Sunday, July 18, 2004
Towards a Christian Culture. Part 1
There was a time when man thought that his ancestors were sacred. His ancestors possessed wisdom which he passed on. Whenever we speak of “wisdom”, we usually speak about “ancient wisdom”. There is something great about looking at one’s history and learn from the examples of great men. The wise seems to be the one who upholds the wisdom of the past. Today, we rarely speak of wisdom; we have forgotten our past. Our society has gotten so materialistic that anything non-materialistic such as wisdom and virtue cannot be acknowledge as something great. “Success” in the mind of the modern man means something economic or that which glories one’s achievements. This type of “success” is not simply a contradiction to tradition, but to the principles of our childhood. When we were children, we always wanted to be that hero we see on T.V. The boy wanted to be superman and the girl wanted to be a good mommy. It was always something that we can “be”. It was a philosophy of “being”, not “having” as the modern world wants us to think.
Whenever I hear politicians on T.V., one of the things I always hear is the word “economy”. Of course the economy is an important thing in our lives. However, what are the solutions they present? Socialism and communism does not work. It neglects the individual aspect of the human person. Capitalism seems to be the right solution, but it makes man arrogant and greedy. This is not to say capitalism is wrong. The Republicans on one hand want to cut taxes, but it seems to make the rich richer and seems to neglect the poor. The Democrats want to raise taxes on the rich, but this seems to be unfair and it seems that some of its philosophy is close to Marxism. It seems to me that there are no economic solutions to our economic problems. I think the reason for this is that man’s problem is not economic. I believe that the problems of man concerns being, especially his own being which is not economic, but that which concerns his potential to “be” somebody greater than himself, something which concerns his interior life. In other words, the problem of man is a religious question. Every civilization knew this, that is, except ours. Our civilization neglected the religious aspect of its structure. This is pure novelty and it has never been done before. Christopher Dawson said that:
“all the great civilizations of the ancient world believed in a transcendent divine order which manifested itself alike in the cosmos, in the moral law and in religious ritual; and it was only in so far as society was co-ordinated with the divine order by the sacred law of ritual and sacrifice that it had the right to exist and to be considered a civilized way of life.” (Civilization in Crisis)
The whole western civilization was religious until recently. Etienne Gilson says:
“What we call Western culture is essentially the culture of Greece, inherited from the Greeks by the Romans; transfused by the Fathers of the Church with the religious teachings of Christianity, and progressively enlarged by countless numbers of artists, writers, scientists and philosophers from the beginning of the Middle Ages up to the first third of the nineteenth century.” (The Unity of Philosophical Experience. San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 1999, pgs. 218-219)
Today, we hear many people who want to take out religion out of the public square. They want to go against tradition. However, are we better off without religion? We’re better economically and materially, but the human person has gotten weaker. As Dawson said, “As civilization becomes materially richer and more powerful, it becomes spiritually or religiously weaker and poorer.” The secularist might say, “So what if the person is spiritually weaker?” The answer is that the spiritual aspect of man is the most important aspect. Man is a being who wants to “be somebody greater than himself”. This “being somebody” concerns the interior life of man. It is something religious, something which is integral for the human person.
Man is fundamentally a religious being. He is a worshipper. Today, it seems that he worships freedom and progress. It is normal to see that the western world put great emphasis on freedom. The last century was one of the worst, if not, the worst century in history. Man has suffered from one concentration camp to another, from one totalitarian to another, from one war to another. However, when man was finally free from these things at the end of the century, how did he use his freedom? When he can finally go to a church, did he go? When he can finally start a good family, did he make one? The fact is this: when man was free from the disobedience of the fifth commandment, he started to disobey the rest. Communism worshipped the state and the “free man” worshipped himself and his ability to do anything he pleases. Either way it breaks the first commandment; he worshipped a wrong god.
Along with the god of freedom, modern man worships progress, especially scientific progress. The Secularist Humanist Declaration states, “We believe the scientific method, though imperfect, is still the most reliable way of understanding the world. Hence, we look to the natural, biological, social, and behavioral sciences for knowledge of the universe and man's place within it” (no.8). There is nothing wrong with scientific progress. What is wrong is when the religious aspect of the human person is neglected, and we rely on the “providence of science”. The declaration speaks of nothing about the religious life. The consequence of this is that of the “abolition of man” or “Brave New World”. We should not try to progress scientifically especially when we are “spiritually weak”.
In what way can we speak of “spiritual weakness”? Can there be such a thing? As I have already said, man is a religious being because he seeks for something that is above himself. Man wants to be like God or to be a god. There is nothing wrong with this worldview especially the Christian worldview. We can look for how man can be spiritually weak by reading the first book in the Bible: Genesis. Everyone knows the story of the fall of man. Adam disobeyed God and he received death. However, it was not because Adam wanted to be like God, or to know things like God does, which made him fall. What made him fall was that he tried to be like God without God. In other words, he was a Pelagian. He did not recognize his weakness and his lack of ability to reach the greatest good or “summum bonum” by himself; he tried to “progress” without God. In other words, a person who is spiritually weak is one who does not have humility, does not want to acknowledge his weaknesses. If we are going to try to progress without God, the only direction we will walk towards is like that of Adam: we will not walk towards the greatness we seek, but fall.
