The Documents Of Vatican 2

But we must now look into The Documents of Vatican 2 in order to see whether we can possibly find something better than this in them. Is the new interest in Scripture perhaps indicative of a new desire to listen directly to the voice of Christ speaking in Scripture?

102 _{Ibid., pp. 100–102.} 103

Ibid., p. 104.

104 _Ibid.

105 _{Hans Urs Von Balthasar, Karl Barth—Darstellung und Deutung Seiner Theologie (Köln: Verlag Jakob}

Hegner, 1951).

106

In his opening address to the Council, Pope John says that its meetings will be held “under the auspices of the virgin Mother of God.” Then he adds: “In calling this vast assembly of bishops, the latest and humble successor to the Prince of the Apostles who is addressing you intended to assert once again the magisterium (teaching authority), which is unfailing and perdures until the end of time, in order that this magisterium , taking into account the errors, the requirements, and the opportunities of our time, might be presented in exceptional form to all men throughout the world.”107

“The greatest concern of the Ecumenical Council is this: that the sacred deposit of Christian doctrine should be guarded and taught more efficaciously. That doctrine embraces the whole of man, composed as he is of body and soul. And, since he is a pilgrim on this earth, it commands him to tend always toward heaven.”108

The “sacred patrimony of truth received from the Fathers” must be preserved.109 We must build upon the teachings of the church “as it still shines forth in the Acts of the Council of Trent and First Vatican Council … ”110 “The substance of the ancient doctrine of the deposit of faith is one thing, and the way in which it is presented is another. And it is the latter that must be taken into great consideration with patience if necessary, everything being measured in the forms and proportions of a magisterium which is predominantly pastoral in character.”111 “Nowadays, … the Spouse of Christ prefers to make use of the medicine of mercy rather than that of severity.”

The Catholic church “desires to show herself to be the loving mother of all, benign, patient, full of mercy and goodness toward the brethren that are separated from her.” To mankind in general, the church “distributes … the goods of divine grace which, raising men to the dignity of the sons of God, are the most efficacious safeguards and aids toward a more human life.”112

God wills all men to be saved. “All men who are born were redeemed by the blood of Christ … ” But “the greater part of the human race … does not yet participate in those sources of divine grace which exist in the Catholic Church.” Hence the church “whose light illumines all, whose strength of supernatural unity redounds to the advantage of all humanity” seeks to envelop all within its bosom.113 The church “prepares, as it were, and consolidates the path toward that unity of mankind which is required as a necessary foundation, in order that the earthly city may be brought to the resemblance of that heavenly city where truth reigns, charity is the law, and whose extent is eternity.”114

“O Mary, Help of Christians, Help of Bishops, of whose love we have recently had particular proof in thy temple of Loreto, where we venerated the mystery of the Incarnation, dispose all things for a happy and propitious outcome and, with thy spouse, St. Joseph, the holy Apostles Peter and Paul, St. John the Baptist and St. John the Evangelist, intercede for us to God.”115

Listening, as it were, to this opening address we are not very hopeful that the Council will reveal any open-mindedness toward the principles of the Reformation. The teaching magisterium is, at the outset, said to be absolutely authoritative. And this—it is unnecessary to indicate in detail—is taught throughout the documents.

In the light of the absolute character of the teaching magisterium of the church the question whether Scripture and tradition are two coordinate sources of revelation becomes virtually academic. Two young boys may argue as to which is to be “the boss” but they always know that “mother” is “the boss” of both. And herewith the Reformation principle is, in effect, as clearly rejected by Vatican 2 as it was by Vatican 1 and by Trent.

107

The Documents of Vatican 2 , gen. ed. Walter M. Abbott, S. J.; trans. Rev. Msgr. Joseph Gallagher (New York: Guild Press, 1966), p. 710.

108 _{Ibid., pp. 713–714.} 109 _{Ibid., p. 714.} 110 _{Ibid., p. 715.} 111 Ibid. 112 _{Ibid., p. 716.} 113 _{Ibid., p. 717.} 114 _{Ibid., p. 718.} 115 Ibid., p. 719.

Of still greater importance, if possible, is the fact that the content of what Mother church teaches in the documents of Vatican 2 is as definitely anti-Reformational as is the content which she taught in the documents of Vatican 1 and of Trent.

Vatican 2 does not discuss some of the teachings of Trent and of Vatican 1, but it does assume their truth. Everything that was said in the earlier documents about “the natural light of reason” and about the “freedom” of man Vatican 2 presupposes as true. What Vatican 2 does say is unintelligible unless we realize that she builds upon the work of her predecessors.

It is impossible to establish the truth of this contention by a detailed comparison of the documents of Vatican 2 with those of its predecessors. We must restrict ourselves to a comparison between the general teleology of history that faces us in Vatican 2 and the teleology of history that faces us in Trent and Vatican 1.

The teleology of history that faces us in the documents of Trent and in the documents of Vatican 1 is a composite. The documents of Trent and of Vatican I give ecclesiastical expression and authority to a synthesis of Aristotle’s philosophy and Christian theology. The “natural light of reason” spoken of in these documents refers to the idea that the methodology of Aristotle is a proper method for the interpretation of “nature” and for the proof of the existence of God. The Christian believer need only to add Christian teaching about the realm of the supernatural in order to have a rounded, comprehensive teleology of history.

