The Catholic faith is beautiful, intelligent, deep, nuanced, and mysterious. We’ve got thousands of years of thinking, writing, reflecting, and praying to choose from for both Testaments. It is a glorious story of Love of our Creator for His beloved — a searing, passionate romance. All of which makes it really hard to explain in 30 seconds.
But sometimes that’s all the chance you have with people, a mere two minutes, one minute, half minute. Maybe the length of an elevator ride; as captive an audience as you’ll ever have. 1 Peter 3:15 exhorts us to “being ready always to satisfy every one that asks you a reason of that hope which is in you.” Some topics are so complex that they defy easy explanation. Some explanations, no matter how lengthy, are doomed to be misunderstood or not understood at all.
I can’t count the times when someone has asked me, “Why do Catholics believe X?”. Every time I go to give the explanation, I realize that this person simply doesn’t have the background to understand the answer. That’s no knock on their intelligence, and I’m no great apologist either. Any answer that I might give them would bring up three more questions, each more tricky than the last. That’s great if you’re in RCIA, for example where you’ve got loads of time to examine everything, but not so great if you’re passing someone in the halls or the elevator.
Maybe my answers are so loaded with Catholic jargon, Christian anthropology, and systematic theology that they are simply obtuse (or bad, or wrong, who knows?). But I can’t help feeling that in order to explain X, I’m going to have to back up and explain the foundations of X; and to understand that, I’ll have to back up again. What I started finding was that I needed to back up all the way to the beginning with Adam and Eve. If you understand how it was in the beginning, everything else sort of logically follows.
Want to understand the Church’s teaching on “gay marriage”? Let’s start with Adam and Eve. The Church’s position on the rights of workers? Back to Genesis. Conscience protection? Man’s final end? The problem of evil in the world? Mary and the saints? Open to Chapter 1.
Most people aren’t that patient.
So for a while when people asked me “Catholic Questions” I took to replying, “Well, I could give you an answer, but you won’t like it.” (Because it would be unsatisfying.) But that was no good because it was vaguely annoying and ducking the question to boot.
If people were curious, they must want some answer. Give them too much and you scare them away. Give them too little and they dismiss it as unconvincing. There must be a way to answer in a short way that is satisfying on the surface, that points to a deeper truth, AND that can be understood by the average guy on the street without a degree in theology, philosophy, or rocket science.
In short, we need some Joe Six-Pack answers.
Once, my brother met a mixed bunch of co-workers and their friends for casual dinner after work. As he was sitting down, one guy suddenly hit him with the question, “So, you’re Catholic, huh? How come?”. Without thinking about it my brother replied, “Because we’re right.”
Granted, that was a little snarky but it did get the point across. Maybe we should add “charitable” to our list of requirements.
On another occasion, I was on travel at a conference and fell in with a group that included a young lady and her finance. They were Catholic, but not well versed in Church teaching. She honestly wanted to know why the Church was against contraception within marriage. I thought for a second and then replied, “Let’s think of it this way …”
“Eating is an appetite. Sex is an appetite. The primary purpose of eating is nutrition. It also tastes good. There are people who eat a bunch of food because it tastes good, but then throw it up because they don’t want to gain weight. We call that a disorder.
“The primary purpose of sex is procreation. It also feels good. If we have a bunch of sex because it feels good, but frustrate the primary purpose (having babies) — what would you call that?”
So there you have it, one of my Joe Six-Pack answers. There must be more. If you have any examples, I’d love to hear them. Put them in the combox so we all can benefit.
In the meantime, relax and enjoy your rich Catholic faith, whether by champagne flutes or by the six-pack.
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Good topic, Nod!
This one is nicked from Scott Hahn, for when Protestants ask why we honour Our Lady:
Two things to consider: Christ as a good Jew kept the commandments perfectly, including the 4th Commandment, so he honoured Mary. We, as Christians, imitate Christ.
(Incidentally, this is a good support for the doctrines of the Immaculate Conception and sinlessness of Our Lady : Christ honoured her – but He would not honour someone unworthy of honour – so He made her honourable).
Jesus honoring Mary as a good Jewish boy — that's a good one, Ben. I recall hearing Scott Hahn say that once upon a time. It's a good reminder, and a "Joe Six-pack" answer!