We live in a time in history where science has become, in a sense, a religion. I have noticed a growing tendency for people to say, “it is science!,” implying that a scientific truth can be trusted with absolute certainty. At least in the Western world, the pursuit of science has increasingly taken the place of theological pursuit, or the study of God. Of course, this is terribly ironic, being that both religion and science are sources of truth, and the Catholic Church has always been a champion of science. The scholastics of the Middle Ages championed the parallel truths of faith and reason, and St. John Paul II wrote his remarkable encyclical, Fides et ratio, affirming the importance of both. Faith and reason, religion and science, theology and philosophy – the two wings of truth that guide humanity in answering Pontius Pilate’s timeless question: “What is truth?” It just seems a bit baffling to me that the truth of Catholicism’s claims are increasingly rejected in the postmodern world.
St. John Henry Newman famously observed that “to be deep in history is to cease to be Protestant.” Of course, he was refuting the Protestant claim that the “true Church” of Jesus Christ was somehow lost during the Middle Ages, requiring the revolt of the Protestant reformers. His statement is perhaps more directed towards non-Catholic believers, but it is also relevant in refuting the claims of modern secular scholarship that seeks to remove the religious truths from the Bible. Perhaps one could edit the English bishop’s words to say: “to be deep in history is to cease to be secular,” and better yet, “to be deep in history is to cease to be atheist.” The more one sees the historical reliability of the Catholic religion and Sacred Scripture, the more one allows faith to pick up where reason leaves off. Where science can no longer answer questions, Divine Revelation takes off.
To be Catholic is to be historical. Indeed, Catholicism is a staunchly historical religion. To take it a step further, Catholicism is the historical religion. Inheriting the beauty and brilliance of the ancient Jewish faith, and built upon the Apostles and Prophets of Israel, Catholicism is undeniably a truth of history. Perhaps this is one reason why having a visible Church is important: God is aware that humans need tangible, physical realities to prove the truths of faith. God gave miracles to Moses to convince the Pharaoh of Egypt to convince him to free the Hebrews from slavery: He provided physical, tangible proof of His power over the gods of Egypt. The visible, historical Church, so full of intriguing drama and remarkable figures, is that visible sign to humanity of its historical reliability.
Let us look at one of the most infamous names in human history as further evidence for Cathocism’s trustworthiness. It has long seemed fascinating to me that the name “Pontius Pilate” is mentioned in every Catholic church on every Sunday in the Nicene Creed.. Imagine having the name that is remembered throughout history – as the authority under which Jesus of Nazareth was unjustly executed. But this is exactly part of the genius of Catholicism: the mentioning of Pontius Pilate in the Creed serves a two-fold purpose. Firstly, it recognizes Pilate, the Roman governor of Judea, as the final authority under which Jesus received His fate. A Roman execution under a Roman authority, for Rome governed the known world at the time. Secondly, it serves as that time marker for all of history to remember. Just as I was born during the pontificate of John Paul II and the American presidency of Ronald Reagan, so Jesus was crucified during the governorship of Pontius Pilate. Both the Apostles’ and Nicene Creeds mention this Roman governor, as a recognition of his authority as well as a recognition of his place in history, and therefore Jesus Christ’s place in history.
Many will claim that the Bible is too riddled with contradictions to be reliable. And yet, the Bible is wonderfully full of undeniable confirmations of history. One could see the reference that St. Paul makes to the Praetorian Guard – the personal bodyguards of the Emperor of Rome – and their close encounter with the Gospel in his letter to the Phillipians: “What has happened to me has really served to advance the gospel, so that it has become known throughout the whole praetorian guard and to all the rest that my imprisonment is for Christ” (Phil 1:12). And why would the Praetorian Guard appear in a letter of the Apostle if their hearing of the Gospel was not a reliable event? One could also see the remarkable connection between the first chapter of Tobit and the thirty-seventh chapter of Isaiah, relating the assassination of the King of Assyria by his own two sons. In both scenes, both Tobit and Isaiah inform us that the corrupt Assyrian king was killed while worshiping his god. Why is this significant? It certainly confirms the event as being true. It also confirms the incident from differing perspectives: Tobit, as an Israelite from the northern Kingdom of Israel, living in exile in Assyria after the fall of the North to the Assyrians in 722 BC. The second, from the perspective of Isaiah, an Israelite from the southern Kingdom of Judah, over twenty years after the fall of the North. Tobit tells us: “But not fifty days passed before two of Sennacherib’s son killed him, and they fled to the mountains of Ararat. Then Esarhaddon, his son, reigned in his place.” (Tob 1:21). Isaiah confirms the event: “Then Sennacherib king of Assyria departed, and went home and dwelt at Nineveh. And as he was worshiping in the house of Nisroch his god, Adrammelech and Sharezer, his sons, slew him with the sword, and escaped into the land of Ararat. And Esarhaddon his son reigned in his stead” (Is 37:37-38).
One could likewise point to the fact that not only is there one reliable historical account of the life of Jesus of Nazareth, but four. Any discrepancies between the four point all the more to their reliability, as four unique perspectives will naturally have different emphases and points of view. And still, there is the confirmation by the Gospel of Mark of the Road to Emmaus event in the Gospel of Luke: “After this he appeared in another form to two of them, as they were walking into the country” (Mk 16:12). I like to compare the Gospel of Luke with the Prophet Jeremiah: reading these two books, one can find many similarities. Jeremiah is not only one of the greatest of the Jewish Prophets, he is also a remarkably gifted historian. The final chapters of Jeremiah read more like a history book rather than prophetic, as he insists on recording the final years of the Kingdom of Judah with such precision and accuracy that no future scholar could deny it. There is not enough space to quote Jeremiah, but his statements such as “In the fifth month, on the tenth day of the month – which was the nineteenth year of King Nebuchadrezzar, king of Babylon” (Jer 52:12) imply such impressive historical scholarship. Luke follows in the Jeremiad tradition of accuracy: “It seemed good to me also, having followed all things closely for some time past, to write an orderly account for you…that you may know the truth concerning the things of which you have been informed” (Lk 1:3-4). Such are the words of a legitimate historian, not one who is telling a myth.
And finally, one could point to the undeniable fact that history itself is based around the birth of Jesus Christ. We are currently in the year of 2023 AD – merely one decade away from the anniversary of the Passion and Resurrection of Christ. Take a moment to think about the immensity of that approaching year. Two millennia after the most momentous occasion the world has ever known: the Passion, Death, and Resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth, what will the Church do to commemorate it? And if modern writers prefer to use Common Era (or CE) rather than Anno Domini (or AD) one can simply read “CE” as the Christian Era (or perhaps at the Catholic Era, which ought to be one and the same). No one doubts the existence of Julius Caesar, so why doubt the life, Passion, and Resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth? We may indeed live in an increasingly secular Western culture, but Jesus of Nazareth still has countless buildings erected in His name, something which Caesar cannot boast. Catholicism is tremendously historical. It is built upon the Apostles and the Prophets of ancient Israel and Judah. Perhaps you could even say that it is a deeply scientific religion. If science seeks to demonstrate the truth with real, undeniable evidence, then the Catholic faith is likewise passionately scientific. Perhaps this is one reason why Theology is often called “the queen of the sciences.” The post-Christian world, so passionately obsessed with science, would do well to accept this truth. As our culture so often says “it’s science” to affirm the truth of an argument, so our society would do well to say “it’s history” with regards to Scripture and the Catholic faith. Affirming the truth is never wrong, and truth will set you free.