Questioning Christ Fruitfully [Pope Francis Bookclub]

Last updated on: June 9, 2014 at 2:41 pm by Leah Libresco

Questioning Christ Fruitfully [Pope Francis Bookclub] 2014-06-09T14:41:36-04:00 Leah Libresco

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

In 2014, I’m reading and blogging through Pope Francis/Cardinal Bergoglio’s Open Mind, Faithful Heart: Reflections on Following Jesus. Every Monday, I’ll be writing about the next meditation in the book, so you’re welcome to peruse them all and/or read along.

The title of this week’s chapter is “Faith Beyond Space and Time,” and it’s mainly about bewilderment. Because God is transcendent, we usually go slightly wrong in our discussions and questions, but we can be confused in an appropriate or inappropriate way. In the chapter, Pope Francis writes:

We should not confuse bewilderment with the doubt provoked by the devilish curiosity that seeks to know the identity of Jesus in order to take measures against him… It is also the tactic used by those who try to trap him with difficult questions about paying tribute to Caesar or punishing an adulterous woman or marriage arrangements in heaven… Our honest perplexity always remains open to God’s salvation, but our idle curiosity does not.

Reading through his examples and exegesis, I was struck by another distinction. In the examples that Pope Francis cites as “devilish curiosity” people tend to be asking Christ questions they don’t really want to know the answer to. The man who asks about repeated marriage and heaven is not necessarily in his second marriage — he won’t behave differently depending on the answer he receives — he just wants to ask a “hard” question to reveal Christ to be as bewildered as his interlocutor.

In contrast, the young man who has faithfully followed the commandments and wants to know what else is needed is also asking a “hard” question, but he’s asking so that he can learn and make a choice. The question has personal stakes. Once he hears the answer, he has the chance to test it by living it, in which case he will come to know Christ better by the fruits of his advice.

In contrast, the people asking about serial marriage will not put what they hear through the test of action and are more likely to wind up ruminating — turning the question over and over as a hypothetical without bringing it into contact with lived experience that could offer a correction to your assumptions.

Asking a question you truly need the answer to helps keep a dispute or inquisition honest. If I were really in an argument where none of my possible questions seemed to cash out in terms of action I would take, I might start to wonder whether the discussion was really a good use of either of our time.

Appropriately enough, now that Pentecost is over, next week we begin the third section of Pope Francis’s book: The Letters to the Seven Churches, as the disciples go out to fulfill the Great Commission.

Parsing Catholicism

Pope Francis bookclub

Previous Post

June 8, 2014

Hibernia Ho!

Next Post

June 10, 2014 The Loneliness of Lying

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category 7 Quick Takes Apologetics Atheism Book Conversion Debate Tactics Debates Epistemology/Philosophy Housekeeping Ideological Turing Test Marriage Morality in Practice Parsing Catholicism Possibly Heretical Radio Reviews/Recommendations Sequence Index Spiritual Practice Uncategorized

Select a Month April 2017 March 2017 January 2017 December 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012 April 2012 March 2012 February 2012 January 2012 December 2011 November 2011 October 2011 September 2011 August 2011 July 2011 June 2011 May 2011 April 2011 March 2011 February 2011 January 2011 December 2010 November 2010 October 2010 September 2010 August 2010 July 2010 June 2010

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

In Revelation, how many lampstands does John see?

Select your answer to see how you score.

Seven golden lampstands Ten lampstands Twelve lampstands Four lampstands