Ave Maria!

I recently ran across an article by Fr. John Gavin, SJ, in Faith Magazine which merits some comment. Before commenting on the article, however, let me say that Faith Magazine is one of the very few groups who through the internet and the printed word are taking seriously the doctrine of the absolute primacy of Christ in all of creation and simultaneously not compromising the Catholic Faith in all of its fullness. Their magazine was strongly recommended recently by Fr. Z’s blog and I second that recommendation.

The article in question, The Primacy of Christ and the Cross: Some Considerations from Ambrose of Milan, (Sept.-Oct. 2010) starts off with a solid summary of Scotus and the primacy of Christ in all creation. Fr. Gavin writes:

Today, when many speak of the primacy of Christ in creation, they are referring to the Scotist interpretation of the divine motive for the Incarnation: the Incarnation is the primary end of all creation.[1] Thus, if man had not fallen into sin, the Incarnation would have still taken place. This view is not lacking in Scriptural support: “For by him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by him and for him” {Col. 1:16). One can also consider the teachings of such Fathers of the Church as St. Irenaeus of Lyons or St. Maximus the Confessor, and such later thinkers as Henri de Lubac or Hans Urs von Balthasar. In fact, one may argue that it is the predominant viewpoint in contemporary theology.

Whether it is the predominant viewpoint in contemporary theology or not is definitely debatable; but the synthesis of the doctrine is concise and accurate. He also notes how this doctrine underscores man’s divinization in Christ and the fact that the whole universe (and the sciences that study it) only makes sense in the light of Christ:

This perspective has much to commend it. First, it demonstrates that the Incarnation took place for man’s deificatio, the union of man with the divine nature. The primary end of the Word’s enfleshment is divine adoption and union: “God became man, in order that man might become God” (St. Athanasius). Second, some believe this understanding of primacy allows for a Christological framework conducive to the contemporary scientific conception of the universe. In a sense, Christ provides the grand unifying theory long sought by physicists, since creation unfolds within the Word’s dynamic and personal assumption of human nature, “the microcosmos”. All things exist in order to be united and transformed in Christ, and Christ serves as the key for understanding the end of the universe.

Let me note, however, that for Scotus the primary end of the Incarnation is not man’s deificatio or divinization; but rather, the maximum glory of God. According to Scotus the Incarnation is not occasioned by anything in the created world – neither man’s need for Redemption nor man’s divinization. God simply willed it first – primarily – and this without condition. Scotus writes: “In fact, even if no man or angel had fallen, nor any man but Christ were to be created, Christ would still have been predestined this way… Therefore, after first willing those objects intrinsic to Himself, God willed this glory for Christ.  Therefore, before any merit or demerit, He foresaw that Christ would be united with Him in the oneness of Person.” [you might want to take a look at the fuller context of these quotation of Scotus’ Opus Parisiense]. While this is a subtle aspect of the Subtle Doctor, it is worth mentioning. 🙂

At any rate, after his synthesis the article makes a disconcerting about-face. Fr. Gavin gives the impression that this doctrine, namely that “the Incarnation is the primary end of all creation,” is dangerous and even out of touch with reality.

Scotus’ doctrine on the primacy: dangerous?

He writes, “But this position is not without its dangers.” Question: If this doctrine is true, can we call it dangerous? I suppose this might have been one of the many objections to Scotus’ teaching on the Immaculate Conception: it was considered “dangerous” to say that Our Lady was preserved from all taint of sin because this might somehow threaten the key doctrine that Jesus is Redeemer of all. But in the end the Church acknowledged that Mary was immaculately conceived and this by way of a preservative redemption in view of the foreseen merits of Jesus Christ.

His doctrine is not dangerous. What is dangerous is the wrong interpretations and applications of the doctrine, and this holds for all Catholic doctrine, all revealed truth. This is why Jesus promised the Holy Spirit to the Church: the Pope and the Magisterium who are our sure guide. If we remain with the Church in her profession of Faith then there is no danger. The Franciscan school has always upheld the doctrine of Scotus on the absolute primacy of Christ sub ductum Ecclesiae – under the guidance of the Church. And, as a matter of fact, the present Pontiff, Pope Benedict XVI, has even promoted discussion in this area by commending Bl. John Duns Scotus christocentric view of the universe and the unconditional decree of the Incarnation [The 1 minute video of the Pope’s address about Scotus in English is worth watching]

Scotus’ perspective is a-historical, counter-factual, hypothetical in nature?!?

After saying that the scotistic position is inherently dangerous, the article continues:

The Scotist position, as one might call it, often leads to an a-historicism that reduces the person of Jesus Christ to alpha and omega points that enclose the divine economy. In fact, this perspective itself is a-historical and counterfactual, as evinced by the very hypothetical nature of the proposition: if man had not fallen, the Incarnation would have still taken place. While a hypothetical stance allows us to perceive important aspects of the divine plan (e.g., the deificatio of man), it unfortunately requires a certain abstraction from the Jesus of history, from our own reality as sinful creatures, and from the salvation won for us upon the Cross.

It is known that Fr. Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, S.J., was guilty of such things, but then again, he never claimed to be a follower of Scotus. [Dr. Dietrich von Hildebrand gives a solid evaluation of him]. In fact it was the Scotist, Bl. Gabriel M. Allegra, OFM, who read his books, dialogued with him at length about the doctrine of Bl. John Duns Scotus, and all along maintained the censure of these books. If Fr. Chardin had embraced the doctrine of Scotus, and this sub ductum Ecclesiae, then perhaps he might have avoided some of the pitfalls in his writings which tended to confuse science with philosophy and theology without making proper distinctions, tended to see theology as being in contradiction with the reality of science, which failed to speak properly of original sin and man’s redemption, etc. Scotus, on the other hand, never used this terminology: “alpha and omega point of the divine economy.” To my knowledge, he himself never makes reference to Christ as the Alpha and Omega in asserting the absolute, unconditional predestination of Christ.

