RBWords - Volume 18 - Number 6: June 2005
Something to Think About
I have recently been reading a book about a long ago controversy in the history of the Church – the Arian controversy. The Arians believed that Jesus Christ was created by God and was therefore not really divine, but subordinate in some way, even though he may have been the perfect man. (WHEN JESUS BECAME GOD by Richard Rubenstein) The controversy arose in force after Christianity became a “state” religion under Constantine and consumed the church for many, many years. At times, the Arians were ruling over large portions of the Church. Councils were held by both the Arians and the non-Arians and they mutually excommunicated one another and even incited riots and destruction with the loss of human life. Eventually the “Trinitarian” party won out and the Arian movement disappeared as a significant force in Catholic theology, although elements of the controversy occasionally surface and cause some stir, as when the document DOMINUS JESUS was published several years ago in an effort to combat “relativism” in Catholic faith.
What this book did was to remind me of the potential for violence that lurks in religious belief. Competing “ultimate truths” do not live easily side-by-side. In this country in the 19th century there were anti-Catholic riots in Louisville, less than 60 miles from where I now live (and elsewhere). Recalling this may help us not to be too judgmental when we hear of religious violence elsewhere in the world – between Shiite and Sunni Moslems, for example. Still, one must wonder why religious differences must be settled by violence? What is it in the human person that gives rise to this? Oh, there are studies and studies, some notable ones by a scholar named Rene Giraud. Perhaps at the root of it all is fear of the “other.” Before the election of John F. Kennedy to the presidency, there was considerable fear in this country of Catholics in public life being ordered to do the bidding of the Vatican (does this sound recently familiar?). The pictures and stories of strict Muslim life (veiled women and chopped hands of thieves type stories) in the media add to prejudice in this country. I know one thing for sure: it’s not God’s fault that we are violent about religious matters. We need to look to ourselves and our institutions. IT’S SOMETHING TO THINK ABOUT.
It Has Been Said
“God is love, and whoever remains in love remains in God and God in him. In this is love brought to perfection among us, that we have confidence on the day of judgment because as he is, so are we in this world. There is no fear in love, but perfect love drives out fear because fear has to do with punishment, and so one who fears is not yet perfect in love. We love because he first loved us. If anyone says, ‘I love God,” but hates his brother, he is a liar; for whoever does not love a brother whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen. This is the commandment we have from him: whoever loves God must also love his brother.”
1 John 4: 16-21
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