Francis Schaeffer at 100, and Edith Schaeffer’s wonderful note to me

January 30, 2012 By francisbeckwith 3 Comments

Today, January 30, 2012, is the 100th birthday of Francis A. Schaeffer. He was an important influence on my intellectual formation while I was in college. Although given my return to the Catholic Church I would now part ways with Schaeffer on several philosophical and theological questions, I still retain a healthy appreciation of the role he played in making American Evangelicals aware that the Christian faith is a rational knowledge tradition that simply cannot be relegated to the realm of “mere belief” without diminishing its epistemic status.

On April 29, 1986, I met Francis Schaeffer’s widow, Edith. I tell the story of our encounter in my book, Return to Rome: Confession of An Evangelical Catholic (Brazos Press, 2009):

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Filed Under: Edith Schaeffer, Evangelicalism, Francis A. Schaeffer, Return to Rome Tagged With: , , , 3 Comments

Too Many Ironies in the Fire

January 29, 2012 By francisbeckwith Leave a Comment

Newt claims that Mitt has character issues, and now Herman Cain is endorsing Newt. Looks like Newt has too many ironies in the fire.

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The Feast of St. Thomas Aquinas – January 28

January 28, 2012 By francisbeckwith 1 Comment

The following was issued by Pope Benedict XVI in 2007 on the feast day of St. Thomas Aquinas (28 January):

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

Today the liturgical calendar commemorates St Thomas Aquinas, the great Doctor of the Church. With his charism as a philosopher and theologian, he offered an effective model of harmony between reason and faith, dimensions of the human spirit that are completely fulfilled in the encounter and dialogue with one another.

According to St Thomas’ thought, human reason, as it were, “breathes”: it moves within a vast open horizon in which it can express the best of itself. When, instead, man reduces himself to thinking only of material objects or those that can be proven, he closes himself to the great questions about life, himself and God and is impoverished.

The relationship between faith and reason is a serious challenge to the currently dominant culture in the Western world, and for this very reason our beloved John Paul II decided to dedicate an Encyclical to it, entitled, precisely, Fides et Ratio – Faith and Reason. Recently, I too returned to this topic in my Discourse to the University of Regensburg.

In fact, the modern development of the sciences brings innumerable positive effects, as we all see, that should always be recognized. At the same time, however, it is necessary to admit that the tendency to consider true only what can be experienced constitutes a limitation of human reason and produces a terrible schizophrenia now acclaimed, which has led to the coexistence of rationalism and materialism, hyper-technology and unbridled instinct.

It is urgent, therefore, to rediscover anew human rationality open to the light of the divine Logos and his perfect revelation which is Jesus Christ, Son of God made man.

When Christian faith is authentic, it does not diminish freedom and human reason; so, why should faith and reason fear one another if the best way for them to express themselves is by meeting and entering into dialogue? Faith presupposes reason and perfects it, and reason, enlightened by faith, finds the strength to rise to knowledge of God and spiritual realities. Human reason loses nothing by opening itself to the content of faith, which, indeed, requires its free and conscious adherence.

St Thomas Aquinas, with farsighted wisdom, succeeded in establishing a fruitful confrontation with the Arab and Hebrew thought of his time, to the point that he was considered an ever up-to-date teacher of dialogue with other cultures and religions. He knew how to present that wonderful Christian synthesis of reason and faith which today too, for the Western civilization, is a precious patrimony to draw from for an effective dialogue with the great cultural and religious traditions of the East and South of the world.

Let us pray that Christians, especially those who work in an academic and cultural context, are able to express the reasonableness of their faith and witness to it in a dialogue inspired by love. Let us ask the Lord for this gift through the intercession of St Thomas Aquinas and above all, through Mary, Seat of Wisdom.

 

Filed Under: Pope Benedict XVI, St. Thomas Aquinas Tagged With: , 1 Comment

Honoring my mother-in-law, Peggy Dickerson

January 27, 2012 By francisbeckwith 1 Comment

My mother-in-law, Peggy Dickerson, died two years ago today, on January 27, 2010. My wife misses her so much. What follows is the text of the eulogy I delivered at her memorial service. Eternal rest, grant unto her O Lord and let perpetual light shine upon them her.

I would like to now say a few words about my mother-in-law, Peggy Dickerson. She was born August 31, 1924 in Los Angeles, California. She was one of three children of Frankie Bernice and Andrew Buchanan Gardenhire.

But it was in the great American southwest, close to Yuma, Arizona, in which her family would plant its roots and she would meet her future husband. Peggy played the flute and piccolo, and was drum majorette at Yuma High School, graduating in 1942. She then attended University of Arizona in Tucson for 1½ years, leaving to marry 1st Lt. Joseph A. Dickerson, Jr. in 1944.  She and Joe remained wedded for 62 years until his death in May 2006. In school she had been a track sprinter and basketball player, and she continued playing basketball in officers’ wives leagues. Her occupations included clerical and bookkeeping work, and she was self‑employed as a tax preparer for many years. She also enjoyed bridge throughout her life, a custom she brought with her to Atria Seville and did not cease practicing until early January of this year.

