JESUITS

Patricia Khoury, you ask… “Fred, how come [people say] Jesuits are not true Catholics?” Well, Patricia… let me sum up my “Back Row” Catholic views on the subject.

Only a Voice of One…

I am not a spokesperson for the Jesuits. But, as a backrow Catholic “voice of one,” I see Jesuits (derived from the name, Jesus) as the truest of Catholics and truest of Christians. Others do not agree. For many, right-wing Christians, the Jesuits are seen as too liberal (Leftists, Marists, Communists, Preference for the Poor, etc. etc.). I suspect that, if the anti Jesuit, right-wing Christians of today had lived during the “life and times” of Jesus… they would have had the very same, negative and reactionary opinion of Jesus that the Jewish High Priests and Romans did.

Who are the Jesuits ???

As I see it, the “occupation” of the Jesuits (that which most “occupies” their time and beliefs) are…

(1) To “Do unto others” especially for the least of us,

and

(2) To teach the rest of us.

In large part, it was Ignatius of Loyola (and the Jesuit order he founded) who dragged the introspective, cloistered and prayerful monks out of the Monasteries of the 16^th and 17^thCenturies… so those monks could “engage the world” by learning and then teaching all subjects to the rest of mankind (writing, reading, printing, science, arts, humanities, mathematics, chemistry, physics, engineering, architecture, medicine, dentistry, nursing, literature, economics, accounting, law, teaching, etc. etc.).

A couple weeks ago, I was at a Jesuit-run Church (St. Peter & Paul in Detroit) for the funeral of a friend, Judge Gail McKnight. After the Mass, I walked through the Jesuit “Warming Center” where the Jesuits provide warmth, hot showers, hot food and cots for the homeless and the immigrants (hopefully before ICE, Kristi Noem or her successor, Cage Fighter, Markwayne Mullin and Trump can get their hands on them, humiliate ‘em, terrorize ‘em and imprison ‘em in some Central America, CECOT, mental and physical torture chamber).

Jesus… the Jewish Man

As you know, Patricia, Jesus was never a Christian. Jesus was a Jew… an historical, Jewish Jesus, a man born to Jews, a man raised by Jews, a man taught by Jews, a Jewish man who walked in Sandals from Nazareth to Jerusalem, preaching Golden Rule Judaism along the way… a man who led a Jewish, spiritual movement, a man who openly and courageously criticized the organized, Jewish religion of his time and a man who was, eventually, arrested and crucified… because he was (perceived to be) a revolutionary threat to the Jewish High Priests and Roman occupiers of Judea (present day Palestine).

After the death of Jesus, his brother, James the Just, took over the Jesus movement of ministering to the poor, the downtrodden, the outcasts and those marginalized men and women living on the “slings and arrow” fringes of Jewish society. (See the book Zealot by Reza Aslan pages xxv, 35, 94, 170-171, 175, 194)… those very marginalized men, women and children that Paul Simon (another Jew) sang about in his song The Boxer… those who (like my own Mother and Father) “Seek out the poorer quarters, where the ragged people go, looking for places only they would know.”

Jesus… Revolutionary of Empowerment

There are some who say, we all create our own Jesus according to our own needs and our own image (not necessarily a bad thing). Creating my own historical, Golden Rule Jesus, I behold a revolutionary…

Jewish man who empowered women (in an otherwise, patriarchal society). So says deceased, Irish Priest, Dairmuid O’Murchu, in his book, Christianity’s Dangerous Memory.
A Jewish man who empowered the poor, the outcasts and downtrodden souls living on the margins of life.
A Jewish man who included all at the table of life… “when I was hungry you gave me to eat” and, when I was despondent and emotionally overwhelmed, you recognized me, smiled my way and lifted my spirit.
A Jewish man who taught acceptance, inclusion, love and forgiveness… the most powerful of forces in our Universe.
A Jewish man who taught that the “Substance” of the Jewish law trumped the rigidity of rituals and the formulas of formalities.

This bullet-point, depiction be-fits “Jesus the man” does it not ???… even if, for the sake of argument, Jesus was not God the Son, the second person of the Holy Trinity ??? Translated, even if we ignore the (“un-winnable” and “un-provable”) debate over the God figure, Jesus Christ (“their Lord and Savior” as the Evangelicals say after they are “born again”)… repeat, even if we ignore the Christ, God figure for the moment, still, the Message of Jesus (the Man in Sandals who walked from Nazareth to Jerusalem preaching the good news of acceptance, inclusion at the table of life, love and forgiveness)… is, well is… more than enough to center our lives around or even bet our eternity on. Is it Not ???

