When a Picture is Worth a Thousand Words

The juxtaposition says it all. The faithful (Catholic priest that was flanked and supported by Baptist ministers) are carted off to jail for defending the unborn, while the treacherous (liberal Catholics) adorn Obama (Disciple of Christ) at Notre Dame (which supports the slaughter of the unborn).

The Lord our God promises us not to fear, for revenge will be His.

Reviewing a Classic.

(Yves Congar with a young Joseph Ratzinger)

It is always a pleasure reading Yves Congar.¹ One such pleasure was re-reading his classical writing on the meaning of tradition within the Catholic Church.²

Congar is easily one of Catholicism's greatest 20th century (conservative thinkers).³ His mastery of the primary writings and familiarity with the intricacies of the philosophical questions involving the perceived crux between Scripture and the Church's unwritten tradition is unmatched to this very day. His work La Tradition et la vie de l'Eglise, is the most succinct and powerful treatment on the issue of tradition I have ever read.⁴

What Congar is most apt at demonstrating is the philosophical underpinnings of a given subject. So in this work he manages to explain the crucial relationship between Scripture and the unwritten traditions of the Church, or in other words, why Scripture needs the interpretative lens of tradition for a correct hermeneutical reading.

Highly recommended reading.

_____________

¹ Yves Congar was a French Dominican Cardinal, considered by many the greatest Ecclesiologist of all time (Avery Dulles). Was at one time held a P.O.W by Germans for five years as he served the role of Catholic chaplain for the French. He influenced many Catholic thinkers, such as Karol Wojtyla, etc.

² La Tradition et la vie de l'Eglise (Paris: Editions du Cerf, 1964). English edition is, The Meaning of Tradition (San Francisco: Ignatius, 2004).

³ Compare the utter mastery of the primary writings (patrology) and the sane treatment of the origins of the Church in Congar's double volume Ecclesiological magnum opus, La Tradition et les traditions: Essai historique (1960); Essai theologique (1963. Paris: Fayard), with the bleak and critical treatment of much of the same ground in say for example, Richard P. McBrien, The Church: The Evolution of Catholicism (New York: Harper One, 2008), which was done in memory of Congar.

⁴ Nothing in today's American (popular) Catholic scene even comes close. Avery Dulles would be America's closest example, cf. his Magisterium: Teacher and Guardian of the Faith (Naples, Florida: Sapientia Press, 2007).

The Most Holy Trinity

     Today we celebrate the Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity in the Catholic Church. This reality that we call the Triune Godhead is the main pillar which supports orthodox Christianity. It is what separates the heretic from the Catholic (universal) Christian. It is of paramount importance because tied intricately within this conception is a host of related doctrines that are benchmarks for the Christian faith. Doctrines such as the ontological definitions surrounding the Persons of the Trinity, (full deity for the Father, Son and Holy Spirit). Doctrines such as the outworking of the Trinity in redemptive history towards mankind. 

     The earliest Christians were full fledged Trinitarians (even the pre-Nicene writers). Even non-bishops reflected this understanding beautifully as the following quote from the philosopher Aristides of Athens¹ proves:

  ...are called Christians...for they acknowledge God, the Creator and Maker of all things, in the only-begotten Son and in the Holy Spirit. Other than Him, no god do they worship. (Απολογια. 15) 

     Hence it is clear, in which a largely non-clerical writer, in a context of explication of Christian worship, clearly states the Trinitarian belief.² This Trinitarian belief over time was codified and developed in reaction to heretical claims, crystallized in the great early Catholic Councils by the fathers of the East and West. 

 This is an example of development of doctrine that all branches of Christendom (Catholic/Protestant/Orthodox) hold and defend. I submit to you then if your particular church did not even mention the Trinity in today's "service," you should really question the historicity and validity of this group.

_________________________

[1]. This "Apology" for the Christians was written most likely not to Emperor Hadrian but to his successor Antoninus Pius, which had the full name of - Titus Aelius Hadrianus Antoninus Pius, who reigned from 138-161 AD. Hence this Apology is dated around 140 AD, cf. William Jurgens, The Faith of the Early Fathers (Collegeville, Minnesota: Liturgical Press, 1970, Vol. 1), pp. 48-49. 

[2]. Earlier Catholic writers are just as clear, Clement of Rome in his Letter to the Corinthians, (which is usually dated to the latter part of the first century) is clear (42:1-5; 58:2), Ignatius of Antioch, (Προς Εφεσιους επιστολη. 9:1-2, 110 AD; Προς Μαγνησιους επιστολη. 11, 110 AD) are some examples.