Be that as it may, Scotus was by no stretch of the imagination out of touch with reality (“a-historical”). The Incarnation is real history, indeed the center of the real, factual history of the universe. His doctrine on the predestination of Christ – often dubbed the “Franciscan thesis” – cannot but lead one to adore Christ, the historical Christ, who is true God and true man. Franciscans, after all, are famous for spreading the Christmas creche and for promoting the Stations of the Cross. There is nothing “counter-factual” in asserting that Christ’s predestination is absolute: sin or no sin. Rather, Scotus (and many others before and after him) are pondering about the motive of the actual Incarnation. The Word became flesh – fact – but why did He become flesh? The hypothetical question of the Medeival Theologians served only to reflect on the reason why God willed the Incarnation in the first place. By no means were their responses divorced from the historical fact of the Incarnation. As I wrote in my book A Primer on the Absolute Primacy of Christ [here’s the weblink to the passage]:

In reflecting on the reason for the Incarnation, keep in mind that we are not considering a hypothetical question of what might or might not have happened if Adam had not sinned. Rather, faced with the fact of the Incarnation we are seeking—with our human intelligence (philosophy) and through divine revelation (theology)—“to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know Christ’s love which surpasses all knowledge, in order that you may be filled unto all the fullness of God” (Eph. 3:18-19).

Scotus: the best synthesis of Christ’s primacy and His redeeming mission

Scotus and the Franciscan school never in the slightest deny or downplay, but rather affirm and adore Jesus as described by Fr. Gavin in his beautiful words: “Jesus of Nazareth, the Word incarnate, who was born, grew in strength and wisdom, preached and performed mighty signs, freely gave his life on the cross, was raised and is now seated at the right hand of the Father.” Hence, I do not agree with his conclusion that “One must say, therefore, that God made this universe on the basis of the free and loving sacrifice of Jesus, not solely on the basis of a vision of the cosmic Christ.”

From the sound perspective of Scotus, if we are going to understand the “why” of the Incarnation we must start from the divine plan and not from man’s need after sin; we must start from above, and not from below. The reason for the Incarnation must be found in God’s will. This is not a divorce from reality, history or facts; rather, it is THE reality, THE center of history, THE fact that guides the creative and redeeming hand of God.

It is for this reason that I wholeheartedly agree with the marvelous synthesis of the Christology of Scotus made by Bl. Gabriel M. Allegra (+1976). It is in this fuller Christological perspective that the assertions of Scotus make sense. In fact, as Bl. Gabriel repeatedly points out, it is precisely the perspective of Scotus that keeps both the key elements intact, namely, the universal primacy of Christ in all of creation and the Redemption of the human race. Bl. Allegra writes: “In this [assertion of Scotus] Christian anthropology and the mystery of the Cross are, in my opinion, integrally kept intact – no part of the revealed truth is lost or mitigated. Rather, the mystery of the Cross is actually immersed in the most ardent and tender flames of divine love.”

In all truth, the doctrine of the absolute primacy of Jesus of Nazareth (sin or no sin) is both factual and historical. It is the Thomistic position which infers the hypothetical, counterfactual: If Adam had not sinned, there would be no Incarnation. Now that’s extremely hypothetical!

Thus the conclusion of Fr. Gavin seems actually to find its solution in the very doctrine he criticizes. He writes: “Thus, a teaching regarding the primacy of Christ must not limit itself to a hypothetical stance that, despite its importance, runs the risk of reducing Christ to a final cause or to a unifying theory. It must balance such a view with the tradition that highlights the crucified and risen Lord of history, Jesus of Nazareth, who came that we might be saved (“O felix culpa!”).” But it is precisely Scotus who balances both of these elements without reducing Jesus either to a “unifying theory” à la Chardin or to a “divine scapegoat theory” à la Calvin.

As for the felix culpa, well, as Scotus puts it: “Christ would not have come as Redeemer if man had not fallen” – this is true – but it does not follow that He would not have become Incarnate at all. I have commented elsewhere more extensively on the “Oh happy fault” of the Exultet. The Church is by no means rejoicing over the fall of Adam, but in God’s victory over sin through the Paschal mystery.

In Corde Matris,
fr maximilian mary dean

Below is the Foreward to the Primer on the Absolute Primacy of Christ written by Msgr. Arthur B. Calkins. With the exception of the biographical section on Bl. John Duns Scotus (not posted on this website because there are plenty of biographical sketches on the web and because it is basically a translation of Fr. Diomede Scaramuzzi, OFM, with some additions from the biography written by Fr. Stefano M. Manelli, FI, both of which present details which are controversial and off our subject here), the entire book is posted here on the static pages of the website. In a certain sense posting Msgr. Calkins Foreword is like serving the best wine last – it has been in reserve for this moment!

Foreward to the Primer on the Absolute Primacy of Christ

by Msgr. Arthur B. Calkins

It is a joy and a privilege for me to offer a word of introduction to this little book by Father Maximilian Mary Dean, F.I. for a variety of reasons.  First of all, I am happy to do so because of my close association with the Franciscan Friars of the Immaculate from the very beginnings of their existence as a new religious community sprung from the Marian charism of Saint Francis of Assisi as lived by Saint Maximilian Maria Kolbe and Saint Pio of Pietrelcina.  My relationship with them has been a source of countless blessings for me and has given me an ever greater appreciation of the Franciscan heritage in theology and spirituality which enshrines what Saint Maximilian Kolbe referred to as the “golden thread” of the Immaculate.  Further, and as an integral component of that fundamental Franciscan-Marian charism, I am especially pleased to share my conviction about the inestimable value of the contribution of Blessed John Duns Scotus to Catholic theology and spirituality and hence to the useful introduction to this master with which Father Maximilian Mary has provided us.

