Credo quia absurdum

Credo quia absurdum is a Latin phrase of uncertain origin. It means "I believe because it is absurd" It is derived from a poorly remembered or misquoted passage in Tertullian's De Carne Christi defending the tenets of orthodox Christianity against docetism, which reads in the original Latin:

Crucifixus est Dei Filius, non pudet, quia pudendum est;

et mortuus est Dei Filius, prorsus credibile est, quia ineptum est;

et sepultus resurrexit, certum est, quia impossibile.

— (De Carne Christi V, 4)

"The Son of God was crucified: there is no shame, because it is shameful.

And the Son of God died: it is wholly credible, because it is unsound.

And, buried, He rose again: it is certain, because impossible."

The phrase is sometimes associated^{[citation needed]} with the doctrine of fideism, that is, "a system of philosophy or an attitude of mind, which, denying the power of unaided human reason to reach certitude, affirms that the fundamental act of human knowledge consists in an act of faith, and the supreme criterion of certitude is authority." (Catholic Encyclopedia).

In Civilization and Its Discontents, Sigmund Freud reverts to the phrase while questioning the commandment "Thou shalt love thine enemies".^[1] In The Future of an Illusion, Freud again refers to this phrase as a tactic to evade the need to support one's factual beliefs with reasons.^[2] The phrase appears again in Freud's Moses and Monotheism, in his discussion of the development of religion, in context of Freud's argument that those whose sense of spirituality is developed enough to provide for non-rational belief take great pride in this achievement and consider it an accomplishment that makes them superior to others who have mere sensory beliefs.^[3]

It has also been used, though often in different interpretations, by some existentialists.

The phrase inspired a celebrated bon mot by H.L. Mencken: "Tertullian is credited with the motto 'Credo quia absurdum' -- 'I believe because it is impossible'. Needless to say, he began life as a lawyer."

See also

• Sacrifice of the intellect

References

1. ^ Civilization and Its Discontents, Chapter V.
2. ^ The Future of An Illusion, translated and edited by James Strachey (New York and London: W. W. Norton & Company, 1961/1989), p. 35. [Also Standard Edition, vol. XXI, p. 28, and Gesammelte Werke, vol. XIV, p. 350.] The editor of the English translation adds this note: "'I believe because it is absurd.' This is attributed to Tertullian."
3. ^ Moses and Monotheism, translated by Katherine Jones (New York: Vintage, 1939), p. 151.

Further reading

• Bühler, Pierre (2008). "Tertullian: the Teacher of the credo quia absurdum". In Stewart, Jon. Kierkegaard and the patristic and medieval traditions. Aldershot: Ashgate. pp. 131–42. ISBN 978-0-7546-6391-1. http://books.google.com/books?id=uuAa17jw1M4C&pg=PA131. 
• Götz, Ignacio L. (2002). "Tertullian's paradox". Faith, humor, and paradox. New York: Praeger. pp. 25–7. ISBN 978-0-275-97895-2. http://books.google.com/books?id=-45q4pbsRZsC&pg=PA25. 
• Sider, Robert D. (1980). "Credo Quia Absurdum?". The Classical World 73 (7): 417–9. doi:10.2307/4349233. JSTOR 4349233. 
• Garelick, Herbert (1964). "The Irrationality and Supra-rationality of Kierkegaard's Paradox". The Southern Journal of Philosophy 2 (2): 75–86. doi:10.1111/j.2041-6962.1964.tb01469.x. 
• Siemens, David F. (1964). "Conflicts between Christianity and physical science". Journal of the American Scientific Affiliation 16: 12–5. http://www.asa3.org/ASA/PSCF/1964/JASA3-64Siemens.html. 
• Ferguson, Everett (2009). "Tertullian". The Expository Times 120 (7): 313–21. doi:10.1177/0014524609103464. 
• Bixler, J. S. (1969). "On Being Absurd!". The Massachusetts Review 10 (2): 407–412. http://www.jstor.org/stable/25087871.