In my present ignorance, I ask an open ended, hypothetical question. Does it really matter whether our revolutionary, Golden Rule Jesus is painted as “Divine” ??? Not to me. If “Devine” fine. If not, still fine because I can fall in line behind… and follow Jesus the historical, social revolutionary who reaches us and teaches us about the need to include, accept, love and forgive one another… a most difficult task, emotionally and spiritually.

Nicene Creed…

Three Centuries after the death of Jesus, there was a noted, theological debate at Nicea (325 A.D. in modern day Turkey). That meeting was called by an insistent head of State, Roman Emperor Constantine, who ordered that those at Nicea rid themselves of dissension and just clearly tell us whether Jesus was one of their Christian Gods or not. “Apparently,” the answer to the question (of whether Jesus was God) didn’t matter to Constantine. Constantine just wanted some stability in the Christian belief system… so that there would be no tension in beliefs (in the new, Roman religion, Christianity) that would threaten or undermine the stability of the Roman Empire. The debate in Nicea chased off the non-believers and declared in the Nicean (Apostle’s) Creed that … Jesus was not just a figurative Son of God (like the rest of us) but was, indeed, the actual son of God himself and the second person in the Holy Trinity.

As I say, the Nicene Creed of 17 Centuries ago opted for a Jesus who would be both a man like us and God unto himself. In doing so, the Nicene Creed drowned out the dissenting voices of that “human” debate and proclaimed that Jesus was God, the second person in the Holy Trinity.

An oxymoron ??? Seems so to me. Humans (with finite intellects) trying to figure out if another human, Jesus of Nazareth, is also a God of an “infinite” intellect ??? I ask… how is it possible that humans with “finite” minds can figure out whether a man born to Mary and Joseph was a God with an “infinite mind” ??? That seems far above the human, pay grade and far above the finite ability of those who wrote the Nicene Creed. But, those humans of “finite” minds did just that… declaring Jesus to be God. And , so it has been (without further reflection) for the last seventeen hundred years.

The “true believing,” St. Paul Christians were so absolutely sure Jesus was God the Son, that they did not back down from their perceived duty to ferret out heretics, infidels and other non-believers and excommunicate them and (many times) mete out the “final solution” of Capital Punishment to those dissenting voices. Wow !!! My Jesus (and, I am pretty sure, the Jesus of the Jesuits) would be the first one to dissent on Capital punishment and tell the pious, theologian executioners, “You without sin, throw the first rock, put the first noose around your Brother’s neck, light the first match at the stake or drive the first nail through the hands and feet of your Brother and into the wooden Cross.”

Traditional Theology… Jesus Both God and Man

According to St. Paul’s Christian theology, Jesus was both man and God.
According to St. Paul (and the Evangelicals and other right-wing Christians), “Their Lord and Master, Jesus Christ”… was God the Son, the second person of the Holy Trinity.
According to St. Paul (the Evangelicals and other right-wing Christians), Jesus (man and God) was born so that he could die on the cross for humanity’s sins and save human souls from the fires of Hell… while those not baptized with water in the name of Jesus must go to Hell or a Limbo or a Purgatory (anywhere but heaven)… even those souls who never heard the name Jesus uttered in their lifetimes.
What sins ??? Good question ???.
St Augustine spent much of his life delving into that “original sin” question/theory. And, Vice President (and recent, Catholic convert) J.D. Vance, took St. Augustine’s name as his patron Saint for his Confirmation. So, I guess we could ask that great Christian, Hillbilly J.D. “What’s up with the Original Sin, J.D.” ??? For further discussion about original sin see the numerous, historical references to St. Augustine in The Rise and Fall of Adam and Eve by Stephen Greenblatt.

My Thoughts… Divinity of Jesus ???

As I say, does it really matter whether Jesus was God ??? I think what I said previously bears repeating.

“In my present ignorance, I ask an open ended, hypothetical question. Does it really matter whether our revolutionary, Golden Rule Jesus is painted as “Divine” ??? Not to me. If “Devine” fine. If not, still fine because I can fall in line behind… and follow Jesus, the historical, social revolutionary who reaches us and teaches us about the need to include, accept, love and forgive one another… a most difficult task, emotionally and spiritually.”

We can take that historical Jesus the man to the bank because he is the Man in Sandals who walked from Nazareth to Jerusalem to preach the good news of acceptance, inclusion, empowerment, love and forgiveness. He really lived and really died on the cross for the revolutionary stance he took against the High Priests and other religious authorities of his time and also against the secular authorities, the “occupying” Army of Rome.

