Pragmatism, the remedy for dogmatism

... not to be confused with "dogma"

The Catholic theologian Karl Rahner’s most oft-quoted line is this: “Christians of the future will either be mystics or cease to be.” I agree with Rahner, but I would add that he could have said — just as astutely — that Christians of the future will either be pragmatists or cease to be. What follows is a revised and abridged version of the second chapter of my 2014 book, Strangers and Pilgrims Once More, which underscores my sentiment. As I’ve noted before, S&POM is one book I would rewrite in its entirety — and perhaps I may — if I had the chance. I’m not at all pleased with it after ten years and would retract several things I asserted in it. I have revamped two of the chapters for Substack. This is the second, newly updated.