Catholic Blogging: A Follow Up

I need to write a follow up to my previous post which was a very specific critique of Catholic blogging by means of an exegesis on a passage from Saint Paul’s letter to the Collosians. Again, I repeat, blogs are not bad in principle. I also believe that Catholics should have a real presence - pardon the pun - on the internet; a presence rooted in Sacred Scripture, Tradition and loving communion with the Bishop of Rome and the Bishops in union with him.


All that said, I must say, blogs are a particularly dangerous means of communicating or speaking about the faith for a number of reasons. I will list a couple here:

1. There is no authority to ensure the doctrinal quality and the spiritual value of what is written. When someone writes a book on the Catholic faith, they need to have ecclesiastical approbation which guarantees doctrinal integrity and permits the printing of the work. The instantaneous nature of blogging not only prevents the possibility of this happening but it also presents the writers with the real temptation of writing things which are doctrinally unsound, morally uncharitable and, not insignificantly, theologically useless. 

2. Blogs - along with email and other modern means of written communication - are very non-intimate. They remove the richness and precision offered by face to face conversation, discussion and learning. It is very easy to read intentions and/or meanings into someone’s words that they did not intend. The devil loves this type of ambiguity and therefore Catholic Bloggers are called to vigilance all the more. We should always try to assume the best possible reading of a fellow writer or commentor and ask for clarification, in charity, where obscurity remains.

3. Blogs are almost always non systematic. While this presents opportunities for another form of learning, we should be mindful that the mind needs a structure for the penetration and interiorization of any discipline. Therefore, while a stream of consciousness can be useful for certain types of knowledge, we should not expect to learn theology proper by way of blogs.

Number 3 is a pertinent point with regards to my stated fear that Catholic Bloggers and Catholic Blog Readers could develop the depth of a dime. First, I apologize for the provocative language which tends too much toward metaphorical hyperbole. I am convinced - perhaps wrongly, for I have no sociological or scientific data - that a lot of people substitute Catholic blogs for real study. I am reminded of a quote from Blessed John Henry Newman: “Nothing is more common in an age like this, when books abound, than to fancy that the gratification of a love of reading is real study.” (Blessed John Henry Newman, Idea of a University, 4. Elementary Studies, § 1. Grammar) I am not trying to be self-rightuous or judgmental; I am only trying to make a point concerning a phenomenon which I have observed. So, our present situation is by no means new. We only have the greater temptation of confusing love of reading for real study and the hard work of learning, interiorizing and making the faith one’s own.

In summary, I am convinced that Catholic blogs have a legitimate place in the life of the Church and I do not think that all of them have to be academic blogs, or even specifically theological. I do, however, think we have to make sure not to confuse reading about Catholic things and lives with learning the Catholic faith and what it means to be Catholic. My second summary point is that we have to be vigilent with our time. We only have so much of it on this earth and we need to make sure we are using it well.