One Compliment Too Many

I want to thank Mark Shea both for calling my attention to a set of loony criticisms being made against me and for defending me against said loony criticisms.

GET THE STORY.

Here’s a key excerpt from Mark’s blog:

One reader,
for instance, prophesies (on the basis of nothing whatsoever) Jimmy
Akin’s looming apostasy. Why? Because Gerry Matatics has apostatized
into nutty sedevacantism and, if you’ve seen one convert, you’ve seen
’em all:

I’d bet you dollars to doughnuts that if
Benedict lasts another decade or is succeeded by a like minded pope,
some of the lay apologists that are trashing Gerry now will be jumping
ship themselves.

There’s NO WAY the Jimmy Aikens are going to
sit by while Rome says things like: "pro multis means for the many",
"the Mass of Pius V was never abrogated", "Protestant Churches are not
true Churches."

Jimmy’s accuser has a far higher regard for his own mind reading powers than the actual record warrants.
But when you are engaged against an enemy of the faith as slippery as a
convert, accuracy is of secondary importance. So you can just sling
such prophesies, even when they are contradicted by known facts and
ignore requests to
document, for instance, a single place where Jimmy has ever dissented
from the Church’s teaching on our relationship with Protestant
ecclesial bodies. The main thing to remember is that converts aren’t
*really* Catholic.

Now, I’ll be the first to concede that the critic has a point that in the cases of some converts, the conversion hasn’t "stuck." In other cases, it hasn’t proceeded far enough, and the convert has retained undue elements from his prior religious affiliation. (Just as somemany cradle Catholics leave Catholicism or adopt false elements of other religious traditions. Both converts and non-converts have free will, and many are willing to use it inappropriately.)

I can’t speak for such converts. In my case I have tried to rigorously assimilate the Catholic spirit. My religious reading matter consists principally of official Church documents, the Bible, the Church Fathers, and Catholic authors who are almost wholly from pre-Vatican II days.

I really don’t read much, if any, "convert lit." While it’s a historical fact that I am a convert, I don’t walk around every day thinking "I’m a convert." That’s not what is central to my identity. I think of myself as a Catholic, and days can go by where I don’t even think about my conversion.

I certainly don’t make a point of it, except on those rare occasions when someone asks be to tell my conversion story. And I daresay that most people who hear me on the radio or read my writings don’t even know that I’m a convert until it’s pointed out to them.

I don’t wear my conversion on my sleeve, because I don’t think it’s anything to be particularly proud of. It is a miracle of God’s grace, and the credit for that goes to him, not me. On my part, I just want to be a faithful Catholic now that I am one.

So when I read about the critic’s linking me to Gerry Matatics, I just rolled my eyes. Not all converts to the Catholic faith are cut from cloth made of the same unstable molecules as Gerry Matatics. Such cloth may be an important asset for Mr. Fantastic and the Fantastic Four, but there are converts and then there are converts.

I was particularly struck by the critic making claims about me that are just loony and that in no way reflect my views.

I mean, I believe that "pro multis means for the many",
I believe that "the Mass of Pius V was never abrogated" (certainly if you include the Missal of 1962 as an expression of it), and I believe that "Protestant Churches are not
true churches" because they lack validly ordained bishops. The technically correct terminology for them is  "ecclesial communities," which is the language used for them in various Church documents.

So I was very pleased to see Mark rebutting these claims and citing posts on my own blog in refutation of them.

A big CHT to Mark!

But he did give me one compliment too many. In response to the critic’s claim that I had changed my view on the translation of pro multis after Cardinal Arinze wrote a letter clarifying its translation in the liturgy, Mark writes:

So: according to my reader, Jimmy Akin held a private opinion but altered it when it seemed to him that the Magisterium was against him. Wow! That *is* evil! See how converts just blend in with Real Catholics[TM] by submitting their judgment to the teachers of the Church? They’re like chameleons!

While I wish to be quite submissive to the authoritative teaching of the Magisterium, I can’t claim that I changed a private opinion in this case.

