[Pearls Ep 159: Answering atheism Tuesday.]
Tuesday’s posts are generally under the theme “Answering Atheism.”
That is not to say that Tuesday’s posts are necessarily packed with zingers to be used as “atheist stumpers” (though we do often show the logical fallacies of atheist thought…) Tuesday’s posts are more intended to affirm the Gospel message in contrast to the “wisdom of the world.”
And in doing that we often poke fun at the world.
How do we square that with Sunday’s Gospel message of “loving our enemy?”
There is an important distinction to be made between individual people who may be opposed to us in certain ways (our “enemy”) and the classic “three enemies” of humanity – satan, the fallen world and our fallen nature.
To paraphrase The Godfather – three classic enemies “are dead to us.” There is nothing in them that is lovable. The distinction becomes clearer when we consider Christ’s command that we “pray for our enemies.”
This is most obvious with satan – who Jesus describes as a murderer and liar from the beginning. It is pointless to pray for satan. We might as well pray for a rock. Satan is literally more dead than a rock, because satan has willingly and completely separated himself from God. And since God is life, there is no life in satan.
Then there is our fallen human nature. This is exemplified by Jesus saying to Peter, “get behind me satan.” Our fallen nature is beyond redemption. It must be “killed off.” That is the point of mortification. Take for example our “core wound,” be it lust, or greed, or vanity, or gluttony – we can’t toy with it – we can’t pray that we’ll be able to make that part of ourselves lovable. That part of our nature literally must be killed off. This is the aspect of our fallen nature that St. Paul is speaking of when he says:
Now if I do what I do not want … it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells in me.
Lastly, we come to the “fallen world.” This is that aspect of the world that Jesus says cannot accept Truth and hates Jesus and His followers (see John 14:17 and 15:18-20). The fallen world is analogous to the fallen aspect of our nature. In the same way the we can’t make friends with our sinful inclinations it is pointless to try to make friends with the fallen world, or pray for it. Can we pray for conversion for the individual people who are part of the fallen world – absolutely. But we must recognize that there is an implacably evil spirit that is guiding the World Economic Forum, and Hollywood, and Big Tech, and the White House, and so on. Fr. Jordan Aumann advises the best approach to the fallen world is that we protect ourselves from getting drawn into its webs by “meditating on the vanity of the world” and “ignoring what the world thinks.”
So it’s a subtle but important distinction that we love the individual human beings who might be our enemies, but we show no quarter to satan, the fallen world and our own fallen nature.
And that includes poking fun at them.
Blessings on your journey with Christ –
Steve and Karen Smith
Interior Life
Postscript: Matthew 5:38-48
Jesus said to his disciples: “You have heard that it was said, An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth. But I say to you, offer no resistance to one who is evil. When someone strikes you on your right cheek, turn the other one as well. If anyone wants to go to law with you over your tunic, hand over your cloak as well. Should anyone press you into service for one mile, go for two miles. Give to the one who asks of you,and do not turn your back on one who wants to borrow.
“You have heard that it was said, You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy. But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be children of your heavenly Father, for he makes his sun rise on the bad and the good, and causes rain to fall on the just and the unjust. For if you love those who love you, what recompense will you have? Do not the tax collectors do the same? And if you greet your brothers only, what is unusual about that? Do not the pagans do the same? So be perfect, just as your heavenly Father is perfect.”