Uncovering Core Christian Beliefs

(This is the "Pastor's Reflection" on  Page Two of the Good Shepherd Parish bulletin, July 25, 2010.)

Last week I promised to identify what my own exploration into our Catholic history and heritage seems to indicate are the core beliefs of Christianity. By "core beliefs" I mean those things that are at the heart of the faith which all Christians share, and if one does not believe them, it's impossible by any stretch of the imagination, to call oneself Christian.

By no means do I want to suggest that these core beliefs explicitly contain all that we as Christians believe. (As Catholics we have an additional set of core beliefs that distinguish our faith from that of Protestants. I'll deal with those later.) I think a distinction between primary and secondary may be helpful. These core beliefs are primary because, as I already noted, they are absolutely essential and shared universally among those who consider themselves Christian. Not to assent to all of these core beliefs -- to deny any one of them -- automatically puts one outside the definition of what it means to be Christian. The word secondary rightly refers to most everything else one associates with Christian faith. I call these beliefs secondary not because they are unimportant -- some of them are very important -- but because they have meaning only in relation to the primary, the core. They are usually in some sense derivative, consequent, or corollary. Identifying these secondary beliefs, and exploring how and why they are secondary is a job for another time. First,
I want to identify what is primary, core beliefs of Christian faith, and then what is distinctive about Catholic faith -- our own core beliefs as Catholics.

The conclusions I've come to about the core beliefs of Christians in general and Catholics in particular are the result of a lifetime of study into Christian scripture, theology, and liturgy, combined with a strong interest in history, archaeology, and comparative religion -- plus full-time concentration on pastoral ministry in parishes and Newman Centers. I've never been a scholar, full-time teacher, or academician. All my learning and teaching has been in the context of day-to-day relations with the people of real-life communities, not the rarefied atmosphere of university, seminary, or monastery.

The conclusions I will share with you beginning next week, come from two questions, which I think are vital for every Christian and every Catholic. And these questions are related: First, what makes our Christian faith unique, different from all other religions and philosophies throughout the world and throughout the ages? Second, what makes our faith as Catholics unique, different from all the other varieties of Christian faith?

I think it is important to try to look at our faith from this perspective because we face a particular challenge in our world today. Christians and Catholics are by and large ignorant of their faith, or place a lot of effort into secondary, sometimes superficial or emotionally satisfying beliefs or practices, and leave the heart -- the core -- unreckoned. I think there are distortions, at least of misplaced emphasis, on both sides of the mainstream -- right and left, conservative and liberal. It's the core we have to firmly hold on to, and the rest, even if important, only takes meaning from the core.

In addition, it's our experience in today's diverse, secular world, that one does not have to be Catholic or Christian, or even religious, to be a good and moral person. There is a tendency to identify faith with morality, as if it doesn't really make much difference what you believe as long as you're nice. And if you look at the Gospels, at least 80% of Jesus' teaching (and 100% of his specifically moral teaching) can also be found in other, non-Christian religions and philosophies. This isn't anything new. Thomas Jefferson famously re-edited the Gospels, literally with a razor and paste, by deleting everything he thought was irrelevant -- miracles, the resurrection, and anything else that seemed "supernatural" and therefore offensive to "enlightened reason."

One final word before I get specific. I put a lot of effort into being authentically Catholic, and therefore in being 100% in union with the Catholic Church. However, this does not exclude the possibility of being critical of some elements of policy, practice, and even things that are put forth as teachings. One of the solid principles of both theology and canon law is that not all teachings or all laws have equal value, and individual doctrines, beliefs, and practices must be evaluated on the basis of how they relate to the core beliefs and principles. There are times also when one must be critical of what one holds most dear.

To me this is an exciting and important venture. And I'm happy to invite you along. For two weeks now I guess I've been teasing you with all this background stuff. "So, dear Father Tom," say you. "what exactly are these 'core beliefs' you've been making such a big deal about? "Next week . . .

I love you all.

Fr. Tom Welbers