Gay and Christian in the World of Today II

[the Bri Guy]

As a Catholic, I grow increasingly frustrated with the utter silence of our priests with regards to the Second Coming of the Lord.  In our liturgy, we affirm in every mass that "He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead, and His kingdom will have no end."  And yet from the pulpit, in their homilies, the clergy will not touch the subject of the Second Coming with a ten foot pole.  Occasionally, with regards to the resurrection of Christ, we will hear some of the good news.  However, when it comes to the final persecution of the Church, and the ultimate victory of Jesus over the forces of darkness (the ushering in of a "new heaven and a new earth") it is as if we are modern day Sadducees.  We wish to confine God to the temple, to the liturgy, and we are wedded to this world.  We lack hope in the power of God to break into history and to truly transform human existence.

I speak out of frustration with my own denomination, yet I suspect there is a similar reticence in other mainstream churches to touch upon the Last Things.  Certainly the evangelicals are cavalier about their anticipation of the end of the world, and yet they are to a great extent heartened by a false hope in "the Rapture", a doctrinal innovation of the last 200 years, a belief which was totally unfamiliar to a Luther or a Calvin.  The Rapture promises Christians freedom from persecution when the going gets tough in world history, and appears to be a refusal to take up ones cross and to live in solidarity with the vulnerable and oppressed of this world.

The Catholic catechism indeed teaches that there shall be a great trial Christians undergo under the dominion of the antichrist, and that Jesus will return in the midst of this trial and consummate history.  When I think about these things I am admittedly shaken with anxiety- deep anxiety.  However, it would be comforting (I believe) if I actually heard other voices (contemporary voices) speaking with a sober tongue about the end of the age.

Bri Guy

[Sandy]

Hi Bri,

I think you make some good points. I remember reading somewhere (?Tillich, ?Auden, ?both) that the western church focuses on the crucifixion while the eastern church focuses on the resurrection. So it may be that the orthodx churches are more comfortable with the idea of the second coming.

As you pointed out, there is a reluctance on the part of western churches to discuss the second coming. Part of that may be due to the Biblical injunction not to predict when it will come; after all, we just saw a preacher with egg on his face for mis-predicting the rapture.

Then there is the difference between time and eternity. In one sense, in God's time, eternity, the second coming has already happened, although to men stuck in time outside eternity, that may not be apparent.

One's view on the second coming will also be tempered by one's understanding of eschatology. Tillich pointed out that the salvation implicit in the second coming need not be interpreted as a literal resurrection of the body into a place in the air. Depending on your tolerance to accept symbolic or abstract readings of the creed, salvation can be construed as (fragmentarily) participating in the divine ground of reality, which can include mystic and ecstatic experiences in this world.

Given the difficulties in getting the faithful to understand these different facets surround the second coming, I can understand how many would want to defer speaking authoritatively about it. Certainly, we can approach the issue prayerfully, by opening ourselves up to the eruption of the divine into our mundane lives. I don't think there is a slam-dunk syllogism to give us a definitive answer, but there is always hope that just as we are justified in sin, in our limited being, we are justified in doubt.

[the Bri Guy]

Thank you much, Sandy, for your thoughtful reply.  I will need some time to fully digest it, but I will briefly state my suspicion that the truth lies somewhere between a realized eschatology (which, correct me if I am wrong, is where Tillich is at) and a futurist eschatology, in which the consummation of history could happen "any day now".  I believe some have used the term "inaugurated eschatology", suggesting that Christ ushered in a new availability of God in time, but that we still await the final realization of God's kingdom in this creation.

Thank you for pointing out the time/eternity distinction.  That's certainly an aspect of reality that can't easily be appreciated by any human.

I hope that there are others who are willing to share their thoughts on these things.  Silence is not in every instance the highest wisdom, and it would be nice to hear many more voices who are not in the May 21 sort of crowd.

take care,

Bri Guy 

[the Bri Guy]

"I don't think there is a slam-dunk syllogism to give us a definitive answer, but there is always hope that just as we are justified in sin, in our limited being, we are justified in doubt."


I sure hope that there is always hope in these things!

[the Bri Guy]

http://web.archive.org/web/20060112121614/http://www.praiseofglory.com/taleantichrist.htm

hope the link works... the author was a close friend of Dostoyevsky

[the Bri Guy]

http://www.newmanreader.org/works/arguments/index.html#antichrist


Some essays by Newman on the Last Things....

[fritzkep]

A form of progress. The author is the retired auxiliary bishop of Brooklyn.

