We were listening to an interesting program about the Catholic spiritual writer Thomas Merton on Radio National. (I did get annoyed at Rachael Kohn as usual, trying it seemed to make Merton a pluralist in her own image; but then maybe he was.) Kohn mentioned that he died too early in tragic circumstances.
‘Perhaps he killed himself,’ my wife said.
‘Would anyone listen to him after that?’ I asked.
The truth was more mundane, and perhaps more tragic in its futility – he died when he was electrocuted in the bath in Bangkok. Or at least that’s what Wikipedia tells me.
G’day Nath,
little suprised by your response, ‘Would anyone listen to him after that?’
What do you mean?
Nath for a bit more info I recently met with a theologian from Cambridge who explained as a women she had little time for our boy John Howard Yoder because the patriarchal sin in his life which didn’t fit with his theology.
Did you see this article I wrote?
http://paceebene.org/blog/jarrod-mckenna/heretics-calvin-and-luther
What did you think?
Hi Jarrod,
In terms of Thomas Merton, it was just a stupid comment meaning that I would have thought his reputation as a great spiritual writer would suffer if he killed himself. But I’d still listen to him.
Your post raises some good questions.
From what I know of Yoder’s sin, it is heartening that he subjected himself to the disciplining process he wrote about and he seemed to genuinely repent.