by Peter Henrici, S. J. |
This article is a part of a long chapter in a book entitled: The church and community.1 From this chapter we have selected the parts most relevant to this issue of Wajibu. In the sections preceding the selection, the author warns against the danger of reducing truth to power or vice-versa, or alternatively, to reducing the two to mere service. The author points out that it is only by seeing truth and power in proper relationship to each other that one is able to perform a genuine service of communion and love. On the other hand, service bereft of truth and power will be blind and empty. |
1. Powerful Truth
Authentic truth is by its very nature self-evident and hence convincing. It does not need any support from an outside authority or from pressure groups. "Veritas norma sui et falsi" (Truth is the norm of itself and of falsity - Spinoza). This philosophical principle, however, does not apply to Christian truth.. Christian truth is revealed, precisely because it cannot be self-evident to human beings.
To gain knowledge of a truth which is not self-evident, one must come to know it by communication through another person. Communicated information, however, is more or less probable and "credible," while revealed truth is truth implying certainty and a special kind of "evidence". The apostles and evangelists are not simply transporters of information, but witnesses; and witnesses are those who hand on the apostles' testimony down through the ages. The fact that Christian truth has been communicated to us through witnesses does not detract from this testimony, but adds to its convincing force.
Indeed, the revealed word is directed not only to our conviction, but also our conversion, that is, a radical change of practical attitudes and of the overall orientation of our life. It is impossible to give a purely theoretical assent to Christian truth. The witness who conveys this message must also, therefore, be a converted person. This presents to me a primary form of evidence: in receiving the message from the witness, I perceive at the same time that this message is effectively changing his life. Thus, there must be something "real" and "true" in the message. The witness appears more authentic, namely, insofar as the life of the witness, as it is lived daily, is more coherent in itself and consonant with the message that is presented. Saints are the best witnesses and the most credible communicators of Christian truth.
All this reveals that Christian truth is, by itself, powerful. It is brought forth by the force of witness, it tends to bring about conversion and it is transparent, in the last instance, to divine self-evidence. This is why the Scriptures, from the beginning to the end, insist on the self-imposing force of the "word." A very first precept for Christian communication is, therefore, not to obfuscate or block this divine power of the message by human means or stratagems.
Generally speaking, all authentic Christian communication has to take the form of witness. If our analysis is correct, witness is not only a very important but, indeed, the primary form of Christian communication.
Witness must be the foundation and model of all other forms and "mediations" for communicating Christian truth. Whoever communicates the Christian message directly and explicitly, by whatever means, has to do it as a witness, however imperfect that witnessing may be. This is true whether a person be a member of the hierarchy, a great preacher or a simple catechist or the ordinary lay Catholic in daily contact with believers and unbelievers. Even in indirect (mediated) and implicit communication there is always a dimension of witness, whether this is presenting symbolic figures or stories of Christian witness (for example, in film and television) or whether a communicator is presenting a very personal message. Witness must be central to the communication within the Church, among Christians of different traditions and in the style of dialogue with non-Christians.
2. Truthful Power
Witness alone, however, is not sufficient if one wishes true Christian communication. A dissident theologian or a televangelist may be a powerful witness, but they are not necessarily models for Christian communication. The use they make of their power is always the test of the authenticity of their message and , indeed, this use of power may be in direct contrast to the Christian message. Christ endowed his Church with sacramental, pastoral, and magisterial power in order to support the message and make it truly effective. Any other kind or use of power would be extraneous to or contrary to Christian truth, since it constitutes a kind of purely human "communication" parallel to the Christian witness and easily in contradiction with it. All use of power in Christian communication has to be at the service of Christian truth, and, since this truth seeks to bring about communion, at the service of love.
Here, too, an examination of Christ the witness will give us fuller insight. Christ's teaching was a powerful teaching, thanks to a source of power which was not his own but bestowed on him by the Father who gave witness to his Son and confirmed his witness with miracles (John 5:36; 10:25; Acts 2:22). This divine witness of Christ is also a person, the Spirit. Immediately after the baptism of Jesus at the Jordan and after the public manifestation of the Father's witness to his Son, Jesus is led "by the Spirit" (Mt. 4:1) to his temptations in the desert, a test of his messianic power. The test ends with a triple refusal: the refusal to ask God for more power, however useful for his mission this might seem to be; and the absolute, final refusal to accept power from a source other than God. Consequently, Jesus repeatedly warns his disciples about any abuse of power. "Anyone who wants to be greater among you must be your servant, and anyone who wants to be first among you must be your slave just as the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many"(Mt. 20:27-28). Power, in an ecclesial context, has to be manifested in service.
In communication terms and as a norm for Christian communication, this authentic use of power calls for transparency. Transparency with regard to the source of power, making it evident that this power stems from God and avoiding all claims to power where power is not given (for example, in the case of the merely scientific authority of theologians). There must also be transparency in the use of power, avoiding unnecessary secrecy and obscure manoeuvres, making clear that power is completely at the service of truth and of loving communion. All this will pose strict limits in the use of ecclesiastical power. Transparency should also be present in the message, not imposing it by blind obedience, but allowing the message to give evidence to its own truth and value. Finally, transparency must be present in the witnessing given by those who hold positions of authority: admitting one's human fragility, recognizing one's limits and errors, ready to use one's authority in the service of love and communion. Only an authority capable of admitting and correcting its errors can be "true" authority, that is, an authority capable of growing and enabling others to grow in truth.
1. Edited by Patrick Granfield. Kansas City : Sheed and Ward, 1994. STOP REPLACE ******************************************************************************************************************-->
The Online publishing of WAJIBU is by Koinonia Media Centre.