In the synthetic teleology of history that is found in the documents of Trent and of Vatican 2 the relation of God to man is largely expressed by an intermingling of the Parmenidean notion of pure static being and of the Heraclitean notion of being as pure flux. In this notion of the analogy of being pure determinism and pure indeterminism, pure rationalism and pure irrationalism seemed to be given equally ultimate standing. Yet Aristotle assumes that somehow the rational will prevail over the irrational. The philosophers and the theologians of the church combined this product of “the natural light of reason” with the “truths of faith.” From the Scriptures they took the notion of God’s overruling providence and of the kingdom of Christ as victorious over evil. They fused this teleology of history as presented by Christ in Scripture with the teleology of Aristotle.

It was in terms of this Aristotle-Christ teleology that Trent rejected the teachings of the Reformers as heretical. The Reformers spoke of a God whose decree settles the ultimate destiny of man ad bonam partem or ad malum partem . Surely such determinism must not be tolerated. We must defend the genuine significance of natural or else what meaning has the supernatural?

We must defend the genuine significance of the “natural reason” and of the “free will” of man, or else what meaning has human responsibility in relation to the gospel call? We must defend the living dynamic character of God’s revelation to man and in man, or else how can that revelation really touch man at all? We must therefore maintain that the living voice of Christ is, through his Spirit, here and now, speaking in the church, and, more specifically, in the teaching magisterium of the church. As he continues his incarnation in the church and therefore continues his speaking in the church, “the faithful” can be at ease. Here and now, through every priest in every parish, the faithful may partake of Christ. Here and now Mother church will instruct the faithful on every question in every aspect of life. The scientist and the philosopher may search for truth with complete openness of mind. If they have difficulty in finding truth, Mother church, through her teaching magisterium will enable them to see that all things find their ultimate significance through Christ as incarnate in his church. God meant mankind to participate in the nature of Christ and God. The church helps mankind onward toward its supernatural destiny of participation in God.

If now there is any difference between the teleology of history of Vatican 2 as over against the teleology of history of Trent and of Vatican 1, this difference is obviously not to be found in a new openness toward Reformation principles. The difference is rather to be found in a new openness toward modern existentialism. There is somewhat more of Heraclitus and somewhat less of Parmenides in Vatican 2 as over against its predecessors.

How can church dogma be said to be in some sense changeable without contradicting the unchangeable, the irreformable teachings of the Councils of the past? The new theologians of Vatican 2 have found how this may be done. If Newman sought to show how this may be done by the idea that universal truth pronounced by earlier councils has certain implications that were not seen by them but may be drawn out by later councils, this is now too logicistic. Existential thinking has, in modern times, opened our eyes to the complete openness of reality. This new insight enables the church to discover new teachings, in no wise logically deducible from earlier teachings and in no wise directly deducible from any Scriptural or traditional teaching. How much more generous the church can now be toward all men. “Since God the Father is the origin and purpose of all men, we are all called to be brothers.” All men “have been summoned to the same destiny, which is both human and divine … ”116 The “Church has been sent to unbelievers to be the ‘sacrament of unity of the whole human race.’ ”117

This “Second Vatican Council, having probed more profoundly into the mystery of the church, now addresses itself without hesitation, not only to the sons of the church and to all who invoke the name of Christ, but to the whole of humanity.”118 The whole world is emancipated by Christ. The human person, “deserves to be preserved; human society deserves to be renewed.… Therefore, this sacred Synod proclaims the highest destiny of man and champions the godlike seed which has been sown in him.”119 The church may therefore say, “ Nihil humani mihi alienum est .” “What does the church think of man?”120 The answer given in terms of the new and more interior insight that the church has discovered is that man was created “to the image of God.” Sacred Scripture teaches this.121

Then, further, there is the question of sin. “Although he was made by God in a state of holiness, from the very dawn of history man abused his liberty, at the urging of personified Evil. Man set himself against God and sought to find fulfillment apart from God. Although he knew God, he did not glorify Him as God, but his senseless mind was darkened and he served the creature rather than the Creator.”122

Every human being “feels as though he is bound by chains. But the Lord Himself came to free and strengthen man, renewing him inwardly and casting out that prince of this world (cf. Jn 12:31) who held him in the bondage of sin. For sin has diminished man, blocking his path to fulfillment.”123

The fulfillment of man cannot be stopped by evil. Man “outstrips the whole sum of mere things. He finds reinforcement in this profound insight whenever he enters into his own heart. God, who probes the heart, awaits him there. There he discerns his proper destiny beneath the eyes of God. Thus, when man recognizes in himself a spiritual and immortal soul, he is not being mocked by a deceptive fantasy springing from mere physical or social influences. On the contrary he is getting to the depths of the very truth of the matter.”124

“Steeped in wisdom, man passes through visible realities to those which are unseen. It is, finally, through the gift of the Holy Spirit that man comes by faith to the contemplation and appreciation of the divine plan.”125 “In fidelity to conscience, Christians are joined with the rest of men in the search for truth, and for the genuine solution to the numerous problems which arise in the life of individuals and from social relationships.”126

