Is the priest T. Halík a heretic? /Part 1/

Who is the priest Tomáš Halík and who do people say that he is? He acts as an advocate and saviour of Christianity despised by him, and he allegedly raises it to a “higher” level. Halík is a member of the Masonic Committee of Wise Persons in the EU. His dream is to occupy the post of President at the Prague Castle or at least the post of the Archbishop of Prague. Cardinal Vlk has always approved of his heretical activities and assigned him to pastoral care of the university youth, whom Halík has systematically infected with the spirit of Buddhism. The Katolický týdeník (Catholic Weekly) publishes his articles and advertises his books. The common believers therefore regard them as the voice of the true Catholic Church.

Many Catholics, however, rightly ask the question: Is Tomáš Halík a true Catholic priest or a heretic? What methods does he use?

1. Method of professional lying

Halík undermines the reader’s or listener’s solid foundation of the saving faith. He forces the defenders of orthodoxy to be the first to formulate his hidden heresies. Then he uses their own statements to ridicule them and to knock them out as primitives who are far from understanding his level of knowledge. He creates an impression that he outclasses them and that he elevates Christianity both intellectually and spiritually. He is really a master of lies and deceit in this respect, misusing words, giving them different meanings and artfully distorting the truth at various levels. He uses Christian terminology but introduces the spirit of the old-new gnosis, the spirit of the New Age!

He condemns the orthodox as ones who are making Christianity repugnant and even unacceptable for people with a higher intelligence quotient. Halík’s notions of faith and salvation are diametrically opposed to the 2000-year-old orthodox Christian doctrine.

Halík says: “The Resurrection of Christ is not another miracle such as the marvels familiar to every reader of the Bible…” (T. Halík: Night of the Confessor, 2006, p.11f). What does Halík mean to say by this statement? First of all, he covertly denies whatever miracle and, undoubtedly, even the greatest miracle of the Bible – the Resurrection of Christ. However, he does not say it clearly. He counts on human pride and on the fact that a Catholic wants to look “wise” so as to be taken seriously. But in order to be taken seriously by Halík, one has to renounce normal thinking because this looks primitive. One has to adopt a kind of “higher” thinking and “higher” knowledge (gnosis). Who is not willing to respect this “higher” knowledge of his (today the New Age and Buddhist gnosis) and to regard him as an expert in spiritual sphere is considered to be on a low spiritual and intelligence level, unable to dialogue with him. Halík evokes an atmosphere of pride and draws his listeners, especially young people, into it. He starts speaking to them of Christian mysteries in this spirit, and then suddenly, without being conscious of it, they draw such conclusions in which all the essential truths of Christianity are denied and ridiculed. Halík usually does not express the heresies clearly but his listeners automatically draw an inference in that spirit and accept them in their minds.

Halík continues about the Resurrection: “This concept (image or metaphor, if you wish…) means much more.”

We ask: What more? In fact, Halík here, but also elsewhere, covertly denies the very historical and real event of the Resurrection of Christ! This heretical doctrine was already condemned by the Apostle Paul as well as by the whole orthodox Church tradition. By vague and ambiguous statements, Halík spreads the spirit of heresy and denies the fundamental truths of the faith!

If Halík’s heretical statement was to be transformed into an orthodox one, it would have to be put like this, for example: The real and historical Resurrection of Christ, which is neither an image nor a metaphor, has been the greatest proof of the Divinity of Jesus! However, Halík never speaks on the matters of faith so clearly and soundly.

+ Methodius OSBMr              + Timothy OSBMr

Secretary Bishops of the Byzantine Catholic Patriarchate

23 January 2016

Download: Is the priest T. Halík a heretic? /Part 1/ (23.1.2015)