30
The Logicist Tribulation of Sophia
The Logicist Tribulation of Sophia
Book Three: Recuperation of Theological Principles against Ideo-logicist Incompetence
A. J. Bueno
Copyright © 2016 A. J. Bueno All rights reserved.
No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping, or by any information storage retrieval system, without the permission, in writing, of the publisher. For more information, email [email protected], Attention: Subsidiary Rights.
Strategic Book Publishing & Rights Co., LLCUSA | Singaporewww.sbpra.com
For information about special discounts for bulk purchases, please contact Strategic Book Publishing and Rights Co. Special Sales, at [email protected].
ISBN: 978-1-68181-544-2
v
Studium Philosophiae non est ad hoc quod sciatur quid homines senserint, sed qualiter se habeat veritas rerum.
THOMAS AQUINAS
Th ere were always Christian thinkers who recognized the diff erence between experiences of divine reality and the transformation of the insights engendered by the experience into doctrinal propositions.
ERIC VOEGELIN, Response to Professor Altizer
Because it is too much of a teaching and not enough of a training, slowly but surely scholasticism is dying of anemia
ÉTIENNE GILSON, Th e Spirit of Th omism
“To believe is nothing other than to think with assent. . . . Believers are also thinkers: in believing, they think and in thinking, they believe. . . . If faith does not think, it is nothing”
ST AUGUSTINE, De Praedestinatione Sanctorum, 2, 5.
vii
Acknowledgments
In the fi rst place I want to thank Professor Étienne Gilson, Pope St John Paul the Great, and Pope Benedict XVI for their vigorous defense of philosophic pluralism.
Also I would like to thank the ladies that help out in the Cultural Center where I live.
Among others, I would like to mention Mons. Gustavo Ocando, Dr. Wilfred Chen, Rómulo Guédez, J. Gabriel Joseph, and Minton Chen for the way they have contributed, each in his own way, for the realization of this Trilogy.
ix
Contents
Introduction xviiPart I: THEO-LOGICISM
I. Th eo-logicism of book versus theology of reality 31. Elemental epistemology required for all sciences 32. Th e Bible is not the Revelation 63. “We do not believe in formulas but in the realities” 114. Th e exegete is not supreme teacher of the faith 145. “You have the anointing of the Holy One and you all
possess the science” 186. Private revelations will continue 217. Distinction between Revelation and the-revealed 268. Testimonies of Revelation: S. Tradition and S. Scripture 299. Th e-revealed endorses the-revealed, and profi cit.
Fides et ratio 3110. Faith does not destroy reason: “the Bible and the
Church—both or neither!” 3611. “Th e entire body of the faithful… cannot err
in matters of belief…” 3912. “Sacred Scripture is written principally in the
Church’s heart rather…” 41
II. Th eology of reality: participate in Revelation 441. Participate in Revelation to understand Scripture 442. Contents of catechesis to participate in Revelation 45
Recuperation of Th eological Principles against Ideo-logicist Incompetence
x
3. Reviewing the theological method 49
III. Grace-uncreated and grace-created 561. Reifi ed-grace versus the indwelling of the Blessed Trinity 562. Bible and Tradition versus immanentized-
supernatural-grace 583. Th e supernatural: participation ad intra in the Trinity 614. Grace is caused by the presence of the Trinity 635. Supernatural-Grace implies a relation with the
divine Persons 666. Grace is called being because through its presence a
being is renewed 68
IV. Th eo-logicism in Luther and Erasmus 711. Sincere and orthodox Luther’s search 712. Nomina-logicist impairment in Luther’s theological
elaboration 743. Traces of modern sub-epistemology−mutilated phantasma 784. Similar Nomina-logicist deformation in Luther
and Erasmus 83
Part II: THE ROLE OF SACRED THEOLOGY IN YOUNG PEOPLE’S HIGHER EDUCATION
V. Th e appropriate age for the study of philosophy 911. Th e young lack the conditions to study ethics and
metaphysics 912. Appropriate age to pursue ethics and metaphysics 96
VI. Th omas Aquinas’s work is Sacred Th eology 1001. Identity of words does not imply identity
of sciences 100
Th e Logicist Tribulation of Sophia
xi
2. Experiences of being in the Summa involve supernatural faith 101
