By: Chrys

Chrys — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 14:58:26 +0000

There is a lot to agree with in the EP's remarks. The quotes highlighted by John, however, could be read as bordering on pantheism - even in context. Perhaps the honorary Jesuit degree will bring with it some of the disciplined instruction for which Jesuits were once known (now, alas, not so much). The openness that seems to be promoted in his speech is generally good, but indiscriminately so. Part of this is probably due to his effort to appeal, ultimately, to a worldwide audience. But in doing so, as Fr. Gregory rightly pointed out, he has seemed to adopt a position that is imbued with some other (to me, questionable) perspectives. How much of this is rhetorical adaptation to one's audience and how much is "built into" the underlying view, I do not know. I will continue to give him the benefit of the doubt - but it is getting tougher. As Wesley Smith eloquently put it: "the earth is not sacred in a metaphysical sense. Human beings are." The cosmos can be sacramental, but humanity alone was made in the divine image. As the incarnation makes clear (for what He is by nature, we are called to be by grace), this means that man was made to be a living temple for God's Spirit, for communion with the life of the Trinity. It is only in this way that humanity can fulfill its calling to exercise divinely authorized stewardship over creation. Obedience requires that we do what we must, but that obedience will fall far short and will not be fulfilled until we begin to become who we were made to be.

Comments on: Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew at Fordham

By: Chrys