LifeSiteNews reported that Pope Leo XIV said in his recent sermon that “no one possesses the whole truth.” At first glance, this teaching appears right on the basis of the nature of man who could not possess the whole truth, but there lurks in its bottom a danger of a spiritual ticking bomb.
It is translucent and the image of the Greek sophist philosopher, Protagoras, appears in it. Protagoras holds that “man is the measure of all things.” Thus truth is relative to every man and there could be as many measures of truth as there are men who each one could equally claim to be the measure of truth.
In both Leo XIV’s and Protagoras’ claims, man is the reference point. In Leo XIV, man always impliedly lacks some truths, so that man could not claim to possess the whole truth. In Protagoras, man as the measure of all things could impliedly possess the whole truth, so that man could claim to be the measure of all things. They seem contradictory, but actually they belong to the same strand: relativism, which holds that everything is relative, that there is no fixed truth.
Both Leo XIV’s and Protagoras’ claims appear to contradict the teaching of Jesus Christ: “I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life” (Jn. 14:6). Here Jesus proclaims he is the whole Truth.
First, Leo XIV’s teaching, “no one possesses the whole truth,” contradicts Jesus’ teaching: “I am …. the Truth….” Leo XIV’s proposition is universal and thus it covers every man without exception, including Jesus Christ. But Jesus Christ is both man and God. In his human side, Jesus could be presumably said as not possessing the whole truth, but in his divine side, he could be undoubtedly said as possessing the whole truth. It could be inferred then that Jesus Christ is the “Truth” on the basis of his divinity. Thus he proclaims himself to be so.
Leo XIV supposedly the vicar of Jesus Christ contradicts his own master. While Jesus Christ proclaims that he is “…the Truth…,” Leo XIV teaches that “no one possesses the whole truth.” For Leo XIV, Jesus Christ does not possess the whole truth and by implication he is merely a human being and not God at all. Christologically, it tells us that there could be no hypostatic union at all.
Leo XIV’s teaching is a deviation from the mandate of Jesus Christ who said to the apostles: “Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you” (Mt.28:19-20).
He proclaims that since “no one possesses the whole truth,” Jesus Christ cannot be preached to all nations as if he is the ultimate “truth” and his teaching cannot be taught to peoples of nations because he is not the whole “truth.” It is a stark contradiction between Jesus Christ and his vicar, Pope Leo XIV.
Man is the center in both Leo XIV’s and Protagoras’ claims. Leo XIV’s teaching coincides with Protagoras’ philosophy that “man is the measure of all things.” Therefore, since man has his own relative truths in himself that he can use to measure all things, the teachings of Jesus Christ don’t need to be taught to every man on earth.
Protagoras’ teaching reinforces Leo XIV’s teaching. In this way, it cannot be denied that Leo XIV is under the shadow of the doctrine of relativism, the dominant spirit in this post-modern era in human history. In the context of relativism, the “truth” of Jesus Christ and his Gospel is not and cannot be held as the “fixed whole truth.” Thus, Leo XIV holds that “no one possesses the whole truth,” not even Jesus Christ himself.
In the situation where the vicar contradicts and dethrones his master, who am I going to follow? Between vicar and master, I choose to follow the master.