Those are my thoughts in trying to rely on something history teaches us and something we can all count on… as opposed to the unprovable belief system of St. Paul and the right-wing Christians.

Where do my thoughts come from ???

My thoughts on God, religion and Jesus arise out of my lifetime of Catholic Education, Benedictine Monks and Dominican Nuns at St. Scholastica Grade School (very Jesuit like), the Basilian Priests at Catholic Central High School (very Jesuit like) and the actual Jesuits at the University of Detroit undergrad and their outstanding Law School.

And from

The God-given gifts of free will, logic, deductive reasoning and critical analysis as honed by my Catholic education which generated “my own thinking” on the matter of… what it means for me to be a follower of Jesus ???

What to Say on Judgment Day ???

And (I think) It crucially important that… on Judgment Day (be there a one), I argue my case based on the Message of Jesus and the judicious decision not to allow my God-given gifts of free will, logic, deductive reasoning and critical analysis to lie fallow in the non-fertile ground where others have trampled out my original thoughts and have done my thinking for me. Nor, would I want to tell my Maker that I willingly forfeited my gift of free will by “just following orders” of an unprovable, belief system that others insisted I believe in and accept. How can my independent thinking and analysis, using God’s gifts of free will, logic, deductive reasoning and critical analysis keep me from going through the gates of Heaven… be there a Heaven. See Original Thinking

Jesuit Trained… “Doubting Thomases”

Patricia, when I allude to the words “provable” and “unprovable” in the discussion of Christianity, please know that I do not have the “faith” that the books of the Bible… were written by a God who whispered in the ear of the Bible writers. Based upon a lifetime of observation and the exercise of my God-given free will, logic, deductive reasoning and critical analysis, I cannot (in good faith) accept the writings of the Bibles as “specific truths” from the mind and lips of God. General truths and teaching parables (that emanate from all great literature which the Bibles truly are) ??? Yes !!! I acknowledge that. But specific truths and specific facts ??? No !!! I cannot logically acknowledge that. See What is Truth and Where Do You Find It See also The Sendoff

Do I actually know, one way or the other, whether the 66 books of the Bible have specific truths and specific facts ??? No !!! (Rhetorically, does anybody else ???) So, I cannot use the Bibles as “specific” truths and specific facts to advance me beyond my present state … a “me of little faith,” Doubting Thomas.

But, in many related, Jesuit, educational experiences… that Doubting Thomas observation of life was demanded of me…

By the Jesuits in my undergrad education (Math, Science and Philosophy) where I was taught to find truth via the challenging SocraticMethod of the classroom (confrontational or argumentative dialogue that uses persistent questioning to expose false assumptions to uncover truth).
By the Jesuits in my Law school education where we never knew which side of the argument, we were going to be called on to pursue or defend until… we heard our name called.
By the practice of Law for 43 years where the great, Jesuit-trained, Trial Lawyers all challenged “supposed” truth in Courtrooms, via Confrontation and Cross-examination …to debride (and cut away) at supposed conventional truths and get to the actual truth of the matter, and finally,
By life itself, where Evolution, Natural Selection and constant change and adaptationare needed for the survival of our Human Species. See historians, Will and Ariel Durant’s book, The Lessons of History , Chapter III, Biology and History, page 18.

So, for me… Bibles are not really truths of anything other than the statements of “general truths” that emanate from all great literature (which the Bibles truly are). Again, see What is Truth and Where Do You Find It See also The Sendoff

Jesuits Suppressed…

Patricia, at one time, the Jesuit order was suppressed/abolished/ex-communicated from the Roman Catholic Church for about 25 years. Also, google the Jesuit Superiors’ questionable treatment of one of their own, Jesuit Priest, Pierre Teilhard de Chardin (by all accounts… a good man and a great thinker).

Bottom Line– Something I Can Cling to…

First, let me be a Child of God, and then
Second, a member of some religious organization.

First let me be a Citizen of the Universe, and then
Second, a patriot of some postage-stamp size of land,

That way I see myself in all others across the globe
As they also see themselves in me…

And then we can shake hands in a meaningfully way and say…
“May the peace of Jesus, Ghandi, King, Mandela, Clement Kern, Solanus Casey and the Jesuits… Be with you.”

Or, maybe Patricia… better to just “Go forth and serve God” by taking care of what’s left of your Oak Tree, and we can postpone our ongoing thoughts and discussions on theology, metaphysics, Jesus and the Jesuits… for another time.

Fred Lauck
He who admittedly
Knows so little
About so much.
Copyrighted 2026