3. Gilson: the Summa is not a mixture of philosophy and theology 103
4. Adulterated and logicist philosophy “extracted from the Summa” 105
5. Philosophical method in Bergson, not in the Summa 107
VII. Th e position of the Summa Th eologica on itself: pure theology or mixture of philosophy and theology? 111
1. Identical terms to express natural and supernatural cognition 111
2. Comparison of the texts of the Summa and De trinitate 114
3. Purpose of using an extrinsic ancilla in the subordinating science 117
4. Subject matter of theology according to the Summa 1195. Accessing the subject matter by the
“anointing of the Holy” 121
VIII. Th e Aeterni Patris 1241. It is not about how Th omas conceived
Christian philosophy 1242. Leo XIII recommends the philosophandi genus of the
Fathers and theologians 1283. Fertilization of reason in harmony or union with faith 1324. Th eological nature of the philosophandi genus 1335. Basic epistemology required in the
philosophandi genus 1366. Th eological focus in intellectual formation
of the young 139
Recuperation of Th eological Principles against Ideo-logicist Incompetence
xii
IX. Importance of the Sacra Doctrina in the education of the young 142
1. Wisdom needed to search for the greater good 1422. Without Th eology we don’t obtain the truth and
the integral good 1443. From elimination of Th eology to incompetent
usurpation 1464. Shining lights of the West bow to mirages 1505. Rejection of a spurious inquisition−and particularly
without juridical security 1556. Guidelines for higher education of the young 1587. Defending intellectual honesty and philosophical
autonomy 160
X. Philosophy or philosophandi genus (“Christian philosophy”): searching for the suitable teaching to undergraduates 165
1. Human craving for metaphysical knowledge 1652. Psychological urgency to integrate science of faith and
science of reason 1743. Ulterior epistemology required in scientifi c knowledge 1794. Epistemological distinction between symbolization
and actual event 1805. Epistemological distinction between singular-person,
concepts and legal system 1856. Status or professional qualifi cations of teachers
in the Seminaries 1947. Pseudo-philosophers spread science fi ction 1978. Pseudo-philosophers generate the one-party school 2019. Sub-epistemological rigidity of the one-party
“philosophy” 20410. Samples of the one-school pseudo-philosophy in
“Th omism” 207
Th e Logicist Tribulation of Sophia
xiii
11. Encyclicals and theologians against the “one-party philosophy” 209
12. Causes for the one-party school: philosophisme, according to the scholar É. Gilson 212
13. Causes of philosophisme: sub-epistemological heritage 21614. Sub-epistemological rejection of the oneness of the
substantial form and sequels 21815. Does John Eccles support the oneness of the
substantial form? 22116. Causes of philosophisme: sectarianism 22417. Th e Traditionalists’s philosophisme 22618. Causes of philosophisme: nationalism and the Inquisition 23319. More causes of philosophisme: logicist
sub-epistemology in the establishment 23620. Emphasis on detecting imprints of Th eology 24021. Th omas’s and Voegelin’s epistemology opposes
philosophisme and the rigidization of the systems 24222. Lethal rigidization of the philosophical undertaking
through the confusion with Th eology 24623. Civilization decline is not the cause of philosophisme 25024. Philosophisme tied to an obsolete astrophysical creed 25725. Sterility and insularity of the pseudo-philosophers 25926. Philosophisme endémique: the sub-epistemological
binomial “faith and philosophy” 26227. Interior illumination and theological method
(philosophisme) in Descartes 26828. Philosophisme in Husserl’s epistemology 27129. Deliberate philosophisme in Hegel: a pathway for
alienation 27330. Prevailing philosophisme hinders integration of
faith and reason 27631. In the Seminaries and with the youth, Christian
philosophy, philosophandi genus 279
Recuperation of Th eological Principles against Ideo-logicist Incompetence
xiv
XI. Th eology against cultural totalitarianism and the oppressive dynamism of Ideology 283
1. Semantic chaos in the sub-epistemologies 2832. Semantic fraud in Ideologies of alienation 2863. Ostentation of philosophy with language of
alienation or ideo-logicism 2914. Literature as repository and surrogate of
