In his sermon “The Christian Ministry”, Bl. John Henry Newman lays out for us a possible chain of unbelief.  Note that you can start this chain anywhere, but Newman starts it from the point of view of someone who doubts the Priesthood.  Doubt that Christ commissioned the Apostles, and set aside a group of men as special conveyors of divine grace; doubt that and the following logically follows.  And though not everyone may follow this chain, anyone would be logically consistent in doing so …

 

  • If Christ did not commission a group of men as special conveyors of divine grace, then the sacraments they administer may not be what these clergy claim them to be.
  • The Eucharist is therefore (potentially, at least) a “bare commemorative rite”.
  • Baptism, being one of these sacraments, is likewise (quite likely) a formality that may easily be dispensed with.  (This denigration of the sacraments is consistent with the denial of the ordained priesthood.  As Newman notes: “They who think it superstitious to believe that particular persons are channels of grace, are but consistent in denying virtue to particular ordinances.”  If specific persons can not be special channels of grace, why would specific things or actions be?  This is a reasonable inference.)
  • It is likewise “but consistent” to deny original sin.  For if baptism is a mere show, then what is the problem it addresses but a kind of superstition?
  • If sin is not the problem, then the Cross is not the answer.  The doctrine of the Atonement is thus jettisoned.
  • If Christ did not die to save us from sin and reconcile us with the Father, then Christ’s role on earth was that of mere preacher and teacher.
  • Christ therefore need not be considered Divine.
  • And if Christ is not God, then the Trinity is but a confused and arcane notion of the priesthood that we began this chain of conclusions by rejecting.
But why stop there?  If this all is the case, then …

Why should any part of Scripture afford permanent instruction? Why should the way of life be any longer narrow? Why should the burden of the Cross be necessary for every disciple of Christ? Why should the Spirit of adoption any longer be promised us? Why should separation from the world be now a duty?

… which is what we see around us: a Catholicism without Scripture as a guide, Catholics walking a Way that is wide and not narrow (Mat. 7:13-14), Catholics who do not even understand the cross (even as a form of discipline or daily suffering or endurance), Catholics who have never even heard of the “Spirit of adoption”, Catholics who would laugh at any suggestion of “separation from the world”.

Is it any wonder then, that if the parents or grandparents who live like this but who still retain the habit of churchgoing and prayer and Lenten penance manage to raise children and grandchildren who are logically consistent with what their elders believe, and who simply stop practicing all together?  If our faith is Moralistic Therapeutic Deism (without the morality, the therapy or the deity), then why not stay in bed on Sundays … with the girl or boy or computer of your choice?  Really.  Why not?

Humans may be inconsistent day to day, but over the long haul, we are very consistent with behaving according to what we actually believe.  And if we’re not, our children are.