Two of a kind...

“What does Athens have to do with Jerusalem?” (Tertullian)

Late in his speech, Pope Benedict speaks of the effects of separating faith and reason, and limiting them to specific realms. And in doing this, he says:

The subject (man) then decides, on the basis of his experiences, what he considers tenable in matters of religion, and the subjective ‘conscience’ becomes the sole arbiter of what is ethical. In this way, though, ethics and religion lose their power to create a community and become a completely personal matter.

This is a “dangerous state of affairs”, he goes on, as it is why we have so many people claiming “Christian-other” as their faith or, better yet, starting their own denomination. It is also why so many battles (such as the one on stem cell research) are going on. This further divides our world and does nothing good for bringing us together and drawing us closer to returning to original innocence (the state enjoyed by Adam of Eve before the fall).

How can we ever enter into dialogue with others if we simply cut ourselves off from specific areas of understanding? How can we ever enter into dialogue if we continue to say that “I have the power to decide that and don’t have to listen to your expertise in the matter”? Listening to others and taking what they say seriously and accepting that I personally do not have all of the knowledge I need to survive is a big step that is much needed if we are ever to reach world peace.

God is Love, Pope Benedict’s first encyclical, is a good starting point, especially for us Christians. Through the use of both faith and reason, he looks at just what love is through the two concepts of “agape” (divine love) and “eros” (erotic love). He then applies his findings into today’s circumstances, such as the need for our participation in society.

If God is Love, then how could God ever expect us to spread the faith by the sword? He gave us free will so that we could love him all the more (simply because we want to, it is our choice)! And we must respect the free will of others when we are evangelizing. We must evangelize out of love.

“When will we all become one?” I heard this question last lent and posed it to a number of teenagers and adults this summer on four different occasions. When will we ever accept that we are no better than other human beings, and must listen to what the have to say?

“Am I my brother’s keeper?” Cain asked God (Gen 4:9). I think that Jesus answered that question, and Pope Benedict and demonstrated that answer well.