metaphysical light 2955. Germanic phil-ideology penetrates the letters
in America 2976. Th e tyranny of political correctness and the loss
of truth and freedom 3017. Th e illusion of philosophical neutrality 3048. Principle of subsidiarity, a safeguard of freedom 3079. Defending freedom from Ideology and
Political Correctness 31210. Victims of the alienating hatred of truth 315
XII. Recap: countercultural trajectory of the philosophisme endémique 317
1. Philosophisme turns philosophy into indoctrination 3172. First Cause as a condition of rationality 3193. “Rational” marginalization of God in Idealism
and modern Deism 3214. Peculiar contribution of Eric Voegelin to the
Christianization of culture 3275. Relevant conclusions concerning the content of the
Catechesis 333
XIII. Life according to the fl esh and according to the spirit. Need for moral rectitude to access the truth 337
1. Insurmountable obstacles in the pursuit of truth? 337
Th e Logicist Tribulation of Sophia
xv
2. Focusing on the core of morality 3393. Could sterilization entail a rupture with the
Supreme Good? 3434. Th eology of sexuality excludes contraception 3465. Sex without marriage is misleading 3516. Summarizing 356
Index of Names 361
xvii
INTRODUCTION
Th e logicist destruction in philosophy is undeniable. Is it as great in Th eology? Logicism is deleterious in all sciences. We shall see how it can destroy Th eology trying, for instance, to replace reality with sacred texts, that is, with testimonies of Revelation. Along this line the fi rst outline of the Constitution Dei Verbum (Vatican II) spoke of “Th e Sources of Revelation,” referring to Sacred Scripture and Sacred Tradition, that is, to books or words. According to this mode of expression divine Revelation derives from books. However Revelation is an act of God. We do not want to have an act of God−God himself−concealed in a book, or in the “objective concepts” that arise from understanding the book. What is left of the subject-matter of theology?
It is appropriate to make an eff ort to prevent and denounce such ravings. Not only philosophy deserves to be rescued. Th eology as well is, and even more, an essential science.
Moreover, from the pseudo-theology or theologicism, a campaign to destroy philosophy can be undertaken. Due to epistemological defi ciency, logicism usually writes “histories of ideas.” Logicism establishes the interchangeability between the real and the “universals” (which ontologizes), and does not recognize “the diff erence between experiences of divine reality and the transformation of the insights engendered by the experience into doctrinal propositions” (Voegelin). Hence, since various sciences oft en use the same symbols, logicism tends to confuse the sciences of faith and of reason. Th us it turns out that
Recuperation of Th eological Principles against Ideo-logicist Incompetence
xviii
in a theological work as the Summa theologiae, logicism fi nds an actual philosophical construction stricto sensu.
From this, two deleterious consequences follow for philosophy. The first is to call philosophy what is not philosophy, thus turning it into pseudo-philosophy. And it is not philosophy because it is theology, science of faith. Since this pseudo-philosophy is incomplete because it is extracted in semi terminal form from a theology textbook, its lower strata must be developed. For this purpose they may resort to a logicist procedure that “sufficiently elucidates the concepts” (Gredt, Elementa philosophiae Aristotelico-Thomisticae) in order to supply the required conclusions. The scientific deficiency of such elaborations is concealed by their happy concurrence with theological science, whose doctrinal formulas were the target of the construction: theologia ancilla philosophiae.
Consequently, the process involves two fallacies: 1) the confusion between philosophy and Th eology and 2) the artifi cial agreement of the pseudo-philosophical developments with Th eology.
But the devastation is not over. Given the alleged agreement, the new system considers itself primus or supremus inter pares, or rather inter inferiores. Th erefore, it stands as judge and paradigm of all philosophical enterprises, which must be rejected if they don’t fi t into the molds of the “unique and supreme philosophy.”
