Travesty of the truth

THE expression appears in the Acts of the Apostles. St.

Paul warned the elders of the church of Ephesus to be very watchful

because “when I have gone, fierce wolves will invade you and will have

no mercy on the flock.” (cfr 20,28-38)

  

            And he continued by saying that “even from your own ranks

there will be men coming forward with a travesty of the truth on their

lips to induce the disciples to follow them.”

             These words acquire immediate relevance as we see them

turn to reality especially nowadays when the perversion and distortion

of the truth that comes from God is done not by those who are openly

against God, the Church, or religion itself, but by those who appear

to be for God, for the Church and religion in general.

  

            That is why Pope Francis in his latest Apostolic

Exhortation, Gaudete et Exsultate (Rejoice and be glad) is also

warning us today of some fake forms of holiness that manage to beguile

many faithful. He cited two main ones: Gnosticism and Pelagianism.

            Of Gnosticism, he said that it is “a purely subjective

faith whose only interest is a certain experience or a set of ideas

and bits of information which are meant to console and enlighten, but

which ultimately keep one imprisoned in his or her own thoughts and

feelings.” (36)

  

            He said that Gnosticism is a distortion of the truth about

what holiness is because “a person’s perfection is measured not by the

information or knowledge he possesses, but by the depth of his

charity.” (37)

  

            “Gnostics do not understand this,” he said, “because they

judge others based on their ability to understand the complexity of

certain doctrines. They think of the intellect as separate from the

flesh, and thus become incapable of touching Christ’s suffering flesh

in others, locked up as they are in an encyclopedia of abstractions.

In the end, by disembodying the mystery, they prefer ‘a God without

Christ, a Christ without the Church, a Church without her people.’”

  

            In other words, Gnostics are those who may be

knowledgeable about the faith or may have some special religious

experiences that are often flaunted, but whose deeds and behavior are

inconsistent for they are devoid of true charity. Their knowledge and

special experiences are more for themselves and not at the service of

God and others.

  

            Pelagianism, on the other hand, is the belief that

holiness can be achieved mainly if not exclusively through man’s

effort alone, with hardly any help of divine grace. It clearly goes

against what St. Paul said that everything, especially holiness

itself, “depends not on human will or exertion, but on God who shows

mercy.” (Rom 9,16)

  

            Not that human will and exertion are irrelevant in the

pursuit of holiness and everything that is good and proper to us. They

are, in fact, indispensable, but only as means, as evidence and

consequence of the working of God’s grace and his mercy.

  

            The Pelagians are those who may be doing a lot of

practices of piety—they can do a lot of prayers and novenas, can be

active in church activities, join religious processions and other

forms of popular piety, etc.—but still fail to be with God, to be

consistent in charity in their life.

  

            Their practices of piety are more a matter of performance,

and not as a means to be with God and to be truly God-like as we are

meant to be. A Pelagian spirituality often insists on the performance

of these practices of piety without checking if indeed these practices

lead one to God.

             We have to be wary of these travesties, perversions and

distortions of the truth about sanctity. They can be marketed by those

inside the church who actually are wolves in sheep’s clothing or

devils dressed as angels of light.