New Search for Ultimate Reality

NCRcafe New Search for Ultimate Reality
Marie Schickel Rottschaefer is the facilitator.
Its goal is to give a brief overview of developments that have relevance
for us in the early 21st century, particularly in seeking solutions
for pressing people and planet problems.
Discussion Number Fourteen October 2007

TYING UP LOOSE ENDS

In September we addressed the necessary planetary effort. What are some of the required modifications to promote this effort? As mentioned earlier, we are in a multifaceted global crisis and that includes the Axial Age religions together with Christianity. These crises are interconnected.

Reviewing the discussions since October 2006, it is time to tie up loose ends concerning The Crisis in the Axial Age Religions with a particular focus on Christianity/Catholicism. Here are some key points.

FIRST, the BIBLICAL SCHOLARSHIP IS ABSOLUTELY BASIC TO UNDERSTANDING THE POST-VATICAN II PERIOD THAT WE ARE IN now in 2007. Do you remember in Discussion #2 the point that in1943 Pope Pius XII gave permission to scripture scholars to use contemporary scientific methods in their work? Thus began THE DISMANTLING OF TRADITIONAL ROMAN CATHOLIC THEOLOGY. TO UNDERSTAND THESE PILLARS OF CATHOLICISM, I.E. SCRIPTURE AND TRADITION, one needs to consult for example, McBrien’s Catholicism and the Vatican’s The Catechism of the Catholic Church. These handbooks give one an overview of Catholic Christianity’s BEDROCK: the incarnation, the redemption and the resurrection. We can look at the Creed (Google the Catholic Creed) for a quick glance at fundamental beliefs. Then one can move to examining the layers of church building that has been going on for over two millennia as seen, for example, in McBrien’s book.

To understand the changes in biblical and historical scholarship one can read Funk and others’ The Acts of Jesus, as well as consult The Jerome Biblical Commentary and other sources. I have either given these references already or they are such common references that I’ll leave the reference details to you. How many pieces of evidence deriving from historical biblical scholarship (not to mention scientific and philosophical) does it take to supplant myth?

One approach that might be helpful is for us to remember that human knowledge has advanced steadily over the eons. For example, “Greco-Roman Mythology and Christianity” examines the impact and influence of Greco-Roman mythology on early Christianity (Paper #0500-38, 2004, MLA). It claims “Christianity and Greco-Roman sentiment meshed and this melding is evident from the very first Christian writings to the church of Thessalonica during the reign of Claudius.”

The above suggests not only how essential history is for understanding how today’s Christianity is directly linked to the distant past, but also the large influence on Christianity of the myth-making mindset of early times. Claims about incarnation, redemption and resurrection are understandable when human knowledge had not advanced to where it is 2000 years later. But to cling to that belief now, given the advances of evolutionary theory, cosmology and related sciences, is inconceivable.

After reading these and other sources, I began to understand why the pillars of Catholicism, i.e. scripture and tradition, are collapsing. If the probabilities are high that there was neither an incarnation nor resurrection, then the dogma and theology that has evolved from this bedrock must be reassessed lest we continue to build theological castles in the air. If the bedrock has been swept away, then the structure’s 2000 years worth of doctrinal layers collapse. It is time for a whole new structure in our search for the meaning of life. The Roman Catholic Church’s supreme leader Pope Pius XII was an educated, sophisticated man who had the ability to question his own position particularly in the light of the advance of human knowledge that his intellectual peers were pursuing. He in large measure got the ball rolling.

SECOND, even beyond questions about the historical status of the Bible and biblical traditions, epistemological questions concerning the resurrection demand attention. In fact far more than this basic Christian tenet needs a scientific-philosophical evaluation. All assumed truths that derive from this claim to contact with the divine must be subjected to inquiry. Robert Audi in his book Belief Justification and Knowledge, An Introduction to Epistemology, (Wadsworth Publishing Company, Belmont, California, 1988) makes an excellent ‘personal trainer in epistemology.’

