Sir, - Barry McHugh (May 11th) really puts his finger on it in this debate on the Resurrection, when he states: "I still envy those whose faith convinces them to believe otherwise." For Mr McHugh it is a matter of rationalisation of this divine mystery. For me, it is a matter of faith seeking to understand, as St Paul says: "If Christ has not been raised then our preaching is useless and you believing it is useless." (1 Corinthians, Chp 15:14.)
He also has a problem with discrepancies in the inspired Gospels. According to the Catechism of the Catholic Church: God is the author of sacred scripture: "The divinely revealed realities, which are contained and presented in the text of sacred scripture, have been written down under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit" (P.29). The writer can be thought of as God's instrument. For example, an artist cannot paint a portrait without a brush, neither can the brush do so unless it is wielded by the artist. The whole of the portrait has been achieved by the artist and the whole of it by the brush. God cannot produce a human book without using a human writer as his instrument. The whole is divine through and through and also human through and through.
All four Gospels record the death and Resurrection of Jesus. Discrepancies may have arisen through the human style and language of the author but these do not take away from the historical fact and divine message that Jesus has risen from the dead and is alive. No one would doubt the historical evidence that John F. Kennedy was assassinated, whatever the discrepancies surrounding this historical event. In either historical event there is no acceptance "of fact by default" (Mat 11). - Yours, etc.,
Glenstal Abbey,
Murroe, Co Limerick.