As I have mentioned before I am helping an A level student get through his RE.
He has no books for his course and no properly written coursebook as he would had he attended somewhere like Maryvale. I have in fact ended up lending him a Maryvale booklet which covers his course contents with more clarity and without the daft erroneous statements.
He has a few handouts that constitute the whole of his A'level course. They were written by the teachers and have some photocopies from some poorly sourced books.
So he is given statements like this:
'Church doctrine was that the sun revolved around the earth. That doctrine changed so there is no reason so assume other doctrines cannot change.' No I'm not making this up.
Then on another handout he was informed that Christians are dualists.
On his ethics handout he is told that science can't tell when human life begins!
There's the usual misuse and taking out of context of texts by St Thomas Aquinas and then there's the erroneous statements about history- getting the creeds and Scripture the wrong way round.
He has been given nothing but confused ramblings from someone who barely knows the subject they are teaching and is expected to get through an A'level exam.
I am praying for him.
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6 comments:
Looks like a confusion about the interaction of soul and body (humanistic educators call this cartesian duality) and the nature of man (catholic reject the idea that we are not wholly man).
Imagine if this person you are coaching goes on to be an RE teacher in the future. Without recourse to the magisterium, the quality of knowledge is only going to deteriorate futher.
Thank God, someone is helping him.
He plans to be an RE teacher.
Under my instruction his family have invested in the CCC and the CCCC and I've lent him Kreeft's Fundamentals of the Faith.
He's a good lad and comes from a genuine Catholic home, so I have hope for him.
You might also recommend to him "Apologetics and Catholic Doctrine" by Abp Sheehan, edited by Fr Peter Joseph. 2001
Cardinal Pell launched the book.
"For years, this book gave to many young Catholics the support and knowledge to sustain them in the Faith for a lifetime. They knew the Catholic Religion and they knew the reasons for it....We hope that its re-issue will help to restore to today's disinherited younger generation their rightful heritage."
Thank you for the recommendation-I will pass it on. I see him again tomorrow.
A small voice saying that it's not like that everywhere, honest. I'll post about it.
Tony-do that. It will cheer me up. :)
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