Belief or Nonbelief? by Carlo Maria Martini
"Belief or Nonbelief?" is a thought-provoking correspondence between Umberto Eco, an Italian philosopher and semiotician, and Carlo Maria Martini, a prominent Catholic cardinal and theologian. This collection of eight letters explores significant themes such as secular views of the Apocalypse, the beginning of human life, the role of women in the Catholic Church, and the foundation of ethics beyond a divine context. Eco discusses the contemporary secular obsession with apocalyptic scenarios and ponders whether shared hopes for progress can exist between believers and nonbelievers. In contrast, Martini emphasizes the Christian understanding of hope, which transcends earthly concerns to connect with eternal life.
The dialogue also addresses complex bioethical questions regarding the start of human life, where Eco raises concerns about legislative limitations on abortion, while Martini defends the belief that life begins at conception from a theological standpoint. Additionally, the exchange tackles the contentious issue of female ordination in the Church, with Eco seeking to understand the rationale behind the male-only priesthood, and Martini highlighting the historical foundations of this practice. Lastly, Eco presents a model for secular ethics grounded in human interconnectedness, contrasting with Martini's faith-based moral framework. This engaging correspondence serves as a model for respectful dialogue between differing worldviews, aiming to find common ground in the quest for meaning and understanding in human existence.
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Belief or Nonbelief? by Carlo Maria Martini
First published:In cosa crede chi non crede? 1996 (English translation, 2000)
Edition(s) used:Belief or Nonbelief? A Confrontation, translated by Minna Procter, with an introduction by Harvey Cox. New York: Arcade, 2000
Genre(s): Nonfiction
Subgenre(s): Critical analysis; letters
Core issue(s): Catholics and Catholicism; doubt; ethics; faith; morality; reason; women
Overview
This collection consists of eight letters—four from Umberto Eco, four from Carlo Maria Martini—in which they deal with the following topics: the contemporary secular understanding of the Apocalypse, the question of when human life begins, the role of women in the Catholic Church, and the possibility of ethics without God.
Eco begins with “Secular Obsession with the New Apocalypse,” in which he probes the various cultural visions of the end of the world (imagined as occurring through such means as ecological disasters and diseases) and the sense of history they entail (one of progress, end, and meaning). Eco raises the question of whether a notion of hope exists that could be held in common by both believers and nonbelievers: If we have a sense of history through the idea of its end, we may hope for progress in the future by learning from past events and trying to better society. Martini responds with “Hope Puts an End to ’The End,’” explaining how Christian hope looks beyond this life to the next and how it is precisely this relation to the divine that provides value for human life on earth. Martini does not so much reject Eco’s hope for social progress as point out that the Christian Apocalypse is not merely destructive but also productive: The end is eternal life.
The next topic begins with Eco’s “When Does Human Life Begin?” He raises the bioethical question of when human life begins and asks whether the state should have any say in these mysterious matters. (Eco recognizes the “miraculous” nature of human life and is personally opposed to abortion, though he thinks it improper to limit it through legislation.) Eco argues that since many of Aristotle’s ideas have been rejected, the precise beginning of human life has become a mystery, a threshold with a perhaps unknowable location, and he asks how contemporary theologians understand the question. Martini’s answer, “Human Life Is Part of God’s Life,” gives a good overview of the Catholic position on the matter, noting that a sense of “genetic determination” (teleology—that every living thing has a natural end implicit in its design, an aspect of Aristotle’s thought that many Catholic thinkers are trying to preserve) leads Catholic theologians to argue that human life begins at conception and thus should be legally guarded. Furthermore, Martini says each human life is called by God to be with him forever in heaven, granting each human being, from conception to death, an inestimable kind of dignity that is lacking in merely secular understandings of human life.
The third topic for debate—the role of women in the Catholic Church—is heavily prefaced by Eco in “Men and Women—According to the Church,” in which he explains that he does not seek to criticize the Catholic Church’s position on ordaining women (since he himself is not Catholic and does not think it fit to criticize the internal workings of an institution of which he has chosen not to be a part), but rather simply to understand the Church’s rationale. His analysis of previous arguments against female ordination—including that women are naturally inferior to men—reveal the internal problems that the Church has and its inadequacy in explaining its position. Martini responds in a fascinating manner in “The Church Does Not Fulfill Expectations, It Celebrates Mysteries.” He bases the Church’s position on the fact that Christianity is a historical religion: The Catholic and Orthodox Churches do not ordain women because they believe that Jesus Christ, the Son of God, instituted the priesthood through his apostles. All twelve apostles were men, and all of their orthodox successors have been men; the reason for this practice is a mystery that theologians must continue to seek to understand.
