Gene Poole
2006-08-08 01:27:51 UTC
Extra Ecclesiam
Sightings 8/7/06
Extra Ecclesiam
-- Martin E. Marty
One week after I explained why Sightings does not always pick the "topic
of the week" for comment, I find myself commenting on the "topic of last
week," Mel Gibson's anti-Semitic outburst. I'll pass the whole controversy
by except to lift out a sub-theme. From the Chicago Sun-Times "wires," a
short item, replicated many places, explaining Gibson's anti-Jewish
remarks: "He follows the Catholic doctrine of 'Extra Ecclesiam nulla
salus,' which contends that followers of all other religions will go to
hell." That was supposed to be that.
A few decades ago, a Father Feeney of Boston was disciplined and kicked
out of the priesthood for forming a kind of cult which gave this sort of
Gibsonian spin to the "Extra Ecclesiam" formula, which is as old as
Cyprian in the early church. It is likely that if Gibson were in the Roman
Catholic Church today -- as defined as being obedient to the Pope, etc.,
which Gibson's Catholic "sect" is not -- someone would at least reprimand
him. He said that his wife, though a "saint" who believes in God, knows
Jesus, and all "that stuff," is hell-bound. Though "it's just not fair if
she doesn't make it" to heaven, she won't, because "Extra Ecclesiam is a
pronouncement from the chair," and on that subject Gibson "goes with it."
The "chair" can take care of his own affairs, and does not need me to
defend him/it. Admittedly, the Extra Ecclesiam formula has been used
ruthlessly, and many Gibsons through the years have either blithely or in
torment kissed their loved ones off to burn in hell forever. Patient folk
who consult the larger tradition and its present unfoldings find many
"softenings": purgatory, baptism of desire, and countless others. Vatican
documents like "Nostra Aetate" are generous in their interpretation of how
God acts beyond the narrow channels the church has often cut.
What I want to pick up on is what the blitheness of the championing of the
doctrine of hell and checking up on those who make too little of it must
mean. Now and then I've been criticized, not for being a "universalist" or
a sentimentalist about salvation, but as someone who points to the
inhumaneness of most (= all?) people who are literalists about the flames
of hell and how some get there, but who then go about their lives. Here's
the simple Marty test. When someone wants to assess your orthodoxy by
seeing how much you insist on and relish teachings about fiery hell, do
this: Take him or her to dinner, where there is a candle on the table.
Have the other pass a hand through the candle's flame. Now ask that it be
held there two seconds. Now more. Now for all eternity. Now imagine this
in all parts of the body. Then ask: Do you believe this will happen to
every person who does not believe as you do, or does not belong to the
right Christian group, or is not "born again"?
If that person says "yes," you are licensed to holler: "How in hell can
you be sitting here having dinner instead of being out there passing
tracts, giving away all your possessions, tripping people on the
sidewalks, and hollering in their ears? -- things which even the most
ardent "pro-hell" advocates do not do. That person, otherwise humane, who
would do anything to rescue someone from the burn of one candle on one
finger on one evening, is blithe about people suffering that torment
forever?
If my finger-in-the-flame test doesn't do it, try another. Such tests are
not about religious orthodoxy, but about human imagination. Under God.
Martin E. Marty's biography, current projects, upcoming events,
publications, and contact information can be found at www.illuminos.com.
----------
The current Religion and Culture Web Forum features "Religious Identities
of Latin American Immigrants in Chicago: Preliminary Findings from Field
Research" by Andrea Althoff. To read this article, please visit:
http://marty-center.uchicago.edu/webforum/index.shtml.
----------
Sightings comes from the Martin Marty Center at the University of Chicago
Divinity School.
Submissions policy
Sightings welcomes submissions of 500 to 750 words in length that seek to
illuminate and interpret the forces of faith in a pluralist society.
Previous columns give a good indication of the topical range and tone for
acceptable essays. The editor also encourages new approaches to issues
related to religion and public life.
Attribution
Columns may be quoted or republished in full, with attribution to the
author of the column, Sightings, and the Martin Marty Center at the
University of Chicago Divinity School. Contact information
Please send all inquiries, comments, and submissions to Jeremy Biles,
managing editor of Sightings, at sightings-***@listhost.uchicago.edu.
Subscribe, unsubscribe, or manage your subscription at the Sightings
subscription page.
----------
--
Faithfully,
Gene Poole
http://grace.break.at
God is still speaking
http://www.stillspeaking.com
=============
Remove your hat to e-mail me.
