I have a joke for you that goes like this: the head of the DDF—the office formerly known as Holy—and Joel Osteen walk into a bar and draft a document and it is called Fiducia Supplicans. I know you are rolling on the floor laughing; or more likely, you are wondering when I am going to make the joke. Well, I did consider calling the fruit of Tucho and Osteen’s fictitious encounter Fiduciary Supplicans on account of the Prosperity Gospel promise of bank accounts that grow like mustard seeds, but I didn’t want to be too on the nose.

At any rate, there is a point to my ramblings that goes beyond a failed attempt at making you laugh.

I contend that the Prosperity Gospel and the Gospel of Same Sex Blessings are of the same ilk and take their inspiration from the same source—and no, that source isn’t the Holy Trinity—and I hope to show that these two seemingly unrelated heresies are indicative of the general error that grips the veritable whole of organized religion in the Western World. Ludwig the Builder Newman, Jonathan R Best Price: $8.85 Buy New $8.36 (as of 04:06 UTC - Details)

I should note that I will be playing fast and loose with the term “heresy” in this piece, and I understand that there are technical legal differences between what can be classified as error and heresy in the strict sense. But, if I am being honest, these distinctions have been used by cultish papal and Vatican apologists, who, like ostriches with their heads in the sand, call foul on anyone who uses the term “heresy” outside of the strict confines of that particular canonical delict. I, for one, am sick of our effete and ineffective parlance on the matter, and I believe we should be more willing to use the H word like our ancestors did when dealing with men like Tucho and even Pope Francis.

It seems that none other than Cardinal Sarah may be of the same mind, when he said about Fiducia Supplicans: “We do not oppose Pope Francis, but we firmly and radically oppose a heresy that seriously undermines the Church, the Body of Christ, because it is contrary to the Catholic faith and Tradition” (Emphasis added).

If the good cardinal is alleging that the gay blessing document contains heresy, and Pope Francis put his stamp of approval on the document, then we either have to claim that Pope Francis is illiterate, or that he did willingly approve of the promulgation of heresy. Any way you slice it, Sarah has at least indirectly called Francis a heretic or a promulgator thereof.

Let us now begin with the problem of Osteen’s heresy. While it is easy to lampoon the absurdity of megachurches in general, and even easier to lampoon the idea of a megachurch telling you that Jesus wants you to drive a Mercedes, we would do well to consider how millions of otherwise intelligent Americans can be confused by such an absurdity. As egregious as the Prosperity Gospel is, it is actually quite a simple concept that many Protestants and Catholics believe, even if just implicitly; it is the idea that God loves us and therefore He wants what is best for us.

Now, it is true that God loves us and wants what is best for us, “For God so loved the world, as to give his only begotten Son; that whosoever believeth in him, may not perish, but may have life everlasting” (John 3:16).

Investing for Kids: Ho... Tom, Allison Best Price: $2.25 Buy New $2.07 (as of 04:46 UTC - Details) But, the rubber meets the road when we consider what it means for God to love us, what it means when we say that God wants the best for us, and how that relates to everlasting life. In order to understand any of these concepts properly, we must first understand what religion is.

Without even appealing to revelation, we can appeal to reason, the Natural Law, and etymology. The origin of the word religion is found in Latin terms referring to being “bound” as well as to “obligation” and “reverence.” Thus, when we colloquially refer to religion, we are referring to something we are bound to as an obligation in order to show reverence. But to Whom do we show this reverence?

Our reason tells us—infallibly so as per Vatican I—that God the Creator exists and that our being is dependent on Him both for its initial creation and the continual sustaining of our existence and the existence of all created things. Therefore, if there is a God—and there is—then we are bound and obligated to give reverence to God.

That said, given that there is a God and we are bound to revere Him, what would this reverence look like? It is here that we must consider the Natural Law.

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