I can trace my own attraction to the Subtle Doctor, as Scotus is known, to three specific stages in the course of my own intellectual and spiritual formation besides the on-going influence of the Franciscan Friars of the Immaculate.  The first was my initiation into scotistic studies, even if at a very elementary level, in the mid 1980s through the good offices of Father James McCurry, O.F.M. Conv. and my fascination with the last great work of the late Father Juniper Carol, O.F.M., Why Jesus Christ?[1] which the author kindly autographed for me “with best Scotistic wishes”!  The second was my visit to the tomb of Blessed John Duns Scotus in Cologne after the Mariological Congress at Kevelaer on 21 September 1987 in the company of Father McCurry.  (One must never discount the efficacy of contact with the relics of holy persons.)  I still remember the pithy Latin inscription on the tomb:  Scotia me genuit.  Anglia me docuit.  Gallia me accepit.  Colonia me tenet.  [Scotland gave me birth.  England taught me.  France received me.  Cologne holds me.]  The third was my presence in the Vatican Basilica on 20 March 1993 for the confirmation of the cultus of John Duns Scotus and the beatification of Dina Bélanger, another one of my heavenly friends in whose life the Marian imprint is also very strong.  Because of complex historical vicissitudes, the process of the “equivalent beatification” of Scotus had been arrived at only after the solemn promulgation of the Decree Qui docti fuerint in the presence of the Holy Father on 6 July 1991 which authoritatively affirmed that “The reputation for sanctity and heroic virtues of the Servant of God John Duns Scotus as well as the cultus offered to him from time immemorial are established with certainty.”  (Just as in the case of venerating relics, I believe that there are special graces which come through the intercession of Saints and Blesseds when they are being elevated to the honors of the altar.)

What I arrived at by degrees – and I believe by intervention of divine providence – Father Maximilian Mary has arranged for us in an orderly fashion.  As one meditates on the insights of Scotus – and these can readily serve as the theme of our prayer as well as of our study – one begins to see not only the depths of the Subtle Doctor’s thought, but even more, the depths of God’s divine plan for creation.  For this reason, it is a tragedy that such immense prejudice has been shown to the insights of Scotus in the course of the centuries.  One can more readily understand the animus against him by English Protestants because of his identification with the Catholic doctrine on the Eucharist and loyalty to the Successor of St. Peter (which issued in his name, “dunce,” becoming a synonym for fool) than the incredible bigotry against him which I have personally met in Catholics who seem otherwise to be well educated.  The principal reason for this discrimination among Catholic intellectuals, I fear, should not be attributed to St. Thomas Aquinas, but rather to many of his lesser disciples.[2]

What are Scotus’ insights, then?  The principal ones have to do precisely with Jesus Christ as the absolute center of the created universe and His Mother as next to him in the hierarchy of created being.  They have to do with God’s eternal plan before time began and before his taking into account – we are speaking in a human way here – the reality of man’s fall from grace.  As Father Maximilian points out with great skill, this is precisely the vision which St. Paul communicates in his great Christological hymns found in Ephesians 1:3-10 and Colossians 1:12-20.  It is a marvelously optimistic view of the immensity of God’s goodness and of the role of the created human nature of the Son of God, a vision of creation worthy of being drawn out and substantiated by a spiritual son of the saint who chanted the Canticle of Brother Sun.

It was in fact the bold philosophical thought of Scotus which overcame the objections to Mary’s Immaculate Conception.  God, who could foresee the fruits of the redemption wrought by Christ, could communicate them in advance to the New Eve so that she could collaborate in the redemption of the rest of us.  This is an amazing insight into the divine purposes which Blessed Pius IX codified, so to speak, in Ineffabilis Deus, the Apostolic Constitution proclaiming the Immaculate Conception, by stating that “God, by one and the same decree, had established the origin of Mary and the Incarnation of Divine Wisdom.”  This, in effect, was a confirmation of the thesis sustained by Scotus and his followers for centuries.  The late Pope John Paul II beautifully corroborated this fact in his Marian encyclical Redemptoris Mater by stating of Mary that

In the mystery of Christ she is present even “before the creation of the world,” as the one whom the Father “has chosen” as Mother of his Son in the Incarnation.  And, what is more, together with the Father, the Son has chosen her, entrusting her eternally to the Spirit of holiness.  In an entirely special and exceptional way Mary is united to Christ, and similarly she is eternally loved in this “beloved Son,” this Son who is of one being with the Father, in whom is concentrated all the “glory of grace” [Redemptoris Mater #8]

In this vision Jesus and Mary are part of God’s eternal plan as the crown of creation even before the prevision of original sin.  True, they are not on the same level because Jesus is the God-man whereas Mary is only a human creature, but a creature unlike any other.  The attentive reader will note that Father Maximilian draws out the unique mediatorial role of Mary – always subordinate to that of Jesus – which, in this line of thought, anticipates her role in the distribution of graces deriving from her unique function in the working out of our redemption.

Meditating on these mysteries of faith over the years, I have become a convinced Scotist with regard to the motive of the Incarnation, the Immaculate Conception and the absolute primacy of Christ from which Mary’s “subordinate primacy” cannot be separated.  At least on the mystery of the Immaculate Conception, St. Thomas’ followers have had to concede the point after the solemn definition of the doctrine in 1854, although probably most of them would continue to put up stiff resistance on the other two matters.  Nonetheless I continue to believe that these points, so faithfully attested to by Blessed John Duns Scotus and his disciples and so admirably elucidated by Father Maximilian in this little book, are not simply the intellectual heritage of Franciscans, but belong to all Christians because they are the teaching that comes to us from the Word of God.

 by  Monsignor Arthur Burton Calkins (2006)

Ave Maria!

