Essential Things

Hauptsachen
Thoughts and Insights on Faith and the Church.

By Lorenz Jäger
With an Introduction by Martin Mosebach
(Fe-medienverlags GmbH, Kisslegg, 2010)

Hauptsachen: the Essentials, Main Things. Or should I translate, treading on someone else’s copyright, First Things? It’s a collection of brief essays by the noted German academic and journalist, Lorenz Jäger, who has trod a long intellectual path from Marxism to Traditional Christianity. But, as Martin Mosebach points out in his introduction, the rule of today’s Catholic intellectual life is Salus Extra Ecclesiam est. The homegrown products of an institutional Church in fealty to modernity’s civil society are worthless. I should add that the author is only one of a seemingly endless series of intellectual champions of the Traditional Christianity who have arisen in the last few years primarily in Germany, Italy and France. It is a veritable “Oxford Movement” of the 21st century.

Now most of these essays first appeared in the Sunday edition of the leading German newspaper, the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung. Strange to Americans used to the NY Times, the “FAZ” runs a column with spiritual observations appropriate to the day. But make no mistake: Essential Things is no vacuous “word from your pastor” as found in the typical parish bulletin: love, peace and give money to the poor. Jäger’s deceptively simple and engaging essays offer unanticipated depth of analysis, a penetrating critique of society, state and Church – and not a little wit. Jäger is unafraid of challenging the innumerable sacred cows of the German-speaking world. Indeed, I identified one point of his so outrageous that I am amazed Jäger got away with it at all (I had best leave it in the obscurity of a learned language).

The usual starting point of each 2-3 page essay is scripture. Jäger’s knowledge of the bible is profound and the way he utilizes some of the more obscure passages is a revelation. For example, from the detailed requirements of Leviticus that a priest must be whole in body Jaeger develops a meditation on modernity’s separation between nature and belief. The best evidence of that are the current battles on homosexual marriage and the ordination of women.

Jäger takes aim at some of the champions of the Conciliar Church and its progeny: Karl Rahner, the unspeakable organization of Catholic laity in Germany, Medjugorje, various ecclesiastical “movements.” He reflects on the lives of the saints and emphasizes the importance of reconciliation with the Orthodox world. He takes up arms against the press campaign launched against Pope Benedict after he freed from excommunication the bishops of the FSSPX. There is a swipe against the lodge of the Freemasons in France that I am sure will delight certain Catholic circles. And everywhere in this book Jäger battles against a nebulous Christianity without the cross, dogma, reverence or the supernatural.

Like Martin Mosebach, Jäger insists on the necessity of form in the liturgy. In “Julien Green in der Kirche” he observes that artists were among the earliest enemies of the post-conciliar liturgical changes, because: “They respected the form, without which the most venerable content evaporates.” Jäger tells us of the reaction of Julien Green who had visited a convent chapel in 1976:
“‘The birds don’t sing in the winter. Winter has come to the Church.’ What (Green) was seeking was a liturgical form that made the mystery present. And so he began to turn to the Churches of the East.”
The author does not restrict himself to the “merely” religious realm but ventures into the intersection of belief and politics. Indeed, the only fault of these essays may be their topicality: they often take as the point of departure some current issue arousing controversy in Germany or the world. He is not a little suspicious of the “neocon” ( we would say in the US) critique of Islam, given that said “experts” tend to be uncritical supporters of Israeli expansionism. And he cannot get enthusiastic about a Sarah Palin who thinks the Iraq war was a holy crusade.

The style of the essays is eminently readable – even if much reflection is often necessary to fully savor them. You will indeed find much to think about – even if you may not agree with everything that Lorenz Jäger writes. But this book will be welcome reading for every supporter of the Traditional faith – especially for the reader willing to explore the fundamental theological and philosophical issues of this age. I would hope that Essential Things may soon find a translator so that a broader segment of the English –speaking world may get to explore these essays.