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December 2011 > Theology: Tim Tebow and the New Roman Missal
The Word On Fire Blog

Theology: Tim Tebow and the New Roman Missal



What do a NFL quarterback and the new translation of the Roman Missal have in common? Word on Fire's Robert Mixa contends it's more than meets the eye black. Read how both tackle secular assumptions of where faith ought to remain, today, on the Word on Fire blog.

Tim Tebow and the new English translation of the Roman Missal? Yes. I think the two might be comparable. Both the revised text and the Denver Broncos quarterback are trying to express Christian particularity, and in doing so are making a lot of people uncomfortable.

Both Tebow and the new translation make the case that one's identity is not separate from the faith that one professes, and both are making the point that when we express ourselves in language we express who we are. But more than this, we can also, in our language, indicate our Christian difference in the face of secular expectation. Tebow does this by using specifically Christ-centered language, which elites in the culture have determined is out of bounds for public discourse. 

The Missal employs uncompromising theological syntax to express the prayer of the Church and does so despite the protests that such language is retrograde and unintelligible. From the reaction to both, it seems to me that secular culture is made uneasy by not only systems of conviction other than its own, but the language by which these convictions are expressed. Thus the persistent appeals, particularly in the case of Tebow, that religious discourse best be confined to inner experience or reduced to the performance of ethical duties—both of which have been predetermined by the modern ethos as the appropriate means by which the convictions of faith are to be expressed. 
 
Whether or not he is conscious of this fact, Tim Tebow is resisting the modern illusion that we can relegate faith in God and religious association to private life. He demonstrates his resistance in the language that he employs to express his identity and worldview. He speaks openly about Jesus, not simply as a historical figure to be admired, but a living person with whom he shares a relationship.  His critics include some of his co-religionists; Aaron Rodgers and Kurt Warner, both of whom have cautioned Tebow about his explicit Jesus talk. Rodgers, statistically the best quarterback in the NFL right now, says in reference to Tebow: "I feel like my stance and my desire have always been, to follow a quote from St. Francis of Assisi, who said, 'Preach the Gospel at all times. If necessary use words.'" Good advice, But whenever I hear this quote being used in our culture, I feel that it has little to do with an effort to imitate St. Francis (who was as intensely an "in your face" Christian as they come—in words and in deeds!). Instead it represents an aquiesence to peculiar modern sensibilities that, in the words of John Milbank, are an attempt to "police the sublime" out of fear that the hegemony of the secular ethos might be disrupted or questioned.
 
Criticism of Tebow's blatant and unnuanced articulation of his faith in public is not limited to other players. The sports commentariat has chimed in before, notably Bob Costas, who chided a player (in the pre-Tebow era) for mixing what should not be mingled. Can't athletes, Costas muses, accept the correct way of speaking in the public forum? In other words, play the game as it should be played—and we are not here just referring to football, but to the public space, which it has been determined is a faith-free zone.

My response to Tebow's detractors is this: rather than simply chiding Tebow for his language, why not give a credible reason that he shouldn't speak about that which he believes orders his particular way of life? Isn't it the sovereign preogative of modern man to express himself? What Rogers, Warner, Costas and others don't realize is that they are themselves playing a game of positioning, offering obeisance to an ethos that with all its emphasis on free expression, has determined that some things are just not permitted to be expressed—at least not within earshot of those who might not share your convictions.
 
In his linguistic passes to the culture, Tebow is not getting something in return that his Lord and Savior did not promise him, and if he understands this, he will likely be emboldened in his resolve to express what he believes. Christians know that the Lord Jesus makes everyone, even his own followers, uncomfortable. They also know that the Lord Jesus compels his followers to speak publically about who he is, and to do so despite the fact  that such expressions, in words or in actions, will likely make people nervous.

The new translation of the Missal is making some folks nervous as well—the issue being the specificity of its language—language which replaces abstraction for theological particularity. The following is an example.
 
