Theology by the Slice: "The Importance of Conversion in the Thought of Pope Benedict XVI"

Last Wednesday we had the pleasure of hearing a talk by Dr. William Schmitt on Pope Benedict XVI. Dr. Schmitt earned his Doctorate of Sacred Theology from the Pontifical John Paul II Institute. He taught at the Casa Balthasar, a house in Rome for men discerning vocations and was the managing editor of the journal Communio: International Catholic Review from 1996 to 1998. He is now the headmaster of Trivium School in Lancaster, Massachusetts. Dr. Schmitt studied under Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger’s patronage, and came to know him during his visits to the Casa Balthasar. Thus, his presentation to us was on the importance of conversion in the thought of Benedict XVI.

Dr. Schmitt began by outlining a definition of conversion. We tend to think of it more in the terms of switching from one religion to another, and not the same as growing in or losing one’s faith. Conversion can happen in a single moment (as it did for St. Paul) or it can take a lifetime (as it did for St. Augustine). However it happens, conversion gives new light to the convert’s life.

Because of his papal office, Pope Benedict XVI tended to be viewed more as an apologist for the faith than as a theologian. The pope, however, had been a university professor for much of his life. Thus, he ought to be seen in light of both his ministry and his scholarship. He is a man who ponders what he believes and sees theology as a vocation. The pope is especially interested in how the classical world and the people of the Old Testament came to interact with the Gospel their understanding of conversion. He is also sees the modern person as one transformed in conversion, and sees conversion as a door to a more profound understanding of the human person.

Conversion is a central theme to Benedict XVI, and one he often returned to. He thinks it the principle of the New Evangelization, and that the Second Vatican Council (at which he was an expert consultant) called on the whole Church to convert.

 Dr. Schmitt greatly admires Pope Benedict, not just as a great theologian but as a man who plays the piano and works hard, and as one free of any personal ambition. He once told Dr. Schmitt that he would have preferred to be a parish priest than a bishop. In his humility, the pope displayed his deep, internal disposition to God’s grace.

The Greek word that often appears in the New Testament for “convert” is metanoein (μετανοεῖν), one translation of which is “repent.” The word comes to mean not just a turning from one’s past life of sin toward God, but also a turning of one’s whole conduct. This Christian understanding, however, borrows heavily from classical, pagan notions of conversion. There were two Greek words for conversion: metanoia (μετάνοια), which means “change of heart,” and epistrophe (ἐπιστροφή), a Platonic term meaning “a turn to the form of the Good.”

Think of the allegory of the cave from Plato’s Republic: the philosopher turns the people imprisoned in the cave away from the false shadows and toward the light of the Good. He helps them begin the ascent to the truth.  This turn to goodness is the essence of conversion to Plato. For Pope Benedict, epistrohpe is a turning to our innermost depths and finding the divine in ourselves. That is, it is the discovery of the soul. This ancient idea comes to have an enormous influence on Christianity. 

In the modern world, however, we tend to think of repentance as something others need to do, not ourselves. We are scared of insulting others, and it seems as if the idea of repentance has become obsolete. We experience a dichotomy between the urgings of our innermost senses and the immediacy of our sense perceptions. Thus, we can fall into two extremes of either overemphasizing strict moralism or denying the existence of sin. In modernity, we tend toward the latter extreme. For example, Friedrich Nietzsche, the nineteenth century German philosopher and atheist) hated the idea of conversion and thought it foreign to Christianity. He finds the Gospel is lacking in calls to repentance and instead thinks it only proclaims tidings of joy. Dr. Schmitt commented that Nietzsche would have been horrified to see the “new men” who have tried to reconcile his “gospel” with the real one.

Conversion involves the entire person, both heart and mind, and is like a vow to follow the will of God. It happens when our lives are weighed and found wanting. For Pope Benedict, conversion is intimately tied to relationships. Aristotle thought that relations were accidental, random interactions with people nearby and not necessary to being human. For Pope Benedict, however, to be human is to have relationships. We see this in the person of Christ: the Son is the Son because of His relation to the Father, and vice versa; it is not an accidental relationship, but ineluctable to His person. Sin, as Origen of Alexandria noted, is divisive. This is the opposite of modernity’s disdain for relationships. Heaven is nothing but communion, with God and with our fellow humans.