What can generate greater sterility in scientifi c research? What sort of philosophies can arise when the paradigm is a pseudo-science? In fact, logicism knows how to use Th eology as a means to arm itself and attack from above against pluralism in philosophy. It has developed and consolidated philosophical clericalism.
Having elucidated that philosophy is not theology-that-uses-philosophy, Part Two focuses the issue of the integral education of the youth and examines the advisability of teaching them the whole corpus of philosophy. Should they study metaphysics and
Th e Logicist Tribulation of Sophia
xix
ethics in pursuit of an answer to the fundamental problems, in pursuit of a Weltanschauung in accordance with the faith?
Th e explicit answer of Aristotle and Th omas is a resounding no. Young people are not capable of metaphysics, and youth ends at 50. But according to Th omas, there is a solution: teach them Sacred Th eology and, within Th eology, metaphysics and ethics. Faith−the indwelling of the Trinity in the soul−compensates for intellectual weakness, the defi ciencies of immaturity, the lack of experience and of emotional control.
Th e Catholic Academy has not always followed the opinion of the Epistemologist and has tried to teach metaphysics to young people outside of Sacred Th eology. Th e consequences have been unfortunate for both the science and the pupil. For science because metaphysics had to be adapted to the sub-qualifi ed students; in the process the science was distorted and the simplifi cation concealed under the “correct” answers obtained, i.e. the answers previously provided by Th eology.
And for the student because, not being qualifi ed, the teaching of the strictly rational science becomes indoctrination and, since the student ignores it, he ends up thinking he is a true philosopher who has rigorous rational answers to the most intricate problems, and that his wisdom should be universally acknowledged given its purely rational nature.
As expected, in the near future he remains without interlocutors, lost in perplexity. Gilson calls the metaphysical and ethical fi ction that has oft en been taught philosophisme endémique. With his academic qualifi cations, the new pseudo-philosopher could become a dangerous qualifi er of a prospective Inquisition.
Th e errors in the Catholic milieu are not unrelated to the surrounding cultural world. Th e apotheosis of logicism is Idealism, logical systems lacking epistemology to underpin every step of the route, especially the initial steps. Th ese systems have made us complacent in forgetting what the subject matter of philosophy is. Th e philosophy of Kant or Hegel is studied,
Recuperation of Th eological Principles against Ideo-logicist Incompetence
xx
but not reality. As Gilson says in Th e Spirit of Th omism, “just as physics is not about physics, but about nature, so also philosophy is not about philosophy but about reality.”
Likewise, metaphysics for the young becomes metaphysics about metaphysics, because that’s all that the young can learn. And such “metaphysics” was dignified in the scholastic circles attributing it to the great Thomas Aquinas and even ranking it above others because its findings were consistent with the faith.
Accordingly, instead of reality, the subject matter under study is “the metaphysics of Aquinas,” which is the simplifi cation of the school in vogue−or in power. Th e end result is hinted at by Gilson on the same page 93: “Because it is too much of a teaching and not enough of a training, slowly but surely scholasticism is dying of anemia.”
Th e recommendation of the present Book is to return to Th omas and teach metaphysics and ethics within the ambit of Sacred Th eology. Th e real Th omas was a theologian. Young people can learn logic, psychology or philosophical anthropology, including epistemology, outside of the Science of Faith. Only these subjects should remain in the departments of philosophy in Seminaries and colleges. And better if those departments exhibit another name. Th us philosophical clericalism−science fi ction−can be better avoided.
Th e Idealist logicism has shown that its mutations and practical or soteriological derivations can be totalitarian and violent. Th is Book ends with a new demand for academic freedom and pluralism, warning about the oppressive dynamism of Ideology, of a political correctness.
Th e focus of the Book seems a bit negative but it is unlikely that clashes against errors do not generate sparks of truth. If the errors are critical, the fl ashes of light are usually fertile and multifaceted.