One need only flip through some of today’s cable news channels to witness how some of our society’s most sensitive public policy matters are overly simplified in black-and-white terms, in which only the most strident voices seem to get heard. Of those many hotly debated issues, the rights of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community continue to make headlines.

What you would probably be surprised to learn is that Catholics are among those who increasingly are reaching out pastorally to the LGBT community. A recent study released by the Public Religion Research Institute found that a majority of Catholics believe that job discrimination against gay and lesbian people should be outlawed. By almost 2 to 1, Catholics believe that gay and lesbian couples should be allowed to adopt children.

The views of Catholics about the LGBT community have been evolving for years. Catholic teachings compel us to work toward the elimination of unjust structures and to treat people with dignity, regardless of their state in life or their beliefs. My own understanding of this community has also evolved over the course of four decades of ministry.

http://www.buffalonews.com/editorial-page/from-our-readers/another-voice/article441238.ece

[Sandy]

Pierce Morgan intereviewed Mitt Romney last night and asked him about his views on homosexuality. He would not articulate his own views or those of his church. He told Morgan to ask the church about its views; Morgan appears not to have known that Romney was a ward bishop in Massachusetts. However, at one point in evading Morgan's questions, he likened homosexuality to adultery.

[the Bri Guy]

It seems to me that belief in the Second Coming is an extension of belief in the resurrection of the flesh.  It strikes me as a sort of collective, cosmic resurrection.  This being so,  there does seem to be something of the spirit of the Sadducees in an excessive silence concerning these matters.

Bri Guy

[the Bri Guy]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BNkSBy5wWDk

an interview of my favorite thinker, Rene Girard



Bri Guy

[the Bri Guy]

http://www.firstthings.com/onthesquare/2009/07/christianity-will-be-victorious-but-only-in-defeat


Rene Girard gets apocalyptic.... I was not drawn into this piece very strongly, even though I do have some background in Girard.... maybe it is just really hard to interpret these matters.....

[the Bri Guy]

I've decided to become a vegetarian so as to be more consistently pro-life. Please pray that I can do it.  It seems like the right thing. :-)

Bri Guy

[Sandy]

Indian cuisine offers a fairly balanced vegetarian alternative. You might be able to integrate some of it into your diet. Lentils for protein. Good luck.

[the Bri Guy]

Thanks.  It does seem like South Asian cuisine might furnish some alternatives.  I like Thai food, but am not the best cook.  I don't know if I could pull it off.
In any event, I can't just eat tofu and drink orange juice all day! :-)

[Zadd]

  
  The Gospels tell us, Jesus asked the men who were ready to stone the 'woman taken in adultery', that whomever among them had not sinned should cast the first stone.  And one by one, they dropped their stones and walked away.
  Turning to this woman, he asked 'Woman, where are thine accusers', and we know she answered, 'Lord, there are none'.
  We also know he then said, 'Neither will I accuse thee; go thy way and sin no more'.

  In the past two weeks, controversy has swirled like a maelstrom around Congressman Anthony Weiner because he twittered e-pictures of himself in various stages of undress; pictures that included shots of his erect penis and pendulous testicles.
  In the history of Western Art, there are countless examples of the undraped male body that clearly depict male genitalia.
  In all those I have seen, the penis is not erect.
  I don't think that would have mattered in Mr. Weiner's case, but the fact that he had the chutzpah to include shots of his erection, was enough to prompt a verbal assault of epithets (cast stones?) such as 'pervert' and 'degenerate'.
  His accusers attemtped to qualify their indigation by adding 'liar' to their ammunition.
  Consequently, after this barrage of defamatory brickbats, Mr. Weiner resorted to excommunicating himself from that august body on Capitol hill.
  
  In reality, it is only the erect penis that is taboo.  
  It is in this state that this marvelous organ, that when swollen firm with a man's lifeblood, is ready to ejaculate his seed milk that carries his miraculous genetic essence; the 'milk' that in concert with a woman's equally miraculous ovum perpetuates human life, that carries the stigma of Sin.
  The taboo against exposed male genitalia, even while the penis is in a flaccid state, can be traced to the incident of Noah's nakedness in Genesis.
Even further back, Moses (?) has Adam and Eve fashioning figleaf loincloths to cover their genitals, because after eating of the 'forbidden fruit', 'they realized they were naked'....(??)
  I wonder if Roman Hassidim cover their eyes as they travel around 'the Eternal City'........

  Zadd