 St. Augustine described conversions as homo incurvatus in se ipsum, “man turned in to his very self.” What we find in that very self is God, the Thou who reveals Himself and redeems us. From that proceeds the need to love the others who share in our divinely-oriented humanity. Conversion is also paradox in that it is a very real experience but also a continuous one. Due to this tension between its singularity and continuity, conversion has an element of uncertainty and mystery. Thus, we work out our salvation in fear and trembling, always trusting in God’s mercy. This constant turning, however, is central to Christianity.

Dr. Schmitt proposed a comment on this theology of conversion, in that Cardinal Ratzinger never seemed to get into the source of conversion. Conversion is in the call made by Christ, the living God, and in man’s response to that call. Dr. Schmitt felt that Cardinal Ratzinger did not emphasize this call (though he added that the answer may very well be swimming about in Cardinal Ratzinger’s vast sea of scholarship).

This turning is central to the economy of salvation. We might ask why Christ was baptized in the Jordan if he was without sin. Pope Benedict that Christ’s baptism was a foreshadowing of the cross where he was baptized. Christ offers up our sins to the Father; he turns and addresses Him. In this turn is the death and resurrection of Christ, wherein the entire world was reoriented toward God. This turn is in all the Sacraments, and is the foundational Christian act.

Dr. Schmitt concluded that, for Pope Benedict, conversion is a transformation of the entire person, but it must be done every day. Each day we need to reorient ourselves toward God, and find the strength to say no to ourselves.

As a final thought, he said that Pope Benedict XVI had an attitude of service animated by his humility, a humility which comes about only by constant conversion.

We thank Dr. Schmitt for all the time and effort he put into his presentation. We were honored to hear such an erudite talk from such a distinguished scholar and teacher. 

Theology by the Slice: On Discernment

Last Wednesday we heard a talk by Fr. Edward Vodoklys, S.J., a member of the Holy Cross Jesuit Community and a senior lecturer in the Classics Department. Fr. Vodoklys is an alumnus of Holy Cross (class of 1972); he earned his doctorate in 1980 from Harvard University, entered the Society of Jesus in 1983, and was ordained a priest in 1991. His presentation on Wednesday was about discernment, both about the process in general and his own experience. His talk also included an interactive case study.

Father began by defining what discernment is and what it is not. Discernment is not necessarily making of a moral judgement; rather, it is a process that requires time, reflection and prayer. We need to be attentive to what's inside of us, especially with respect to our motives, desires and drives. Discernment can concern anything from a day-to-day decision to a permanent, life-long choice. St. Ignatius provides us with the Discernment of Spirits, which asks us to look at our motives and discern whether a good or evil spirit is prompting them. We also must decide whether we will follow through with responding to something once its motive is discovered (and truly responding within a larger context of the decision's implications, not merely reacting). Finally, we must reflect on how the actions of a decision turn out.

In discernment, we begin by looking at what motives are driving us, then at what action we take and finally reflect on the end result. This process often takes patience and time, and usually our motives are complex and manifold. We might think of all the students who enter Holy Cross as premed and then leave the program, discovering that the program was not for them. We must also remember that doors open and close at different times, and while something may not work in the present, it can become a possibility later on.

Much of what Father is describing comes from St. Ignatius, who spent much time reflecting while he was recovering from a cannon ball shot. He found that he was being driven by spirits of consolation and desolation. while it may seem to us that one is good and the other bad (the one leading to comfort, joy and peace and the other to despair and doubt), in fact both can come from and bring us to God, or move us away from Him.

Father outlined several scenarios explicating the interaction between good spirits, bad spirits, consolation and desolation. A good spirit, (that is, the Holy Spirit) can prompt us to do good, act well and come up with a good result (consolation). A bad spirit (that is, the world, the flesh and/or the devil) can move us to sin, despair and doubt (desolation). Yet, the relationship can be more complex than this. If one is leading a bad life, for example, the Holy Spirit can inspire desolation from the wrong one has done, which leads to repentance and reform. Or, the evil spirit can introduce desolation to one leading a good life to sow doubt and despair.

