'A Truth Best Told Through Fiction: on Developing the Catholic
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‘A TRUTH BEST TOLD THROUGH FICTION: ON DEVELOPING THE CATHOLIC PRESENTATION OF THE DOCTRINE OF SATAN AS A MYTHIC PROBE INTO THE POSSIBLE’ by Alan McGill A thesis submitted to The University of Birmingham for the degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY Department of Theology and Religion College of Arts and Law The University of Birmingham May 2015 University of Birmingham Research Archive e-theses repository This unpublished thesis/dissertation is copyright of the author and/or third parties. The intellectual property rights of the author or third parties in respect of this work are as defined by The Copyright Designs and Patents Act 1988 or as modified by any successor legislation. Any use made of information contained in this thesis/dissertation must be in accordance with that legislation and must be properly acknowledged. Further distribution or reproduction in any format is prohibited without the permission of the copyright holder. ABSTRACT The Catholic Church’s stated teachings on the interpretation of scripture provide a mandate for exegetes to interpret the biblical text in light of the historical-critical method, including attention to its literary genres, so as to yield findings that can contribute to the development of doctrine. With particular reference to myth, Catholic exegetes have adopted an understanding of the genre as the symbolic expression of limitations and possibilities that characterize the human experience, rather than a reconstruction, even in figurative terms, of specific historical events involving particular personages. In view of these hermeneutical considerations, this thesis proposes that the Church’s presentation of the doctrine of Satan should be emancipated from a historicized interpretation that appeals to mythical narratives as though they affirm the existence and historical misdeeds of Satan as a particular ontological being. The myths that give rise to the doctrine of Satan have long explored possibilities in the relationship between the Creator and free- willed creatures. As such, the doctrine can be developed so as to express the possibility that a person might irrevocably reject God’s invitation to friendship, and hence experience the condition traditionally referred to as ‘hell’, yet still be sustained by God’s unconditional commitment to being. This thesis is dedicated to Dr. Nicola McCarthy, a visionary and rigorous scholar, who is possessed of a zest that inspires others to realize possibilities. Acknowledgements I am deeply grateful to my supervisor, Rev. Dr. David Cheetham, who trusted an impetuous Irishman living in the Bible-belt, and entangled in a love-hate relationship with the Catholic Church, to address the neuralgic subject of Satan. Dr. Cheetham’s deeply insightful and constructive feedback always bolstered my confidence to question and to take risks. I am humbled by the support and guidance I have received from this formidable thinker and will endeavor to treat my students at least half as well as Dr. Cheetham treated me. I wish to acknowledge the support of the clergy and parish community of The Basilica of the Sacred Heart of Jesus in Atlanta. The former rector, Fr. TJ Meehan, the present rector, Msgr. Edward Thein, and the pastoral administrator, Deacon Mike Balfour, have shown great flexibility, enduring my dual existence as a pastoral minister and doctoral researcher. I am thankful to my valued colleague, Delta Izaguirre, for the opportunities to pitch ideas concerning the presentation of doctrine to adult learners, and to my Thursday night adult education class for our discussions on Satan and on the development of doctrine. I also owe much to Trudy, and to Conor, Grace, Nico, and Brian McCarthy for their friendship and their infectious love of life. This work has been a labor of love, rekindling the sense of wonder at life that is often eroded by years. The Irish poet, Patrick Kavanagh, invokes the image of curious children who have sneaked out of bed to spy through the crack of a barely-opened door upon a late-night soirée. Kavanagh proposes, ‘through a chink too wide, there comes in no wonder.’ Perhaps a task of theology, including the present work, is to create a ‘chink’, a necessarily narrow slit through which we can catch some glimpse of that which is possible – both in the here and now, and when we close our eyes in final surrender to utter possibility. George Tyrell captures something of this, remarking ‘It is neither what we understand about God that feeds our love; nor the fact that he is infinitely beyond our understanding: but the fact that we can ever progress in knowledge and in love, and always with an sense of an infinite beyond. It is at the margin where the conquering light meets the receding darkness that love finds its inspiration.’ CONTENTS CHAPTER ONE – INTRODUCTION TO THESIS ............................................................................1 1.1 Primary Research Question................................................................................1 1.2 Argument in Brief ..............................................................................................2 1.3 Scope ..................................................................................................................6 1.4 Methodology: Correlational and Historical-Critical ..........................................7 1.5 Working Definitions of Key Terms…………………………………………...8 1.6 Structural Considerations in Guiding the Reader through this Thesis…….....10 1.7 Synopsis by Section and by Chapter Stating Research Objectives ..................11 1.7.1 Chapter Two Synopsis with Objectives ........................................... 11 1.7.2 Chapter Three Synopsis with Objectives ......................................... 12 1.7.3 Chapter Four Synopsis with Objectives ........................................... 15 1.7.4 Chapter Five Synopsis with Objectives ........................................... 16 1.7.5 Chapter Six Synopsis with Objectives ............................................. 18 1.7.6 Chapter Seven Synopsis with Objectives ........................................ 19 1.7.7 Chapter Eight Synopsis with Objectives.......................................... 21 1.7.8 Chapter Nine Synopsis with Objectives .......................................... 23 SECTION I –A MANDATE FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF DOCTRINE IN LIGHT OF DIALOGUE WITH MODERNITY CHAPTER TWO - WHY SHOULD THE CHURCH BE OPEN TO THE POSSIBILITY OF THE DEVELOPMENT OF DOCTRINE IN LIGHT OF MODERN SCHOLARSHIP?.....................................27 2.1 Introduction ......................................................................................................27 2.2 Early Attempts to Set Catholicism in Dialogue with Modernity .....................27 2.3 Rejecting Biblical Interpretation System Rooted in Secularized Reason ........31 2.4 Rejecting Scholarship that Could Facilitate the Development of Doctrine .....31 2.5 The Difficulty in Defining Modernism ............................................................36 2.6 Defining Dogma...............................................................................................36 2.7 The Council that Would Not Condemn ...........................................................38 2.8 John XXIII’s Hermeneutic of Continuous Development ................................39 2.9 Mysterium Ecclesiae: Affirming the Development of Doctrine ......................43 2.10 The Epideictic Tone of the Council ...............................................................46 2.11 Inviting the Modern World to Dialogue ........................................................48 2.12 Vatican Two and Theology of Correlation ....................................................52 2.13 Contrasting Attitudes at the Council towards Dialogue with Modernity ......54 2.14 Conclusion .....................................................................................................60 CHAPTER THREE – HOW DID THE DOCTRINE OF SATAN GAIN PARTICULAR SIGNIFICANCE FOR THE QUESTION OF POSTCONCILIAR DEVELOPMENT OF DOCTRINE? ................................63 3.1 Introduction ..................................................................................................... 63 3.2 Humanae Vitae and the Questioning of Authority ......................................... 64 3.3 Paul VI’s Modernist Crisis and the Smoke of Satan....................................... 68 3.4 The Rise of Postliberal Catholic Theology ..................................................... 74 3.5 St. John Paul II Reassesses the Church’s Relationship with the Modern World .....................................................................................................................78 3.6 Pope Benedict XVI Downplays the Transformative Vision of the Council ... 81 3.7 Pope Benedict XVI’s Hermeneutic of Continuity .......................................... 82 3.8 Conclusion ...................................................................................................... 88 SECTION II - A MANDATE TO INTERPRET SCRIPTURE IN LIGHT OF ITS LITERARY FORMS, INCLUDING THAT OF MYTH CHAPTER FOUR – WHY SHOULD THE CHURCH’S PRESENTATION OF DOCTRINE TAKE INTO ACCOUNT THE LITERARY GENRE OF BIBLICAL TEXTS? .........................................................91 4.1 Introduction ..................................................................................................... 91 4.2 The Catholic Church’s Acceptance of the Historical-Critical Method ........... 92 4.3 The Consideration of Genre in the Historical-Critical Method