Truth be Told
I've been pondering of late the idea that the gospels leave a lot of questions open, which invites one, well, to ask. Ask others, ask theologians, or best of all, ask Jesus. But I struggle with the idea of asking Jesus questions like that for a couple reasons. First, it strikes me as presumptuous, to ask questions which far holier have longed to know. Second, I'm not sure it's relevant as far as helping me on the road to salvation. Third, if the experience of Protestantism teaches anything, it's that one can trust only the Church, not personal revelation, to the point that I so fully distrust the latter that it probably borders on the unhealthy. Our Dominican priest has a very different view, telling us that there is a wide pasture of things we can explore and believe, and that the Church only teaches us what the boundaries are - for example the divinity of Christ. But there is much freedom. But freedom to error? If I am convinced of something and my neighbor something else and we are both Christians, someone is wrong. It bothers that previous generations - our forefathers in faith - believed lies. Jews believed, for example, that their personal sins or their father's sins caused sickness. Still, the root issue might be one of pride, for even if I believed no outright untruths the knowledge I do have pales beside the fullness of truth. It is our portion and cup to look through the glass darkly. I recall visiting a tiny olde-timey ship in Boston. The actors on board portrayed 17th century pilgrims and played their parts. I asked, "how do you have privacy for sex?" (I was 22 at the time - 'nuff said). He pointed his nose skyward at such an impertinent question and intoned with a British accent, "Privacy is something given to you, not taken by you". In a fallen world, truth is a privilege, not a right.
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