By Daniel B. Gallagher, The Catholic Thing, Feb. 5, 2025
Daniel Gallagher is a Lecturer in Literature and Philosophy at Ralston College in Savannah, Georgia.
“The whole truth is generally the ally of virtue; a half-truth is always the ally of some vice.” If G. K. Chesterton was right about this, any attempt to glue two half-truths together not only misses the whole but compounds the vice. If the whole is “love,” the result is catastrophic. And if you put any stock in 1 John 4:8, the whole is indeed love.
So, provided love is directed toward its proper object, John Lennon was right: All we need is love. Or as the Bishop of Hippo put it, “Love, and do what you will!” But this is only half the truth. For he immediately adds, “Human actions can only be understood by their root in love. All kinds of actions might appear good without proceeding from the root of love.”
Augustine contrasts a father spanking his son to discipline him and a kidnapper caressing him to keep him quiet: “Offered a choice between blows and caresses, who would not choose the caresses and avoid the blows?” ….