Remember the experience? A time, when all of a sudden, you looked at a thing from another point of view—and, all of a sudden, it looked very, very different.
Optical illusions are a simple example of that. As a kid, I remember drawing the outlines of a box. You look at it one way, and it’s like you’re looking down on it, even into it, from above—then, all of a sudden, it seems you’re looking up at it from below!
Einstein’s theory of relativity is a sophisticated example of a similar thing. It calls attention to the fact that the position and movement of the observer affects the observation.
Does the sun rise and set? Or, does the earth rotate and the sun stand still?
When did we begin generally to accept the idea that the earth isn’t flat, but round?
Isn’t it odd that the shortest flight from New York to Tokyo may go over the Arctic?
During the Second Vatican Council (1962-1966), there was a very controversial and life-changing shift in a theological point of view:
The Dogmatic Constitution on the Church, Lumen Gentium, 21 November 1964, stated in section 8:
The one mediator, Christ, established and constantly sustains here on earth his holy church, the community of faith, hope and charity, as a visible structure through which he communicates truth and grace to everyone . . .
This is the unique church of Christ which in the Creed we profess to be one, holy, catholic and apostolic . . . This church, constituted and organized as a society in the present world, subsists in the Catholic Church . . . Nevertheless, many elements of sanctification and of truth are found outside its visible confines.
What a controversy the cautious words, “subsists in the Catholic Church”, caused! (I remember it well; I was working in the Council at that time.)
Till then, the common point of view was “Outside the church there is no salvation”, and “church” was taken to mean by Catholics as “the Catholic Church”.
The traditional point of view among Catholics before Vatican II was that, over the centuries, many dissidents broke away from the one church of Christ. As a result there now are many churches, but only one is the true church.
The Council began to look at all this from a different point of view. Now, for the first time, Catholics began to distinguish “the church of Christ” from “the Catholic Church.”
“The church of Christ” includes all Christians in their individual and organizational diversity—Western and Eastern Catholics, the various Orthodox churches, the Anglican church, the traditional Protestant churches, Evangelicals, Charismatics, every follower of Jesus!
From this different point of view, there is no black nor white, but various shades of grey. There’s no longer in or out, but varying degrees of unity. The various churches are not ancient enemies seeking unity, but one family whose scattered members are seeking reconciliation.
Negotiations between enemies tend to be rife with suspicion; family reunions are matter of forgiveness and love.
Even if it still seems odd, the shortest way from East to West may go over the North pole!
26 July 2020