After Joe’s tour of duty in the Second World War, Peggy moved with her pilot husband to New York, Maryland, Germany, Japan, North Carolina, Nebraska, and Texas. After Joe retired from the Air Force in 1962, they settled in Arizona, and from there moved to Las Vegas, Nevada in 1965, where Joe was employed as an auditor for the Internal Revenue Service.

Between 1947 and 1956 Peggy and Joe became parents to four beautiful daughters: Coween Ann, Tamara Jo, Frankie Rozelle, and Jo Alexis.

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An Uncomfortable and Awkward Question for Conservative Christian Gingrich Supporters

January 23, 2012 By francisbeckwith 37 Comments

Are you prepared for America to have a First Lady who was a home wrecker and was once the President’s mistress (if Gingrich were to become President)?  Many Christian conservatives–smitten by Newt’s rhetorical flourishes, as they are of any “good preaching”–seem not to have the imagination to entertain this question. It crossed my mind weeks ago, but I thought it churlish to raise it online, until I witnessed Gingrich’s retort to John King when the CNN correspondent brought up the ABC interview with Gingrich’s ex-wife. Here’s the  portion of the exchange I’d like to isolate:

“Every person in here knows personal pain. Every person in here has had someone close to them go through painful things. To take an ex-wife and make it two days before the primary a significant question for a presidential campaign is as close to despicable as anything I can imagine.”

The Speaker is, of course, correct that “every person in here knows personal pain.” No one doubts that. But, in this case, the personal pain suffered by his ex-wife was inflicted by Gingrich. For this reason, the appropriate response for the Speaker should have been something like this, “Every person in here knows personal pain, just like the pain suffered by my ex-wife. And, I am ashamed to admit that I am the one who caused this pain. So, I don’t at all disparage her for what she has said about me. That’s the man I was: self-absorbed, uncaring, thinking myself as someone above the moral law. My conversion to Catholicism, and the absolution I received for my sins, was the first step on my way to becoming the man I ought to be.”

But what we heard from Gingrich was a complaint about his pain, as if he were the victim! But not in relation to his personal virtue and his formation as a Christian, as if King’s question was a stumbling block to his internal sanctification. Rather, Gingrich was upset that the question about his ex-wife was asked in a debate, in his words, “two days before the primary [as] a significant question for a presidential campaign.” This is what he judged “as close to despicable as anything I can imagine.” Either the Speaker lacks imagination or he is so self-absorbed that he instinctively converts his ex-wife’s pain into a question about his personal ambition to become President of the United States. Now, that’s despicable.

So, let me ask it again in a more extended fashion: Are conservative Christians, who believe in the morality of the natural law and all that it entails about marriage, family and civil society, prepared for America to have a First Lady who was a home wrecker and was once the President’s mistress, with her husband as the national standard bearer for the causes of life, conjugal love, and the common good?

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Filed Under: American Culture, Newt Gingrich, politics Tagged With: , 37 Comments

Gingrich, Romney, and Evangelicals Follow-Up

January 20, 2012 By francisbeckwith 45 Comments

A post of mine from yesterday–Better to be an adulterer than a Mormon?: Evangelicals, Gingrich, and Romney–garnered the most hits in the history of this blog. In response to this entry, my dear friend Michael Bauman writes in the combox:

All other things being equal, it’s better to be a forgiven Catholic — Gingrich, than a forgiven Mormon — Romney, especially when the Catholic is better informed, more experienced, more articulate, and has a better record of legislative achievement (not to mention that Catholicism is truer than Mormonism and therefore yields more benefits and advantages of many sorts.)

God forgives and God regenerates repentant sinners. Unless we are prepared to say, and to substantiate, either that conversion is not real or that Gingrich is not converted, then I will continue to assert the authenticity of his change. I’ve seen nothing that makes me think it is not true. If anyone else has seen such contrary evidence, I’d be quite willing to listen and possibly to change my assessment. Gingrich seems to me a new and different man morally and spiritually from what he was. Given the truth of Christianity and the power of God in the gospel, it’s exactly what I’d expect. He has confessed, repented, and been absolved. I, therefore, will not continue to throw his errors in his face. He has acknowledged them repeatedly and publicly. Those allegations that are false he has denied.

Good on him, and God bless him.

I do not disagree with Mike that Newt Gingrich has undergone a true conversion. That was not the issue I was addressing in my entry. What I was addressing was the wisdom and political judgment of those Evangelical leaders who seemed to have not even considered Mitt Romney, even though Romney’s life story does not suggest a person whose character  lacks the fortitude to withstand the sorts of temptations that seem to have bedeviled Gingrich throughout his career. Adultery, of course, is one temptation. And I highly doubt that Gingrich would succumb to that temptation ever again. But the cluster of character traits that gave rise to these infidelities is a different story all together. As I said in a December 3, 2011 Catholic Thing essay on Gingrich:

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Filed Under: 2012 Election, Evangelicalism, Mitt Romney, Mormonism, Newt Gingrich Tagged With: , , , 45 Comments
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