There was a time when man thought that his ancestors were sacred. His ancestors possessed wisdom which he passed on. Whenever we speak of “wisdom”, we usually speak about “ancient wisdom”. There is something great about looking at one’s history and learn from the examples of great men. The wise seems to be the one who upholds the wisdom of the past. Today, we rarely speak of wisdom; we have forgotten our past. Our society has gotten so materialistic that anything non-materialistic such as wisdom and virtue cannot be acknowledge as something great. “Success” in the mind of the modern man means something economic or that which glories one’s achievements. This type of “success” is not simply a contradiction to tradition, but to the principles of our childhood. When we were children, we always wanted to be that hero we see on T.V. The boy wanted to be superman and the girl wanted to be a good mommy. It was always something that we can “be”. It was a philosophy of “being”, not “having” as the modern world wants us to think.
Whenever I hear politicians on T.V., one of the things I always hear is the word “economy”. Of course the economy is an important thing in our lives. However, what are the solutions they present? Socialism and communism does not work. It neglects the individual aspect of the human person. Capitalism seems to be the right solution, but it makes man arrogant and greedy. This is not to say capitalism is wrong. The Republicans on one hand want to cut taxes, but it seems to make the rich richer and seems to neglect the poor. The Democrats want to raise taxes on the rich, but this seems to be unfair and it seems that some of its philosophy is close to Marxism. It seems to me that there are no economic solutions to our economic problems. I think the reason for this is that man’s problem is not economic. I believe that the problems of man concerns being, especially his own being which is not economic, but that which concerns his potential to “be” somebody greater than himself, something which concerns his interior life. In other words, the problem of man is a religious question. Every civilization knew this, that is, except ours. Our civilization neglected the religious aspect of its structure. This is pure novelty and it has never been done before. Christopher Dawson said that:
“all the great civilizations of the ancient world believed in a transcendent divine order which manifested itself alike in the cosmos, in the moral law and in religious ritual; and it was only in so far as society was co-ordinated with the divine order by the sacred law of ritual and sacrifice that it had the right to exist and to be considered a civilized way of life.” (Civilization in Crisis)
The whole western civilization was religious until recently. Etienne Gilson says:
“What we call Western culture is essentially the culture of Greece, inherited from the Greeks by the Romans; transfused by the Fathers of the Church with the religious teachings of Christianity, and progressively enlarged by countless numbers of artists, writers, scientists and philosophers from the beginning of the Middle Ages up to the first third of the nineteenth century.” (The Unity of Philosophical Experience. San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 1999, pgs. 218-219)
Today, we hear many people who want to take out religion out of the public square. They want to go against tradition. However, are we better off without religion? We’re better economically and materially, but the human person has gotten weaker. As Dawson said, “As civilization becomes materially richer and more powerful, it becomes spiritually or religiously weaker and poorer.” The secularist might say, “So what if the person is spiritually weaker?” The answer is that the spiritual aspect of man is the most important aspect. Man is a being who wants to “be somebody greater than himself”. This “being somebody” concerns the interior life of man. It is something religious, something which is integral for the human person.
Man is fundamentally a religious being. He is a worshipper. Today, it seems that he worships freedom and progress. It is normal to see that the western world put great emphasis on freedom. The last century was one of the worst, if not, the worst century in history. Man has suffered from one concentration camp to another, from one totalitarian to another, from one war to another. However, when man was finally free from these things at the end of the century, how did he use his freedom? When he can finally go to a church, did he go? When he can finally start a good family, did he make one? The fact is this: when man was free from the disobedience of the fifth commandment, he started to disobey the rest. Communism worshipped the state and the “free man” worshipped himself and his ability to do anything he pleases. Either way it breaks the first commandment; he worshipped a wrong god.
Along with the god of freedom, modern man worships progress, especially scientific progress. The Secularist Humanist Declaration states, “We believe the scientific method, though imperfect, is still the most reliable way of understanding the world. Hence, we look to the natural, biological, social, and behavioral sciences for knowledge of the universe and man's place within it” (no.8). There is nothing wrong with scientific progress. What is wrong is when the religious aspect of the human person is neglected, and we rely on the “providence of science”. The declaration speaks of nothing about the religious life. The consequence of this is that of the “abolition of man” or “Brave New World”. We should not try to progress scientifically especially when we are “spiritually weak”.
In what way can we speak of “spiritual weakness”? Can there be such a thing? As I have already said, man is a religious being because he seeks for something that is above himself. Man wants to be like God or to be a god. There is nothing wrong with this worldview especially the Christian worldview. We can look for how man can be spiritually weak by reading the first book in the Bible: Genesis. Everyone knows the story of the fall of man. Adam disobeyed God and he received death. However, it was not because Adam wanted to be like God, or to know things like God does, which made him fall. What made him fall was that he tried to be like God without God. In other words, he was a Pelagian. He did not recognize his weakness and his lack of ability to reach the greatest good or “summum bonum” by himself; he tried to “progress” without God. In other words, a person who is spiritually weak is one who does not have humility, does not want to acknowledge his weaknesses. If we are going to try to progress without God, the only direction we will walk towards is like that of Adam: we will not walk towards the greatness we seek, but fall.
