{"id":14820,"date":"2010-12-07T09:49:33","date_gmt":"2010-12-07T14:49:33","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/voxnova\/?p=14820"},"modified":"2010-12-07T09:49:33","modified_gmt":"2010-12-07T14:49:33","slug":"nicholas-lash-on-teaching-vs-commanding","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/voxnova\/2010\/12\/07\/nicholas-lash-on-teaching-vs-commanding\/","title":{"rendered":"Nicholas Lash on Teaching vs. Commanding"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

Today we are blessed with another guest post from David Cruz-Uribe, SFO. \u00a0We thank him for taking the time for writing this.<\/em><\/p>\n

Over at America Magazine, Nicholas Lash, Norris-Hulse Professor of Divinity at Cambridge University, has an \u00a0article<\/a> on the Magisterium, framed as a discussion of the difference between \u201cteaching\u201d and \u201ccommanding\u201d. He has many good points, but he raises two I want to throw out for discussion.<\/p>\n

The first is on how to characterize people\u2014priest, theologians, laity\u2014who disagree with statements made by the hierarchy: are they \u201cdisagreeing\u201d or \u201cdissenting\u201d? If you think of the Magisterium as teaching, then \u201cdisagree\u201d would be the operative word. As a teacher myself, I am used to, and indeed expect, my students to disagree with me when we discuss controversial topics. If I think they are wrong, my goal is to try to show them where I believe their error lies, without forcing them (\u201ccommanding\u201d) them to believe me on threat of a bad grade. (Frequently, from student evaluations, I see that students believe I punish students who disagree with me, and reward students who agree with me. I wish I could show them my grade book so that they would see that the reverse is often true.)<\/p>\n

His second point, however, is more interesting to me. It concerns the role of \u201creception\u201d in teaching. He says:<\/p>\n

Hence the importance of the doctrine of \u201creception.\u201d In one of St. Augustine\u2019s sermons (No. 272) he says: \u201cWhen I hold up the host before communion, I say \u2018Corpus Christi,\u2019 and you reply \u2018Amen,\u2019 which means: \u2018Yes, we are.\u2019\u201d The response of the faithful to sound teaching in the church is to say, \u201cYes, that\u2019s it.\u201d Where this response is lacking, the teaching is called into question. Securus judicat orbis terrarum (\u201cThe judgment of the whole world is secure\u201d). In the months leading up to the first Vatican Council, Cardinal John Henry Newman insisted that he \u201cput the validity of the Council upon its reception by the orbis terrarum\u201d (whole world). And when, after the council, he hesitated before accepting the definition of papal infallibility, Lord Acton remarked, \u201cHe was waiting for the echo.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

This is an important feature of the life of the Church; I feel that this is THE way in which the laity can \u201cteach\u201d the hierarchy. The only place, however, where its role is openly acknowledged is in the canonization of saints. While not absolutely necessary, it is generally critical to the cause of the saint that there be a widespread cultus which acknowledges the sanctity of the candidate for sainthood. This can be aided (some might say created) by the applications of cash and organization\u2014think of the cause of Fr. Michael McGivney, backed by the full faith and credit of the Knights of Columbus. (Before anyone jumps me for this: I belong to the KofC and find much that is admirable in Fr. McGivney\u2019s life and work.)<\/p>\n

I have thought of three other examples, all controversial to one degree or another, on the role of reception and teaching. The most controversial, of course, is on artificial birth control. This is the clearest example of a doctrine that has not been \u201creceived\u201d by the laity: polling data demonstrates that the vast majority of Catholics, even those who by other empirical measures are \u201cfaithful Catholics\u201d do not accept this teaching. However, the Church continues to regard this as \u201cdissent\u201d and does not seem open to listening to the insight and life experiences that have led to this rejection.<\/p>\n

A second example is altar girls, which was a great fight in the late 80\u2019s and early 90\u2019s. Here again, the canons that forbid young women from being altar servers were not accepted, and were openly challenged; first by pastors and their congregations, and later by a few bishops. In the end, Rome changed the canons, and the practice became widespread. There has been occasional push-back (the scandal in Platteville discussed on another thread comes to mind), but I think that this is a clear case in which a \u201cteaching\u201d was no longer \u201creceived\u201d and so was changed. But, one thing I recall from the days after the change was the complaint by some conservatives was that the whole incident would \u201cteach liberals that if they whine enough they will get their way.\u201d<\/p>\n

A third example is the Tridentine Mass. This is more complicated, because there are currents running in both directions. But it seems to me that one way to analyze this is that a group of laity did not \u201creceive\u201d the changes to the liturgy after Vatican II, and began to push back against their local bishops. As was the case with altar girls, this lack of reception caused Rome to modify its stance, first under John Paul II, and then more broadly under Benedict XVI. While the liturgical preferences of Benedict XVI do play a role in this, it is at least worth asking if he would have acted on the Latin mass if there was not a body of laity who were pushing for it: I don\u2019t think he would respond to a demand that was not there. (Unless, of course, you want to view this in terms of a Chomskian \u201cmanufactured consent\u201d analysis.)<\/p>\n

What lessons can we draw from these and other examples? (I appeal to the Church historians among us for other examples of \u201creception\u201d or the lack thereof through Church history.) I realize that it is only after the fact that we can truly see whether a lack of reception was the work of the Holy Spirit in the Church, but surely there must be some way to discern the working of the Spirit in \u201cthe signs of the times.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Today we are blessed with another guest post from David Cruz-Uribe, SFO. \u00a0We thank him for taking the time for writing this. Over at America Magazine, Nicholas Lash, Norris-Hulse Professor of Divinity at Cambridge University, has an \u00a0article on the Magisterium, framed as a discussion of the difference between \u201cteaching\u201d and \u201ccommanding\u201d. He has many […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2931,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-14820","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\nNicholas Lash on Teaching vs. Commanding<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Today we are blessed with another guest post from David Cruz-Uribe, SFO. \u00a0We thank him for taking the time for writing this. 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