Sunday, February 22, 2015

On Natural Religion


Natural religion is not religion at all, but rather simply a philosophy. It dwarfs man and the human spirit making him the product of things beneath him; it eventually corrupts. Man never reaches above and beyond, thus never reaching his stature, which stands in the world and yet above the world.

Natural religion is an abstraction, a commerce in parts, a toy of "science," denying and mocking the Whole and thereby leaving the soul of man unsatisfied. Natural religion is actually a denial of religion by either reducing it to science or relegating it to the realm of myth.
Cf. Sertillanges, Catechisme des Incroyants, 77

Mathematical Religion

If...you wish to replace God with “Nature,” the question remains as to who or what this nature is. Nowhere do you define it and it therefore appears to be an irrational divinity which explains nothing. However, I would like especially to note that in your religion of mathematics three fundamental themes of human existence are not considered: freedom, love and evil. I am surprised that with a nod you set aside freedom which has been and still remains a fundamental value of the modern age. Love does not appear in your book, nor does the question of evil. Whatever neurobiology says or does not say about freedom, in the real drama of our history it is present as a crucial reality and it must be taken into account. However, your mathematical religion knows of no answer to the question of freedom, it ignores love and it does not give us any information on evil. A religion that neglects these fundamental questions is empty.
Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI's Letter to Atheist

Buddhism's Negativity

"Buddhism is in large measure an "atheistic" system because of it's negative soteriology the Buddhist doctrine of salvation is based on the conviction that the world is bad,...that it is the source of evil and suffering for man. To liberate oneself from this evil, one must free oneself from this world, necessitating a break with the ties that join us to external reality--ties existing in our human nature, in our psyche, in our bodies. The more we are liberated from these ties, the more we become indifferent to what is in the world, and the more we are free from suffering, from the evil that has its source in the world...

"[But there is no drawing near to God thereby.] We do not free ourselves from evil through the good which comes from God; we liberate ourselves only through detachment from the world, which is bad. The fullness of such a detachment is not union with God, but what is called nirvana, a state of perfect indifference with regard to the world. To save oneself means, above all, to free oneself from evil by becoming indifferent to the world, which is the source of evil. This is the culmination of the spiritual process." Crossing the Threshold of Hope, pp. 85-86

Kant

"[Kant] anchored faith exclusively in practical reason, denying it access to reality as a whole." Benedict XVI Regensburg Address

True religion is concerned with the question of the whole of reality.

Christians believe in one God, the Father, the almighty, the Creator of heaven and earth and of all things visible and invisible,...the resurrection of the body and life everlasting. We are not striving for indifference to the world but rather to ever more know, love and serve the living God, who knows us and loves us. True religion is personal. It is relational. It is relationship: Father, Son and Holy Spirit. And the Son, eternally incarnate, enables and invites every man to share in the divine nature through union with Him, elevating man, not annihilating him or anything else. It is the baptism of creation, it's purification, not destruction.

The goodness of God is the source of all that is and His mercy is the source of the salvation for all that is--real salvation--nothing is lost and everything is gained. What is evil is made good by the infinite Mercy of God. Those who die to this world in Christ's Blood to live for Him save themselves and enjoy the world in Him, which is the only way to truly enjoy it. It amounts to having your cake and eating it too.
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