Pathway to heaven... or hell

For majority of us, life as we know it will not be as it is without the notion of a final destination – that is heaven, hell, whatever, whichever. My junior and senior years in high school were especially memorable because of the fondness my classmates and I shared in discussing issues about the Church’s teachings and other “intellectual” issues.

Mrs. Rebecca Pia was my teacher in my Religion class when I was in my third year. She first introduced me to the figure you see below.

(Pardon the illustration! haha was trying out Sketchup!) :D

When I studied in DLSU, the figure was again discussed by Dr. Ricardo Puno showing me some variations in the original figure i.e. combinations formed by having two of the sides of the triangle while missing out on one. Just this morning Mr. Evert Gementiza tackled this figure in our lesson so I though I’d share my thoughts on the topic.

First let me define each of the terms found of each side of the triangle by virtue of their root words.

Dogmatism

A Dogma is a religious doctrine that is proclaimed as true without proof . (src)

Ritualism

A ritual is a formalised, predetermined set of symbolic actions generally performed in a particular environment at a regular, recurring interval. The set of actions that comprise a ritual often include, but are not limited to, such things as recitation, singing, group processions, repetitive dance, manipulation of sacred objects, etc. ... (src)

Activism

This is where you make things happen!

My theology professor says that you need all three to be a good Christian. However, I believe that there should be greater weight attributed to activism. Why? If you look at things at the practical sense, you would not need to ask that question.

We take the first two aspects first and see their relevance.

First we look at Dogmatism. Knowing all the Dogmas of the Church is a good thing! You get to enjoy yourself discussing all there is to these doctrines. You can grow your reasoning prowess by trying to evaluate and compare your understanding to those of other people.

As for Ritualism, knowing all the details of a service won’t hurt either! Some may even think that you know all the arcane details that they will be so impressed! ;) (Nothing’s wrong as long as impressing them is not your purpose!) You can even help your brethren if they do not know their way in these services. You can be an Acolyte, an extraordinary minister of the Holy Eucharist, a Lector, Commentator or whatever role you choose. You help your community by being of service to them and God.

For Activism, you put into action Christ’s commands. Perhaps you’d not only know the beatitudes but live up to them as well. You wouldn’t just memorize the Ten Commandments but you’d also be an apotheosis of a God-given law abiding believer.

Here’s one of my friendly notes again.. I do believe that the three aspects are essential to an integral Christian life. (Duh. Is that not the definition?) However if I am forced to side with only one of these aspects of Christian life, I’d have to say that I’ll choose Activism. This is because of my belief that this is the most applicable in our condition today. Say for example you were to choose a politician. Would you rather choose one that is priest-like in his knowledge about the Scriptures yet doesn’t live up to what his Scriptures teach him or would you choose the one who knows little or nothing at all about “holy things” but is able to exercise his judgment in a fair and just manner?

As we all make our way in this journey called life, we choose between diverging paths everyday. Each of us may choose his or another’s way to our final destination, i.e. heaven or for some hell. We all have our weaknesses, our strengths. Most importantly, we have our free will to guide us. (At least in our perspective… ) With all these in our disposal, we can surely choose our path to heaven… or hell…