"Christian Realism"
"I believe too that there is only one Reality and that that is the end of it but the term 'Christian Realism," has become necessary for me, perhaps in a purely academic way, because I find myself in a world where everybody has his compartment, puts you in yours, shuts the door and departs. One of the awful things about writing when you are a Christian is that for you the ultimate reality is the Incarnation, the present reality is the Incarnation, and nobody believes in the Incarnation; that is, nobody in your audience. My audience are the people who think God is dead. At least these are the people I am conscious of writing for.
As for Jesus being a realist: if He was not God, He was no realist, only a liar, and the crucifixion an act of justice.
Dogma can in no way limit a limitless God. The person outside the Church attaches a different meaning to it than the person in. For me dogma is only a gateway to contemplation and is an instrument of freedom and not of restriction. It preserves mystery for the human mind. Henry James said that the young woman of the future would know nothing of mystery or manners. He had no business to limit it to one sex."
Flannery O'Connor
letter - August 2, 1955
The Habit of Being: Letters of Flannery O'Connor
As for Jesus being a realist: if He was not God, He was no realist, only a liar, and the crucifixion an act of justice.
Dogma can in no way limit a limitless God. The person outside the Church attaches a different meaning to it than the person in. For me dogma is only a gateway to contemplation and is an instrument of freedom and not of restriction. It preserves mystery for the human mind. Henry James said that the young woman of the future would know nothing of mystery or manners. He had no business to limit it to one sex."
Flannery O'Connor
letter - August 2, 1955
The Habit of Being: Letters of Flannery O'Connor
A brilliant woman. Wonderful writer. True believer. If you don't have this, may I recommend your wife get it for you as a gift someday?: http://www.amazon.com/Flannery-OConnor-Collected-Everything-Converge/dp/0940450372/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1249571427&sr=1-1
E.
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I don't have it. My wife has me on a book-buying freeze but maybe it will be off by Christmas. The quotation is a perfect read-aloud exercise.
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