Somehow in rad trad circles I got the reputation of changing my mind on the translation of pro multis, when in reality I always supported a literal translation of it like "for many."

Why?

Because I’m a student of languages, because I prefer literal translations to dynamic ones, and because that’s what the literal translation of pro multis just is.

I’ve certainly made no secret of my disapproval of all kinds of squishy translations–even "official" ones–of Bible verses, Church documents, or liturgical texts. This one is no different. I prefer and always have preferred a literal translation of the original text.

Thus upon my first hearing of the letter from Cardinal Arinze dealing with the subject, I wrote THIS:

Hallelujah!

This is something I’ve really been hoping and praying for. I’ve even
thought about writing Cardinal Arinze and imploring him to do this,
because the release of the new translation of the Mass is the perfect
opportunity to do this, and with B16 in office, the pope would have the
sensitivity to the issue to realize how much benefit this change would
be.

I was therefore DEE-lighted when a reader e-mailed this story from Catholic World News:

Pro multis means "for many," Vatican rules

[SNIP]

The only reason that there has been any confusion regarding my view of the translation of pro multis is that some rad trads have been running around babbling that the translation of pro multis as "for all" renders the consecration of the Eucharist invalid.

It doesn’t.

And so, as an author writing on liturgical subjects, I’ve made exactly the same points that Cardinal Arinze makes in section 2 of his LETTER:

2. There is no doubt whatsoever regarding the validity of Masses celebrated with the use of a duly approved formula containing a formula equivalent to "for all", as the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith has already declared (cf. Sacra Congregatio pro Doctrina Fidei, Declaratio de sensu tribuendo adprobationi versionum formularum sacramentalium, 25 Ianuarii 1974, AAS 66 [1974], 661). Indeed, the formula "for all" would undoubtedly correspond to a correct interpretation of the Lord’s intention expressed in the text. It is a dogma of faith that Christ died on the Cross for all men and women (cf. John 11:52; 2 Corinthians 5,14-15; Titus 2,11; 1 John 2,2).

Yet for some reason, certain rad trads have represented me as holding a different interpretation of the matter than Cardinal Arinze and then changing it when his letter came out.

This is pure, unadulterated horse leavings.

I have always held that pro multis is best represented with a literal translation, and devoutly wished that the Church would change the approved English translation to reflect this, while also holding the points that Cardinal Arinze makes above.

So before everyone congratulates me on being willing to submit my judgment to that of the Church on this point, allow me to note that this is one compliment too many. I’ve always held the views I do on this subject and was delighted to see the Church endorse them.

I also advise critics to read my writings more carefully next time, and not to trust unreliable sources.

(P.S. Also thanks to Mark for spelling my last name right.)

Author: Jimmy Akin

Jimmy was born in Texas, grew up nominally Protestant, but at age 20 experienced a profound conversion to Christ. Planning on becoming a Protestant seminary professor, he started an intensive study of the Bible. But the more he immersed himself in Scripture the more he found to support the Catholic faith, and in 1992 he entered the Catholic Church. His conversion story, "A Triumph and a Tragedy," is published in Surprised by Truth. Besides being an author, Jimmy is the Senior Apologist at Catholic Answers, a contributing editor to Catholic Answers Magazine, and a weekly guest on "Catholic Answers Live."

39 thoughts on “One Compliment Too Many”

  1. Sorry for not knowing more about this particular quarrel. I assumed my reader was relaying facts and then putting the darkest possible construction on them. It didn’t occur to me that she was simply lying or passing on the lies of others.
    I have to wonder how it is Traditionalists think this sort of tactic is a) remotely reflective of “speaking the truth in love” or b) likely to win any hearts and minds to their cause.

  2. No problem. It’s totally understandable that you wouldn’t be familiar with the history of every accusation that’s ever been made against me.
    And you’re right that even if the accusation that I had changed my position on pro multis that it doesn’t signify anything sinister.
    Just wanted to limit the spread of a myth.
    Thanks much!

