comment will stay put.