Semina Verbi Extra Ecclesiam

I realized in writing about hipsters and Catholics (see my previous post) that I never posted my findings from my research papers this past semester.  I kind of want to post the 17 page papers here, but I'm fairly certain that no one would read them.  So instead I will do my best to summarize some of what I found.  I am going to address first my paper for Theological Foundations. Probably half of this post about the paper will be explaining the premise of the paper.

One day in class, Dr. Sirilla took a tangent (tightly related to the class actually) to mention that the Fathers of the Church talked about the semina Verbi, or seeds of the Word, found in pagan culture -- that something of goodness and truth existed among the pagans.  My mind took off running with all the implications of this idea and before class was over (I don't have very good notes for that day, other than tangents to investigate further) I had connected it to another idea that intrigued me: the statement of the Council of Trent extra ecclesiam nulla salus, outside of the Church there is no salvation.  What were seeds of the Word doing among pagans if there was no salvation outside the Church?  What exactly were these seeds?  How do they relate to the Church's belief that people with invincible ignorance of the Gospel can still be saved?

That last question especially tugged at me, and after talking to Dr. Sirilla, I decided to start investigations there.  He directed me to a couple passages from encyclicals and conciliar documents that dealt with that question.  My paper was a literature review, which meant the assignment read: Read ALL THE THINGS ever written about your topic.  I tried to construct my topic as narrowly as possible while still giving myself enough room that someone had written about it: How do Catholic thinkers, post Vatican II, relate the idea of the semina verbi to the soteriological value (i.e. their power to save) of non-Christian religions?  I excluded Judaism and Islam from my reading, because both of them explicitly acknowledge the same God Christianity does.

I found the beginnings of the questions more than the answers in three Vatican II documents: Ad Gentes (On Missionary Activity), Nostrae Aetate (On Other Religions), and Lumen Gentium (On the Church).  Ad Gentes article 11 reads:

[Missionaries] should be familiar with their national and religious traditions and uncover with gladness and respect those seeds of the Word which lie hidden among them… [they] should know and converse with those among whom they live, that through sincere and patient dialogue they themselves might learn of the riches which a generous God has distributed among the nations.  They must at the same time endeavor to illuminate these riches with the light of the Gospel, set them free, and bring them once more under the dominion of God the savior.

Nostrae Aetate article 17 says essentially the same thing, but specifically about institutions/communities with "traditions of asceticism and contemplation."  Lumen Gentium doesn't use the phrase semina Verbi, but rather speaks in article 18 of the good "found sown in the minds and the hearts of men" that are to be "not only preserved from destruction, but are purified, raised up, and perfected for the glory of God, the confusion of the devil, and the happiness of man."  The idea comes up in a few more places without those exact words, but these bits give you a good feel.


As with many other parts and pieces of the Council documents, these phrases have been interpreted in various ways.  Paul VI (I read this great book, Missionary Pope on him) saw these semina as natural elements, the growth of natural law in different cultures.  JPII on the other hand seems to understand them more as supernatural elements present within other religions (see Redemptoris Missio and Crossing the Threshold of Hope).  Among theologians, there is a legitimate debate (albeit with some unorthodox participants) as too exactly how much these seeds contribute to the salvation of those outside the Church.  Are they somehow viae or ways to God or are they preparatio evangelii, preparation for the Gospel?  (Orthodox people tend more toward the latter, but the dialogue continues.)  The bottom line is that Jesus is the one Savior and the Church the ordinary means to salvation, but debate rages around the meaning of these terms and phrases.


I didn't read nearly enough to know nearly enough to contribute to the debate.  I have hunches about where I fall in the discussion, but I have a lot  more reading to do before I say anything with any confidence.  Other than that it is possible that hipsters have semina verbi strewn in their culture.

Charmed and Intrigued

I'm not sure if cute and hilarious was exactly what this blogger was going for, but that is my immediate, delighted reaction to his post about how All Hipsters Eventually Become Catholic.  A better title might be "How Catholicism Completes and Perfects Hipsterism."  Maybe hipsterism is full of semina verbi and preparatio evangelii?  (I just checked and I haven't discussed those glorious Latin terms yet.  "Seeds of the word" and "preparation for the Gospel" respectively, they will appear again in a later post!)

Some of my favorite lines:

"Aren’t you, as a Catholic, somewhat charmed and intrigued by hipsters?"  Um, YES!  Whenever I see one, I am secretly laughing at him and wanting to be his friend.

"The new hispter loves going to daily Mass at his parish, where the pews are filled with no one under the age of 50. He did it before it was cool."  Just don't stop if it does :-)

"Latin is a 'dead' language you know. How much more not mainstream can you get?"

I'll stop there, or I'd end up quoting the whole thing.  If you know anything about Catholics and/or hipsters read and enjoy!

Modesty Post #3 or 4 or 8

Really, I'm not counting.

I've joined up with a local Catholic young  adult group for the summer.  We meet once a week for a talk and discussion led by a group member.  Last week the topic was dating and courtship, presented by Mrs. Marine (the wife of the previous week's presenter, a marine).

A bit of background on my approach to this topic: most of the time when I hear someone speak on this topic, I want to get up and leave the room.  Except over the past nine or ten months.  Recently, I've wanted to punch the speaker.  (I told Mrs. Marine the first part, but not the second.  No one has actually been in danger and I don't want to regain a reputation as "menacing" too fast.)

