Volume > Issue > Note List > "A Deeper Ground"?

“A Deeper Ground”?

We’ve taken liberal Catholic Fr. Ron Rolheiser to task many times in this section. Frankly, it’s like shooting ducks in a barrel. But no one has called us “condescending” or “arrogant” for doing so. But when we take on neoconservative Catholics, we’re (sometimes) called “condescending” and “arrogant” — with “smarty pants” being another favorite. All we can figure is that certain people don’t like their neocon icons to be raked over the coals.

So we’ll play it safe (in this New Oxford Note) by raking Fr. Ron over the coals — once again. This should be popular with everyone.

In his column in Catholic San Francisco (Oct. 7, 2005), Ron opens with this: “Can you prove that God exists? Some of the greatest philosophers believed that it can be done. Anselm, Aquinas, Descartes, Leibnitz, Spinoza, Hartshorne, among others, all tried to do it” (italics added).

He mentions Aquinas and Intelligent Design. But Ron doesn’t seem to be persuaded. Says Ron: “What’s to be said about these ‘proofs’? Do they prove anything?”

Enjoyed reading this?

READ MORE! REGISTER TODAY

SUBSCRIBE

You May Also Enjoy

Islam Is Like Fruit Salad?

Pope Francis sows confusion when he makes unconsidered or uninformed remarks during his in-flight press conferences, which are supposedly held in order that he might appear honest and transparent.

Letter to the Editor: January-February 1997

I Can No Longer Deny It... Why Did the Church Hide Her Splendors From Me?... Distributive Justice... Catholics in Berkeley???... Bad in Belgium too... From a "Soggy Trimmer"... Extremist & Irrelevant... The Real Catholic Petition... In Your Face, America!

The News You May Have Missed: July-August 2025

Church’s Chicken Dance... Orthodox Turf War... Artificial Ingratiation... Just Your Ordinary, Everyday Weird Catholicism... and more