A Nation of Non-thinkers and The Unholy Three!

A Nation of Non-thinkers and The Unholy Three!

I have just started reading an interesting book titled ’The Unholy Three’. It was first published in 1950 by Rev. Henry J Romanowski, M.A., As usual, I find the writing style of these older authors much more poetic and insightful that most of those today with the rare exception of Father Rutler.  Our crippled education system today seems to produce few true writers and even fewer who possess true wisdom. In order for man to act for the good, he must inform his intellect through reason and clear thinking. This can largely be done by reading books and articles, which is why I started this website. I found the introduction of this book worth sharing, to the point of taking the time to type almost all of it out to share here with you.

As we watch the world and the Church face an unprecedented crisis of faith it is not hard to see that the unbridled appetites of men, further corrupted by the world and the Devil is the driving force behind it. The author calls these ‘The Unholy Three.’ As Catholics today we must first strengthen our own spiritual lives by learning the faith and engaging in Prayer, Mortification and the Sacraments.  I encourage you to meditate on the text I have taken the time to type here from the introduction to this book. As I read through the rest of the book I will share more with you in future posts. In the meantime, if you have not read my two articles on the value of literacy and study, the links are below.
Matthew J Bellisario O.P.
Prayer and Study Part I: The Value of Literacy
Prayer and Study Part II: The Problem and the Solution

   

From the Introduction of ‘The Unholy Three.’

We are not a nation of thinkers. We are impatient with the person who tries to stifle an action with a becalming, “Let’s think this over.” Up or down, forward or sideward, we must be “on the go”; it does not matter so much where, but just go.” War or peace, other nations think of us as “doer of deeds”; we sow, we build, we produce, but to what avail? We have increased the powers of our production but not our humanity; we have strengthened our coast lines but not our will power; we see enemies where there are none, but we ignore that “Dark Angel” who goes about like a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour. We need a renaissance of thought.

By thought I mean that ferreting out basic principles upon which a solid spirituality or humanity (for they are closely allied) must be based, the recognition of our spiritual assets and material liabilities, the solution of such a tremendous notion as evil and suffering, and the appreciation of others such as goodness and virtue. Were we a nation of thinkers, the half-truths of Communism and the few truths of Paganism could not receive such wide acclaim. Were we a nation of thinkers, we would not so readily submit to the tyranny of the flesh, but would have issued a declaration of independence where the spirit has inalienable rights to prayer, mortification, and the Eucharist. Were we a nation of thinkers, we would not have limited ourselves to the boundaries of the flesh and blood but would have admitted the reality of nether beings who compenetrate this world of ours which we think to be so impenetrable. We must inaugurate a new era of thought which will give us the breadth of vision of a man looking upward from the top of a high mountain instead of the confining perspective of a man looking down from below sea level.

The fruit of such thought will not be knowledge of the “Information-Please” type which is concerned only with the accumulation of facts and figures for a display of erudition, but rather of the “Aquinian” type which regards knowledge as the foundation for the supernatural structure of a life to be lived in, with, and for God. We do not want knowledge merely for the sake of knowledge, but knowledge for the sake of love, for the deepening of the theological virtues of faith, hope and charity.

Perhaps we are afraid that a return to “thought” would stifle our bustling activity. On the surface that is the reason for our avoidance of thought, for we often identify it with the inactivity of a rocking chair, a pipe, and old age. These items may be symbols of idleness, whereas thought is anything but idle. If a man who devotes much time to thought is idle, then the beaver that builds dams is idle, for thought is as much the proper activity of man as dams are of beavers. But we like to take refuge under the sophism that thought is for the shiftless. Underneath it all we realize that a return to thought, which is the most arduous of activities, would mean a surrender of those other easy activities which are outlawed by thought, but which are so delightful and pleasing to the “old man” of whom St. Paul speaks, the “old man” whose vision is bounded on one side by the Flesh and on the other by the World, and is totally distorted by the Devil.

The central character for whose favor these Unholy Three constantly vie is man. Much has been written about man and a great deal more shall be written about him in the future, for the startling combination of heaven and earth that is in him makes him a topic of endless discussion.

There have been those who would make man simply an intricate piece of living machinery; others would elevate him to the plane of the deities. As usual, the truth is to be found in neither extreme but in the via media. He is a piece of living machinery, but more than just that; he has reflections of the divine, but never attains that level. Having a body, he is mortal; having a spiritual soul, he is immortal. He is the most absorbing and the most tiresome, the most constant and the most fickle quantity on earth.  

Friends he has, but enemies too. Despite twenty centuries of crystal-clear Christian thought on the subject, the greater portion of mankind fails to realize and acknowledge its threefold enemy, the World, the Flesh and the Devil. The World and Devil attack from without, while the Flesh, like an ungrateful traitor, attacks from within. To enable us to cope with and to overthrow this triple enemy, God has fashioned for us corresponding weapons, namely, Prayer, Mortification, ad the Eucharist. His own Body and Blood. In the succeeding chapters we shall analyze each of our three adversaries with their corresponding nemeses. With a knowledge of our assets, and our liabilities, our strength and our weaknesses, at least we shall know to whom we may turn as friends and from whom we must turn as enemies.

Rev. Henry J. Romanowski, M.A.

Introduction to ‘The Unholy Three’ 1949