We must remember that the Holy Spirit  works openly in the light, and brings love, trust and growth. The evil spirit, however, works in deception.If we are leading a good life and are met with desolation, we  must remember our goals and ends, and to persevere in prayer and active charity so as to get back on track. If, however, we find that our spiritual life is dormant, it could be the evil spirit or it could be an invitation to pause and reflect. Father was reminded of an ekphrasis, a device in classical literature when the action in a narrative pauses while a particular object is described in great detail. For example, in the middle of a battle the narrator can stop and describe a warrior's shield in great detail - thus, the action stops while the motives and reasons for the battle are examined.

Father then recounted to us the story of how he made the decision to become a Jesuit. Father comes form a family of four (one sister), and sixteen cousins; of these, fourteen have worked in education. It seemed, then, that education was Father's clear path, but the journey there was not without its rough patches. He worked at Ohio State University for a time, but was let go because of a drop in funding. He then took an intensive business training program at Harvard and found work doing the books in his other's hospital gift shop, but still felt lost and confused.

Eventually, he went on a retreat offered by the Paulist Center  that staffed the Newman center at OSU. The retreat was led by a Dominican Sister of the Sick Poor who was also originally from Boston. During the retreat that was held over Pentecost Sunday, he recalled two incidents where he was asked if he had ever considered becoming a priest. He was surprised, because in sixteen years of Catholic education (eight in grammar school, eight in high school and college) he had never been asked about having a vocation. Yet, there had been other indications before this. When he had been getting his doctorate at Harvard, he had lived next to a man who was the son of a Methodist minister, who had asked him if he had considered becoming a priest. Father had never been asked before, but had the ready excuse that his Cerebral Palsy would prevent him from doing priestly duties.

Later, when he was at Ohio, he was asked again. He had a friend who was the son of a Lutheran minister who became ill. When visiting him, he asked Father about the priesthood. A Paulist priest at Ohio asked him about it as well. Overall, father was a bit slow on the uptake, but eventually realized that he was being called to the priesthood. At his ordination, one of his aunts told him that she knew he had always wanted to be a priest. Father emphasized the need to pay attention to things that happen to us in life, because they can bear important fruit.

In the last part of his talk, Father led us through a case study where a couple had to make a decision about where to move for a job. He emphasized the need to consider the motives and needs of all the people involved in the case study, and how those needs interact and overlap.

We thank Fr. Vodoklys for his incredibly helpful description about the discernment process and for sharing the story of his own discernment.

Theology by the Slice: There's No Place Like Home

Last Wednesday we heard a talk by Bill Gibbons, head coach of the Holy Cross women's basketball team. This year marks Coach Gibbons's thirty-fourth season at Holy Cross, and his thirtieth as head coach. During his time here, he has led the women's basketball team to over 550 victories during his time at Holy Cross. During his talk, Coach Gibbons shared with us several stories of events that have influenced his Catholic faith. His talk was entitled "There's No Place Like Home," and this phrase recurred throughout the coach's presentation, with audience members chanting it at his indication.

Coach Gibbons began with the classic tale of how he came to coach women's basketball at Holy Cross. Many of the coach's uncles had gone to Holy Cross, and had told him that he ought to be a Crusader throughout his high school years. Though Coach Gibbons went on to go to Clark University, he played basketball at Holy Cross during his college years. Afterward, he spent some time substitute teaching while pursuing an MBA, though he really wanted a coaching job. Then, he was unexpectedly offered a part-time assistant coaching job at Holy Cross by the legendary coach George Blaney (certainly different than a middle school coaching job). Coach Gibbons retained this part-time job for four years, and enjoyed his time in the position. Eventually, however, his mother advised him to find a permanent job, either in coaching or with his MBA. He applied to positions in both fields, and was soon offered a job in White Plains at a telephone company, and had every intent to quickly accept the business job.

Then, when preparing to accept the phone job, Coach Togo Palazzi the Holy Cross women's basketball team announced he was leaving, and Coach Gibbons was offered an interview for his position. The coach recalled the rather dull memories he had of women's basketball from his youth, and so had some reservations about the job. Nevertheless, he decided to pursue the offer. He had an interview with Fr. John Brooks, S.J. (which the coach likened to Dorothy meeting with the Wizard of Oz). In this meeting, Fr. Brooks expressed some doubt as to whether Coach Gibbons would be able to handle a team of women; the coach responded that, having had six younger sisters, he felt prepared for the challenge. Coach Gibbons was given the job, and soon fell in love with it. When after his second game the coach led Holy Cross to a victory against the University of Michigan (at the University of Michigan) in his,he knew that he had found his niche. A former chaplain, Fr. Joseph LaBran, S.J., had encouraged him to mold his players into women for others (something for which he prays daily). God had put Coach Gibbons into the right home.

