On July 30, 1922, in Beaconsfield England the great writer and journalist GK Chesterton was received into the Catholic Church. When asked to explain why he became Catholic he wrote: ‘there are ten thousand reasons all amounting to one reason: that Catholicism is True.’
As with everything GKC wrote and said this statement is at once brilliant yet simple. I have quoted him many times, when asked about my own conversion, and I don’t think there is a better response to be given.
Yet, it is a bold and controversial claim. The philosophy of relativism is so deeply ingrained into our psyche that it has completely changed the colour of our minds. Even devoutly religious people, often without being aware, subscribe to a pluralism of truths mentality. ‘You do you’, ecumenicalism, tolerance, etc. are all rooted in relativism.
The Truth has these three characteristics- it is unique, it is exclusive, and it is objective. It is unique in that only one can claim the title of truth. Amongst competing mathematical formulas, or theories of matter, or religions, or philosophies- only one can be true. Because the truth describes reality and there are not multiple versions of it.
Years ago I saw a t-shirt that had on the back a list of about a dozen protestant denominations with the founder's name and date. It was quite effective at making the point:
Church Founder Date
Presbyterian John Calvin 1536
Lutheran Martin Luther 1522
Quacker George Fox 1653
.
.
.
Roman Catholic Jesus Christ 33
It is exclusive in that if there are different religions with different doctrines and beliefs about reality, they cannot both be right. If leader A says that 2+2 equals 4 and leader B says 2+2 equals 5, they cannot both be right. They may both be wrong, but they cannot both be True.
It is objective. And this seems to me the most obvious, but in today’s culture, it is increasingly difficult for people to even understand the objective. We have been taught that all reality exists only in our ‘lived experience’ (oh, what would Orwell have to say about that phrase) or how and what we identify as truth. Everything has been turned upside down.
But I digress. The most important point is to believe in an objective truth and to have the intellectual honesty to attempt to discover it. The ‘you do you’ attitude is awful. Don’t do you, do Truth. Have the dignity and love for yourself and your neighbour. Catholicism is True. The deposit of Faith handed down by apostolic succession, based on the Word of God and Tradition is Reality and Truth. What a marvelous and freeing fact.
There are indeed ten thousand reasons to be Catholic. There are probably more. In fact, there are probably as many reasons as their Catholics. But all the reasons have the same thing in common- they are True. And it was Truth Himself that established Holy Mother Church and promised that the Gates of Hell would never prevail against Her.
Vivat Chistus Rex!
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