This post has been relocated…

Creation: thoughts on the beginning of time & the flood

Thank you!

On this Holy Day of Christ’s birth and during this Holy Season let us gaze in wonder at the Christ Child, the center of the created universe and the source of our human dignity whereby we are elevated from the natural level to the supernatural level of being children of God.

The following is an excerpt from an excellent, well researched and thought out presentation in Faith Magazine by Fr. Roger Nesbitt. He shows from the witness of Scripture and Tradition that Scotus was right all along: “Man was made in view of Christ, not Christ in view of sin.”

The Council (Vatican II) called for a re-presentation of Christ to the world in a way which would draw on the whole wealth of Catholic tradition and shed the light of Christ on the best insights of the modern world. From all that we now know of the unity of the sciences and the dynamic unfolding of creation we are in an even better position to vindicate the Scotist line as the only worthy and coherent account of the Mystery of Christ. If we are to re-evangelise the modern world, and in the process answer the false or flawed theologies which have arisen to plague us in the last thirty years, we must be able to offer something deeper and more fulfilling, but completely true to the apostolic faith. The vision of Christ and His Church explored here is central to that task too.

 

We can show how God freely created us for fulfilment in the wisdom and joy which is His own Being. The Father thinks and wills us through the Incarnate Son for whose sake we are wanted and destined unto Himself in the love who is the Holy Spirit. This is the source of our dignity as human beings and the full meaning of being created “in the image of God”. We are built on Christ. Sin cannot be foundational to our humanity and most certainly not to His.

 

Man was made in view of Christ, not Christ in view of sin. His birth from Mary was not simply a means towards crucifixion. He did not merely borrow our humanity in order to die. He entered nature which had been prepared for Him since the beginning. He truly came into His own and in Him we see how God has loved us with the total fullness of Himself. But when He found us broken and alienated from eternal life He loved us also to the utmost of His psyche and the last drop of His blood on the cross.

This Christmastide I would invite you to take the time to read Fr. Nesbitt’s whole article: The Christ Centred Vision of Creation: The Witness of Scripture and Tradition. It is this perspective that enables us to see Christ as King and Redeemer without compromising neither His absolute kingship nor His merciful work of Redemption.

In Corde Matris,
fr maximilian mary dean

God’s eternal plan of loving goodness: to reveal and give Himself to us in Christ

Repeatedly the Church, based on Scripture and Tradition, teaches us that the Infant Jesus that lay in a manger was the the full revelation and full gift of God to man. This was God’s immutable decree: to manifest Himself and His love through the Incarnation of the Word and, in partaking of our human nature, to enable us to partake of His divine nature (cfr. 2 Pt 1:4; 2 Cor 8:9; Col 2:9-10; etc.). We are called to be sons in the Son, children of God in the Child of Bethlehem, and it is for this reason that “when the fullness of time came, God sent His Son, born of a Woman, born under the Law, that He might redeem those who were under the Law, that we might receive the adoption of sons” (Gal 4:4-5). The Incarnation, first and foremost, was willed to communicate and receive the greatest possible glory of God ad extra; but in this decree stands our filial adoption. Sin or no sin, we are predestined before the creation of the world to be His adopted sons in Christ Jesus (cfr. Eph 1:4). In fact, this is even the motive of Our Lord’s work of Redemption – He redeems us “that we might receive the adoption of sons” (Gal 4:5). So even apart from any consideraton of the fall the Church teaches that our filial adoption in Christ was central to God’s eternal design. We see this clearly in the Catechism of the Catholic Church in the very first paragraphs on the Creed, the Profession of our Faith:

CCC 50-52 Through an utterly free decision, God has revealed himself and given himself to man. This he does by revealing the mystery, his plan of loving goodness, formed from all eternity in Christ, for the benefit of all men. God has fully revealed this plan by sending us his beloved Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit. “It pleased God, in his goodness and wisdom, to reveal himself and to make known the mystery of his will. His will was that men should have access to the Father, through Christ, the Word made flesh, in the Holy Spirit, and thus become sharers in the divine nature” (Dei Verbum 2; cf. Eph 1:9; 2:18; 2 Pt 1:4). God, who “dwells in unapproachable light”, wants to communicate his own divine life to the men he freely created, in order to adopt them as his sons in his only-begotten Son. By revealing himself God wishes to make them capable of responding to him, and of knowing him and of loving him far beyond their own natural capacity.

Note that there is no mention here of Adam’s sin, of man’s need for Redemption, of the Cross. Why? Because the Incarnation is the centerpiece of God’s loving designs and this centerpiece is not brought about by sin – it stands on its own. For this reason St. Francis of Assisi “had a reverence for the birthday of the Lord greater than for any other solemnity of the Lord” (Compilatio Assisiensis). He called Christ’s Birthday “the feast of feasts, because on this day God, become a little Babe, hung from human breasts” (Celano, Memoriale 199, 1; Fontes 616 f).
A very blessed and merry Christmas to all of you!
fr. maximilian mary dean

The Mystery of the Incarnation as Revealed to Adam Before the Fall (conclusion)

We have seen from St. Jerome, St. Augustine, Tertullian, St. Thomas Aquinas, St. Bonaventure and implicitly St. John of the Cross how Adam knew of the mystery of the Incarnation before the fall. We now briefly turn to St. John Paul II who in his theology of the body focuses on the “beginning” and the “mystery” of God’s plan. He sees man as being elected in Christ “before sin.” I will not be able to examine his whole corpus on the theology of the body, but will simply draw out this point from one of his teachings on Ephesians 5, that of his Wednesday Audience of October 6, 1982. Here are some of the more pertinent passages:

On the contrary, before sin, man bore in his soul the fruit of eternal election in Christ, the eternal Son of the Father… Comparing the testimony of the “beginning” found in the first chapters of Genesis, with the testimony of the Letter to the Ephesians, one must deduce that the reality of man’s creation was already imbued by the perennial election of man in Christ. Man is called to sanctity through the grace of the adoption as sons. “He destined us to be his sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, to the praise of his glorious grace which he freely bestowed on us in the Beloved” (Eph 1:5-6).

