178 Chapter 13
WHY IT WAS WORTHWHILE
for the cosmos can ever allow even one of these four to be anything but 'pretend.' However, the existence of
all four appears to be vital to the existence of science as modern men understand it.
'Science' is itself no time-less thing. It will not continue unless Man creates a world in which it can exist.
Thus, the Real World that is indeed the world that 'flesh' correctly finds on its own is not only insane,
pessimistic beyond despair, and a world that of its very nature forces Man to lie to himself, just to make it
through the day. It is also a world in which science is literally inconceivable -- a world in which even the idea
of true science can not appear, because the idea of true science relies on the reality of free will, responsibility,
creativity, and surprise.
To put this in the stern theological terms that such a serious topic merits, a world in which 'grown-ups'
find it inconceivable that a man could commit a mortal sin at any time, is a world in which science as we
know it, and many other things as well, have breathed their last breaths -- because mortal sin is only possible
for men who are genuinely free, and thus, genuinely responsible. Yet the devil makes such a world, a world in
which Man is 'freed' from the terror of mortal sin, via the minor sacrifice of enslaving himself into
fundamentally un-free, irresponsible, uncreative, and unsurprising existence, easily available to Man, every
day of Man's life.
Of course, even if the preceding argument is much more clever and decisive than I imagine it to be, it is
only an argument. It proclaims the Good News to no one. New Class men may indeed turn one day from the
argument that Catholicism should be attacked, ignored, dismissed, and reviled -- because the existence of
Catholicism is antithetical to New Class interests -- to the argument that Catholicism ought to be encouraged,
because the existence of Catholicism is convenient to New Class interests. After all, the Romans themselves
did no less. But proclaiming, either to the old Romans or to the New Class, that they are loved and therefore
are under judgment, is something Man can not do. For this sacred task, only the Eucharistic presence of Christ
himself will suffice.
Man needs to hear the Good News, today, as much as ever, and Catholic theology can help draw Man
toward the sole re-presentation of the Good News in the Eucharist. However, the magisterium can not
worship for Man. Better Catholic theology is an inviolable aspect of Man's covenantal freedom. A history
which includes Catholic theology better turned toward its "prime analogate," the "radically historical"
Eucharistic Event, will not exist until Man makes that history, by creating it in and through the public history
given in and through the Church's worship. The history of that better Catholic theology does not yet exist, and
it may not exist for a long time, but oh, how that history is needed.
Members of the New Class are free to reject the hard saying that is also the sweet yoke of Catholic faith
which is offered them. This scarcely distinguishes them from any other men.
However, as a class the New Class must always be profoundly affected by Catholic theology, for all its
members spend their working lives inquiring, producing knowledge, or utilizing it, and are thus preoccupied
with the giving of reasons. If Catholic theology has made, and persisted in, deep intellectual and scientific
mistakes, members of the New Class in particular will be impeded in their own "searching" to find and to
appropriate Christ's sacramental -- his covenantal -- presence.
Moreover, the present theological situation is about as bad as it can get for men whose job is the
production and utilization of knowledge. Theirs can be no mere 'aesthetic' reaction to the particular defects in
present day Catholic theology documented in Covenantal Theology, for these specific inadequacies affect all
the members of the New Class immediately and personally, as human beings. Members of the New Class as
members of the New Class have little or no opportunity to recognize themselves as loved by Christ. They
spend their daily lives at tasks for which present day Catholic theology has no words.
N.B. This is an html-ized copy of a page from the pdf file, The Knucklehead's Guide to Covenantal Theology.