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Saturday 13 December 2008

Raving Ratzo relies on revelation

“Truth is the revelation of God in Christ.” And this is what we should be concentrating on. No, this isn’t being said by someone in a care-in-the-community programme, but Pope Ratzo.

Today’s Tablet, the newspaper of the Catholic Church, quotes this Cloud Cuckoo Land resident as saying to theologians that their primary task is to reflect on the truth of Christian revelation as taught by the Church and not just focus on the practical consequences of theology.

Oh, right. So Christian revelation is truth? Revelation itself is truth? Faith is truth?

Yes, according to Ratzo.

“The essential, inescapable characteristic of theology is to ask questions concerning the truth of faith and not simply to ask questions about its practical and social effectiveness.”

So the practical side of theology, and the good (there may be some of that) and (undoubted) bad that it is capable of, are of no consequence. Forget the social effectiveness, just concentrate on having faith.

“Pope Benedict”, says The Tablet, “said theological method could not be established ‘only according to the criteria and norms of other sciences’ but was based on revelation: ‘Truth is the revelation of God in Christ, the response to which demands obedience to faith in communion with the Church and its Magisterium.’ ”

To have faith, you don’t rely on evidence. That’s the whole nature of faith. So how can you know what is true if your faith “reveals” things to you.

These people are totally raving mad – and governments take them seriously. That is very frightening.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

"The real work of theology is to enter into the Word of God”, says the Pope. What he does not say for a start, is where “the Word of God” is to be found. Is it only in the Gospels, in the New Testament or in the entire Bible? Is it in the whole or only parts of any of these? As the parts conflict with one another it cannot be the whole. He needs to say which parts, or he makes no sense. Are any parts of the Koran, the Book of Mormon or any other writings also part of the “Word of God”? Believers need to know so that non-believers can be told what on earth Catholics are talking about!

Will Catholics please ask!