A Teacher No Longer

CRISIS Magazine e-Letter

February 10, 2005

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Dear Friend,

Father Roger Haight, SJ, may no longer teach Catholic theology. So
says the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith in a December
13th declaration signed by Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger.

This is a good thing, though it could be argued that Fr. Haight
stopped teaching Catholic theology a long time ago.

The current dispute centers around his book, Jesus: Symbol of God,
published in 2000 by Orbis. In it, Haight advocates a strong
religious pluralism, the kind of pluralism that can no longer claim
that Christianity is superior to other world religions, or that Jesus
is the central figure in salvation.

Furthermore, the Congregation, as reported by the Catholic News
Service (CNS), had other problems with the book. Namely, it seemed to
either deny outright or downplay some very basic Catholic doctrines:

"The Word of God existed from all eternity."

"The Word was made flesh in Jesus Christ."

"Jesus was divine."

"Salvation is offered to all humanity through Jesus."

"The Son and the Spirit are separate persons within the Trinity, not
simply 'metaphors' for actions of the one God."

[You can read the entire CNS story here:
http://www.catholicnews.com/data/stories/cns/0500764.htm]

After looking at what Haight denies, it's hard to figure out just
what he affirms. The Trinity, for example, is the foundational dogma
for all Christians. And yet Haight, former professor of theology at
Weston Jesuit School of Theology in Massachusetts and onetime
president of the Catholic Theological Society of America, casts aside
any meaningful affirmation of the doctrine. Indeed, in his book, he
appears willing to take any Christian belief that he deems divisive
and downgrade it to the level of symbol. There is nothing wrong, of
course, with symbols. The problems arise when those things are
considered MERELY symbolic.

While the mainstream media and Haight's allies in academia will
likely condemn this move as the latest example of a hard-line Vatican
clamping down on free thought, it's nothing of the kind. Think of it
as honesty in advertising. If a student signs up for a class on
Catholic theology, he or she has a right to be taught that very
thing. And the Church, in her role as protector of Divine Revelation,
has the right to step in if that doesn't happen.

It's a little hard to imagine the New York Times getting kicked out
of shape if the president of the National Organization for Women were
fired for openly opposing abortion. But then, it's not exactly known
for its even-handedness.

An interesting side note: The book that earned Fr. Haight the
Vatican's  condemnation also won him an award from the Catholic Press
Association in 2000 for best book in the theology category.

Finally, as I mentioned to you in my last email, when Deal Hudson
left Crisis, he gave us a parting gift: the original CDs of five
talks he delivered a year ago on the concept of happiness. I
remembered hearing about the seminar, and the avalanche of calls we
received following it (they wanted copies of the talks). However, I'm
embarrassed to admit that I myself didn't listen to the CDs. To be
perfectly honest, I wasn't interested in the subject matter.

A few weeks ago, I saw them again on my bookshelf and decided to
give them a try. I'm glad I did: They're fabulous. I had failed to
recognize just how fundamental the concept of "happiness" is to a
person's worldview. It is precisely because the secular world
misunderstands happiness that they make so many mistakes about what
brings real contentment and peace.

I've arranged to make the CDs available to you, if you're
interested. You can learn more about the set, "The Truth About
Happiness," by clicking here:

http://www.crisismagazine.com/truth.htm


That's it for now. I hope you have a wonderful weekend.

All the best,

Brian




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