Last week, Andrew Cuomo, the governor of New York, made a rather interesting theological observation. Commenting on the progress that his state has made in fighting the coronavirus, and praising the concrete efforts of medical personnel and ordinary citizens, he said, “The number is down because we brought the number down. God did not do that. Faith did not do that.” I won’t waste a lot of time exploring the hubris of that remark, which should be obvious to anyone. I might recommend, out of pastoral concern, that the governor read the first part of Genesis chapter eleven.
What I will do instead is explain the basic intellectual confusion that undergirds Cuomo’s assertion, one that, I fear, is shared even by many believers. The condition for the possibility of the governor’s declaration is the assumption that God is one competitive cause among many, one actor jostling for position and time upon the stage with a coterie of other actors. On this reading, God does certain things—usually of a rather spectacular nature—and creaturely causes do other things, usually more mundane. Thus, we can clearly parcel out responsibility and credit—some to God and some to finite agents. But this account is deeply unbiblical and alien to the Catholic theological tradition….
If you want a one-liner summary of this distinctively biblical perspective, you could not do better than this, from the prophet Isaiah: “O Lord, it is you who have accomplished all that we have done” (Isa. 26:12)….
…Which brings me back to Governor Cuomo. To claim that “God did not do that” because we did it is simply a category mistake. What brought the coronavirus numbers down? It is perfectly accurate to say, “The skill of doctors and nurses, the availability of hospital beds, the willingness of so many to shelter in place, etc.” But it is also perfectly valid to say that God brought those numbers down, precisely by grounding the entire complex of creaturely causality just referenced. This relationship holds at the metaphysical level, but it is perhaps even clearer when it comes to the psychological motivation of those dedicated physicians and nurses. Why ultimately were they willing to do what they did? I would be willing to bet a large percentage of them would say that it was a desire to serve others and to be pleasing to God.
The above comes from an April 21 posting by Bishop Robert Barron on Catholic World Report.
I think Governor Cuomo deserves a bit of slack. Yes, the Bishop is technically correct. But the Governor speaks for about an hour a day on national TV, apparently extemporaneously. As to Doctors, Nurses and other care providers, I bet more than a few of them are atheists or agnostics.
Slack? Should, and I hate to use him here, but should Hitler have been given a bit of slack? Do you understand that Gov. Cuomo instituted dismembering children in the womb up until the moment of birth and then if they are fortunate to survive, throw them in the garbage as these little girls/boys are gasping for breathe! And let’s not forget the “gender confusion” he has condoned and implemented with homosexuals running NYS with special rights and religious liberty out the door with children being indoctrinated into these gender confused choices.
is it true Cuomo talks to God?
No. Cuomo talks to himself – he just thinks he is god
As an abortion fanatic, Cuomo prefers to be blind to God’s presence. Not surprisingly he does not see God in this current crisis. One might pray for the man’s conversion for the sake of his soul and others he may scandalize, but why throw him shade, Bishop Barron? The governor is a rough and tumble politician, time to take off the gloves and hit him with truth, full force.
God did it. Absolutely.
A corollary of the true principle that Bishop Barron explains is that God also caused the coronavirus pandemic in the first place. If God as prime cause metaphysically causes everything that happens in the physical world (except the moral disorder of sin) by acting through the agency of created causes, then he causes EVERYTHING. Therefore God also gives cancer to those who get it, he causes people to be killed in storms and by drunk drivers, he causes tornadoes and hurricanes to devastate neighborhoods, he causes miscarriages and he causes infants to die in their sleep. You can’t attribute only the good things to God as metaphysical first cause but try to get him off the hook for causing the bad things by using the all-too-common, naive explanation, “Well, God doesn’t cause the harmful things in nature and he doesn’t cause suffering, he merely allows those things to happen.” Nope, if God causes everything, then he causes EVERYTHING. (Except sin.) I’d like to hear Bishop Barron provide a clarifying expansion of his remarks by affirming the truth of what I have written, that God as prime cause is the cause of harmful natural events and suffering. God caused the coronavirus pandemic. He caused your spouse to get cancer. He caused your child to die. Difficult to accept, but true nonetheless.
Ed.G., God does NOT cause these evils to happen, He allows them. Big difference. You might find it helpful to look into the Catholic understanding of suffering as your comments are rife with misunderstanding.
