Catechesis in Contemporary Culture: Relativism
This new series examines key features of contemporary culture that characterize the ‘field’ into which the Word is sown by catechists today.
There is no such thing as truth!’
‘That may be wrong to you, but it’s right for me!’
‘Beauty is in the eye of the beholder!’
We have all heard these maxims in some form or another. They express a philosophical position by which many people direct their lives: relativism. In a homily given on Monday 18 April 2005 Pope Benedict XVI spoke of ‘the dictatorship of relativism’. Catechizing persons immersed in a culture of relativism is one of the most difficult tasks of catechesis in our time.
Miracles and Gospels: A Task Remaining
No miracles of Jesus? No effective apologetic for the divinity of Christ. No apologetic for the divinity of Christ? A seriously weakened catechesis. We cannot have an effective apologetic for the divinity of Christ unless we defend the historical truth of his miracles as recounted in the Gospels.
The formation of catechists should enable them seriously to address the historicity of Jesus’ miracles.
Saved in Hope!
A common question asked by many Evangelicals or Protestants is, ‘Are you saved?’ The answer, for them, is that if you have proclaimed Jesus Christ as your personal Lord and Savior, then you are saved. You are saved by making this formal statement. Some Catholics may respond to this question with ‘Yes, I am saved,’ meaning that at their Baptism they received sanctifying grace, and it follows that if they die in this state of grace, they should enter into eternal life. Whilst this is an acceptable way of interpreting the meaning of the question to be consistent with the Catholic faith, the problem with the question, ‘Are you saved?’ and the way of thinking behind it is that it diminishes the meaning of hope.
We must recognize that this phrase originates with the Protestant view of salvation. This view is that simply by believing in salvation through the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ and he being our personal Lord and Savior, we are saved. The truth, however, is that we are not saved. Our salvation is still in anticipation. To falsely place this anticipation into the realm of actuality is to destroy hope entirely.
The Dramatic Nature of the Christian Life
This brief paper is entitled, ‘The Dramatic Nature of the Christian Life.’ For devotees of the eminent theologian, Hans Urs Von Balthasar, this topic calls to mind his multi-volume volume work, Theo-drama[i], in which he engages the world of theatre as a way of understanding the truly original drama. By that I mean the drama of the inner life and love of the Trinity, the hidden counsels wherein the Triune God freely elected to create and redeem – thus setting the stage for the drama we call ‘salvation history’.