“Our contemporaries make much of this freedom and pursue it eagerly; and rightly so, to be sure.”127 God wants men to serve him spontaneously. When man thus spontaneously seeks God he need fear nothing. In particular he need not fear death. By his death Christ “freed man from death. Hence to every thoughtful 116 _{Ibid., p. 307.} 117 _{Ibid., p. 580.} 118 Ibid., p. 200. 119 _{Ibid., p. 201.} 120 _{Ibid., p. 209.} 121 _{Ibid., p. 210.} 122 _{Ibid., p. 211.} 123 Ibid. 124 _{Ibid., p. 212.} 125 _{Ibid., p. 213.} 126 _{Ibid., p. 214.} 127 Ibid.

man a solidly established faith provides the answer to his anxiety about what the future holds for him. At the same time faith gives him the power to be united in Christ with his loved ones who have already been snatched away by death. Faith arouses the hope that they have found true life with God.”128 Thus it is “only in the mystery of the incarnate Word that the mystery of man takes on light.”

“All this holds true not only for Christians, but for all men of good will in whose hearts grace works in an unseen way. For, since Christ died for all men, and since the ultimate vocation of man is in fact one, and divine, we ought to believe that the Holy Spirit in a manner known only to God offers to every man the possibility of being associated with this paschal mystery.”

“Such is the mystery of man, and it is a great one, as seen by believers in the light of Christian revelation. Through Christ and in Christ, the riddles of sorrow and death grow meaningful. Apart from His gospel, they overwhelm us. Christ has risen, destroying death by His death. He has lavished life upon us so that, as sons in the Son, we can cry out in the Spirit: Abba, Father!”129

It is of importance to note that with the help of the new theology found in its midst Mother church has “solved” the problem of the relation of God’s decree to human responsibility. She can now say to modern man that his concept of freedom is quite proper. God wants spontaneous service. At the same time she can assure all men that it is God’s “plan to dignify men with a participation in His own life.”130 Can God’s plan be frustrated by men endowed with free will? “All men are called to salvation by the grace of God.”131 But could all men too resist this call and defeat the plan of God? No, indeed, for “the promised restoration which we are awaiting has already begun in Christ,” and “is carried forward in the mission of the Holy Spirit, and through Him continues in the church.”132 Then too there is the never to be forgotten help of “the Blessed Virgin who was eternally predestined, in conjunction with the incarnation of the divine Word, to be the Mother of God.”133 “In an utterly singular way she cooperated by her obedience, faith, and hope, and burning charity in the Savior’s work of restoring supernatural life to souls. For this reason she is a mother to us in the order of grace.… This maternity will last without interruption until the eternal fulfilment of all the elect.”134

All men may rejoice in the fact that Mother church dwells in her midst for she is “the universal sacrament of salvation.” In her presence Christ is present. And in the presence of Christ we know that “the renovation of the world has been irrevocably decreed and in this age is already anticipated in some real way.”135 In and through the church men may hear the voice of Jesus Christ, telling them the innermost realities about God.136 How richly blessed are all men because of the fact that the church, through the Roman Pontiff or the body of bishops together can and do infallibly define these ultimate mysteries of God “in accord with revelation itself.”137

We observe now that the “innermost realities of God” as infallibly revealed by the church very largely resemble current existentialist patterns of thought. Vatican 2 has, it appears, added the categories of the freedom-nature scheme of Kant to the categories of the form-matter scheme of Aristotle.

The church is now able to add the teleology of Kant to the teleology of Aristotle and use the new synthetic theology thus constructed in order by means of it to proclaim the teleology of the church. The church has rediscovered and renewed herself. She once proclaimed her anathema upon those who sought salvation through Christ alone by means of its Aristotle-Christ synthesis. By means of this Aristotle- Christ synthesis the Church then knew infallibly what the innermost nature of God was like. She knew that it was not what the Reformers said it was. She knew that “the faithful” must be warned against the pollution of the teachings of Luther and Calvin.

128 Ibid., p. 215. 129 _{Ibid., pp. 221–222.} 130 _{Ibid., p. 15.} 131 _{Ibid., p. 32.} 132 _{Ibid., p. 79.} 133 Ibid., p. 91. 134 _Ibid. 135 _{Ibid., p. 79.} 136 _{Ibid., p. 113.} 137 Ibid., p. 49.

Today the church no longer anathematizes heretics. She now accomplishes the same end by enveloping departed brethren. The church has enlarged the vision of herself and of her mission by means of adding the Kant-Christ synthesis with which neo-orthodox Protestantism operates to its own Aristotle-Christ synthesis.

Karl Barth has, apparently, been the envy of many Roman Catholic theologians. By putting new presuppositions underneath the doctrine of election, Barth says that he has “solved” all formerly insoluble problems with respect to divine sovereignty and human responsibility. To be sure, says Barth, men are under the wrath of God. They are reprobate. But this reprobation (a) does not refer to persons, and (b) is never the last word with respect to any man. All men are therefore elect. All men are elect because man