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Brendan Ross's avatar

It can have to do with the perspective with which one approaches religion.

If you approach religion with a primarily positivist/rational perspective -- that is, primarily viewing tenets and things like that at face value -- you can run into the issue you've identified.

If you approach it with a more "mystical" (for lack of a better word) perspective, some of these kinds of tensions and limitations can be alleviated, or relaxed, in practice because while these claims are not denied, they are understood through a mystical lens which tends to be more flexible in practice. The advantage of this is that it remains somewhat moored to the "traditional" faith while at the same time remaining much more open (often radically so) to the kinds of insights which can come from a mystical praxis and understanding.

The latter is unfortunately not for everyone. For many it feels too unmoored from a more plainly rational approach (it's more supra-rational in practice). And it isn't just a question of mindset, but of praxis: that is, it tends to arise from certain practices (certain kinds of prayer, in particular) which then give rise to a shift in perspective and emphasis interiorly, rather than trying to do that only mentally -- the mental shift tends to arise from spiritual praxis rather than the reverse. The key shift is towards an emphasis on the praxis and spiritual growth, which then informs a more flexible understanding of doctrines and the like (while retaining formal "orthodoxy" in these areas), rather than an emphasis on the nitty-gritty of "official" teaching, rules and so on.

Of course, you can also get completely unmoored, especially if you try to embark on that without any guide -- either personal/living (best) or written. And you may just not be of the proper mental mindset for this approach to be fruitful, as noted. I do think, though, that if you approach religion of any sort -- whether Christian or otherwise -- in 2025 and beyond with a conventional focus on the rational/face value aspect of them, it can be very difficult to sustain without some degree of double-talk at some stage.

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Anne Heath's avatar

What's the problem? Jesus worked miracles. He made blind people see and cripples walk and deaf people speak and cured leprosy--and raised people from the dead. He could walk on water (suspending the laws of physics) and make St. Peter walk on water. Christ levitated into the skies (Ascension) and presumably disappeared into thin air, only to appear again bodily to the Apostles. St. Teresa of Avila and St. John of the Cross would levitate during prayer on occasion. St. Teresa didn't like it and asked her nuns to try to kneel on her habit to stop the levitating but they gave up (I guess her clothes were about to rend, but I wasn't there.) (If I'd been in her company, I would have flat out refused to kneel on her garments to hold her down during prayer, because I would have figured that's not what God wanted.) Can the devil levitate people? Yes, I've read of exorcists who encounter levitation of the penitent, but I don't think they try to counteract it by touch, they pray the person down from the ceiling, etc. (See "The Exocist" movie, which was based on a true case of possession, or listen to all the youtubes by various exorcists like Father Chad Ripperger, Monsignor Stephen Rossetti, Fr. Dan Rehill, Fr. Carlos Martins or Fr. Vincent Lampert).

Padre Pio could read minds. One would go into confession and Padre Pio could tell you the sins you left out. Padre Pio could also sense impenitence and sometimes he'd throw the impenitent confessor out of the closet. He hardly ate his entire life but had normal weight (same for other saints of blesseds). What about incorruptibles? How is that happening? God, suspending the laws of science. Padre Pio could bilocate, including into the air (directing pilots in WW2 according to some US pilot testimony). He would come to people in their dreams (Padre Pio). If there are interdimensional creatures, what's the problem? We don't know exactly what that means ("interdimentional"). We can fit everything into the Christian paradigm, which is "God made everything that is". Multiverse? God made it. I don't think I'm in another universe doing something different, however. No one can convince me of that.

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