Why Do We Need Theology?

In the wake of the Holy Father's latest motu proprio, many people may be wondering what the role of the discipline of Theology is in the Church today. Indeed, they are right to be suspicious given how Theology is taught in many CINO (Catholic in Name Only) academic institutions. As I wrote about in, Do I Regret My Masters Degree in Theology?, I could have been better served from reading the Baltimore Catechism and studying various papal encyclicals on my own.

However, studying Theology as a discipline did present me with the opportunity to dig deeper not just into what we believe as Catholics, but why we believe what we do--in other words, where the "rules" and teachings come from and what their source is. Of course, everything goes back to Divine Revelation as well as the "two lungs" of Sacred Scripture and Sacred Tradition; this is the backdrop against which all theology should be checked against. 

But life is not so black and white, and circumstances, intentions, and other mitigations can offset culpability when it comes to moral acts. This is basic catechesis here (as we see, for example, in the conditions to qualify a sin as mortal versus venial), though in the wake of a reactionary kind of "Catholic fundamentalism" that can sometimes be seen in traditionalist circles these areas of grey can make one who wants black and white answers uncomfortable. 

I think this is why priests like Fr. Ripperger and Fr. Isaac Mary Reyes have gained so much traction in these circles over the past few years. In the wake of wishy-washy moral reasoning, subjectivism, Gradualism, and "white bread" catechesis devoid of substance, these priests dish out hearty portions of substantive and unapologetic teaching that people are starving for. They also do so with a mesmerizing air of assurance so that one can hardly help but eat what they put on your plate without questioning. It's easier to say, "Fr. Ripperger said..." and point to a lecture or conference on something like Harry Potter or working outside the home and end the discussion there. It's natural that such springs of delivery would make their way to the surface because of the parched and arid environment we have been living in as Catholics since the Second Vatican Council.

But the work of Theology--much like the interior life--is just that: work. It takes time, study (and not strictly academic study), discipline, integrity, and wrestling with various issues to mature and deepen. We know that Christ is both true God and true man, but what does that really mean for us? What are its implications for us as human persons? 

For all the knocking in trad circles, St. Pope John Paul II was a theologian in the truest sense of the word, as was Pope Benedict XVI. Even if you disagree with his Personalist approach to, for example, sexual ethics, he employed the best of philosophy, moral theology, and orthodox magisterial teaching for the ends of true pastoralism. I don't think I have to say how this obviously contrasts with the approach of the current pontificate to "doing" theology.

Catholic fundamentalism, not unlike Protestant fundamentalism, seeks to settle things clearly and quickly so that one does not have to deal with the messy particulars of life and complicated moral issues. Instead, they prefer pre-packaged snack packs and one-size-fits-all dresses that apply to all people in all circumstances. And who wouldn't? It can be easier, safer, and more convenient to do so. Catechesis may be viewed in a positive light, but Theology through a lens of suspicion (given how it has been abused in the past). As Catholics, we rely on moral and magisterial teaching to be developed through the filter of learned theologians. But what do you do when those theologians can no longer be trusted or are heterodox in their reasoning?

We don't necessarily "do" theology on our own as Catholics in the way a Sola Scriptura Protestant would sit down with his Bible and interpret the Word of God on his own. But that doesn't mean we get a pass from having to wrestle with our own circumstances and moral life and work out the concrete particulars as they pertain to those instances.

Take the issue of marital foreplay. If you have three schools of interpretation with regards to, say, the role of fellatio among married persons, you may get three different answers: the Liguorians would say, "no never," the Thomists would say "no, but..." and the Personalists would say, "yes, but..." For a scrupulous person, liberty is a frightful prospect, and Augustine's "Love, and do as you will" adage is a cause for anxiety. And so when the marital bed should be a vast playground for our delight and walled in for our safety (so we don't fall off the edge into mortal sin) but instead becomes a paralyzing field of landmines to be avoided, we have missed the entire gift of marital intimacy given to us by God and instead get focused on the texture of the wrapping paper.

Theology does not live unfettered on its own, nor does it rest on either Sacred Scripture or Sacred Tradition alone either. Theology is the synthesis of moral reasoning in light of both, and lives within the walls of the safe house of magisterial teaching. We think theologically not to get puffed up as JV academics, but to live out our vocations and work out these issues with a sense of maturity. 

Just as not all are called to be mystics or religious, so not all are called to be theologians. The universal call is to holiness, not knowledge. A person can have a simple, child-like faith accepted with docility having never read anything on the topic of theology. Likewise, the most learned academic theologian can have no moral virtue in him.

Pablo Picasso had a quote attributed to him (accurate or not, I'm not sure) that went something like, "Learn the rules like a pro, so you can break them like an artist." Under the tutelage of his father, he learned to paint as an academic realist and naturalist, but later in life began to experiment, moving into abstraction, earning the right. As Catholics, we are not looking to "break the rules" for their own sake, but we are called to learn what they are so that we can work out our salvation in the concrete particulars of our state of life in a way pleasing to God and avoid that which stunts our spiritual maturity (namely, sin). Theology is learning to first stay within the lines while realizing that no artist ever became a great master by sticking with paint-by-number.

I have nothing against St. Thomas or St. Alphonsus, but we have a diversity of Doctors, religious orders, charisms, and saints in the Church for a reason. Even Theology itself is not uniform, but disciplines within a Discipline (moral theology, systematic theology, mystical theology, etc). People are not one-size-fits-all, and though Divine Revelation is unchanging, our world and our circumstances are not. 

If Christ incarnate helps us make sense of who God is, and Theology is the study of God, then it is Theology which us unpack the mystery of that revelation and work out what it means to be a human being created in God's own image and how that reality is lived out. What's unfortunate is that so many theologians have not been faithful to their calling or the Church and have tainted the science by acting like teenagers rebelling against their parents. Questioning is okay. Even doubting is okay. But to the degree Theology does not comport to the Truth, it betrays its raison d'etre and becomes nothing more than another academic discipline--salt that has lost its seasoning and is not even worthy of the dunghill.