The rest of Coach Gibbons's stories were of a more tragic nature, but each showed how his faith had helped him carry difficult crosses.

When he was in the tenth grade, Coach Gibbons had won a bicycle in a school raffle. The bicycle was a bit too small for him, so he gave it to his younger sister, Anne Marie. One day, Anne Marie set off on the bicycle to visit a friend, a few blocks away. The coach was later playing catch with his younger brother when his neighbor came racing toward his house. Anne Marie had fallen off the bicycle and, not wearing a helmet, had hit the pavement.  She was in a coma for three and a half days until she finally passed away. Without his faith, Coach Gibbons would have been unable to make it through this ordeal.

One of the coach's players had once likened the sacrament of Confirmation to stirring a spoon in a glass of chocolate milk. The sacraments of Baptism, Confession and First Communion like pouring chocolate syrup into a glass of milk; the one who receives them does so because their parents make them. When one chooses to undergo the sacrament of Confirmation, it is like taking a spoon and stirring up all the grace that has been given. In this time of trial, when the coach was preparing for Confirmation, he found he needed to stir his spoon and rely upon the store of faith he had been given.

Anne Marie died on September 7, and every year on that day a single rose blooms in the backyard of his parents' home. Coincidence? Anne Marie has gone home, to her heavenly home.

In 1991, the Holy Cross women's basketball team upset a school record for victories, making number three in the country. The game in which they had won their victory had been recorded, and it was the first one to be recorded on television. The coach planned to watch the rerun with his team. The night of the victory, however, Coach Gibbons received word that one of the former team members had committed suicide. A year earlier, this girl's father had committed suicide, and she did the same a year later. Coach Gibbons decided to watch the game and then inform the team afterward. Later that evening, after he and the team had watched the game, he told them the news. Although he had expected it to be quick, they instead sat and talked for four hours. They talked about life, death, faith, eternal life and shared stories of suffering and loss. Some students who had never really thought about "the end" were exposed to its reality, and the lengthy conversation brought them all closer together.

In 2011, Coach Gibbons's grandmother passed away at the age of 104. She had suffered the deaths of many of her own family: a daughter who died of cancer, the coach's Uncle Tom (a man with Down Syndrome and the center of love of the whole family), her own husband and a granddaughter. His grandmother had been a rock of faith, and her faith ad shone through and onto the whole family. The coach had the honor of giving the eulogy at her funeral, which was titled "There's No Place Like Home."

Coach Gibbons likened the road home to a highway where you need to stop at tolls. We need a deposit of faith to pay the tolls, and as the tolls get higher, the crosses bigger, the more faith we need to get through. He emphasized the importance of cultivating faith throughout that life, so that we have an abundant store of it to access when you need it. Finally, he said that on the way to our heavenly home, we ought to bring someone else along with us.

We sincerely thank Coach Gibbons for his sincere and moving talk. It is comforting to know such a faith-filled man is a part of the Holy Cross community.

Theology by the Slice: Playing the Fool: Auden, Toole and Why a Rat is NOT a Squirrel

Hello everyone, and welcome back to another exciting year of Society of Ss. Peter and Paul, and especially to a promising series of Theology by the Slice presentations.

We kicked off TBTS last Wednesday with a talk by Prof. Lee Oser of the Holy Cross English Department. Prof. Oser earned his doctorate from Yale University and his research interests include religion and literature, modernism, Catholic fiction and American and English literature. Prof. Oser is also a novelist, and his most recent book is The Oracles Fell Silent, published by Wiseblood Books. Proceeding from his literary and professorial work, Prof. Oser delivered a presentation on the vocation of the Catholic novelist, provocatively entitled "Playing the Fool: Auden, Toole and Why a Rat is NOT a Squirrel."

Prof. Oser began by saying that there has been some recent press about the current lack of Catholic novelists. There had been more Catholic authors in the past, such as Flannery O'Connor, Evelyn Waugh, T.S. Eliot and, of interest to this presentation, John Kennedy Toole.

