The Unreasonableness of Love
Once you allow reason, which Luther called "the beast", to judge feelings, feelings are always defeated. ...Reason will tell you about the foolishness of the cross. Jesus was young, beautiful, vigorous. He could have made a good living as a carpenter or as a doctor of the law. He could have been married, and enjoyed life, and still remained religious and a philanthropist. Why die to save people who do not want to be saved? Why start a religion which will not be accepted, or even heard of, by the overwhelming majority of mankind, and which will be practiced by only a few isolated saints?
Who would conceive such an unreasonable project? Only St. Paul dared to answer this question. A chill runs down your spine when you hear the answer. This plan of salvation arose from "the foolishness of God." The Bible is the only religious book to contain such an expression, which must surely be considered a blasphemy by all the religions of the world, including Christianity - "the foolishness of God!"
Love must submit to being condemned by reason. ... We in [communist] prison use the same unreasonableness. When we hear the cries of someone being beaten, all the others begin to bang on their doors, crying "Help!"... What is the sense of expressing your solidarity with those who are beaten? It is non-sense, which means that it is pure love. Love does not think about what it will achieve, what it will gain. Love does not think at all. Love does not care about reason. Why should it?
If we are to love our enemies, why should we not love reason, that bitter critic, too? We can succeed in doing this. But we shall never persuade reason to love love. Reason considered Jesus and Paul to be madmen. My reason condemns me as mad too.
[RW, SISC, (c)1969]
Who would conceive such an unreasonable project? Only St. Paul dared to answer this question. A chill runs down your spine when you hear the answer. This plan of salvation arose from "the foolishness of God." The Bible is the only religious book to contain such an expression, which must surely be considered a blasphemy by all the religions of the world, including Christianity - "the foolishness of God!"
Love must submit to being condemned by reason. ... We in [communist] prison use the same unreasonableness. When we hear the cries of someone being beaten, all the others begin to bang on their doors, crying "Help!"... What is the sense of expressing your solidarity with those who are beaten? It is non-sense, which means that it is pure love. Love does not think about what it will achieve, what it will gain. Love does not think at all. Love does not care about reason. Why should it?
If we are to love our enemies, why should we not love reason, that bitter critic, too? We can succeed in doing this. But we shall never persuade reason to love love. Reason considered Jesus and Paul to be madmen. My reason condemns me as mad too.
[RW, SISC, (c)1969]
posted by CS at 3:05 PM
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