Another important contribution of Audi is his discussion of the circular argument. It’s too much to include here but this resource should be available from a library or could probably be purchased at a reasonable price. Applying the circular argument, do you remember Discussion #7 (March2007)? There is the Catholic argument from revelation (begging the question): the interpreters of revelation must first infallibly interpret revelation as constituting themselves infallible. And there is the Protestant argument from revelation: believers are dependent on God’s revelation in order to ensure themselves that their personal experience of God is indeed God’s revelation. In both cases the same circularity of revelation and faith repeats itself: God’s revelation of himself is what brings faith about; yet only from within faith can the believer know that there has been revelation and what has been revealed. These arguments from revelation all self-destruct. Recall Sheehan’s claim that over and above the scientific gains that the Catholic liberal consensus has reached, its major accomplishment has been to rediscover the inescapability of this explanatory circle of revelation and faith. And this rediscovery in turn brings the Church to what can be called the end of Catholicism, that is, the end of what it can say about God and the human condition.

Now let’s go back to a scientific-philosophical evaluation focus mentioned at the beginning of this second major point. For a way of thinking about the relationship between science and philosophy, including epistemology, metaphysics, logic and mathematics, that is more up to date than Audi’s perspective (philosophy must come first to provide a basis for science) consider that some philosophers of science now urge us to think of science as coming first and providing the basis for answering philosophical questions in these disciplines. (See Second Philosophy A Naturalistic Method by Penelope Maddy, Oxford University Press, New York, 2007.) ). This is a book for those with advanced knowledge in philosophy and mathematics.

THIRD, a scientific assessment of the status of the resurrection story (some of the sources were mentioned earlier ) simply shows that myth and science contradict one another. (See Living with Darwin: Evolution, Design, and the Future of Faith by Philip Kitcher, Oxford University Press, New York, 2007.) It is a very readable small size book dealing with Darwin’s theory, the scientific evidence for evolution, Creation Science, Intelligent Design and specific issues of the faith and science discussion.

FOURTH, moving from scholarship to its application, Focus the Nation is an example of how to organize a large group of people for a purpose of over-riding import. Focus the Nation is a national teach-in scheduled for January 31, 2008, intended to engage millions of students, faculty, staff and visitors at a thousand or more educational institutions around the USA in a discussion of Global Warming solutions. Teach-in events will also be sponsored by faith and civic organizations. For further details one can google Focus the Nation. A September 30, 2007 e-mail from Eban Goodstein, Director: “Focus the Nation is on track to be the biggest national teach in US history – and the most important component is what we are calling Green Democracy. We are urging every Focus the Nation team to end their event the same way, in a round-table dialogue with political leaders facing questions by teams of Republican, Democrat and independent students. --- Imagine thousands of elected officials facing the optimism and energy and moral authority of more than a hundred thousand students, forcing these politicians out of complacency and fatalism, and helping them confront this challenge of our generation.”

FIFTH, use of Albert Bandura’s theories of self-efficacy and social cognitive learning can assist us in our efforts. Other cognitive behavioral strategies can also assist us in self-directed training to aid us to become more behaviorally competent in facilitating the mitigation of the global crisis.

Radical but reasonable behavior change will be required for all able-bodied, able-minded, persons. For example, according to Rue, “--- our current demands on the ecological capacity of the earth exceed the maximum sustainable demands by more than 20%.” (Religion Is Not About God, page 343) Indeed this is old 1999 data. Rue says “Sacrifices are difficult for us, and we need lots of inspiration to make them willingly. So it is not surprising that the pattern of ecological overshoot and collapse has been repeated many times in human history. We are well into the pattern again – this time on a global scale --.” (Page 357) So let’s hope that we all embrace powerful behavioral science to help save us this time.

Do these loose ends that I mentioned but did not elaborate on have anything in common? Yes. They are instances of humanity’s progression from a long-standing assumption of a divine right whereby some rulers demand that humans accept their proper roles, (see Wikipedia: Divine Right of Kings for an extensive commentary) -- -- to the evolving assumption of democratic human responsibility for planetary stewardship. So we have a sea change in thinking from a number of different perspectives, biblical, historical, religious, philosophical, scientific, sociological, and psychological. Democratic human responsibility is contradicting long held beliefs in Catholicism such as claims about the supernatural and absolute magisterial power; the Church is yielding to a contemporary age.

The crisis of the Axial Age Religions that we focused on is metamorphosing into many modifications needed to promote the mitigation of this multifaceted, interconnected global crisis.