As duly noted, the Intramuralist has a long stated obsession with the question mark. It’s the only piece of punctuation, friends, that requires a response. The exclamation point is for the shouters — who listen to few others — and the semi-colon, creative as it may be, is for those who tend to ramble and keep on talking; they keep talking; and they keep talking.
Let me be clear: it doesn’t have to be me that asks the question. I stumble upon great, thought-provoking questions daily. For example (with the help of CNN, the International Business Times, National Geographic, and Yahoo News), this week the following questions each gave me pause:
“What’s a ‘sanctuary city,’ and why should you care?”
“Does Greece prove Margaret Thatcher correct that ‘the problem with socialism is that eventually you run out of other people’s money?’ “
“How good is Serena Williams?”
“Now will you believe Bill Cosby’s accusers?”
And (one of my favorites)…
“Did you see that on ‘Shark Week’?”
One question, though, stood out far more than any of the above. Is was a simple question asked by a respected friend. It was a question that combined how we behave with what we believe. I must also acknowledge: it was beautifully profound.
Does your morality dictate your theology — or — your theology dictate your morality?
In other words… do we base how we behave upon what we believe? Or… do we change what we believe because of how we behave?
Do we change what we believe because of how others behave? Or… how people we love behave? Do we change what we believe? Is that wise?
Perhaps no example of such moral relativism stands more poignant in history than England’s King Henry VIII, who ruled from 1509 to 1547. Note that in English tradition — as actually established by Henry VIII — the British monarch also holds the title of Supreme Governor of the Church of England.
While further study of this topic is both deserving and insightful, history shows that Henry VIII had multiple disputes with the Roman Catholic Church and papal authority. Hence, during his reign, he separated from Rome, establishing the Church of England as the official, state-endorsed religion, and he then inserted himself as the church’s head — the perceived moral leader of England.
One of the key, revealing areas of conflict for the King was the Roman church’s teaching on the sanctity of marriage — a problem because Henry VIII no longer wanted to be married to his wife. In fact, there were many wives Henry wished to no longer be married to. After separating from Rome, and thus any strict adherence to the Catholic church, Henry VIII was married six times — four of which ended with the divorce, annulment, or even the beheading of his spouse. He was rumored to have multiple affairs… obviously completely contradicting any sense of sanctity of the marital union and commitment.
King Henry VIII led a nation. He is described in “The Tudor Monarchy,” a historical account depicting the power and politics in England’s history, as “one of the most charismatic rulers to sit on the English throne,” a powerful, attractive, and accomplished king.
I wonder how he would have answered the question: did his morality dictate his theology — or — his theology dictate his morality?
What do we do? What do we change because of how we wish to behave?
As always, great question.
Respectfully…
AR