These statements presume the doctrine of the absolute primacy of Christ. He is making a point about marriage as instituted by God in “the beginning” and as such Adam and Eve (and all marriages after) are to be a reflection of the love of Christ the Divine Bridegroom and His Bride, the Church. Further on, St. John Paul confirms yet again that man’s election in Christ was prior to the fall:

Man, male and female, shared from the beginning in this supernatural gift. This bounty was granted in consideration of him, who from eternity was beloved as Son, even though—according to the dimensions of time and history—it had preceded the Incarnation of this beloved Son and also the redemption which we have in him through his blood (cf. Eph 1:7). The redemption was to become the source of man’s supernatural endowment after sin and, in a certain sense, in spite of sin. This supernatural endowment, which took place before original sin, that is, the grace of justice and original innocence—an endowment which was the fruit of man’s election in Christ before the ages—was accomplished precisely in reference to him, to the beloved One, while anticipating chronologically his coming in the body. In the dimensions of the mystery of creation the election to the dignity of adopted sonship was proper only to the first Adam, that is, to the man created in the image and likeness of God, male and female.

From this it seems clear enough that Christ’s coming is not conditioned by sin. Man’s election to adoptive sonship – sin or no sin – is in Christ, the beloved Son of the Father, and this “from eternity” and “before the ages.” While St. John Paul II’s corpus has many other gems to offer, let these thoughts suffice for our purpose of saying that all of creation exists for Christ; that Adam and Eve were created with Christ in mind and chosen to reflect in their marriage the love of Christ for His Church and the Church for Christ. Related to our present reflection, St. John Paul II’s teaching implies, obviously, what we have stated earlier: namely, that Adam knew of his election in Christ and hence the mystery of the Incarnation prior to sin.

All of these confirmations (from Genesis to John Paul II) that Adam and Eve knew about the coming birth of Christ the King before original sin, that their election, therefore, was in Christ prior to any consideration of the fall, all of these make for a marvelous meditation in preparation for Christmas. Fr. Dominic Unger is right in saying that “it would seem most natural to argue that if Adam had knowledge of the Incarnation before his fall, as a very great good and as the means of his grace and glory, then Christ was not dependent on the fall…”

The result is that all of history up to the Holy Night was a prolonged Advent of divine preparations for the coming of the central mystery and masterpiece of all God’s creative handiwork. As I write the Marches of Italy are covered with snow on this vigil of Mary’s Immaculate Conception, but I’m dreaming less of a white Christmas than a Franciscan Christmas: a true celebration of the birth of Christ the King, the fulfillment of God’s “dream,” so to speak, for His Son and for us. My prayer is that all will one day recognize Christ’s absolute primacy.

May this Christmas be the holiest of your life so far! May the Immaculate Mother of God give you her love for the Infant Jesus and prepare your heart to be a fitting cradle for His Nativity.

In Corde Matris,

fr maximilian mary dean

The Mystery of the Incarnation as Revealed to Adam Before the Fall (continued)

To this list of early Church writers (St. Jerome, St. Augustine, Tertullian) maintaining that Adam was shown by God the mystery of the Incarnation before the fall we add the two spiritual giants and Doctors of the Church of the 13th century: St. Thomas Aquinas who confirms it twice in his Summa Theologica and St. Bonaventure who mentions it in his Commentary on the Sentences (In Sent. IIId.1, art. 2, q.2).

Two other stellar contributers to the discussion, in an implicit way, are St. John of the Cross and Bl. Pope John Paul II.

St. John of the Cross – the Romances

St. John of the Cross gives us an affirmation of this in his usual poetic and mystical style. In his poetic works he wrote a series of “Romances” describing the inner life of the Trinity, creation and the Incarnation. Here are some of the pertinent verses:

“My Son, I wish to give you
a bride who will love you.
Because of you she will deserve
to share our company,

and eat at our table,
the same bread I eat,
that she may know the good
I have in such a Son;
and rejoice with me
in your grace and fullness.”

“I am very grateful,”
the Son answered;
“I will show my brightness
to the bride you give me,

so that by it she may see
how great my Father is,
and how I have received
my being from your being.

I will hold her in my arms
and she will burn with your love,
and with eternal delight
she will exalt your goodness.”

In Romance 7 on the Incarnation he continues:

“Now you see, Son, that your bride
was made in your image,
and so far as she is like you
she will suit you well;

yet she is different, in her flesh,
which your simple being does not have.
In perfect love
this law holds:
that the lover become
like the one he loves;
for the greater their likeness
the greater their delight.

Surely your bride’s delight
would greatly increase
were she to see you like her,
in her own flesh.”