  3. Jimmy,
    We all know that you and Mark Shea are moles.
    😉
    I love your blog, keep up the good work!

  5. I often disagree with you, but I’m always happy when you are (back) in fighting form. You do a great service to the Church and the Faithful.
    I don’t quite know how you were dragged into the quagmire regarding pro multis, but I know you treasure the truth and the language.
    Thanks and I’ve always spelled “Jimmy” correctly.

  6. “There’s NO WAY the Jimmy Aikens…”
    I *knew* I’d never seen you and that American Idol dude in the same place at the same time!

  8. the *real* reason Evangelical converts are so active in apologetics and evangelization is their itch to run the Church, transform it into the image and likeness of their native (and apparently ineradicable) Protestant belief, and (natch) make all the vast money that is to be made in the fantastically lucrative world of discussing the Trinity, arguing with obscure fundamentalist ministers about fine points of Marian doctrine, and preaching chastity to a sexually deranged culture. What faster way could there be to limitless wealth and power?.
    You guys make vast amounts of money?!?! (shock)
    Where do I sign up? I want to get on this gravy train 😉

  9. Mark Windsor,
    I was about to write the exact same thing. Too funny. Mr. Akin and Mr. Shea have simply got to be loved. They are every dork’s man-crush rolled into one.

  11. Not all converts to the Catholic faith are cut from cloth made of the same unstable molecules as Gerry Matatics.
    Rather, we all (converts and cradle Catholics alike)are but are prevented from the same sorts of things by the grace of God. 😉

  12. >Not all converts to the Catholic faith are cut from cloth made of the same unstable molecules as Gerry Matatics.
    >Rather, we all (converts and cradle Catholics alike)are but are prevented from the same sorts of things by the grace of God. 😉
    I reply: You say TO-MAY-TO, I say TO-MAH-TO… 🙂

  14. Maybe someone should send those guys a copy of Steve Taylor’s “I Want to Be A Clone” (If you want to be one of His, gotta act like one of us…

  15. You say TO-MAY-TO, I say TO-MAH-TO
    I see what you mean, but there are ways of expressing the same reality that are ultimately more or less true and show fail to show a proper understanding of human identity.
    Quite honestly and seriously, I’m a little worried about Jimmy, between the lack of blogging and the kinds of things he’s posting when he does. I’ve had too much experience with humanity, myself included, in my admittedly short life to trust that just because he’s a good apologist he can’t have any kind of personal crisis, maybe even in the spiritual or moral or faith areas, and also too much experience to judge negatively someone with such struggles, which means I can entertain such a theory without reducing my great respect for the man. Or maybe it’s that for me respect is blending inseperably into love. Anyway, I hope I’m wrong of course, and I very well may be.
    I think that’s all I’ll say, but I think there is a real possibility he is in particular need of prayers.

  16. Since we don’t live in a Catholic society, we are all converts to one extent or another. We all have to muddle through somehow when it comes to our Catholic identity.

  18. Sorry, I really don’t mean to offend anyone or anything like that. I am coming at this from a different perspective than many of you I guess. Right now just about every person who has seemed strong in the faith and perhaps spirituality is having very difficult times in their life, several seeming to be on the verge of loosing their faith or despairing of their salvation. And I’ve been close to the edge too. My Knights of Columbus council has become almost a no communion club at mass, those who still go to mass. People online too that I’ve never met in real life but have been big helps to me and I thought were so great. I’ve pretty much lost faith in human strength and integrity. I suppose I shouldn’t come to websites like this with the same attitude without much evidence.

  19. J.R. Stoodley,
    As Rudyard Kipling said, “If you can keep your head, when all about you are losing theirs and blaming it on you….you will be a man, my son”.
    Or put another way by Kent M. Keith: “Give the world the best you have and you’ll get kicked in the teeth. Give the world the best you have anyway”.
    In other words, don’t pay attention to those who are sinking; pay attention to Jesus. It’s only when we take our eyes off Him, that like Peter, who saw the wind, the rain, and the waves, he started to sink. “Keep your eyes on the prize!”

