"But the essence of the matter is faith, not a (neutral) looking on or a desire to experience something (for oneself). One who snatches at psychological experiences (presumably perhaps "in the Holy Spirit") will reach into a void. And one who gropes for the flame will get burned by it. Faith is reverent; it allows the light space in which to burn. Still more: it receives from the light the eyes with which it sees the light. Si comprehendis, non est Deus*: and if you think to have grasped it, you are not one whom God has grasped...
Jesus has no need of apologetics: he shines through. He shines upon everyone who comes into the world (John 1:9) and does not deliberately look away (John 1:12). The Church should not pursue any apologetics for herself, but should instead endeavor to make her Lord visible."
-- Von Balthasar, "Does Jesus Shine Through?", Communio (1968), 319ff
* from St. Augustine, Sermo 52, 16: PL 38, 360; roughly translated: "If you understand, it is not God."
5 comments:
Hm... apologetics is not the enemy of faith. this may not be the intent of your post. i'm new to your blog.
It seems that your post implies that apologetics is an enemy of faith, but this is by no means the case. rather, apologetics is merely a species of evangelism. to practice it is to follow in the foot steps of paul. maybe i missed your meaning. regardless, keep blogging.
Apologetics is not the enemy of faith. it is, rather, a species of evangelism which is just as time honored.
Agreed, apologetics shouldn't be an enemy of faith. With that said, it often is, or at least has appeared that way from my experience. This was true in Thomas Aquinas' day. He said, "For the will of God cannot be investigated by reason... But the divine will can be manifested by revelation, on which faith rests. And it is useful to consider this, lest anyone, presuming to demonstrate what is of faith, should bring forward reasons that are not cogent, so as to give occasion to unbelievers to laugh, thinking that on such grounds we believe things that are of faith."
Furthermore, as Ignatius of Antioch understood, "The greatness of Christianity lies in its being hated by the world, not in its being convincing to it."
Or as Karl Barth put the same point, "Anxiety concerning the victory of the Gospel – that is, Christian Apologetics – is meaningless, because the Gospel is the victory by which the world is overcome… God does not need us."
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