“My will is yours,”
the Son replied…

In this beautiful series of poems we have a mystical, poetic expression of a Doctor of the Church on the inner life of the Trinity, the creation of the universe as willed by the Father to be the Bride of the Son (so all things exist for Christ prior to any consideration of sin) and so that He can share with creation the joy that He finds in His Only-Begotten, the Incarnation as the coming of the Bridegroom who ever wishes to become “like the one He loves” and to consummate the mystical espousals with His Bride. Obviously St. John does not neglect the Redemption nor downplay it, put simply squares it away in the framework of the immutable divine decree to so love the Son as to create the world (and more specifically the Church) as His Bride and to so love the world as to send His Only-Begotten Son so as to delight the beautiful Bride who, after the fall, is stained with sin and must be sanctified by the Son delivering Himself up for her, “cleansing her in the bath of water by means of the word; in order that He might present to Himself the Church in all her glory, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that she might be holy and without blemish” (Eph 5:26-27).

This dogmatic poetry of St. John of the Cross, while having unique nuances of its own, clearly syncs up with the Franciscan school. From this perspective the season of Advent in its fullest sense is a preparation of the Bride (the Church, and each soul) for the coming of the Divine Bridegroom. From the first moment of creation everything is directed towards Christ the King who will be born of a Virgin at Bethlehem; from the first matrimony of Adam and Eve every marriage is to be a reflection of “the great mystery” of the nuptials of Christ with His Bride the Church (Eph 5:21ff).

St. Pope John Paul II – the Theology of the Body

http://www.ewtn.com/library/papaldoc/jp2tb96.htm

To be continued…

The Mystery of the Incarnation as Revealed to Adam Before the Fall
Yes, before the fall God revealed to Adam the mystery of the Incarnation. I was actually introduced to this Tradition by St. Thomas Aquinas ( Summa II-II, Q.2, art.7 – “I answer that..”; Summa III, Q.1, art.3 – Objection 5). Note that he never debates the Tradition, but upholds it and seeks to defend his position while maintaining this Tradition [Thomists in general accept this Tradition: see Just Thomism for a brief discussion on the subject]. So for Aquinas this Tradition is to be defended at all costs. Ironic since today it is almost unknown, at least in the Catholic circles (academic and spiritual) that I have been acquainted with for the last 25 years.

So where does St. Thomas get this Tradition? [Quick answer… Scripture and the Church Fathers] And if God had revealed the mystery of the Incarnation to Adam before the fall what does this mean with regards to God’s plan for the coming of Christ? [Quick answer… God willed Christ to be Mediator of grace and glory sin or no sin]

Let me invoke the aid of Fr. Dominic Unger, OFM Cap., since he has already done this research for us. In his “Franciscan Christology” he draws out both of these points. He writes:

The fact that Christ was Mediator of Adam and Eve in the state of innocence is a proof of Christ’s universal mediatorship. The incarnation was revealed to Adam and Eve in the state of innocence. This we shall prove below from the fact that Adam prophesied that the union between Eve and himself was a type of the union between Christ and His Church. We have to show that the matrimonial union of Adam and Eve prefigured the union between Christ and His Church, and that Adam realized this and foreknew the incarnation already in the state of innocence.

But if the incarnation, if Christ, was revealed to Adam in the state of innocence, it was with the purpose that Adam had to believe in Christ as his Mediator of grace and glory. Adam had to believe in Christ then already as his necessary Mediator. But if Christ was Mediator already in the state of innocence, then we can no longer speak of His coming merely to redeem. He was predestined absolutely as Mediator from the beginning. And since the greater is not willed primarily for the less, Christ was willed primarily for His own glory. All authors will readily admit that Christ was willed primarily for Himself if we can prove that His existence does not depend on sin.

Note that we can separate this argument from the argument of mediatorship, and show that by the very fact that God revealed Christ to Adam in the state of innocence, God intended Christ to exist absolutely and independently of sin, or else this revelation was a pure fiction on God’s part, a thing that is below the dignity of God and incompatible with His holiness…

So it is really the major of the argument that must be proved from Tradition. We must prove that Adam really had foreknowledge of the incarnation in the state of innocence.”

That’s the lay of the land: If God revealed the mystery of Christ to Adam in the state of innocence, then Christ’s predestination is absolute and does not depend on sin; then Christ’s coming at Bethlehem is the center of God’s creative plan, center of the universe. The fact that God adds mercy after the fall to His original, immutable plan of love in the Baby Jesus makes His birth all the more important and beautiful. Jesus comes first as “Emmanuel,” as God-with-us; because of sin and our need for Redemption He comes also to suffer the bitter Passion, die on the ignominious Cross, and rise victorious from the tomb. The Infant cradled in the Virgin’s arms on the Holy Night of Christmas is Christ, our King and Redeemer. Advent is rightly a preparation for the coming of the King into the world and into our lives.

Now let us continue Fr. Dominic Unger’s insights.

After God created Eve from the side of Adam, Adam said:
This now is bone of my bone and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called woman, because she was taken out of man. Wherefore a man shall leave father and mother and shall cleave to his wife: and they shall be two in one flesh (Gen 2:23-24).

Centuries later the great Apostle Paul wrote to the Ephesians exhorting the husbands to love their wives. He appeals to the love of Christ for His Church and then quotes verse 24 of Genesis. And he adds: “This is a great mystery – I mean in reference to Christ and the Church” (5:32). Ever since St. Paul wrote that, the writers of the Church have taken the words of Genesis to be a prophecy of the union of Christ and His Church, and they have held that Adam foreknew the incarnation which God revealed to him at that time. Let us listen to two Doctors of the Church, two eminent Scripture scholars. First, St. Jerome:

For this reason a man shall leave… in one flesh (Gn 2:24) –  The first man and first prophet Adam prophesized this of Christ and the Church: that our Lord and Savior would leave God His Father and the heavenly Jerusalem His mother, and come to earth for the sake of His Body the Church, and from His side to make her, and for her sake the Word was made flesh. (In Eph., lib. 3 – Pat. lat., vol. 26, col. 535C)

Next St. Augustine:

That ecstasy which the Lord cast into Adam, that he might sleep a deep sleep, is correctly understood to have been case for this, that through such ecstasy his mind might be participant of the angelic court, and entering the sanctuary of God understand the last things.  Awaking then as it were full of prophecy, when he should see brought to him the woman from his rib, he would continually praise that great Sacrament which the Apostle commends: “Behold now…” (Gn 2:24; Eph 5:32).

