“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.
