Proof and Faith

One of my summer activities has been to listen to a wonderful series of lectures by Canadian icon Northrop Frye, literary critic who delved so deeply in the bible with his seminal work The Great Code.  The lectures entitled The Bible and Literature at the University of Toronto are available on-line at https://heritage.utoronto.ca/content/video/bible-and-english-literature-northrop-frye-full-lecture-1.

One of the statements by Frye in lecture 9, which caught my attention and made me sit up and take special note, was his assertion that “the more trustworthy the evidence, the more misleading it is.”  Frye was asserting this in relation to proof and the desire that people – at least some people - have, to find hard evidence of the events and accounts which are contained in the bible.  One example is the craze some years ago following supposed discover of the remains of Noah’s Arc on Mt. Ararat.  Then there was the case of the ossuary (vessel) that was purported to hold the bones of James, the brother of Jesus.  Especially notable is the Shroud of Turin which is held to be the burial cloth which was used to wrap Jesus’ body after the crucifix.   People seem to want and even need physical proof to affirm their beliefs that are the foundation of their faith.

I must confess that I have had this desire at times for proof and I was particularly taken with the Shroud of Turin years ago when it was first in the popular press.  It is, perhaps, human nature to desire proof of what is presented to us as reality, especially these days when there is so much in the news and on social media that needs to be questioned.  So, when Frye made the statement that the more trustworthy the evidence the more misleading it was, it didn’t make logical sense to me.

However. I was very pleased and relieved that he clarified this statement later in the lecture.  Here is the clarification from the transcript:

The point that I want to return to when we come to the Book of Job is that no serious religion ever tries to answer anybody's questions, because in any serious or existential matter the progress in understanding is a progress through a sequence of formulating better questions. An authoritative answer blocks off progress; it blocks off all advance. The answer consolidates the assumptions in the question, and brings the process to a dead stop. That is what I mean when I say that the more trustworthy the evidence, the more misleading it is. Trustworthy evidence means a kind of authority that stops you from asking any more questions.

This is the sign of a good teacher who does not want to close off the human desire to explore possibilities and enable the student to discover what is revealed which will lead to further discoveries.  This was the message in the account of the disciple Thomas who demanded proof that Jesus had been raised from the dead.   Jesus answered him and us, “Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”  This is essential when it comes to ultimate truths life and the world.  If we look at the belief in God from what is called the God of the gaps in which our faith is based on what science can’t explain – at least at this point.  As the result of scientific discoveries, we have to adjust our belief in God and what God is doing in the world based on what science can now explain.  However, the discoveries of science do not close off our exploration of how God has created and continues to create life and how God is calling us to be the people God created us to be.  Those questions just lead to more questions and I do not believe that science will ever provide the definitive answer or answers in the realm in which God is working.  It is love through which God created and continues to create.  Love will never be weighed or measured or put under the most powerful electron microscope.

May you be blessed to continue to formulate questions le seek better answers that will lead to yet more questions on your journey.  

  

In Sure and Certain Hope part 2

Today, I will attempt to summarize the document In Sure and Certain Hope issued by the Anglican Church in 2016.  It is an update of the 1998 Statement on Euthanasia and Assisted Suicide, Care in Dying.  The 2016 paper is intended as a, “Resources to Assist Pastoral and Theological Approaches to Physician Assisted Dying.”   These two documents provide, I believe, a good perspective on this very complex and challenging issue for Christians. 

The document begins with the affirmation that all people are created in the image of God and as such have inalienable dignity and should be treated in ways that reflect this:

Theologically we continue to assert that human persons, being in the image of God, are the bearers of an inalienable dignity that calls us to treat each person not merely with respect, but with love, care, and compassion. This calling, being a reflection of God’s free grace, is in no way qualified by the circumstances that an individual may face, no matter how tragic.

Consequently, this places a duty on society to care for people who require help in appropriate ways:

We need to pay attention to how we are to sustain communities of care around patients, respecting the decisions of, and exercising the best possible care first for the patient and then also with care for the immediate supportive community. In this context the church needs neither to surrender its basic principles and insights nor propound them in a way that simply isolates the church from the theologically essential task of empowering individuals caught up in these situations to make sense of their own lives, their hopes and fears, their pain and distress.

The document provides framework for appropriate support which reflects this understanding:

a framework for effective pastoral support for all concerned (patients, family, loved ones, care providers, and wider communities of support), whatever decisions particular patients ultimately believe themselves called to make.

Below are experts from the report which, I hope summarizes key points.  The report is extensive so it is, of necessity longer than usual. 

Suffering

 The report acknowledged that suffering might be meaningful. However, it also noted that suffering might be devoid of redemptive value in and of itself.

Life as Gift

Already in the case of the withdrawal of treatment we recognize that life is not an end in itself, and that the approach of death need not be resisted by all available means.

 

Care and Community

Understandings of care, and how those understandings shape and express community, lay at the heart of the reflections in Care in Dying. Indeed, the trajectory of that document was in many ways set by the way it answered the question of what constitutes care. In seeking to answer the question of whether a decision to participate in the ending of life could be construed as an act of care, the study was in some ways quite tentative.

Vulnerability and Justice

In the area of physician assisted dying there are still reasons to be concerned about the impact of this change on those in our society who are most vulnerable…for the churches it is important that we continue to express concern for those who might be adversely affected. This is not simply a slippery slope argument. It is rather based in the complexity of how constitutional protections work and the experience of other jurisdictions where the initially narrow grounds for physician assisted dying became widened out of legitimate concern that some who might benefit were excluded under the initial definitions.