Although Scripture testifies these words were spoken by the first man, in the Gospel the Lord says God spoke them.  For he says: “Do you not read that he made man from the beginning, he made him male and female?  And he said: For this reason…” (Mt 19: 4-5)  –  that thereby we might understand in view of the ecstasy which preceded in Adam how he could have spoken divinely as a prophet. (De Genesi ad litteram, lib. 9, c. 19, n. 36 – Pat. lat., vol. 34, col. 404)

It would seem most natural to argue that if Adam had knowledge of the incarnation before his fall, as a very great good and as the means of his grace and glory, then Christ was not dependent on the fall…

Agreed. Fr. Dominic’s point seems abundantly clear and for this reason it puts St. Thomas Aquinas on the defensive regarding his position of a relative primacy of Christ . There is another early Church writer who confirms this interpretation and it is worthy of mention. Tertullian writes:

What had he [Adam] that was spiritual? Is it because he prophetically declared the great mystery of Christ and the church?  (Eph 5:32) This is bone of my bone, and flesh of my flesh: she shall be called Woman. Therefore shall a man leave his father and mother, and he shall cleave unto his wife; and they two shall be one flesh. (Gn 2:23-24) But this (gift of prophecy) only came on him afterwards, when God infused into him the ecstasy, or spiritual quality, in which prophecy consists. (Treatise on the soul, Ch.21)

To be continued…

Advent – A Franciscan Perspective

The great Abbot Columba Marmion, O.S.B. (beatified in the year 2000) in his classic book Christ in His Mysteries, beautifully describes Advent, the time which preceeds Christ’s Nativity, as the “Divine Preparation.” While it is a liturgical season which speaks of what is “to come” – ad-venire, hence the final coming of Christ, it is also a remembering (or better, a reliving) of that longing of the people of God for the first coming of Christ so as to more adequately appraise and celebrate Christmas.

Bl. Marmion writes:

All God’s blessings that come down upon us have their source in the election that He made of our souls, throughout eternity, to make them “holy and unspotted in His sight” (Eph 1:4). In this divine decree so full of love is contained our adoptive predestination as children of God and all the favours thereto attached.

St. Paul says that it was through the grace of Jesus Christ, sent by God in the fulness of time, that this adoption was granted to us: At ubi venit plenitudo temporis, misit Deus Filium suum factum ex muliere… ut adoptionem filiorum reciperimus (Gal 4:4-5)

In these lines we clearly see that our predestination is bound up in the predestination of Christ’s Sacred Humanity to grace and glory; we see that “all God’s blessings” (and not just the Redemption) “have their source in the election He made of our souls, throughout eternity.” When reading this those who hold the absolute primacy of Christ, namely that Christ’s coming was willed by God absolutely, quite apart from any consideration of sin, nod their heads in agreement. For St. Francis and the Franciscan school Christmas is the “Feast of feasts” and has a twofold beauty: the coming of Christ the King, head of the Church and the coming of our Redeemer.

Bl. Marmion, as will be seen, is a strict thomist when it comes to the Incarnation, viz. the sole reason for the Incarnation is our Redemption from sin. And for this reason the celebration of Christmas is subordinated to the Passion and lacks that double aspect of joy which is so evident to the scotistic doctrine that Christ’s coming is not occasioned by sin, that His holy birth in the stable of Bethlehem is not just a remedy for man’s wickedness, but is the summum opus Dei, the greatest of God’s works.

Abbot Marmion continues:

God’s eternal design of sending His own Son into the world […] is the masterpiece of His wisdom and love.

This is what the Franciscan position would state. That is, the Masterpiece of God’s wisdom and love was the “sending of His own Son into the world,” namely the Incarnation. Because of sin He comes also as Redeemer and this Masterpiece of His wisdom and love comes under the limelight of mercy and redemption; but this Masterpiece was not conditioned by sin, rather it was willed quite apart from any consideration of sin. As the Church will sing on Dec. 17th:

O Sapientia, quae ex ore Altissimi prodidisti, attingens a fine usque ad finem, fortiter suaviter disponensque omnia: veni ad docendum nos viam prudentiae.

O Wisdom, who came from the mouth of the Most High, reaching from end to end and ordering all things mightily and sweetly: come, and teach us the way of prudence.

Yes, Divine Wisdom coming forth from God orders and disposes all things mightily and sweetly. This is what Bl. John Dun Scotus terms ordinatissime volens – most ordered willing. First, God wills the Incarnation of Christ His Masterpiece as the King of the universe, then He creates all things in Him and for Him. Because of man’s sin, we see that God already has the perfect remedy: His Son come in the flesh will come not only as King, but as Redeemer. Hence the coming of Our Lord has this twofold beauty: first, He comes as King of creation – the head of the Church and the One who will recapitulate all things in Himself for the glory of God, the One who will give us the grace of divine adoption as children of God [see this graph]; second, because of sin He comes as Redeemer to seek and save what was lost and reconcile it with the Father through the priestly offering of His Precious Blood on the altar of the Cross [see this second graph].

