Koan #40: Papal Inspiration

It is a simple fact. If God could inspire the writing of words from certain individuals to be true and perfect in their teachings, then He could inspire the speaking of words from certain individuals to be true and perfect in their teachings. Thus the idea of papal inspiration and infallibility should be no great stretch of faith for any Believer. And even more so, it would be arguably desired by God to ensure the doctrinal unity of the Faith and the explication of God-given morals to changing and developing social conditions. Thus the idea of papal infallibility cannot be denied from the fact that it could not be done nor can it be denied from the fact that it would not be done, as its written parallel already has been done. Let no non-Catholic Believer, therefore, deny it for such reasons, and if they do, let them re-evaluate such a position immediately and honestly if they wish to stay true to Christian truth.

Koan #38: Deceit and the Church

It is a most remarkable phenomenon to listen and read those that are deeply virulent and hateful in their attacks against the Catholic faith and the Church that protects it. Indeed, it is remarkable precisely because the attacks used are so often full of conscious distortions, exaggerations, misunderstandings, distractions, misinformation, half-information, dishonest omissions and at times, out-right and blatant lies; all of which are proven to be verifiably false with just a slight amount of investigative acumen. Yet what this fact raises is an even more fascinating point. For why, if the Catholic faith and its Church are such an easy target to defeat—as its opponents claim—must these distortions, exaggerations and falsehoods be employed? Why, if the Church and its claims and its teachings require no strong effort to crush, cannot the simple, plain and honest truth be employed in the task of doing so? Why is the extra tool of dishonesty used by all, from Unbelievers to Believing Dissenters, if the bare, pure and unadorned truth should suffice to discredit the Church? Perhaps—and an unwilling and unwanted explanation it will be for many—it is because this naked truth does not suffice to defeat the Church and what it teaches. Perhaps it is because if the full truth was actually spoken, it would bring people to the Church rather than push them away from it. And perhaps it is because the truth clings more tightly to the Church, than to any of its opponents. Thus in sum, these facts, if nothing else, show much concerning the “truth” that the opponents of the Church use, but even more, these facts show much concerning the actual Truth surrounding the Church herself.

Koan #35: The Self-Described Sceptic

A major problem with many self-claimed sceptics is that they tend only to be sceptical about the things that they wish to be sceptical about, which rarely includes themselves or their own beliefs, and which means, quite simply, that as opposed to actually being sceptical, they are just biased. Let no Believer therefore, be awed nor cower in the face of any man that calls himself a sceptic. For this trait of unconscious bias rather than real scepticism is more prevalent than not in any self-described sceptic, and until it is determined otherwise, such a suspicion should be the de facto position of the Believer towards any such sceptic. And let the sceptic who labels himself as such truly ask himself how far his scepticism reaches and whether it actually touches those things that he holds as desirable and wishful to him, for if not, then he bathes in an undeniable intellectual hypocrisy.

Koan #32: The Seed of Wisdom

The first seed of wisdom is to realize that full wisdom does not, and cannot, truly rest in any wholly human man.

Koan #24: Why Koans

Why Koans? A Koan is a path to reflection. Reflection is a path to wisdom. Wisdom is a path to truth. And truth is Christ, who is the path to love. This is why Koans.

Koan #20: Science or Scientists

Is the Faith at war with science? Should the Faith fear science? Does the Faith contradict science? Of course not. Is the truth at war with truth? Should the truth fear truth? Does the truth contradict truth? How absurd! Yet wait, for the Faith is at war with some scientists. And the Faith should fear some scientists. And the Faith indeed contradicts some scientists. This cannot be denied. Let the Faithful therefore, be wary of the scientist himself, not the tool he uses, just as the Faithful should be wary of all men in this fallen world. For the scientist is not immune from the biases, prejudices, narrow-mindedness, follies, faulty interpretations, partialities, preconceived notions, foregone conclusions, presuppositions, wilful blindness, emotional manipulations, unconscious predispositions, and evidentiary favouritisms that influences all men. And thus let the Faithful remain vigilant against any man and his words, whether he be one of science or not.

Koan #3: Only Christ as Certain Truth

Man, both Believer and Unbeliever alike, often intone that Man most important quest is his quest for truth; that knowing what is true is indeed of the utmost and critical importance. Yet it is a wonder—though many may be shocked by the forthcoming idea—whether truth can actually be known without Jesus Christ. For if Jesus Christ is the truth, as He claims to be, and this Living Truth told Man that Man could know Him, than Man can indeed know the totality of truth, as Man can know Christ, the full embodiment of truth. Thus, the truth is something that Christianity can offers in full. By contrast, it is a question if any other views can achieve this knowledge of full truth. The practitioners of the Eastern faiths, for example, who hold that the world is but an illusion, can never be truly sure that they have overcome this illusion, nor that their perceived overcoming of this worldly illusion is not simply a further illusion within the illusion. Thus their grasp for truth may be but a constant illusion. Those of Islam, as another example, with a God whose omnipotence surpasses all other traits, can never be sure of the truth, for their God can change that truth at will and whim. And finally, those holding to unbelief, who do not except or believe in Christ as Divine Lord and thus as truth, or in God at all, are left by their worldview not with truth in a full sense, but only with what they believe they perceive as truth. For such, not only does their exist no certainty of truth, but there does not even exist a possibility of certainty of truth, for all things are then simply perceived, reasoned and understood by faulty, frail and easily deceived—both by themselves and others—human beings, which arguably leaves a certainty of truth without Christ beyond reach.

Koan #2: Necessity of God

If God is not, then what is, for is Man’s thoughts are but simply the product of a random collision of atoms, particles and other matters and energies, then how can any man ever trust such a collision of simple chance to know what truly and actually is. And thus, even this thought would be an uncertainty, thus leading to sheer mental absurdity. Perhaps then, God is not only existent, but necessary for existence to even be known with truth and reliability, lest it be left in perpetual uncertainty.