Avoiding arguing from authority
Mark 4:1-8
On another occasion,
Jesus began to teach by the sea. A very large crowd gathered around him so that he got into a boat on the sea and sat
down. And the whole crowd was beside the sea on land. And he taught them at
length in parables, and in the course of
his instruction he said to them, “Hear
this! A sower went out to sow. And as he sowed, some seed fell on the
path, and the birds came and ate it up.
Other seed fell on rocky ground where it had little soil. It sprang up at once
because the soil was not deep. And when the sun rose, it was scorched and it
withered for lack of roots. Some seed
fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked it and it produced no grain. And some seed fell
on rich soil and produced fruit. It came up and grew and yielded thirty, sixty,
and a hundredfold.” He added, “Whoever has ears to hear ought to hear.”
One thing I learned from studying
St. Thomas Aquinas was that the argument from authority is the weakest form of
reasoning. Of course, that’s what I just
did, isn’t it, by invoking the authority of St. Thomas for that statement! One day, John Adams was preparing a speech
and asked his wife, Abigail, to read it and see what she thought. She noticed he quoted a lot of people in the
speech, and observed: “You don’t have to quote great men to be a great
man.” In other words, state your case
clearly and concisely and avoid arguing from authority. Have you ever argued with your kids and in
frustration finally blurted out: “Because I said so!” How did that go over? Like a lead balloon, I bet. Even children know that the argument from
authority is the weakest, especially your authority.
In the gospel today, Jesus shows us
another way to argue, really the best way to teach, namely, through parables
based on people’s experience. You
remember the parables about sewing clothes, and herding sheep, and paying taxes
– everyone has that experience! So
today, Jesus' point percolates through another parable, scattering seeds and
waiting for the harvest. At some point,
we’ve all seen seeds either grow or not grow because of weather or
predators. You see, appealing to common
human experience is the best way to persuade people, to teach them. Now, to be clear, Jesus was the one Person
who could have blurted out, “Because I said so!” -- Jesus is the source of all
authority -- but he resorted to that only rarely. Jesus preferred to preach and persuade
through people’s experience, and avoided arguing from authority.
When we take experience seriously –
both our own and other people’s – we learn a great deal. Experience is a wise teacher; sometimes she's
brutal, but she's always the best. This
is the great appeal of Pope Francis. His
teaching is not so elevated and erudite that only philosophers and theologians
can understand, but rather it’s accessible to all because he takes experience
seriously. He also wants to learn from
other people’s experience – even from that of immigrants and divorcees and
homosexuals – because there’s something we need to learn from their
experience. When you speak to your
children, share your own experiences: of going to school, about dating, landing
your first job, and of course about paying taxes! And don’t worry if your experiences are
successes or failures, some of the most important lessons we learn at the hands
of defeat. “You don’t have to quote
great men in order to be a great man.”
That was said by Abigail Adams; it's okay to quote great women.
Praised be
Jesus Christ!
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