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Archive: March 2010
What's so great about failures?
By Craig Borlase
The history of Christianity is littered with failures. You could say that failing is in our DNA. Apart from Jesus it’s kind of hard to find a Biblical example of a person who didn’t mess up in some way. Take a look at our own lives and it’s clear that we’ve not given up the habit of failing. We’re good at it.
I like fail-ers. But looking back through history there are more than a few of them who push the boundaries to the absolute max.
Like the parents of Thomas Aquinas…
There’s a story about Aquinas that pretty much tells us all we need to know. On hearing that their son intended to become a monk, Mr and Mrs Aquinas – or Count Landulf and Theodora Countess of Theate as they were known – were pleased; at last their son had chosen a career that would guarantee influence, power and respectability. However, the young man had other ideas, joined up with the Dominicans and explored the true meaning of the less is more maxim.
Unimpressed by the poverty their son had heaped upon himself, Aquinas’s parents had him seized and held captive at their castle of Monte San Giovanni Campano, a few hours travel southeast of Rome.
For a year they held him, even sending in a prostitute in order to tempt him over to the life as a member of the religious elite. Yet Aquinas remained uninterested and unimpressed by their plans. He had an essay to write.
Adopting and adapting the work of philosophical giants Plato and Aristotle, Aquinas opened the eyes of those in, and outside of, the Church. The goal of all human existence was, according to Aquinas, relationship with God. The pursuit of this will impact and reorder our priorities; charity, peace and holiness will all gain in importance. This, he felt, was the clearest route to happiness there was.
Then there’s Pope Stephen VI…
The problem started with his predecessor, Pope Formosus. As bishop of Porto he opposed Pope John VIII, was excommunicated and swore never to return to Rome or to reassume his priestly functions. Still, Pope Marinus followed on from John VIII, absolved Formosus and restored him to his former position. Pope Stephen V came next, and when he died in 891 Formosus was chosen as Pope.
Rome was in trouble. Powerful forces were threatening it from beyond and within its walls, and eventually the powerful princes of Spoleto broke through and forced the Pope to consecrate as emperor one of their own. A year later, opposition rose against the Spoleto shoo-in, and Formosus switched allegiance to Arnulf who he saw as Rome’s liberator. Unfortunately the Pope was a little premature, and before he could remove the Spoleto prince Arnulf was forced to retreat to Germany due to ill health. Overwhelmed with sorrow, Formosus died on 4th April 896.
The troubles continued after his death, and he was accused of being a traitor. Yet accusations and posthumous proclamations were not enough. In 897 his successor, Pope Stephen VI, dug up his grave and exhumed the rotting corpse of Formosus. What was left of his body was put on trial, condemned, and defiled.
Has any pope ever stooped so low?
Well, yes, sadly there have been many. From Holocaust deniers to adulterous priests, murderers to tyranical vagabonds, the Papal office has been occupied by some unsavoury characters over the years. Then again, while they might not have reached the dramatic heights of Stephen VI’s role play with the rotting Formosus, every denomination in time has given birth to its own horror stories.
Pope Theodore II restored Formosus’ corpse to a Christian burial, and at a council presided over by John IX, the pontificate of Formosus was declared valid and all his acts confirmed. Yet the episode remains one of the clearest indications of how power and greed can corrupt even the loftiest of offices.
But what’s the point of knowing these bits of church history that we’d probably rather forget or ignore?
Does it make us like the drivers that rubberneck on the other side of the motorway pileup?
Perhaps. But the thing that strikes me about these failers is this; for all the crazy nutjobs who corrupt their own faith – as well as that of others – the Church has grown.
For all the mistakes, the Bride of Christ is still standing, still putting God’s love into action, still building the kingdom, bit by bit. In spite of all that we fall down on, God still likes us.
For all my mistakes – my blind eyes to sin and greed and the death of passion and hunger for God – there is something far greater, far more mysterious and far more revolutionary.
May that grace of God be with you today, delivering forgiveness and drawing you on to your part in an even greater story.
About the author...
Craig is a lovely chap who lives in Reading. He's a writer, thinker and all round creative tinker! He has a lovely family and back in the annuls of time used to work for Soul Survivor (in fact he was the one who invented the idea of a Soul Survivor Magazine... so you owe him a lot... well, we do).
Soul Survivor is a Christian charity that puts on events for young people. Our registered charity no. is 1080720. We are also a company limited by guarantee in England & Wales. Our company registered number is 03991111, which is nice. Thanks for caring.
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