Correspondence
Correspondence The February 1 issue Charlotte, N.C. To the Editors: Your February 1 issue was quite a delight—one of the best I recall in the thirty years of more or less faithfully reading...
...To the Editors: On the surface it seems that Commonweal is an anti-Catholic magazine trading under Catholic auspices...
...As I, an ex-Catholic, see it, Neuhaus states the central issue: "In truth, his [Davis's]protests against religious authority are peculiarly and parochially Roman Catholic...
...In all that I have read in this issue, I discern a great amount of pride on the part of the authors, reflected in their obstinacy...
...I enjoy speculating on many of the doctrines of my church, those that are as well as those that are not...
...Leckey wisely writes in a manner that will not endanger her job, and protecting one's job is not an unworthy human activity in most cases...
...Which of the two would have a more intimate knowledge of God...
...Emotionally I'm rooting for Father K\:ung but intellectually I have doubts about his position...
...VINCENT A. INDOVINA, M.D...
...Your columnist John Garvey has implied in the same issue that he may be more vulnerable in regard to Jesus's divinity and Mary's uniqueness than papal infallibility...
...I would vote in favor of Saint John of the Cross...
...He simply shut out all of his thinking, blanking his mind, and let Christ work in him...
...JOHN M. bresnahan, jr...
...Frankly, I learned nothing from the articles, was made aware of no new theological truth and was counseled by the articles to feel insecure being a member of my church...
...Davis is a "fallenaway" Catholic, not an ex-Catholic, and we all know that a "fallen-away" Catholic is still a Catholic...
...It may be that the only unalloyed good result of Vatican II is the fact one can now read Martin E. Marty for his gentle, Christian (in whatever best terms Davis, McKenzie or Marty would define that word) insights and understandings without having to sneak and real "heretical'' publications to find his wisdom...
...The question is raised in my mind, which of us is happier, the theologian or me...
...To the Editores: Having earlier had my own personal confrontation with power in the church, I remember drawing comfort from Charles Davis's decision to leave...
...the establishment of anything resembling "a permanent Vatican arena for peer evaluation of questionable positions " seems to have next to no chance of being implemented...
...Pastor Neuhaus (after he got over his dudgeon about Professor Davis calling his book "not new") rather shrewdly points out that Davis's problems with the ecclesiastical institutions are Roman Catholic not "Christian...
...Could Ms...
...Thomas Aquinas is the classic example of the intellectual giant...
...On the other hand, Saint John of the Cross did not want to tax his intellectual faculties in trying to achieve a personal knowledge and intimacy with God...
...Pope John Paul's actions appear necessary and justifiable...
...I am sure this seems rather harsh, but I am somewhat taken aback by the position taken by several of the writers in the Feb...
...In some ways it has been a slow process, but rewarding, and I now have the joy of actually feeling Protestant and knowing why I prefer it that way...
...An ex-Catholic view Crete, II...
...Fiorenza be in the same position as a member of the black community writing that black people are determined to improve the percentage of blacks in the Ku Klux Klan...
...Father McKenzie's response proves once again that he is perhaps the only writer in America who can say the truth and still stay with his old commitments with intellectual honesty...
...the theologian seeking the truth via reason, fails in his search, fails to see the imperfection of the reasoning process, and is made miserable...
...Whether those who wrote in disagreement with Davis realize it or not, much of what passes for "modern" theology sadly reads—at least to one untrained in religious studies and to one not part of the university fraternity—just as arrogant, narrow-minded (only liberal orthodoxy is really Christian), and egocentric as the Davis piece...
...The humble Catholic places all of his fears and doubts in Christ's hands, through his church, and faces the future unafraid and happy...
...However, I must agree aith Richard J. Neuhaus's response to Davis's excellent statement...
...Your editorial and the article by Bernard J. Cooke were excellent...
...JOHN VICKERS An anti-Catholic magazine Olyphant, Pa...
...However, to many of us out in the boondocks...
...In 1964 when I left the Roman church, I instinctively knew it was necessary to join an alternate church...
...Most importantly a belief in Jesus's divinity is most essential to being a Christian...
...To the Editors: Your February 1 issue was quite a delight—one of the best I recall in the thirty years of more or less faithfully reading your publication...
...If he really had the monkey of catechetical indoctrination off his back, he would feel no need to reject all religious institutions in order to maintain his rejection of the Roman hierarchy and their preposterous claims...
...The theologian, feeling that his reasoning has brought him to the truth, criticizes those who do not agree with his position...
...To merely reject Romanism without voicing a choice of what one considers better than it is not to leave at all...
...The exercise of papal infallibility only makes sense if exercised rarely, very rarely, and even its exercise may not result in any significant development or confirmation of faith and morals...
...The indications are that a tougher papal and magisterial policy is being forged Commonweal: 190 Commonweal: 162...
...The dogma of Mary's Assumption rounds out as it were the Immaculate Conception but perhaps an understanding of her Magnificat and her spiritual motherhood of Jesus and us is a more valuable truth, in this life...
...Unfortunately, I feel that much of what I have seen in Commonweal is not going to inspire or direct people like me, but rather, it will create doubt and dissention...
...The Charles Davis piece and the responses were a joy...
...If, in my dealings with Christ I am to become childlike and submissive to Him through his church, who is to say that a theologian is less a theologian when he adopts a similar posture...
...1] is an obvious retort to Rome's censure of Father Ku'ng, some such heading as '' Whatever Happened to Collegiality and Dialogue...
...He was a great theologian whose investigation into the nature of God was of immense proportions...
...Papal policy Hollis, N.Y...
...JAMES J. CLAUSS Need for firm hand Lynn, Mass...
...Secondly, unless there is a reversal of current prevailing trends...
...However, when my position differs from that of the church I find refuge in the knowledge of my ignorance...
...Continued on page 190) (Continued from page 162) There is no other part of the Christian community . . . that poses the problems to which Mr...
...I have no idea how long you can keep it up, but it is good while it lasts...
...1] is a perfect example of why a firm hand is needed...
...To the Editors: While "Who's Disturbing the Faithful...
...I am just a simple ordinary Catholic...
...Put simply, Mr...
...Editorial, Feb...
...This is the most pernicious aspect of the indoctrination...
...To the Editors: From reading magazines like Commonweal, I gather a portion of the intelligentsia in the church is in near hysteria over Pope John Paul IPs attempt to bring order out of chaos...
...It is the common phenomenon of the failed rebellion against Catholic authority that the would-be ex-Catholic can find no other authority that he or she can accept and respect...
...If I find happiness, through submission to Christ through His church, and mindful of the fact that God is the Source of all happiness and the theologian finds unhappiness in his position, which might very well be the result of intellectual pride, which of us is going in the right direction...
...Davis is reacting...
...All of the articles that I read criticize the present church, and the papacy...
...Since the Roman hierarchy is so singularly resistant to reform, one may be able to accomplish more as an Anglican, Lutheran, Orthodox, Methodist, or some other Christian adherent...
...would have made your point just as clearly and a little more subtly...
...The article by Charles Davis in your magazine [Feb...
Vol. 107 • March 1980 • No. 6
