Troubling Presence

Abstract

22 Historically Speaking · September/October 2008 to her, but that historians can neither confirm nor deny that appearance.' That Bernadette and others were absolutely convinced of Mary's real appearance , however, seems, on the basis of our historical sources, beyond question. And it seems clear that such events, insofar as they might actually have occurred , are better understood with reference to traditional Christian theological notions and Catholic devotional sensibilities than on the basis of modern or postmodern theories and/or theoretical hybrids, including those drawn from comparative religion widi its generic notions of "die gods"—as Orsi presumably knows, Mary is not to be conflated with "the divine" in Catholicism. Orsi righdy chafes at the presuppositions of metaphysically naturalistic secularism, which dictate that the study of religion must proceed as if no religious truth claims couldbe true—as if, say, saints in heaven could not intercede with God infact for the Catholics who pray to them. Such is neither neutrality nor objectivity, but dogmatic, confessional secularism . But Orsi does not chafe enough or question enough. Trying to forge a new path is likely to be helpful only if we first discern whether we are on the right track. Much of the study of religion is stuck in a secularly self-confirming cul-de-sac forged from dubious metaphysical assumptions and false inferences about the findings of the natural sciences. The way forward is through criticism of widely unquestioned assumptions—retracing our steps back in order to move forward into a scholarly future in which religion is not bound to be what secular assumptions guarantee from the outset that it must and can only be. BradS. Gregory is Dorothy G. GriffinAssociate Professorof Early Modern European History atthe University of Notre Dame. His book Salvation at Stake: Christian Martyrdom in Early Modern Europe won sixawards, including the 1999 Thomas J. Wilson Price as the bestfirst bookpublishedby the Harvard University Press andthe California Book AwardSilverMedalforNonfiction. ' For this point developed more fully, see Brad S. Gregory, "The Other Confessional History: On Secular Bias in die Study of Rehgon," HistoryandTheory45 (2006): 132-149. 2 On Stein's philosophical training, see Alasdair Maclmyre, Edith Stein:A PhilosophicalPrologue, 1913-1922 (Rowman and Lirdefkld, 2006). 'Jürgen Habermas andJoseph Ratzinger, The Dialectics if Secularisation : On Reason andReligion, ed. Florian Schuller, trans. Brian McNeil (Ignatius Press, 2006). 4 For just a few examples of these scholars' works, seeJoseph Ratzinger, introduction to Christianity, trans.J. R. Foster (Ignatius Press, 2004); Robert Barron, The Priorityof Christ Towardsa PostkberalCatholicism (Brazos Press, 2007); David Bentley Hart, TAr Beauty of the Infinite: TheAesthetics of Christian Truth(Eerdmans , 2003); Alvin Plantinga, WarrantedChristian Belief(Oxford University Press, 2000); C Stephen Evans, TheHistoricalJesus and theChristof FaUb: The International'Narrativeas History (Clarendon Press, 19%); Raymond E. Brown,An Introduction to theNew Testament (poubkchy, 1997); Richard BauckharnJ«««*//*