Peter Kreeft - Forty Reasons I Am a Catholic

I am a Catholic...

Because I believe that Catholicism is true

I am Catholic because I believe that Catholicism is true. It seems obvious to me that to believe that something is true is the first and only honest reason for anybody ever to believe anything.

If that is not obvious to you, if that is not your very first reason for believing whatever you believe, then I think you are not being totally honest with yourself.

Do you disagree with that? Does that seem too tough-minded? Lets test it with a thought experiment.

Imagine you are God at the Last Judgment, and you have to decide the eternal fates of two people. One is a dishonest Christian, and the other is an honest atheist. Lets not even consider Hell; lets assume both can get to Heaven, but one needs more Purgatorial correction and preparation than the other.

Which person would you see as needing the more serious Purgatory? Or, if you cannot even imagine a Purgatory, which person would you see as meriting the higher place in Heaven, or able to endure more of Heavens truth?

One of them said that he believed Catholic Christianity even though he didnt think it was true, or perhaps didnt even care whether it was true, but embraced it for some other reason: either because his friends believed it, or because it made him feel good, or because it was advantageous for his earthly life in some other way. Lets give him the benefit of the doubt and ascribe to him the two best and most important motives in the world other than truth namely morality and happiness. Lets say he embraced Catholicism not because it was true but because it made him happy or because it made him more moral. What do you think a perfect God would say to that?

I think He would say that happiness without truth is not true happiness and therefore is not truly happiness at all; and that morality without truth is not true morality and therefore is not truly morality at all. Therefore, he needs and deserves a more basic correction than the honest atheist. And I think you would have to agree.

If you still disagree, try another thought experiment. Turn back the clock and remember yourself at the age of three on December 24. You probably believed in Santa Claus, and this belief probably made you significantly more moral, or at least you behaved more morally. You were also happier because of this belief. Now you no longer believe in Santa Claus. Why not? For one reason only: because you are honest and therefore do not want to believe what is not true, even if that belief gives you other benefits that are very significant, such as moral goodness and happiness (which are certainly two of the greatest of all goods).

I appeal, therefore, to your tough-minded honesty, which you have just proved you have by your reaction to my two thought experiments.

Honesty treats truth as a nonnegotiable absolute.

If you are not a Catholic, please do not become one unless and until you honestly believe that Catholicism is true. If you are a Catholic for any other reason than Catholicisms truth if you believe that Catholicism is untrue, or probably untrue, but you are a Catholic anyway; or if you simply do not even care about whether it is true then please question your motives and your honesty, and then question your religion. And if this honesty causes you to leave the Church, please do. Thomas Aquinas says that remaining in the Church even though you believe it is false is a mortal sin, a sin of hypocrisy, a sin against the absolute of honesty, a sin so serious that it is sufficient matter for eternal damnation if not repented of. On the other hand, if you leave the Church, you are making a mistake, but if it is an honest mistake; and if your motive is the search for truth, God will bless you and your quest by rewarding your search and bringing you back to the truth. (Seek and you will find [Matt. 7:7].)

As for me, I believe that Catholicism is true, and that is why I am a Catholic.