I've got a hope for unity, too. I sought communion with the Catholic Church in order to realize it. And the reason--indeed, the only reason I did--is because my hope absolutely could not be realized on the "Reformers'" terms. The big lie of the fig-leaf of "derivative authority" is that there is a difference between "me and my Bible" and Sola Scriptura. There isn't. Leithart is the perfect embodiment of the more perfect fundamentalist; his interpretive skills are better than most. And he appears to take history seriously. That's a major step forward. But it makes it harder for someone like him to realize that, after all the shell games, he's submitting to himself. I must be able to tell the difference between a fallible opinion (like my own) and the Word of God. And on Protestant terms, if my community does not have a charism of infallibility, there is little point in pretending submission in the first place. And if the Church is fundamentally invisible anyway, the determinations of any one visible community mean precisely 2 things: Jack and Squat. If God didn't say it, it doesn't matter. You need also to distinguish between heresy and schism, and you can't really do it, because you can't say, "Your separation from this visible manifestation of the invisible Body of Christ is a horrible sin!" Obvious Retort: "According to Scripture passages, etc. this doctrinal determination is incorrect, and we're leaving!" ad infinitum. "If I submit only when I agree, the one to whom I submit is me." This insight kills Protestantism, and any possible legitimacy for "cafeteria" Catholicism. [You gonna break it to the Anglicans?--ed] No. They know. They've known since at least the 1890s that the party's over.
Today, you’re 35. Or at least you would be, in this place. You probably know this, but we’re OK. Not great, but OK. We know you wouldn’t want us moping around and weeping all the time. We try not to. Actually, I guess part of the problem is that you didn’t know how much we loved you. And that you didn’t know how to love yourself. I hope you have gotten to Love by now. Not a place, but fills everything in every way. I’m not Him, but he probably said, “Dear daughter/sister, you have been terribly hard on yourself. Rest now, and be at peace.” Anyway, teaching is going well, and I tell the kids all about you. They all say you are pretty. I usually can keep the boys from saying something gross for a few seconds. Mom and I are going to the game tonight. And like 6 more times, before I go back to South Carolina. I have seen Nicky twice, but I myself haven’t seen your younger kids. Bob took pictures of the day we said goodbye, and we did a family picture at the Abbey. I literally almost a...
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