Part of the preface in the Eucharistic Prayer:
 
And so, with Angels and Archangels,
         with Thrones and Dominions,
         and with all the hosts and Powers of heaven,
         we sing the hymn of your glory,
         as without end we acclaim:

Compare that to the same part of the preface in the old translation of the Eucharistic Prayer:

         
         And so, with all the choirs of angels in heaven
         we proclaim your glory 
         and join in their unending hymn of praise:
 
 
As seen above, note the particularity of the new translation compared to the old translation.
Typical criticisms have expressed themselves in accusations of anachronistic word choices, an elevated tone, and far too theologically dense content for sensitive modern minds. Perhaps.

I think it really is about the specificity of the translation's language about Christ and our relationship to him. The lanaguage of the new translation lacks the attenuated discourse of the old, which represented a compromise with modernity's insistence about how faith is to be expressed. In other words, like Tebow, the new translation does not invoke vague abstractions but a specific God who did something very troubling by becoming man in Jesus Christ, and then insisted that this was good news that we should be happy to share with others.

It is this scandal of particularity spoken as truth to power that the world finds so objectionable—when it is expressed by Tim Tebow or in the words employed in new English translation of the Roman Missal.

Robert Mixa is a Research and Sales Assistant at Word on Fire Catholic Ministries
Posted: 12/5/2011 6:00:00 AM by Peggy Pandaleon | with 14 comments
Filed under: DenverBroncos, NewMissal, NewtranslationoftheRomanMissal, RomanMissalThirdEdition, secularism, Tebowing, TimTebow


Trackback URL: http://wordonfire.org/trackback/b5538bc2-097f-49e4-a439-f0d4adb07d77/Theology--Tim-Tebow-and-the-New-Roman-Missal.aspx

Comments
JohnE
Good comparison between Tim Tebow and the new translation. Tim Tebow is ridiculed and praised as a football player and I can't help but wonder how much of that ridicule or praise is because he freely expresses his relationship with Jesus Christ. It's hard to wonder if you are really getting an objective critique of his football skills.

The new translation is also ridiculed or praised for "political" reasons rather than objectively. I think the new translation is more indicative of the importance of what is going on at Mass, so the use of more flowry language is entirely appropriate, but I also understand that it may be difficult for some people to adjust to. But I think there are others who don't like it because of their flawed understanding of what the Mass and the Church are and view it as stripping away some of their "power" and "rights". I don't have much sympathy with their discomfort.
12/5/2011 9:55:29 AM
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Robert Callino
To quote Our Lord: "So every one who acknowledges me before men, I also will acknowledge before my Father who is in heaven; but whoever denies me before men, I also will deny before my Father who is in heaven." (Matthew 10:32-33)
12/5/2011 10:11:42 AM
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Tyler
Great piece. (Small point, I think Tim is aware that he resisting the modern illusion that we can and should relegate faith to our private life. I believe he said as much when he had to respond to comments made by Jake Plummer.)

Bobby, have you, Fr. barron, or anyone of the Word of Fire Ministry reviewed Peter Singer's Animal Liberation and his philosophy?

I would appreciate hearing Word on Fire's perspective on his philosophy, especially a critique of his book Animal Liberation.
12/5/2011 11:05:17 AM
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Ryan
Great article and I think very timely. You made some great connections between culture and cultural icons and specificity. My favorite quote has always been, 'I believe a particular man, on a particular day, in a particular place died a particular death, which saved me."
12/5/2011 11:13:33 AM
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Bobby Mixa
Hey Tyler,

Thanks for pointing this out to me. I wasn't aware of this exchange.