  20. Read the “Summa Theologica” again and the Divine Office EVERY DAY, pray the rosary daily and go to Confession at least every three weeks.
    Assist at Holy Mass, preferably the Traditional Latin Mass, and you will all find joy and peace in the bosom of our Heavenly Father.
    God bless you all!
    Deo Gratias!

  21. Howdy, folks!
    I don’t have time to write at the moment, and I want to thank those who have expressed concern for my wellbeing, though I don’t want to let the fact I’ve been too busy to blog much let people think I’m experiencing some kind of crisis–of faith or otherwise.
    I appreciate and can always use folks’ prayers! Thanks very much for them!
    But don’t worry that I’m having some kind of crisis. I’m not. I’ve just been really, really busy.
    More on that soon.

  22. I appreciate and can always use folks’ prayers! Thanks very much for them!
    True. I’d rather have people pray for me to be strong now, than prayers for repentance that are late in coming.
    But don’t worry that I’m having some kind of crisis. I’m not. I’ve just been really, really busy.
    That’s a crisis! We need to start a petition to lengthen the day to 28 hours so Jimmy won’t be as busy!
    Then I’d have more time away from work to do what’s important: BLOG!!! 😉

  23. FWIW, a couple of quick thoughts precipitated by posts above.
    First, to put stock in other people we perceive as being in some way in a stronger or more advanced position than ourselves is simply human nature, and rightly so. Younger children take their cues from older siblings. Newlyweds or new parents look to older, experienced couples and families for reassurance. Soldiers take heart if they have confidence in their commanding officers.
    It is a great aid to faith to be able to look up to another Christian, whether it is a wise and inspiring pastor, a bishop who takes his duties seriously, a pious old relative whose unwavering faithfulness amid sufferings puts one’s own difficulties in perspective, a teacher or professor whose scholarship displays the intellectual credibility of the faith, or whatever.
    This is precisely why (or part of the reason why) the Church canonizes saints. However, we also need (or do better with) living heroes. At the same time, we must be wary of putting too much stock in any hero, sainted or living. All the saints had feet of clay even as we do, and they struggled with the same temptations, including temptations of doubt and despair, that we do.
    On another note, someone above recommended a course of action as a way of finding joy and peace. Advice aimed at such an end may be good advice, and may indeed be the right way (or part of the right way, or a valid expression of the right way) of pursuing that end.
    However, it should not be conflated (not that I’m accusing anyone of doing that) with “You will not have struggles of faith or spiritual crises; you will not be tormented with the specters of doubt or despair or loss of faith, like Mother Teresa or Therese of Lisieux or Francis de Sales or a hundred other saints.” Any formula that promises that is a lie. OTOH, the very fact that others we rightly look up to have gone through such things should encourage us in our own struggles.

  24. SDG,
    If anyone took my comments to mean “You will not have struggles of faith or spiritual crises; you will not be tormented with the specters of doubt or despair or loss of faith, like Mother Teresa or Therese of Lisieux or Francis de Sales or a hundred other saints.”, well that wasn’t what I was (trying to) get at. More like “pray for me now, rather than waiting until I’ve fallen. That’s not to say that I don’t also need pray later.” I’m glad you pointed out what should be obvious all to. That is, if you were even referring to my post. 🙂

  25. SDG,
    I agree with what you say, but would add that Saints are living heroes. They are, in some ways, far more alive than we struggling Christians bound by this mortal coil.

  26. David B: I wasn’t thinking of your comments. 🙂
    Paul: Swap “mortal” for “living,” then. It’s good to be able to look up to others now on earth, in the church militant, not just in heaven, in the church triumphant.

  27. David B: I wasn’t thinking of your comments. 🙂

    Oh! Walks away red faced…

  28. Jimmy Akin—the next Gerry Matatics.
    Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha HaHa Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha ………………….

