Cause and Effect Part III: Gethsemane

 "One would be hard pressed to demonstrate that the practical ends of materialism demonstrate anything other than the final degradation of the human person."
"Man is God's mirror. The works of man, therefore, must be godly, for their only proper object is divine. The ultimate success, wherein man achieves union with the divine, is the obedience of Christ crucified. The will of God and its reflection in man, the artistry of God and its perfection in man, are united on the Cross. It is there that the two orders, Creator and created, are made one, the one bringing the other to the fulfillment for which it was made." Fr. Lawrence C. Smith.

Over the last few weeks I have attempted a series of posts as part of an essay dealing with the effects of atheism on man and matter. We looked briefly at Communism as an example of some of the deadly and destructive  results of atheism. The complexity of the topic has forced these short posts to be somewhat incomplete and disjointed. For example, I only ended up writing about the effects of atheism of the human person, and never addressed the subject of the material world at all. Yet I hope that these posts will serve as a starting point for conversation. Your comments are always welcome.

As I come to end of this essay, I recognize that it is almost always easier to criticize and point out what is wrong with the world, than it is to offer a positive and constructive alternative. It is far simpler, and more often appealing to our human nature, to stand in judgment against the crimes and mistakes of others, than to propose a viable solution. The last part of this essay involved a comparison between Christian and atheistic thought, through an examination of the first chapters of Genesis. But it leaves a great unspoken question: does the Church simply condemn the ills of society, or does she offer a real and possible alternative? I believe the answer is yes, so in this closing part of the essay I would like to look at two things: what the hopeful alternative vision is, and how it may be attained.

And so the first question posed may be stated as follows: If the Church condemns atheism and various atheistic philosophical and social structures such as Communism, modernity, materialism, and humanism as intrinsically evil; and if history and reason demonstrate the destructive tendencies of such, then what alternative does the Church offer? What does faith in God mean to us practically, in our work, in our politics, in our societies, in our personal lives and our immortal souls? What is Christianity's vision of Man? Perhaps the Church merely condemns and judges, but has no better option to offer us. Or perhaps She has been truly granted a God-given vision and the supernatural means to restore the great and glorious Original Dignity of Man.

While the answers to these questions could fill volumes, and have done so, they can also be expressed in a few sentences. "...he has bestowed on us the precious and very great promises, so that through them you may come to share in the divine nature, after escaping the corruption that is in the world because of evil desire." (II Peter 1:4) Here is the key, the answer, the hopeful vision that is offered unto us. Man was created in the Image of God, and has never completely lost that Image. The consciousness and freewill of man, even in the dreadful choice of Hell, still bears witness to it. Still, the separation of man from God, and the effects of the Fall have all but obliterated the true Person of Man.

This, then, is the great hope and vision of Christianity, that humans can be made partakers in the divine nature and thus be restored to the original purpose and dignity of man. And in the process we will find the purpose and dignity of our work, relationships, etc., restored as well. To attempt to solve the ills of our present state by addressing the effects rather than the cause is futile. Economics, education, politics, sociology, etc., are all focused on effect, not cause, and can never offer more than a transient improvement of our situation.

Christianity starts at the beginning, with the cause, by restoring man's relationship with God, and finds along the way that the effects begin to dramatically improve as well.

So, how is this great Hope achieved? Is the Christian message merely wishful thinking, or does it offer us a real possibility and the means to attain it? It does so, and it does so by striking at the very root of the problem, and it does so in the Person of Christ. Christ comes not only as our saving God, but as the God-Man he undoes the denial of God by Adam through His acceptance of the will of God. And Christ does this in a very striking, specific, and unforgettable way, in a place that is pregnant with meaning to us.

In the last part of this essay we looked at a comparison between two gardens, the Garden of Eden and the Utopian paradise of humanism. But the attempts of man to effect a Paradise sans Dieu create only an awful and barren desert. So we journey in sorrow and come at last to another garden, a garden full of suffering, helpless and often stupid friends, traitors, enemies and temptations. We come at last to Gethsemane. And there the voice of one Man is heard, repudiating the denial of Adam, and accepting the God of us all. "Nevertheless, not my will, but Thine be done." Here Christ, having entered the human condition, undoes the pride and denial of our first parents, going all the way to the culmination of the Cross. And He bears the curse that was its result.

"Thorns and thistles shall it bring forth to you...." "Weaving a crown of thorns they placed it on his head...."

"By the sweat of your face shall you get bread to eat...." "...His sweat became like drops of blood falling to the ground."

"In the day that you eat of it you shall die." "Jesus cried out with a loud voice, 'Father, into your hands I commend my spirit', and when he had said this he breathed his last."

And so the curse is borne, but not removed. We still live in a fallen world of suffering. As seen in so many other examples Christianity does not offer us an obvious or expected answer, but God has picked out for us a remarkable and unexpected path. On one hand the Greek sect of the Stoics dealt with suffering by manly acceptance. And the Eastern thought of Buddhism seeks to escape suffering by denying the desires that cause it. On the other hand our modern societies seek an escape from suffering by the uninhibited pursuit of pleasure. But God offers us neither Stoicism nor escapism. Through the acceptance of God, and through being made partakers in the divine nature, we find our sufferings not done away with but redeemed. God draws a real and actual good from our sufferings and works. By God's Grace virtue and merit are attained, and our souls and the souls of others are healed and benefited. Through Her message and the Sacraments the Church offers us not platitudes, nor a vacant mirage, but a true Hope, an actual restoration, though it lead us to Gethsemane, though it lead us to the Cross. The Faith is not a quick-fix, it is Redemption. Christianity is not an easy way. It is the Way, and the Gospel is the great and glorious message of our Hope.