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The loss of faith is the rotten core of Modernism. The heresy of Modernism was identified and condemned by Pope Pius X in the early 20th century in his encyclical, “Pascendi Domenici Gregis.” Since this heresy was so pervasive at that time, reaching into the heart of the Church itself, the Pope took severe measures to root it out of the Church. While these measures stemmed the tide of the heresy and saved many young priests and the faithful from its effects, it continued to thrive in the secular world. However, once Vatican II provided a forum for broader theological inquiry, the virus of Modernism took hold in the Church once again, encouraged by an agnostic mind-set in the secular world.
What is Modernism? Pope Pius X analyzed various writings of the Modernists and identified three main themes: vital immanence, the historical-critical method of studying Scripture, and evolution of doctrine.
Vital Immanence: Essentially, agnosticism is a refusal to believe in anything beyond our five senses. If something cannot be seen, felt, heard, etc., it is not an objective phenomenon which can be studied by science and history. Therefore all past religious revelation and doctrine was only a collection of personal internal experiences, conjured up by the tension of man’s existence in an unpredictable world. This is the principle of religious immanence. Faith consists only in a sentiment originating in a need for the divine. Religious consciousness, then, is solely personal and unique to each individual. This is the philosophy permeating secular thought in the last two centuries, and when admitted into the seminaries and universities of the Church, it destroys faith.
The Historical-Critical Method: As Catholics, we read our Scripture with a trust that God’s Word is true and that Christ is Who He said He is: the Son of God. St. John the Evangelist most beautifully crafts his gospel to bring out the divinity of Jesus, the “Word made Flesh.” Where miracles occur in the historical records of the Old Testament and the New, we believe that God suspended the laws of nature to perform these.
However, the Modernists believe that the men who followed Jesus were so enthralled by His personal charisma and His teaching that they ascribed divine attributes to Him, elevating Him above His true condition, and embroidering the historical account with what seemed to be miracles. Because they are agnostics, the Modernists cannot accept what is not perceptible to the senses, and when they read the Scriptures they remove everything which raises persons or events above historical conditions. They must manufacture common, everyday reasons why things which looked like miracles occurred. As for Christ Himself, because the Modernists believe He was “transfigured” by men into a divinity, He must be stripped of all deeds and words not in keeping with the times and conditions in which He lived. Once stripped, He becomes just an itinerant preacher who suffered crucifixion and death because He fell afoul of the religious and political rulers of His day. There was no resurrection, they say. So this is the “Christ of history,” the real Christ, versus the “Christ of faith,” a fiction. Catechetical materials which present Jesus as a social revolutionary and downplay His divinity and His call to holiness betray the Modernist school of thought.
Evolution of Doctrine: Modernists believe that a living religion must change constantly, evolving with changing times and cultures. And, since for them religion is essentially a personal experience, they admit a wide variety of interpretations and modifications, all completely subjective without reference to an objective truth independent of time or culture. Today what matters is what one feels.
Nowhere is this more obvious than in the recent “ordination” of two Catholic women in a synagogue in St. Louis. Despite two thousand years of unbroken tradition and the unambiguous words of Pope John Paul II that the Church is unable to ordain women, these two women pursued this objective because “it felt right to them.” And the female rabbi of the synagogue, against ecumenical protocol and common decency, provided them with a venue because “it felt right to her.”
Toward the end of his encyclical, Pope Pius X lists certain reforms advocated by the Modernists:
• Theology is to be reformed, based on modern philosophy.Modernism is alive and well today.
• Historical methods are to be reformed consonant with modern methods and principles.
• Dogmas are to be harmonized with science and history.
• Regarding worship, the number of external devotions are to be reduced.
• Church authority must be decentralized and democratized.
• In morals the principles of “Americanism” must be adopted; i.e., the active virtues are more important than the passive (action more important than contemplation).
• Ecclesiastical celibacy must be suppressed.
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