John Kennedy Toole (1937-1969) wrote a novel around 1964 called A Confederacy of Dunces. Although it was eventually (posthumously) published in 1980 by Louisiana State University Press (and went on to earn a Pulitzer Prize), Toole first attempted to publish it in 1965 at Simon & Schuster. The Editor at the time, however, Robert Gottlieb, decided not to publish it - a decision Prof. Oser believes was the greatest embarrassment of Gottlieb's career.

Prof. Oser also promised that W.H. Auden, the Anglo-American author and poet, would come into the analysis through his 1946 poem "Under Which Lyre."

He then told a story about a joke Frank Sinatra once told. He once quipped that "I went down to the Grand Canyon one day, but it was closed." While this joke would have elicited laughter in the 1940s, the punchline is lost on a modern audience. In Sinatra's time, the idea of nature being closed down was preposterous, but today we have so lost touch with nature that the joke is lost on us.

Sinatra was a part of the Rat Pack, an ethnically and religiously diverse group (though politically liberal) of entertainers. There was equal opportunity for success in the Rat Pack, if one had wit, talent and a tough enough liver. Success was also dependent on one's ability, as Sinatra put it, "to play the fool." Thus, the question: what is the place of the foolish Catholic novelist against the groupthink of secular society at large?

In the tumult of the 1960s, Robert Gottlieb rejected Toole's manuscript of A Confederacy of Dunces. He thought that the book wasn't really about anything, and he thought the main character, Myrna Minkoff, was particularly unpleasant. Myrna is a countercultural liberal, consumed by her many campaigns - for sexual liberation, against the Pope, and against the KKK just to name a few, She in fact worships these various projects. Yet, Mynka seems to be wearing different "masks" - that is, hiding behind these various projects that are distinct from who she is. This is central to Toole's writing: people's masks must be broken through, and his Catholicism helps to remove these masks.

Add W.H. Auden into this mix, the Anglican poet who observed the culture wars taking place at Harvard during the 1940s. In his poem "Under Which Lyre" he describes the conflict between the "Apollonians" (the secular, existentialist establishment) and the "Hermetics" (the Christian underground). At the time, Harvard was in turmoil over the controversial Jesuit chaplain Leonard Feeney. Fr. Feeney assisted in the conversion of many Harvard students to Catholicism and was a source of irritation to the Harvard establishment. In him, Auden likely found a kindred spirit, who was strongly opposed to relativism of the time.

Prof. Oser then presented and expounded on these two stanzas from "Under Which Lyre:"

Charged with his [Apollo's] compound of sensational
Sex plus some undenominational
     Religious matter,
Enormous novels by co-eds
Rain down on our defenceless heads
     Till our teeth chatter.

In fake Hermetic uniforms
Behind our battle-line, in swarms
    That keep alighting,
His [Apollo's] existentialists declare
That they are in complete despair,
    Yet go on writing.

The Apollonians create simulated art with their "undenominational religious matter" - a popular heretical brew known to Auden's audience, such as the work of D.H. Lawrence. The Apollonians extend this simulation to themselves, and disguise themselves as Christians in "fake Hermetic uniforms." We also see that the existentialists, while claiming to be scattered and despondent, "go on writing." They do not realize that only Christian existentialists are in touch with reality and can know authenticity when they see it; the atheistic existentialism has no means of discovering the authenticity it seeks.

Returning to Toole, we find a series of correspondences between Mynka and the protagonist Ignatius Reilly. At one point, Myrna describes how she realized that a folksinger she was engaging with and admired was really only interested in bedding her. She likens the incident to a time when she thought she was feeding a squirrel in the park, but it turned out to be a rat. For a long time, the rat could have passed for a squirrel, but she was finally able to see through the deception.

This ability to see through the mask, this sympathy, is the Catholic intuition in Toole's work. It is the job of the Catholic novelist to break through the mask, to tell the difference between a disguised Apollonian and a true Hermetic. In short, he must be able to tell a rat from a squirrel. The catholic novelist plays the fool in the discernment of this truth.

We sincerely thank Prof. Oser for his engaging presentation. It was a pleasure to hear such an erudite perspective from so relevant a topic.

New Post and New Pictures

Check out the new post below on Prof. Nagy's talk on Thucydides and Christianity.

Also, see the new pictures from Fr. Kuzniewski's and Fr. Stempsey's presentations.