Sightings 8/7/06
Extra Ecclesiam
-- Martin E. Marty
One week after I explained why Sightings does not always pick the "topic
of the week" for comment, I find myself commenting on the "topic of last
week," Mel Gibson's anti-Semitic outburst. I'll pass the whole controversy
by except to lift out a sub-theme. From the Chicago Sun-Times "wires," a
short item, replicated many places, explaining Gibson's anti-Jewish
remarks: "He follows the Catholic doctrine of 'Extra Ecclesiam nulla
salus,' which contends that followers of all other religions will go to
hell." That was supposed to be that.
A few decades ago, a Father Feeney of Boston was disciplined and kicked
out of the priesthood for forming a kind of cult which gave this sort of
Gibsonian spin to the "Extra Ecclesiam" formula, which is as old as
Cyprian in the early church. It is likely that if Gibson were in the Roman
Catholic Church today -- as defined as being obedient to the Pope, etc.,
which Gibson's Catholic "sect" is not -- someone would at least reprimand
him. He said that his wife, though a "saint" who believes in God, knows
Jesus, and all "that stuff," is hell-bound. Though "it's just not fair if
she doesn't make it" to heaven, she won't, because "Extra Ecclesiam is a
pronouncement from the chair," and on that subject Gibson "goes with it."
The "chair" can take care of his own affairs, and does not need me to
defend him/it. Admittedly, the Extra Ecclesiam formula has been used
ruthlessly, and many Gibsons through the years have either blithely or in
torment kissed their loved ones off to burn in hell forever. Patient folk
who consult the larger tradition and its present unfoldings find many
"softenings": purgatory, baptism of desire, and countless others. Vatican
documents like "Nostra Aetate" are generous in their interpretation of how
God acts beyond the narrow channels the church has often cut.
What I want to pick up on is what the blitheness of the championing of the
doctrine of hell and checking up on those who make too little of it must
mean. Now and then I've been criticized, not for being a "universalist" or
a sentimentalist about salvation, but as someone who points to the
inhumaneness of most (= all?) people who are literalists about the flames
of hell and how some get there, but who then go about their lives. Here's
the simple Marty test. When someone wants to assess your orthodoxy by
seeing how much you insist on and relish teachings about fiery hell, do
this: Take him or her to dinner, where there is a candle on the table.
Have the other pass a hand through the candle's flame. Now ask that it be
held there two seconds. Now more. Now for all eternity. Now imagine this
in all parts of the body. Then ask: Do you believe this will happen to
every person who does not believe as you do, or does not belong to the
right Christian group, or is not "born again"?
If that person says "yes," you are licensed to holler: "How in hell can
you be sitting here having dinner instead of being out there passing
tracts, giving away all your possessions, tripping people on the
sidewalks, and hollering in their ears? -- things which even the most
ardent "pro-hell" advocates do not do. That person, otherwise humane, who
would do anything to rescue someone from the burn of one candle on one
finger on one evening, is blithe about people suffering that torment
forever?
If my finger-in-the-flame test doesn't do it, try another. Such tests are
not about religious orthodoxy, but about human imagination. Under God.
Martin E. Marty's biography, current projects, upcoming events,
publications, and contact information can be found at www.illuminos.com.
----------
The current Religion and Culture Web Forum features "Religious Identities
of Latin American Immigrants in Chicago: Preliminary Findings from Field
Research" by Andrea Althoff. To read this article, please visit:
http://marty-center.uchicago.edu/webforum/index.shtml.
----------
Sightings comes from the Martin Marty Center at the University of Chicago
Divinity School.
Submissions policy
Sightings welcomes submissions of 500 to 750 words in length that seek to
illuminate and interpret the forces of faith in a pluralist society.
Previous columns give a good indication of the topical range and tone for
acceptable essays. The editor also encourages new approaches to issues
related to religion and public life.
Attribution
Columns may be quoted or republished in full, with attribution to the
author of the column, Sightings, and the Martin Marty Center at the
University of Chicago Divinity School. Contact information
Please send all inquiries, comments, and submissions to Jeremy Biles,
managing editor of Sightings, at sightings-***@listhost.uchicago.edu.
Subscribe, unsubscribe, or manage your subscription at the Sightings
subscription page.
----------
--
Faithfully,
Gene Poole
http://grace.break.at
God is still speaking
http://www.stillspeaking.com
=============
Remove your hat to e-mail me.