Mrs. Marine gave the best talk on the topic I had ever heard.  She started with the premises that: 1) dating is to lead to marriage and 2) marriage is to lead to heaven.  Then she went through a very practical, very straightforward, not emotion-based or preachy explication of her ideas of dating/courtship.  At the end, she reached a list of practical, what-can-I-do-now advice for men and women not currently in romantic relationships.  Here, her husband interrupted to reiterate something he had stressed the week before, the importance of modesty.

He speaks clearly, in short ideas, with no equivocation.  On both occasions, he urged women to dress modestly, for the sake of men.  "It's how we're wired," he explained.  Men need to dress modestly too, but it is a greater problem for how women dress and how men look.  "It's our job to control our eyes," but women can help.  It was a simple reminder of what Cain discovered: that we are all our brothers' keepers.  Always, the sinner is responsible for the sin; the perpetrator is responsible for the crime; the aggressor responsible, not the victim.  But if we love another person, why would we do anything to make life harder for them?  Again, no flowery language, not emotional appeal, no waffling around with indistinct ideas of beauty and mystery and being "captivating."  Dress modestly out of kindness for your brothers.

[Note: For those worried that the burden is placed unfairly on women, he had words for men as well, telling them not to objectify women and not to tolerate other who do.  These words just didn't speak to me quite the same way.]

Day-Maker #66

Walking through a cemetery in Georgetown with my aunt and uncle, I came across a baby deer tucked into the ivy.  Most adorable animal ever!  I wanted to pick it up and hold it and comfort it so that it wouldn't be so scared and pet its soft fur and kiss its little wet black nose.  Instead I took a picture and then got chased away so that the mama could come rescue it from excited passersby, of whom I was not the least.

Stop III: Cakelove

Walking through Fair Oaks Mall, Larry's mom and I discovered Cakelove, a little cupcake joint tucked down a side corridor of the mall.  Of course, we had to stop, although we debated the choice: nothing excited us too much there and they were expensive.  But we decided that if we are committed to a cupcake tour, we had no choice.

I chose Cynthia's Sin, which I discovered upon eating meant chocolate and peanut butter.  Flavors apparently cycle in and out throughout the day, depending on what they have made when you arrive -- they had fewer options at our second pass.  The cake itself was okay but especially after eating two amazing chocolate cupcakes, fell a little flat.  The frosting was not good at all: too much shortening, not enough butter and sugar.  It wasn't a shop, just a little counter at the mall, so we took them to-go. The one employee there was very friendly and had balanced the art of how to approach guests who started at her cupcakes without talking to her.

Overall, with the high price and the sad frosting, I give them 2.5 of 5 stars.  Larry's mom's review is below.

Cakelove Review:

3 stars
The vanilla cake was good, not too moist or dry & was flavorful
The frosting/icing was a bit too "greasy" tasting - Crisco type
At $3.50, definitely pricey
Creative names & well displayed
Gluten-free & Vegan cupcakes available
They do have a web site www.cakelove.com which I haven't looked at yet. I believe there is a story/charity behind the making of the shop.
Shop - No shop per se buy & take away stand in the mall
If really craving a cake/cupcake it would be OK.
There is always the Cheesecake Factory near by in the mall.

Where Have All the Young Girls Gone

A few weeks ago, I found myself in an amusing situation.  Larry, a good friend, and I were all at a Theology of Tap.  Larry and the friend got into a debate about a topic that Larry and I have covered countless times over the past years.  I have argued with Larry and this friend (separately) often enough that I knew all their arguments and counterarguments, as well as their style of arguing -- what each tone, hand gesture, facial expression, and phrase meant.  So I saw the exact moment when they hit an impasse and started to argue in circles.

The frustrating problem with following the debate on a subjects such as Right to Life issues and feminism is that most people have reached that point.  Politicians and activists reach it in different places, and different activists reach it in different places, but most people seek new audiences, rather than new debates.  (Which is a fine strategy: one of our greatest social problems is indifference and new people need to hear our messages.)

With the introduction of legislation regard sex-selective abortion, there was a chance to spark new debate and raise a host of problems often unseen.  I am ashamed to admit that, while I knew about the proposed legislation banning sex-selective abortion, I did not really follow the debate.  Then I read this commentary in the Post, which hurt both my feminist and my pro-life heart.  Kaur's main point is that both sides failed to address the real problems related to sex-selective abortion because they were each so deeply entrenched in their pro-life/pro-abortion agendas.

We should do better than that.  Whether or not abortion should be legal, the fact is that where baby girls are aborted because they are not male, something is very wrong.  This issue should unite across the aisle because it isn't so much about whether or not abortion should be legal as it is about how we value human people.  Devaluing baby girls means devaluing grown women.  Devaluing grown women means devaluing all people.  In rhetoric, both parties and both agendas claim to value human persons.  If Kaur is right, the debate has reached a point where human persons are forgotten.

In Which I Realize I Am Odd

At a Catholic young adult group today, a young woman who is moving soon asked for someone to take her 7am Adoration shift.  As soon as the discussion ended, I made a beeline for her, hoping to jump on the awesome opportunity before someone else did.  Only fifteen minutes later, in the privacy of my own car, did I realize that I probably did not need to rush in order to lay claim ahead of other competitors...