Theology by the Slice: "Thucydides: Paene Noster?"

On Wednesday night, we were honored to hear a talk by the illustrious Prof. Blaise Nagy. Prof. Nagy is a Professor of Classics at Holy Cross and  is a nationally recognized expert in Classical history. He has been teaching here for over thirty years, and during that time he has taught nearly every course that the Classics Department offers (except archaeology). He also now has the distinction of drawing the largest crowd ever to come to Theology by the Slice (nearly 40 people!). Combining his profession and his Catholic faith, Prof. Nagy's talk was called "Thucydides: Paene Noster?" and focused on the elements of Christianity present in the ancient historian's work.

Before coming to Thucydides, however, Prof. Nagy began by affirming that he was, in fact, Catholic. For him, professing his catholic faith has become second nature. It has been influencing him for his entire life, beginning when his parents fled the godless, communist state of Hungary for Canada and then the US.

As a Catholic, Prof. Nagy finds that there is some tension between his faith and his profession. There are many aspects of the Classical world which are not worthy of emulation, such as Lucretius's disregard for life, institutionalized pederasty, slavery, and the casual treatment of genocidal acts. It is sometimes hard to present the Classics as a wonderful subject of study amid these issues.

Nevertheless, there are eminent traces of Christianity embedded within Classical society. Justin Martyr, for example, writes of a "spermatic logos" a seed of Christ present in the writings of Plato and other ancient philosophers (Apology 1.46). He also thought Socrates's trial, where he was condemned for not believing in the gods of the city, was analogous to being martyred for the Christian faith (Apology 2.10). Tertullian of Carthage referred to Seneca the Younger and Socrates as paene noster or "almost one of us" (hence his talk's title). Vergil was considered a proto-Christian from the Middle Ages and beyond, because of his Fourth Eclogue, which foretold the birth of a boy who would usher in an era of peace. 

After this introduction, Prof. Nagy set out to do what has probably never been done before (nor will ever be tried again): to demonstrate the Thucydides was paene noster, almost a Christian. 

Thucydides (Θουκυδίδης) was an ancient Greek historiographer, who lived from c. 465-c. 400 BC. His only literary work is The Histories, which details the war between the Peloponnesians and the Athenians (431-404 BC). He was afflicted with the great plague in 430, but survived it (this will be important later). Thucydides was also a general in the Athenian army, and thus provides first-hand accounts of events ("autopsies"). He was expelled from Athens in 424/3 for a botched assignment in Amphipolis. 

Thucydides is of paramount importance as an historian. David Hume sums up his reputation well: "The first page of Thucydides is, in my opinion, the commencement of real history. All preceding narrations are so intermixed with fable, that philosophers ought to abandon them to the embellishments of poets and orators. (Of the Populousness of Ancient Nations, 1742). Nietzsche thought of him as a positivist and a rationalist, and thought him "rich in unuttered thoughts" (Gotzen-Dammerung, 1888). Thucydides conceived of man as a political creature , and thought that it was his role as an historian to find the real causes of human events.

He avoided the popular approach of his predecessor Herodotus by avoiding trying to "entertain" his readers (although he does attempt to draw them in). He saw human nature as constant, and was thus convinced that history repeated itself. Every Classical historian who succeeded Thucydides was deeply influenced by his work.

Finally, he was an atheist - at least, according to historian K.J. Dover. Prof. Nagy, however, called on us to question Dover's assertion. He first pointed out several passages which dealt with Thucydides's "atheism." He quotes a speech by Pericles saying that the Athenians have plenty of resources for a war, and they could even use a gold statue of Athena for funds if necessary (Histories 2.13). While this would seem to show irreverence, it should be known that this account is written in indirect discourse - that is, it is reported speech and Thucydides is distanced from the comments. Further, Straussians  suggest that Thucydides is trying to blacken Pericles's reputation with this speech, and the irreverence is a way to defame him.

So many students!

Thucydides also shows distaste for oracles. He sneers at a word discrepancy in a prophecy of the oracle of Delphi, and says that the prophecy will be read with whatever word suits the reader's purpose - in effect, the prophecy is inane 2.54). The oracle, however, was widely disliked because a false prediction about the Persian War earlier in the century (the oracle predicted a Persian victory. The Greeks won). Thus, a distaste for oracles was not unique to Thucydides.

