Subverting Theology

[TerrorDæmonum]

Orthodoxy, "right thinking", is something which I think is central to "traditional Catholic" beliefs. While the impetus for the "traditional Catholic" term is to distinguish it from the often novel and confusing practices if not outright heretical practices and thoughts which have risen from Vatican II and after, the focus is supposed to be on authentic, traditional, and true doctrines which are received through the Church and will be carried to the end regardless of temporal confusion.

For Dogmatic Theology, there is generally little subversion. Most people who profess the Faith do so with the intention of accepting all that is taught by the Church, regardless of whether one happens to be aware of it or not. So, those who are not well versed in the positive teachings about the nature of Christ may in error of thinking make false statements, but they are not heretics and they generally are quick to retract statements made in error when they are informed of the dogmas concerned.

However, that is easy. Dogmatic Theology is something which does not have "practical" use for the most part, and it informs us of the truths of God and creation. There is little tendency to deny these truths for people who wish to claim to be Catholic. In fact, for the most part, it is against those who do try to subvert these teachings that we unite as "traditional Catholics".

But, there is more. Accepting the truths without living them is futile:

A certain man had two sons; and coming to the first, he said: Son, go work today in my vineyard. And he answering, said: I will not. But afterwards, being moved with repentance, he went. And coming to the other, he said in like manner. And he answering, said: I go, Sir; and he went not.

Which of the two did the father's will?

It is in our acts (what we choose to do and think) that we bear fruit.

And this is where the problem is...we are highly social, prone to concupiscence, and easily misled. Our thoughts and perceptions are shaded by our experiences. We think what is familiar is "normal" easily in all things. We have feelings and emotions which vary according to factors we cannot fully control.

Throughout all time of the Church, people have been struggling to overcome our tendency to forsake reason and to be led by the passions of the flesh. In particular times and places, there were specific issues as a result of the culture in which Christians lived. The first pagan converts had to overcome their old habits and ways of thinking. The first Jewish converts had to overcome their adherence to aspects of the Old Law which were fulfilled.

And in this day, we have a very secular, godless, culture, driven by many factors and with its own ideas about what is "right". These ideas are infectious as the ideas which so often infected the Israelites...who were constantly falling into idolatry and in-fighting.

These ideas are based on Secular Humanism and similar thoughts. Feminism as a concept (in whatever form) is related. It replaces all moral teaching and the teachings about the nature of humanity with a human focused system which causes discord.

The theology concerned with "practical" truths, specifically how we are to approach God as our Last End, is Moral Theology and this is what is so often subverted. Studying the positive method of Moral Theology is probably binding on those who profess the Faith and have access to the falsehoods.

We are bound to learn and accept the doctrines of the Church which are required to be able to say we are properly Christian, but what good is that if we cannot think and act like Christians?

So, when one finds one has a question, or has a thought about what is "moral", consider, "what is the basis for this thought?". Intuition, feelings, and other easily misled ways of thinking are a trap if one is surrounded by error.

Study Moral Theology and the basic doctrines of the Faith to insulate oneself against error in thinking and acting.

What use does one have for one's own opinions or the opinions of the world if one has solid and easily accessible truths available?