Kristin, read Bishop Barron’s words carefully. He states that the misperception about God’s causal activity in creation is shared by many believers. He says about that mistaken view: “Thus, we can clearly parcel out responsibility and credit—some to God and some to finite agents. But this account is deeply unbiblical and alien to the Catholic theological tradition….” My comments are not “rife with misunderstanding” at all. They are wholly consonant with Catholic theology. When you assert that God merely allows natural evils and suffering instead of causing them to happen, you are making the same category mistake about God’s causal activity that Bishop Barron says Governor Cuomo made. In both cases, the claim is made that natural events happen on their own without God’s causal power being involved. Bishop Barron is saying, “No, God’s causal power is involved in everything that happens, so you can’t separate out things that are caused by God and things that are caused only by natural agents. God’s causation as the prime cause is always involved in anything that occurs.” You can’t have it both ways, saying that God causes what has good effects but doesn’t cause what has harmful effects. Think about it, and you’ll realize that Bishop Barron’s comments entail my conclusion. Read about it, and you’ll find that Catholic theology indeed teaches that God causes suffering and natural evils; he doesn’t merely allow them without causing them. If it happens, God caused it as prime mover. Except the moral disorder of sin. The widespread misunderstanding of this matter is why I hope Bishop Barron will expand upon his comments and apply them to God’s causal role in natural evils and suffering.
Ed G., look to the 2000 years of Church commentary on the matter, not more Bishop Barron remarks. The presence of evil and suffering is too big a topic for a mere post here, so get to work.
Okay, Kristin, maybe St. Thomas Aquinas is a good enough theological authority in the “200 years of Church commentary on the matter.” Thomas writes: “But the evil which consists in the corruption of some things is reduced to God as the cause. And this appears as regards both natural things and voluntary things…. God, by causing in things the good of the order of the universe, consequently and as it were by accident, causes the corruptions of things.” ST 1.49.A2
Thomas says flat-out: God causes corruption in things, which in more common expression means God causes the destruction of things.
How about Scripture? “I know, Lord, that your edicts are just; though you afflict me, you are faithful.” (Psalm 119:73)
The Psalmist says that God afflicts him. God causes the suffering.
Hmm… I respectfully suggest that you do not know as much as you think you do. It’s understandable because priests hardly ever speak about God causing natural evil and suffering, even if they themselves know that’s true. It’s hard for people to accept.
Ed G., do yourself a favor and get the clarity you lack – take another read of the Summa, Question 49, Article 2.
Bottom line, you are free to side with the excommunicated (see Bishop Strickland’s recent explanation) NY governor and his humanist notions. Bishop Barron may wish to provide him cover for which he too must be held to account. Got it? Hit the books, bye now.
Kristin,
I don’t side with the Governor. I merely pointed out that Barron’s correct insight could and should be expanded to include God’s causal role in natural evils and human suffering.
God gave you Free Will so that you can choose salvation, purgatory or hell. If you slaughter so many infants as Cuomo’s politics you are likely to go to Lucifer.
Catechism of the Catholic Church 309-314
cf the catholic book on God’s will:
“Heliotropium”
Interesting that the same folks who are so quick to condemn Governor Cuomo are the same ones who gave Trump a lot of slack for being a “baby Christian.” By his actions during this pandemicTrump has indicated that the almighty dollar is more important than human life. He has placed mammon above God. This is idolatry – a grave sin.
Calling out your lefty partisanship Georgia! Boo on you!
Cuomo support child murder not to mention his support for sodomy. Big difference. We all are sinners but when we support the mass extermination of unrepeatable life in the womb (and outside) I believe that takes precedence.
Georgia, there is a difference between someone who is NOW (emphasis and pun intended) advocating evil (infanticide — abortion all nine months), and someone who is trying to correct and repent for the evil of their past. Jane Roe (Norma McCovey) of “Roe vs Wade”, spent the last part of her life trying to make up for having lied about being raped to get abortion legalized, so did the abortionist Dr. Bernard Nathanson, may they rest in peace, and so it seems is Trump. Cuomo is not. There’s the difference.
If you cannot see that, you are in deep trouble.
Georgia, false witness is also a grave sin.