In our society dignity is most commonly linked to the capacity to be the author of one’s own destiny. However, this is linked with understandings of human individuality and freedom that are difficult to maintain.

Perhaps the key point, however, is that the language of dignity is supposed to remind us that in decisions about the life of a person it is that person’s life, inherent worth (however that is ascribed), values, hopes, aspirations, story, etc. that drive the decision-making process and not the imposition of interpretive frameworks from without, the imposition of what Zizak and Brueggemann would call ideology

To uphold the intrinsic worth of the human person is to protect the very vulnerable members of society—those who have (or appear to have) little if any extrinsic value, because they do not have the capacity for full authorship or autonomy, and are not able to have the same sorts of relationships that more “productive” members of society have. This value challenges the linkage of dignity and worth with autonomy and ability to be in control of all aspects of one’s life.

Conscience

It will surprise some people that the principle that the conscience must always be followed (conscientia semper sequenda) is a key element of Catholic moral theology that has continued if not with greater importance in the churches of the reformation. The role of conscience grants to the individual believer the responsibility to be the author of his or her own decisions.

Hope

As Christians we are called to lives shaped by hope. Hope involves the commitment that, whatever our circumstances, God is at work for our good (Ro 8:28 c.f. Mat7:11). It stands opposed to despair. At the same time hope is not to be confused with a passivity that is unresponsive to our circumstances. Hope requires that we cooperate with God in the purposes that God is working out in our lives.

Providing Alternatives

While it is now clear that the provision of such alternatives cannot function as a bar to patients making decisions to seek assistance to end their lives we remain of the view that this change will not reflect the intended affirmation of the dignity of patients unless there are genuine alternatives amongst which they can discern real and significant choices.

Palliative Care

Although often thought to be synonymous with “terminal” or “compassionate” care, palliative care is not confined solely to situations in which curative therapies are no longer possible or desired. Rather, the focus is on relief of distressing symptoms and maintenance or improvement of the quality of life of the sufferer regardless of the prognosis or projected duration of the illness.

Pastoral Care

What matters is that for many, the premium challenge of end-of-life is to continue to experience meaning, purpose and control over one’s life.

This presents our church, and those who care for the ill, with two fundamental challenges. First: pastoral care-providers must discern honestly through prayer and consultation their personal views and values and how they affect their capacity to support patients in decision-making in relation to end-of-life and assisted dying.

Second: pastoral caregivers must assess the strengths and limitations of available resources that can, or cannot, support the parishioner who seeks assistance with dying

Pastoral Care and the ministry of presence

Being present to another requires the sacred ability to listen, to speak and to touch. It is within the sacred conversation of being present that one can sometimes discern most clearly the needs, questions and desires of the other.

 

I acknowledge that we are on Turtle Island, the original homelands of the many Indigenous Nations who have lived since time immemorial in Canada or as many First and other Indigenous Nations
All of the lands in Canada are the subject of up to one hundred Treaties signed by the Crown in the right of Canada with these Nations.  I will only mention a few of the Nations: the Cree, Ojibway, Blackfoot, Blood, Dakota, Mig M'ag, Huron, Inuit and these lands are also home to the Metis people.

 

In Sure and Certain Hope

Recently, I received an email which brought to the recipients' attention that a veteran had been offered the option of medically assistance in dying when he reached out to Veterans Affairs Canada for assistance.  The email expressed shock and condemnation that such action would be offered in place of “LIFE-affirming care that everyone deserves.”  The email implied that this was government policy which promoted this option rather than other options.  After reading the CBC report that raised the issue, apparently this was a one-time circumstance that was a result of lack of training on the part of the person responding to the request.  However, there is also a concern regarding insufficient mental health care being provided to families of veterans.

I certainly share the concern expressed in the email that veterans and their families should receive the Life-affirming care that they especially deserve given their service and sacrifice to the country.  And I sincerely hope that this was indeed a one-time occurrence based on insufficient training which can happen in the best run organizations and not an unofficial policy to address limited resources which does happen in government departments at times.  This raised the issue for me of what the position was of the Anglican Church of Canada on medically assistance in dying.  Well, as it happened, the September edition of the Anglican Journal had an article on the issue and linked to a paper issued by the Anglican Church in 2016, In Sure and Certain Hope which is intended as a, “Resources to Assist Pastoral and Theological Approaches to Physician Assisted Dying.”  This report is a review of a report, Care in Dying, which was commissioned by the Anglican Church in 1998.  Sorry for the somewhat convoluted introduction but as they say, “The mills of the gods grind slowly, but they grind exceedingly fine.”   

Next week, I will attempt to summarize the document In Sure and Certain Hope which provides, I believe, a good perspective on this very complex and vexing issue for Christians.

Blessings this day on your journey. 

 

I acknowledge that we are on Turtle Island, the original homelands of the many Indigenous Nations who have lived since time immemorial in Canada or as many First and other Indigenous Nations
All of the lands in Canada are the subject of up to one hundred Treaties signed by the Crown in the right of Canada with these Nations.  I will only mention a few of the Nations: the Cree, Ojibway, Blackfoot, Blood, Dakota, Mig M'ag, Huron, Inuit and these lands are also home to the Metis people.