Remembering… Gareth Moore, O.P. (1948-2002)

By Br Thomas
Thérèse, O.P. | Br. Thomas Thérèse remembers Gareth Moore’s
commitment to the Truth and opines we have much to learn from this commitment.

My brother, Gareth Moore OP, was a
remarkable man, having taught himself Russian at school. He gained a
scholarship to attend Corpus College, Oxford, the first from his school to gain
such a scholarship. Later Gareth taught maths in Zambia and, like many Dominicans
I’ve met, experimented with a vocation to the Benedictines. In 1977 Gareth
joined the Dominicans. Sadly, aged 44, Gareth was diagnosed with renal cancer.
Whilst he was in hospital he received many visits from brothers. One brother
fondly remembers arriving at his bedside asking, ‘So what have you been doing
today Gareth?’ to which he replied, ‘Dying’. This reminds me of the
Aristotelian definition of truth ‘If you say of what is, that it is, then you
have spoken truly’. Gareth was certainly a man who said things as he saw them.

Gareth recognised that all truth, no
matter where it is to be found, or who says it, comes from God who is Truth
itself. Following this love for the God who is Truth, Gareth took the Dominican
commitment to the pursuit of Truth seriously. Gareth writes, ‘my opportunity
and ability to write have been severely limited… I ask the reader for a certain
indulgence towards those [errors] which are mere slips and that can be
rectified without detriment to the central arguments I am pursuing. But if any
of those central arguments themselves are faulty, they should be rejected; for
my concern here is, in the end… truth, and the importance of good argument as a
guide to it. Thus bad arguments however well-intentioned are to be rejected, including
my own’. We still have much to learn from Gareth, especially when our era is
often described as ‘post-truth’ and where many would not consider perhaps their own opinion should be rejected.

Gareth has brilliant advice we would
all do well to heed. He reminds us that bad arguments should be avoided because
they only convince others that there is no good argument underlining our
position. This is a debatable point: plenty of people are convinced by bad
arguments, otherwise there would be little disagreement. Nevertheless it is
true to say that if Christians or the Church hold to bad arguments we undermine
ourselves. Bad arguments make us comfortable with untruth, reinforcing our
prejudices. We have a tendency to be sympathetic to arguments that seem to
support our beliefs – something useful to remember in a culture where social media
is so prevalent and destructive. We should submit our arguments to scrutiny to
find the truth and be aware we ourselves may be wrong. Argue with the best
examples of your opponent to better convince and seek truth. The best way to be
listened to is to listen.

The pursuit of truth often meant he
could have serious disagreements with his brothers. One of the older members of
the community remembers Gareth with great love and warmth, particularly
Gareth’s love of his brothers even in disagreement: ‘You know your brother
loves you when he’s unafraid of disagreeing with you passionately and then you
go to the pub and disagree some more. That was my relationship with Gareth’. Another brother noted a particular gift of Gareth’s was to be able to argue on a matter focused solely on the arguments themselves. He says, ‘Even though he may be personally invested in an argument, you often couldn’t tell. Rather than getting worked up about it like another brother, he stayed focused on the arguments. He was critical and honest enough to follow an argument where it leads and thus reject an argument which he thought untrue even if it would cost him. I miss him a lot’.

Every evening before dinner in Oxford
we pray for the dead of the Dominican Order, particularly those who have died
on that particular day. We pray especially for Gareth, on the anniversary of
his death, December 6th.

Other posts in the series:

• Introduction
• Fr Geoffrey Preston, O.P., by Br Bede Mullens, O.P.
• Fr Laurentius Siemer, O.P., by Br Gabriel Theis, O.P.
• Fr Bruno Hussar, O.P., by Br Joseph Bailham, O.P.
• Fr Victor White, O.P., by Br Pablo Rodríguez Jordá, O.P.
• Fr Yves Congar, O.P., by Br Vincent Antony Löning, O.P.
• Fr John Malachy Clune, O.P., by Br Albert Elias Robertson, O.P.
• Fr Conrad Pepler, O.P., by Br Daniel Benedict Rowlands, O.P.
• Fr. Vincent McNabb, O.P., by Br John Bernard Church, O.P.