Martini begins the final exchange with “Where Does the Layman Find Illumination?” He asks a genuine question: Where do secularists find ground for their ethics without the divine? If ethics have no basis in transcendental, universal principles, what saves a conscientious secularist like Eco from complete relativism? Eco’s reply, “Ethics Are Born in the Presence of the Other,” is an eloquent and compelling explanation of secular ethics. Eco argues that universal principles on which to base ethics do exist, but these principles can be found solely in the physical realm: We are embodied creatures that have certain needs, experience pleasures and pains, and live in communities. Thus, Eco’s basis for an ethics in which God is unnecessary is a recognition that others like us exist in this world. Since humans are communal creatures, other individuals are, in a way, a part of us. Helping others helps ourselves, while hurting others hurts ourselves. This realization of otherness provides Eco with a universal principle that prevents his pluralism from becoming relativism.
Christian Themes
While some of the issues raised in this exchange are particular to Catholic and Orthodox Christianity (specifically, the rationale behind an all-male priesthood), most of the themes in this collection are of interest to Christians of all denominations. Perhaps the most central Christian theme raised by this debate is that of faith: how faith in God must necessarily change one’s worldview in a radical way. In this dialogue between a philosopher and a theologian, it becomes clear time and again that Eco and Martini are profoundly similar men (their dialogue is laudably cordial), with the difference that Martini has faith in Christian revelation and Eco does not. One gets the sense that the fulcrum on which each of their arguments turns is whether a God exists and whether he sent his Son to redeem the world. If he does and did, Martini’s point is correct; if he does and did not (or if we simply cannot know), Eco’s viewpoint is. This is, admittedly, an overly neat dichotomy (some of their cultural observations hold regardless of the nature of metaphysical reality), but it may provide a way of understanding the dynamics of the dialogue. The reality of faith as a gift from God comes up quite plainly in Eco’s last letter: One gets the sense that he in some way regrets having lost his faith as a young man and appreciates belief in something more than secular philosophy (though that is all he can hold on to in good conscience at this point).
More vitally, this exchange provides a praiseworthy model of Christian witness in the contemporary world. In the twenty-first century, Christians and non-Christians, believers and nonbelievers, find themselves, by necessity, living and dealing with one another. If debates between the two groups were more like this dialogue—seeking common ground and mutual understanding, clarifying the positions of the other and the reasons for these positions—believers and nonbelievers might find a more harmonious existence. This dialogue seems to suggest that Ecumenism need not be limited to relations between and among Christian churches; it should be extended to a discussion that includes all of humanity and probes the value and meaning of human life and how the presence of the Gospel challenges one’s perspective of the world.
Sources for Further Study
Eco, Umberto. Foucault’s Pendulum. Translated by William Weaver. London: Secker & Warburg, 1989. One of Eco’s best novels, this tale of mystery and the occult works out many of the epistemological musings found in Eco’s letters.
Eco, Umberto. A Theory of Semiotics. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1975. Eco’s scholarly masterpiece on symbols and communication ranges over a wide variety of signs, how they are produced, and how they are understood culturally.
Gane, Mike, and Nicholas Gane, eds. Umberto Eco. Sage Masters of Modern Social Thought series. London: Sage, 2005. A collection of essays that examines Eco’s works and their impact on society, culture, and philosophy.
Martini, Carlo Maria. Communicating Christ to the World. Translated by Thomas M. Lucas. Kansas City, Mo.: Sheed and Ward, 1993. These pastoral letters by Cardinal Martini to the parishioners of his diocese give perspective on Martini’s views of communication in a variety of media.
Martini, Carlo Maria. The Joy of the Gospel: Meditations for Young People. Translated by James McGrath. Collegeville, Minn.: The Liturgical Press, 1994. Martini introduces lectio divina (meditative readings of scripture) to a young lay audience, revealing some of Martini’s scholarship and popular outreach.