Although the characters mentioned belong to history, the Book is not a historical essay. We admit thorough lack of
Th e Logicist Tribulation of Sophia
xxi
scholarship when referring to philosophers since we don’t even quote the sources. We simply intend to illustrate the requirements of an epistemological procedure in scientifi c endeavors−as we confront logicism wherever it can be recognized.
Teach how to fi sh instead of serving the prefabricated doctrinal pills, or as Étienne Gilson asserts: “teach our pupils to learn by themselves instead of trying to impart to them an always larger amount of learning” (Th e eminence of teaching). We do not intend to elaborate or transmit a doctrinal synthesis but to enhance the reader’s critical and philosophical capacity. Confronting sub-epistemology, the fallacies and frauds of logicism, it is compelling to insist in our dedication:
ERUDIENDIS ABSQUE DOLO SEU FICTIONEIUNIORIBUS PRAECIPUE
Part I:
THEO-LOGICISM
3
Chapter 1
Theo-logicism of book versus theology of reality
1. Elemental epistemology required for all sciences
Needless to say, no science has a method similar to that of Sacred Th eology. Th ere is no sacred deposit of physics or medicine−to look for answers. Other sciences do not look back in order to research and make progress. Previous formulations never constitute an immutable source or paradigm.
In various ways Th eology is unique. It exists because 1) there is a divine Revelation, 2) there are testimonies of that Revelation (the so-called God’s word), 3) God enables men to grasp in varying degrees−through the gift of faith−the meaning of those testimonies, 4) God uses the testimonies or formulations to transmit the faith. No other science considers the previous fi ndings as an incontestable plenitude but as a starting point both helpful as well as improvable.
Oft en, specifi cally in modernity, a book is substituted for reality, whose exegesis becomes part of science. When used in teaching, the method is intended to reproduce in the disciple the views of the author of the book. Now, a book consists of signs or symbols. Extreme logicism, absorptionism, tends to introduce−at least with an “imperfect being”−things in the mind, in the “objective concepts” as they call them, or what is equivalent, turns certain “objective concepts” into copies of things. Th erefore, given that the book evokes intellections (“objective concepts”), the book tends to “replace” or play the role of reality, of source of Revelation or of Revelation itself (God-revealing).
Recuperation of Th eological Principles against Ideo-logicist Incompetence
4
In this way reality−which in Th eology includes the supernatural− is replaced by sacred texts or documents, i.e. by testimonies of Revelation. Along these lines, the fi rst draft of the Constitution Dei Verbum (Vatican II) spoke about De Fontibus Revelationis, referring to Sacred Scripture and Sacred Tradition, namely to books or words. According to this way of expression, Revelation is contained in, derives or proceeds from books, from human sources!
But Revelation is an act of God. We would then have an act of God−God himself−contained in a book, or in the “objective concepts” that arise from reading the book! In that case, since theology studies God, it could be developed focusing on the book−which contains the full theophany, some “presence” of God himself.
As a corollary, the highest theological authority is the interpreter of the “sources of Revelation”−of the documents identifi able with God-revealing−for there is no sapiential court higher than the knowledge of God himself.
Fortunately, not all were ignorant logicists at the last Vatican Council, and far less under the assistance of the Holy Spirit. Invited by Pope John XXIII, Henri de Lubac was there. He explained that Revelation “is not, essentially, a book, but a Person.” Th en he quoted Ratzinger: “Th e Source par excellence is God acting in Christ.” And added: “I would like to remember here . . . the most beautiful speech heard in Saint Peter apropos the schema on the sources of revelation, that of Monsignor (later Cardinal) Paul Zoungrana, Archbishop of Ouagadougou (Burkina), speaking on behalf of sixty-seven African bishops. ‘Fundamentally, he said, Christ is Himself the Revelation that He brings.’ He supported his opinion on texts in the liturgy and in a famous passage from St. John of the Cross in Th e Ascent of Mount Carmel. ‘Th e truths we must believe and the duties we must fulfi ll−he concluded−should be considered above all in their relationship with a living person. Tell the world that Christ is the divine revelation. It is necessary that the beautiful face
Th e Logicist Tribulation of Sophia
5
of Christ shine better in the Church. Th us you will renew the wonders of love and fi delity that glowed in the early Church.’ Th ese words produced a great impression in the Assembly. It can be said that this day the Church of Africa played a leading role at the Council” (Diálogo sobre el Vaticano II, 55-57).