Further, Thucydides takes issue with superstitious scruples. When Nicias, a general whom Thucydides greatly admires, delays departing from Syracuse because of a superstition about the full moon (. He was executed and his troops suffer heavy casualties as a result of this delay. Still, hatred of superstition was not unique to Thucydides. Plutarch, who was a priest of Apollo and a devout man, had little patience for superstition. Does rejecting superstition make one an atheist?

This prompts the question, was there anything Christian about Thucydides? 

In the plague narrative, we see Thucydides praise the Athenians who tend to the sick and shows compassion for the afflicted (2.51). This is not at all unlike Visiting the Sick, one of the corporal works of mercy. Likewise, when describing the retreat from Syracuse, Thucydides shows remarkable compassion for the sufferings of the wounded:  

On the third day after the sea-fight, when Nicias and Demosthenes thought that their preparations were complete, the army began to move. They were in a dreadful condition; not only was there the great fact that they had lost their whole fleet, and instead of their expected triumph had brought the utmost peril upon Athens as well as upon themselves, but also the sights which presented themselves as they quitted the camp were painful to every eye and mind. The dead were unburied, and when any one saw the body of a friend lying on the ground he was smitten with sorrow and dread, while the sick or wounded who still survived but had to be left were even a greater trial to the living, and more to be pitied than those who were gone. Their prayers and lamentations drove their companions to distraction; they would beg that they might be taken with them, and call by name any friend or relation whom they saw passing; they would hang upon their departing comrades and follow as far as they could, and, when their limbs and strength failed them, and they dropped behind, many were the imprecations and cries which they uttered. So that the whole army was in tears, and such was their despair that they could hardly make up their minds to stir, although they were leaving an enemy's country, having suffered calamities too great for tears already, and dreading miseries yet greater, in the unknown future (7.75).

Thucydides is thought of as being totally dispassionate and distanced from his subject, yet we see him here showing great empathy. In fact, his compassion is Christian-like.

Further, at the end of the Melian Dialogue, between the Melian and Athenian generals, we see the Athenians casually dismiss objections to their slaughter of the Melian city (5.116). This dialogue was entirely fabricated by Thucydides, and he makes no comment on it, yet over the next two books we see the Athenians get decimated on their Sicilian campaign. Does he show the Athenians being justly punished for the sin of genocide?

Finally, during the Funeral Oration of Pericles, we see a mention of greater glory to come. Compare the end of the oration to a line from St. Paul:

And when the moment came they were minded to resist and suffer, rather than to fly and save their lives; they ran away from the word of dishonour, but on the battle-field their feet stood fast, and in an instant, at the height of their fortune, they passed away from the scene, not of their fear, but of their glory (2.42).

In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet; for the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed (1 Corinthians 15:52).

Rejection of oracles and superstition, by itself, does not make Thucydides an atheist. Plutarch, the ancient biographer, also rejects superstition in religion and yet was a priest of Apollo. Thucydides saw the shortcomings in Greek religion, and was, perhaps, ready for something greater. Imagine, what a five-hour conversation with St. Paul might have done for Thucydides!

We sincerely thank Prof. Nagy for all the hard work he put into this presentation. It was an entertaining and illuminating hour for everyone who came.

Theology by the Slice: "Faith and Science"

Wednesday night, we heard an absolutely astounding talk by Prof. Suzanne Kulevich of the Chemistry Department. Prof. Kulevich is an alumna of Holy Cross (2006) and earned her doctorate in Analytical Chemistry at the University of Wisconsin, Madison. Prof. Kulevich's talk was called "Faith and Science" and explored both her personal experience as a Catholic chemist and the broader relations between Christianity and the work of scientists.

Rather than treating the question of whether science and religion can coexist, Prof. Kulevich began with the perspective that they do coexist. As a Catholic, she sees science as another way to know, to love, and to serve God (cf. CCC 1). Science is, essentially, the pursuit of truth, and any pursuit of truth is a pursuit of God.

This was evident to St. Ignatius. Once, when praying in nature, he came to realize that God was present not just in his prayer but also in all his surroundings - hence, the Jesuit ideal of finding God in all things. When one explores nature in depth, as a scientist does, the complexity one finds reveals the profundity of God's grace. This is why the Jesuits have always been such strong proponents of the arts and sciences. The Doctrine of the Incarnation speaks to this sentiment. Because God became a human being, whenever we pursue something which makes us more human (human as God intended us to be), we pursue God.