  29. My knowledge of Ed Peters’ deep inner repository of wisdom and erudition compelled me to look deeper at his apparently superficial 12:19:36 PM post.
    After much analysis and scrutiny, much frustration and labor, I realized that he had entered exactly 41 “Ha”‘s — a prime number. That’s when I knew I was on to something.
    Analyzing Ed’s cryptic message further, I noticed a discrepancy — there is no space between the 32nd and 33rd “Ha”‘s.
    Now, 33-32=1.
    But, 41+1=42.
    And that’s when I knew I had it!
    Ed Peters was telling us the answer to Life, the Universe, and Everything …. which, superficially, is 42, but, if you look deeper, you realize that I’ve ignored the first sentence of Ed’s post:
    “Jimmy Akin—the next Gerry Matatics.”
    Something in that statement holds the answer to the meaning of Life, the Universe, and Everything. But what?
    So I did what I always do when I’m stuck: I translate the statement to German using BabelFish:
    “”Jimmy Entsprechendes-d folgendes Gerry Matatics.””
    It turns out that Jimmy’s last name translates to “Entsprechendes” in German!!! Translating back to English, BabelFish reports the word as “Appropriate”.
    So we have Akin==Appropriate.
    But that’s a contradiction, as we know that Jimmy’s posts are generally Inappropriate.
    So if Ed’s statement leads to a contradiction, it must not be true. He must have been stating it in an ironic manner.
    And then I had it: the keeper of the Secret of Life must be Alanis Morissette!
    Anyone know where I can find her?

  30. “And then I had it: the keeper of the Secret of Life must be Alanis Morissette!
    Anyone know where I can find her?”
    You oughta know.

  31. Smoky,
    You’re missing the big picture.
    41 “Ha”‘s with spaces between all but two of them = exactly 111 characters.
    And how many periods did Peters type in line 3? Exactly 22.
    And how many dashes in line 1? Exactly 3.
    1 1 1
     2 2
      3
    The inference is obvious.

  32. SDG,
    Believe me — that line of reasoning occurred to me. But your math is rusty:
    (41 * 3 – 1) = 122 [if you count the space after the final “Ha” — if you don’t, it’s 121].
    I dare you to find any similar holes in my logic.

  33. Dear Smoky,
    That’s exactly right, but SDG’s triangle can be salvaged, because, that makes it 122 characters, 22 periods and 1 dash. Thus,
    122
    22
    1
    Don’t you see Ed’s hidden joke: what do we have but 122 broken into pieces, which of course means, Things Are Not Always What They Are Cracked Up To Be…
    The Chicken

  34. But seriously, that is not a dash between Jimmy Akin and the next Gerry Matatics. Its a subtraction sign. I haven’t quite figured out its significance, yet, but when I subtracted the letters in the two names, the letters I had left over spelled out something about exit signs…
    The Chicken

  36. Now you guys have done it, gone and made me ‘fraid to post anything else, for fear I might set off a stock market crash or something. That said, the idea of JA goin’ GM on us, I was just rolling on the floor laughing.

  37. As I slowly but surely become a traddy,(due to serious abuses in my diocese) I can’t understand at all why any trad would dis my Jimmy. I love him as a family member and I have read his blog since 2003.
    I wouldn’t be concerned about the slow posts–he has been doing this for years now. I’d be tired of it after about a month.

  38. Dear Ed Peters, Jimmy Akin, and Gerry Matatics,
    I just wanted to apologize for my teasing in the posts above about Ed’s Ha Ha comment (May 1, 12:19 pm). Its hard to know when one has the right to tease someone in a good-natured way. I hope everyone took my comments in the non-serious way they were meant, but I know that in a discussion involving people’s character, such teasing can be taken personally. I did not mean to offend anyone.
    The Chicken

  39. TMC,
    I can’t speak for Jimmy, et al, (duh :-), but I don’t think anyone thought your post was anything other than good-natured fun.

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