Th e former title proposed by the Holy Offi ce defi nitely vanished: “Sources of Revelation.” Th e new document, Dei Verbum, would deal with De divina revelatione, clarifying in n. 9: “Hence there exists a close connection and communication between sacred tradition and Sacred Scripture. For both of them, fl owing from the same divine wellspring, in a certain way merge into a unity and tend toward the same end.”
Thus the Council started rescuing the most basic epistemology, heritage of previous centuries: neither Scripture nor Tradition is Revelation. And the only and ultimate source is God, God-revealing: “In His goodness and wisdom God chose to reveal Himself and to make known to us the hidden purpose of His will (see Eph. 1:9) by which through Christ, the Word made flesh, man might in the Holy Spirit have access to the Father and come to share in the divine nature (see Eph. 2:18; 2 Peter 1:4). Through this revelation, therefore, the invisible God (see Col. 1:15; 1 Tim. 1:17) out of the abundance of His love speaks to men as friends (see Ex. 33:11; John 15:14-15) and lives among them (see Bar. 3:38), so that He may invite and take them into fellowship with Himself ” (DV 2).
If Christ is the fullness of Revelation, how is that Revelation transmitted, how do we connect with Him? Th is is the subject matter of the Dei Verbum. Consequently, the Catechism of the Catholic Church calls Chapter Two of Part One “God Comes to Meet Man” whose article 2 is entitled: “THE TRANSMISSION OF DIVINE REVELATION.”
We should mention a diff erence between the philosophies and theologies of book. In the philosophy of book there is perfect correspondence between the “universal” and the real nature of
Recuperation of Th eological Principles against Ideo-logicist Incompetence
6
the thing, as we saw in Book 1 (chapter 3) referring mainly to Gredt (114-117): “the ‘universal’ taken materially is divided into ten predicaments and is the real, fi nite being.” Conversely, in the theology of book, we notice a diff erence similar to the one suggested by Descartes when speaking of God. Th e idea of God has in the Cartesian mind “an imperfect being” when compared with the being of God himself (Book 1), or put another way, the “objective concepts” contain only imperfectly the reality of God.
Now, if outside logicism, Sacred Scripture is not God-revealing or the divine Source of Revelation, what is Scripture, or how does it relate to that revelation, to the divine Source?
2. The Bible is not the Revelation
A book on geography of America does not contain America, no matter who reads it. It should not, therefore, come as a surprise the discovery of Joseph Ratzinger when, in the 50s, he was studying the understanding of Revelation in the theology of the thirteenth century: “I collided with an unexpected fact: nobody in that period ever thought to call the Bible ‘Revelation,’nor was it called ‘source’” (Sources and transmission of the faith, in Communio, 1983 Spring).
Th e absortionist-indiff erentiating dialectics was not a universal phenomenon. We see once more that there was a non-degraded scientifi c world−irrelevant or disreputable for logicist historians−where enuntiabilia (formulations, propositions) and actio-passio (experience of reality) were not equivalent. Ratzinger explains: “Th ey applied the word ‘Revelation,’ on the one hand, only to an act, which was never expressible in human words and by which God made Himself known to his creature and, on the other, to the reception by which the divine condescendence became perceptible to man under the form of Revelation. [Th e reception involves the elevation of man to grasp the divine light]. Everything that must be fi xed in words, thus Scripture itself, testifi es to the Revelation without being that Revelation in
Buy the Kindle version at:-https://www.amazon.com/Logicist-Tribulation-Sophia-Recuperation-Phil-Ideology-ebook/dp/B01N80XCVF
B&N ePub version at:-http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-logicist-tribulation-of-sophia-book-two-a-j-bueno/1120629463?ean=2940157558727
