A Penny Catechism (for Philosophers)
EDITORIAL
Fides et Ratio (FR) “Faith and Reason,” the Holy Father’s new encyclical, is an old philosopher’s gift to Mother Church, and it calls us to our lessons.
Warm-up question: What did The New York Times say in its news section?
The Times reported that the encyclical signals “paradoxes” — we have a papacy “marked by a return to rigid conformity in doctrinal matters,” and yet we have a Pope who “still meets regularly with scholars to debate ideas….”
Hmm. Was the Times’s dumbfounded woman on the beat, Alessandra Stanley, perhaps angling for an invitation? Are there scholarship funds (not that she’d really need them)?
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If the Church were merely a human institution, she would have collapsed long ago, as one earthly empire after another has collapsed during her history.
Should we try to repair our imperfections using our human ingenuity and genius? In other words, should man aspire to control nature, to play God?
Invent your own ceremony, write your own vows, and ordain your own minister.