The natural world is an avenue for the experience of wonder and awe. The desire to know more, discovering the complexity of biological structures and the order they exist in, produces in the scientist a sense of awe at God's creation. As a teacher, Prof. Kulevich finds it particularly fulfilling to see students filled with that sense of awe, which in turn leads them to an appreciation for and love of God.

Science also enables the person of faith to serve God with devotion, by making use of their knowledge. A scientist can look to the Seven Corporal Works of Mercy to find a way to apply his or her knowledge. For example, he can feed the hungry by cultivating new and better crops, or give drink to the thirsty by finding ways to provide clean water, or using forensics to find and properly bury the dead. Jesuits today are active in scientific research, devoted to revealing the wonders of the natural world, being men for God and for others, and overcoming the misuse of science in the world. Prof. Kulevich takes much inspiration from this mission.

Despite these opportunities to do good, Catholic scientists are faced with challenges. It is a common belief that faith and science do not coexist. Although this is a misconception, the Catholic scientist can still feel like he's in the minority. 

Publication can also raise ethical issues. Publishing scientific papers can be a good thing, for it allows the scientist share his work for the betterment of others. Nevertheless, academics faced with a "Publish or Perish" culture can have their better judgment clouded. The desire for fame and status infringes on paper quality and conscience. Prof. Kulevich knew of a scientist who put the words "Human Embryonic Stem Cells" in the title of the paper even though the paper's main focus was something else. This scientist used the destruction of human life simply to splash up a paper.

Further, a scientist of faith may not share the same ethics as other scientists, especially concerning issues like abortion and stem cell research. This can be overcome, however, with courage. If a Catholic scientist insists that he cannot do any work dealing with contraception, stem cells, or abortion, and if he works hard to compensate, he can preserve his ethics and still carry out his work. 

Finally, when a scientist encounters something new in research, he may not know exactly how the church views the unprecedented situation. In these cases, he needs to seek out someone who has a sufficient background in both science and theology/ethics to help make a judgment. Prof. Kulevich also highly recommended the Catholic Bioethics Research Center, a group which compiles article on ethics and research and provides consultation for Catholic scientists and doctors.

There are those who place science on a pedestal, thinking it able to cure all humanity's ails, and essentially make it a religion. These people will eventually run into problems. They may choose to live an unhealthy lifestyle on the presumption that science will eventually develop a cure. However, there are questions that science simply cannot answer, and those who adhere to "scientism" will eventually be disappointed.

There is also need for theologians to have a presence in the scientific community, and for scientists in the faith community. We are in need of science that honestly pursues knowledge, and protects the sanctity of human life. The presence of faith in the scientific community can accomplish this. Christians who reject science, however, can serve to limit other Christians who would otherwise enter the sciences. 

Further, scientists need a place in the faith community. On occasion, one sees priests and bishops, when defending life issues, whose ethics are spot-on but whose science isn't quite right. If the science isn't sound, the accompanying ethics will easily be dismissed. We need scientists to work with the Church to provide sound science to accompany her sound ethics.

Prof. Kulevich closed her talk with this quote, from Pope Bl. John Paul II to George Coyne, S.J., Director of the Vatican Observatory:

[S]cience develops best when its concepts and conclusions are integrated into the broader human culture and its concerns for ultimate meaning and value. Scientists cannot, therefore, hold themselves entirely aloof from the sorts of issues dealt with by philosophers and theologians. By devoting to these issues something of the energy and care they give to their research in science, they can help others realize more fully the human potentialities of their discoveries. They can also come to appreciate for themselves that these discoveries cannot be a genuine substitute for knowledge of the truly ultimate. Science can purify religion from error and superstition; religion can purify science from idolatry and false absolutes. Each can draw the other into a wider world, a world in which both can flourish.

   

In response to a question afterward, Prof. Kulevich said that science can be particularly effective in proving the Church's teaching on abortion correct, for it can demonstrate how the unborn child develops and shares human characteristics with the born.

We sincerely thank Prof. Kulevich for all the hard work she put in to this presentation. It was a fascinating and inspiring talk about a topic of great relevance in today's culture.