Gregg Ten Elshof

“Certainty is the great enemy of unity. Certainty is the deadly enemy of tolerance… If there was only certainty and no doubt [sic], there would be no mystery and therefore no need for faith. Let us pray that God will grant us a Pope that doubts.” So implores Cardinal Thomas Lawrence, compellingly played by Ralph Fiennes, at a pivotal moment in the movie, Conclave. In so doing, he contributes to a growing contemporary chorus of voices that laud uncertainty and doubt.

As a schoolmaster at an English prep school in 1933, the poet W. H. Auden was sitting with three fellow teachers when, out of nowhere, he found himself overwhelmed by the sense that their existence somehow had infinite value. In a dramatic way, Auden was recognizing a truth that even most non-Christians affirm: Human beings possess an inherent dignity that can’t be reduced to dollars and cents. In a Christian understanding, human life has a pricelessness.