Submission Of Intellect & Will

The Curt Jester has an excellent post on what it means to submit to the teaching authority of the Church. It struck a real chord with me because, when I first returned to the Faith, I was aware that it was my own arrogance and belief in my own intelligence which had led me astray in the first place. Like von Hildebrand, (how does the saying go..? "Great minds think alike...") I found that I had to assent to things I didn't fully understand, particularly the Church's teaching on contraception. However, once I had made that assent, the reasons behind the teaching became clear.

Having faith doesn't mean you check your brain in at the church door, but like St. Thomas Aquinas said, if there is a conflict between the truths of the Faith and my own intellect, then it is my intellect which is at fault. The Curt Jester put it so much better than I ever could:

Thinking Catholics try to assert that faithful Catholics have to leave their brain at the door to be faithful to the magisterium where in fact the opposite is the case. To be obedient to the teaching authority of the Church you must leave you intellectual pride at the door and that whatever intellectual gifts you might have will be fully exercised in understanding and defending what the Church actually teaches.