Word to the Wise
Friday, November 16, 2018 - Friday in the 32th Week in Ordinary Time
[2 John 4-9 and Luke 17:26-37]Many deceivers have gone out into the world, those who do not acknowledge Jesus Christ as coming in the flesh; such is the deceitful one and the antichrist. Look to yourselves that you do not lose what we worked for but may receive a full recompense. Anyone who is so "progressive" as not to remain in the teaching of the Christ does not have God; whoever remains in the teaching has the Father and the Son. [2 John]
One of the handy books that I keep above my desk is entitled, THE COMPLETE PARALLEL BIBLE. This book presents four popular translations of the Bible side by side: the New American Bible (the one used in Roman Catholic liturgy in this country), the New English Bible, the New Jerusalem Bible, and the the New Revised Standard Bible. Occasionally the one we use in the liturgy presents me with something that would make for difficult preaching. Today, when I encountered the word, "progressive," which is enclosed in quotes in the text, I wondered what that might mean since that word in our culture has a very positive connotation but in this text it clearly has a negative one. Sure enough, the other three translations use different language from the liturgical one and they all use the same words, "but goes beyond it." In short, the warning is about speculation which has no foundation in the fundamental teaching but is being presented as "gospel truth."
In the first years after Jesus' death and resurrection, there was considerable speculation about his identity and teachings and mission. One of the principal criteria was the one of apostolic origin. Could the particular teaching be traced to the apostles or their closest collaborators. Even St. Paul was careful to point out his relationship to the apostles in Jerusalem in his letters. Some of the questions would not be resolved for four centuries!
We Catholics have what we call Tradition (capital T), which is distinguished from "traditions" (with a small "t"). The first comes from great church leaders and teachers of antiquity: St. Basil, St. Gregory, St. Augustine, St. John Chrysostom, St. John Damascene. The second comes from customs and patterns of devotion that have sprung up over the centuries. The first kind is closely based on scripture. The second kind has to be carefully examined to make sure it is not just local tastes and speculation. Scripture is always the first norm to follow. But the authors of the New Testament did not have the whole New Testament in front of them, and had to pay attention to the basics that they received from the original preachers, the apostles. Anything that went beyond that could do harm. "Progressive" in today's text means that it is not based on the apostolic preaching and cannot be relied on as "gospel truth."
A quick look at the Catechism of the Catholic Church will show how reliance on scripture and the "Church Fathers" forms the basis of most Catholic doctrine. If one "goes beyond" that, one is in need of being measured by scripture and Tradition. AMEN
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