In the last quote I used of Abbot Marmion I dropped out some of Marmion’s words to draw out the fuller, Franciscan perspective of Christ’s coming. Those who embrace the thomistic position regarding the Incarnation, namely ‘no sin, no Incarnation,’ see the coming of Messias in a much narrower light – even if that light is divine in its brilliance and beauty. Marmion’s full quote reads:

God’s eternal design of sending His own Son into the world to redeem the human race, broken and bruised by sin, and of restoring to it the children’s inheritance and heavenly beatitude, this is the masterpiece of His wisdom and love. The views of God are not our views; all His thoughts are higher than ours as the heavens are higher than the earth; but it is especially in the work of the Incarnation and Redemption that the sublimity and greatness of the Divine ways shine forth. This work is so high, so closely united to the very life of the Most Holy Trinity, that it remained throughout long ages hidden in the depths of the divine secrets: Sacramentum absconditum a saeculis in Deo (Eph 3:9).

I have discussed this “mystery” at length elsewhere, but here I would like to draw out a point that underscores that the Messias which Adam and Eve, which all of their children and creation itself, and which, in a particular way, the chosen people through the Patriarchs and Prophets were awaiting was not coming first and foremost as Redeemer, but as King. He is the Redeemer King – and His Kingship does not depend on man’s need for Redemption. Our first parents knew of the coming of Christ; so in this sense His coming was not a ‘secret.’ But what is often overlooked is that, according to Tradition, Adam knew of the coming of Christ before the fall. We are familiar with Adam’s foreknowledge of the “Woman” and “her Seed” (Gn 3:15) coming to crush the head of the serpent; but it would seem that very few are acquainted with Adam’s foreknowledge of the Christ before the promise of the Redemption through the Woman and her Offspring. The standard approach, which Marmion articulates so elequently, is this:

You know that it was just after the sin of our first parents, in the very cradle of the already rebellious human race, that God began to reveal the mystery of the Incarnation. Adam and Eve, prostrate before the Creator, in the shame and despair of their fall, dare not raise their eyes to heaven. And behold, even before pronouncing the sentence of their banishment from the terrestrial paradise, God speaks to them the first words of forgiveness and hope… This is what is called the “Protogospel,” the first word of salvation. It is the first promise of redemption, the dawn of divine mercy.

The Mystery of the Incarnation as Revealed to Adam Before the Fall

Yes, before the fall God revealed to Adam the mystery of the Incarnation. I was actually introduced to this Tradition by St. Thomas Aquinas ( Summa II-II, Q.2, art.7 – “I answer that..”; Summa III, Q.1, art.3 – Objection 5). Note that he never debates the Tradition, but upholds it and seeks to defend his position while maintaining this Tradition…

continued…

Christ, the Beginning of Creation – Part VII

by Fr. Maximilian M. Dean

[To see the full article on one page visit Appendix: Christ the Beginning]

Christ “in the beginning… I was set up… before the earth was made” (Prov 8,22-23)

Solomon wrote: “The Lord possessed me, the beginning [Gk: εχτισε με ] of his ways, before he made any thing from the beginning. I was set up from eternity, and of old before the earth was made. The depths were not as yet, and I was already conceived… before the hills I was brought forth: When he prepared the heavens, I was present… when he balanced the foundations of the earth; I was with him forming all things: and was delighted every day, playing before him at all times; Playing in the world: and my delights were to be with the children of men… (Prov 8:22-9:6).

The Holy Fathers (Ss. Augustine and Cyril included) are unanimous in interpreting this splendid passage as referring to Christ.[1] Let us cite other Doctors of the Church as a solid confirmation:

– St. Ambrose: “Do not marvel if it is said that before the ages He [the Word] was set up, where you read that He was predestined before time. That this expression, ‘The Lord possessed me,’ might be referring to the Incarnation is evident from the following…”[2]

– St. Jerome: “And since… in Proverbs Salomon speaks of Wisdom as the created beginning of the ways of God… we freely proclaim that there is no danger in maintaining that Wisdom was created…; the words ‘The Lord possessed me…’ are referring to the mystery of the Incarnation, not to the nature of God.”[3]

– St. Anselm: “ ‘ab initio ante saecula creata sum.’ From the beginning of the world and before the ages Wisdom was created in being predestined according to His humanity.”[4]

Having established this we can confirm that the Wisdom of God, which is the God-Man Jesus Christ,[5] was set up from the beginning [Latin: a principio ab aeterno ordita sum] when God the Creator chose, in His love, to communicate Himself ad extra, that is, when His love chose to create the universe with the Incarnation as the heart and masterpiece.[6]

Jesus, the Word Incarnate, was present at the center of the divine decree when the Omnipotent God prepared the heavens.

            The Word made flesh was with Him forming all things because everything was created in Christ, by means of Christ and in view of Christ. Jesus, therefore, even if He came in these “last times” (Heb 1:2; cfr. 1 Pt 1:20) according to the execution of the divine decree, was there in the divine intention as Design and Model of all creation in the beginning.

Yes, when God created He had Jesus – the Beginning of creation (cfr. Apoc 3:14) – before Him, Jesus playing before him at all times. When He put His plan into action and spoke those creative word: “Let there be…,” Christ was rejoicing, so to speak, in every instant, in each of the six days of creation. The entire universe, in fact, was created for Him, and for no merit of His own, but solely through the pure and simple generosity of the Creator who freely chose and predestined Christ’s Sacred Humanity to the maximum glory through the hypostatic union. Jesus was playing in the world and His delights were to be with the children of men, rejoicing at having been chosen to be Emmanuel, the Son of the Virgin Mary, “the firstborn among many brethren” (Rm 8:29) so as to perfectly glorify God upon this earth (cfr. Jn 17:4).

            If this interpretation of Proverbs is true, as the Fathers and Doctors assert, then there is no problem in interpreting the first verses of John’s Gospel in this fashion: the Word is Christ, that is, the Word Incarnate which is the created Wisdom spoken

To be continued…