Here is a link I found: http://content.usatoday.com/communities/thehuddle/post/2011/11/tim-tebow-responds-to-jake-plummers-comments-on-his-faith/1
12/5/2011 11:25:30 AM
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Dan
Based on the linked interview, I wouldn't call Rodgers (don't know what Warner said) a "critic" of Tebow, as if he said Tebow should not do what he is doing, or that he even "cautioned" Tebow. Rodgers spoke about what he himself does and why. I also find it surprising that the author is willing say that he "knows" that Rodgers' stated desire "has little to do with an effort to imitate St. Francis." Similarly, how does the author know that "Rogers (sic)" doesn't realize that he is "playing a game of positioning..."? I might just as well say that Tebow doesn't know he is playing a game of positioning or that I know his words are only for show.
12/5/2011 2:40:07 PM
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Joel
I really don't know much about Tebow, but I hardly think those Catholics who have criticized the new translation were doing so because of secular sympathies. The contest between "thrones and dominions" and "choirs of angels" is hardly a discussion that a secularist even cares about. Robert, did you feel that you were professing a watered down faith all these years while using the prior translation? Do you have to be an "elite" or a member of the "commentariat" (whatever that is, it's not good!) to prefer the simple expression "one in being" to "consubstantial"? If I prefer the former over the latter, why do you conclude that my faith is attenuated, that is to say, thin and weak? Perhaps you intended nothing of the sort, but then again, I only have the "specificity" of your language to go on. Robert, I think you reached a bit too far on this one.
12/5/2011 7:59:57 PM
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Doug
I watch the English Premier Football(Soccer)where many players bless themselves as they enter the field. One player of Mexican origin even knelt in silent prayer at midfield before kickoff. Yet no once have I heard or seen any reaction to these faith displays.
12/5/2011 10:12:09 PM
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Kathy
Good for Tebow to recognize the "faith free zone" only really seems to some to exist on one dimension; and is inspired to speak out with his Gift of Faith in Jesus, which is a bold message of Jesus reign on all/in all spaces and dimensions! God Speed!
12/6/2011 11:21:36 AM
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Tyler
Joel, if I may speak for Bobby, I think you accurately understood the intentions and meaning of his words. The specificity of Bobby's words worked!!! How about that, specificity in writing works!!!
12/6/2011 12:10:01 PM
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Joel
Tyler, I don't know whether you speak for Robert, but I presume you speak for yourself. So then, how do you answer the questions I posed? Do you believe the faith that we have expressed in our liturgy these past 40 years represents a mere theological abstraction, something both thin and weak? That is what Robert appears to have concluded and this suggestion bothers me greatly. My question does not spring from any desire to debate the virtues of the old translation versus the new but instead wells up as a gut reaction to Robert's apparent belief that secular forces somehow hijacked the english Catholic liturgy 40 years ago and as a result, we have been mired in some sort of theological backwater ever since, afraid to say what we really believe about our God. I have read a lot of words both pro and con about the new translation, but never anything like that.
12/6/2011 5:07:35 PM
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Tyler
Joel,

The following is my opinion not Bobby's.

The words in the faith were still sacramentally effective. However, certain prayers did not translate the original latin of many of the prayers. This more accurate translation resulted in providing a better description of the faith of the Church as spoke by herself.

Bobby said the discourse of the old translation was attenuated not your faith, or the faith of any member of the laity.
12/6/2011 7:19:36 PM
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JK
One should watch or read how people of other faith bring their faith without compromise. Just search for the word "Qua" in this article. You will know what I am talking about. Christians are the witness for Christ. There is no other we can live a Christian life for Christ.
Blessings,

http://www.khaleejtimes.com/DisplayArticle08.asp?xfile=data/theuae/2011/December/theuae_December178.xml&section=theuae
12/7/2011 7:04:55 AM
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morris
It is suppose to be that the defense was tremendous, but there is the intangible "phenomenon Tebow". I guess that deserves discussion about what the Broncos record would have Kyle Orton continued to play. It looked like a losing team with Orton. The D is great, but Tebow say what someone should get some credit for the 7-1. QB is usually judged by victory and defeat plain and simple. The numbers may not be there but the most important. Now this could be the Trent Dilfer argument again, but these reimbursements fourth quarter just make the discussion more interesting.anyway, for more news, we can visit http://www.tebowformvp.com/... thanx
12/22/2011 3:19:31 PM
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Father Robert BarronFather Robert Barron is a sought-after speaker on the spiritual life-from prestigious universities to YouTube to national conferences and private retreats. The prominent theologian and podcasting priest is one of the world's great and most innovative teachers of Catholicism. His global media ministry called Word On Fire has a simple but revolutionary mission - to evangelize the culture.

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