Daily Retreat 09/5/06
2006 Sep 5 Tue: Ordinary Weekday
1 Cor 2: 10b-16/ Ps 144(145): 8-9. 10-11. 12-13ab. 13cd-14/ Lk 4: 31-37
From today’s readings: “We have not received the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, so that we may understand the things freely given us by God.... The Lord is just in all His ways.... He taught them on the Sabbath, and they were astonished at His teaching because He spoke with authority....”
Teaching with Authority
From the beginning, people noticed extraordinary features of Christ’s teaching - especially noted is the fact that He taught with authority. The 20th century, however, left many with an incredible distrust of authority, a practical skepticism fueled with political objections to every system of governing authority, and even epistemological arguments against every school of scholarly authority.
Now, if anyone would object to such a provocative blanket statement, let me just ask this question: how much credence should one give to any government statement about diplomatic intentions? And what should be taught to students in, say, the fifth grade? These and so many other issues of are day are clearly matters of opinion much more than they are matters of fact, and the assumed experts in the fields are so much at odds with each other that it’s difficult to discern who is a true authority, and who is a charlatan. The mass media fuels the myth that modern man, if he is but well informed, need accept no authority but himself. Causes of the Iraq War? Plausibility of global warming threats? Link between abortions and breast cancer? Just do a Google search, read the articles that you deem credible, and then you decide!
Often unknowingly or unwittingly, modernist Christians tend to treat Christ and His Church with the same skepticism. Jesus may have been unequivocally opposed to divorce, for instance, but surely other factors must also be weighed in these complicated times, right? Jesus had a great personal record of Sabbath synagogue attendance, but that certainly doesn’t mean He would object to my skipping Church on Sunday to go to the lake, right?
Decades ago, C.S. Lewis wrote an article on this phenomenon, entitled “God in the Dock.” It’s as if modern man tells God that He needs to take the witness stand (the “dock”), and let us be the judge to determine the merits of His case, and the extent of His authority.
Yet if the word “God” means anything, then He alone is the Supreme Being, and He is the sole reliable benchmark for truth, and only He qualifies as the ultimate authority about everything! So, if we are to live up to the noble name of “Christian,” we can never let our personal opinions trump the authoritative teachings of Christ, whom we acknowledge as the divine Son of God. And if we believe Jesus founded His Church, doesn’t it make sense to also believe He founded it authoritatively? For, as Jesus explained to His Apostles, “He who hears you, hears Me.....” (Luke 10:16).
1 Cor 2: 10b-16/ Ps 144(145): 8-9. 10-11. 12-13ab. 13cd-14/ Lk 4: 31-37
From today’s readings: “We have not received the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, so that we may understand the things freely given us by God.... The Lord is just in all His ways.... He taught them on the Sabbath, and they were astonished at His teaching because He spoke with authority....”
Teaching with Authority
From the beginning, people noticed extraordinary features of Christ’s teaching - especially noted is the fact that He taught with authority. The 20th century, however, left many with an incredible distrust of authority, a practical skepticism fueled with political objections to every system of governing authority, and even epistemological arguments against every school of scholarly authority.
Now, if anyone would object to such a provocative blanket statement, let me just ask this question: how much credence should one give to any government statement about diplomatic intentions? And what should be taught to students in, say, the fifth grade? These and so many other issues of are day are clearly matters of opinion much more than they are matters of fact, and the assumed experts in the fields are so much at odds with each other that it’s difficult to discern who is a true authority, and who is a charlatan. The mass media fuels the myth that modern man, if he is but well informed, need accept no authority but himself. Causes of the Iraq War? Plausibility of global warming threats? Link between abortions and breast cancer? Just do a Google search, read the articles that you deem credible, and then you decide!
Often unknowingly or unwittingly, modernist Christians tend to treat Christ and His Church with the same skepticism. Jesus may have been unequivocally opposed to divorce, for instance, but surely other factors must also be weighed in these complicated times, right? Jesus had a great personal record of Sabbath synagogue attendance, but that certainly doesn’t mean He would object to my skipping Church on Sunday to go to the lake, right?
Decades ago, C.S. Lewis wrote an article on this phenomenon, entitled “God in the Dock.” It’s as if modern man tells God that He needs to take the witness stand (the “dock”), and let us be the judge to determine the merits of His case, and the extent of His authority.
Yet if the word “God” means anything, then He alone is the Supreme Being, and He is the sole reliable benchmark for truth, and only He qualifies as the ultimate authority about everything! So, if we are to live up to the noble name of “Christian,” we can never let our personal opinions trump the authoritative teachings of Christ, whom we acknowledge as the divine Son of God. And if we believe Jesus founded His Church, doesn’t it make sense to also believe He founded it authoritatively? For, as Jesus explained to His Apostles, “He who hears you, hears Me.....” (Luke 10:16).
posted by FrPitstick | 9/03/2006
<< Home