I’m astounded by the misunderstanding so many people have about the Catholic Faith. Most people voice petty misunderstandings of things that bother them about Catholicism, but very few of them actually get to the core of who God is and what we are as His Church.
At the Beginning
Let’s start at the beginning: God is God. There is only one God, and He created everything that exists. He is the supreme ruler of His creation, and His will must be obeyed by everything and everyone He created. Even in the prayer that Jesus taught us, we pray in unison with all believers that His “will be done on earth as it is in heaven” (Matthew 6:10). There is no getting around this. God’s will must be obeyed by everyone or else there would be chaos in heaven as there obviously is on earth.
What are we then? We are beings God created, and we are dependent upon Him to fulfill the reason why He created us.
Catholics constitute more than 1.3 billion of the world’s Christian population while Protestants are about 900 million believers worldwide. There are profound differences in beliefs between the two expressions of Christian faith. Catholics are more uniform in their beliefs because of the central authority of the papacy and Tradition. Protestants are much more diverse in their beliefs because there is no central authority (sects).
One wonders why there is such a big divide among those who believe in Jesus Christ. If you ever get into an in-depth discussion with someone who has different views on almost all aspects of Christian faith, you will soon come to an impasse. Christianity is so fractured today that many are disinterested in religion. That may be one of the reasons why Christianity in the US is declining.
The Spiritual World
Unseen by us, God also created a huge spiritual world populated by angels. They are required to obey God, just as we humans are. Sadly, one third of them refused obedience and joined in the rebellion of Lucifer, an exceptionally gifted angel created by God to serve as the bright Morning Star. His original vocation was to be a source of illumination to others, especially humans, to explain who God is and what God expects.
His rebellion brought evil into God’s creation – “darkness” as the Bible puts it – and ignorance of God’s desires enveloped the whole world. There was a civil war in the spiritual heaven and the rebellious angels, now devils, were cast out of heaven and onto earth, where God, in His good time, will punish them after they do battle with the human race.
God created the angels perfect, but even in their perfection they refused obedience to God. Later on, God created Adam and Eve, the source of the human race, and permitted Lucifer to try to induce them to disobey. They did disobey, and God punished them also, but not as severely as He punished the devils.
Punishment for Wrongdoers
Adam and Eve were perfect before they refused obedience, but they were misinformed by a superior spiritual being whose superiority enabled him to make fools of them, and that’s why they chose incorrectly. As a result, God punished Adam and Eve with many hardships and with physical death. They were immortal before they rebelled, but afterwards, they, and every human descended from them, had to endure death.
All subsequent human beings have been born within this disgrace of their parent’s original wrongdoing. But when God deals with humans, He is merciful. He offers us redemption. If we recognize we are wrong and that He is correct, He will not only forgive us, He will redeem us and restore us back to the same condition Adam and Eve had before they rebelled.
Notice that God did not offer redemption to the angels. They refused obedience when they were perfect, and that refusal still stands. There’s a lot more to this than meets the eye.
There are two explanations as to why God will never forgive the angels. One is that not a single devil will ever repent or feel contrite about what he did. The other explanation is that God is unforgiving of devils even if they were to repent. However, if no devil will ever repent, then the case is closed, and there is no justification for anyone to label God as unforgiving.
Evangelizing the World
God wanted the followers of Jesus to “Go into the whole world” (Matthew 28:20) and baptize all peoples, bringing them into His heavenly kingdom. I don’t think He wanted His followers to conquer the nations, make slaves of their residents, and strip them of their wealth and land.
History shows many disgraceful ways some Christians have complied with this mandate, and we are all paying for it today. The most recent reaction to them is the “woke” mentality condemning everything they did and tearing down monuments and place names honoring those who were involved in the evangelization of the world.
I caution everybody not to take part in this condemnation. God knows who did evil in past generations, and He is perfectly capable of punishing them. If fact, all who have left this life are already, in the spiritual realm, living the reward for their righteousness or enduring the punishment for their wickedness.
God does not want us to punish them. After all, our own rebelliousness deserves even more punishment. God wants us to lead others to repentance before God because God will forgive them, and we should be willing to forgive them also.
The End of the World
At the end of the world, God will reunite every human being with the mortal flesh they would have had if evil had never occurred, and, honestly, I think we are very close to the end of the world today. Russia wants to conquer Ukraine and warns the US and NATO that if they intervene on behalf of Ukraine, Russia will launch nuclear weapons.
Think about that for a moment. The first strike, if it were aimed at the US, would destroy some military command centers, but it will not stop the US from launching the second strike. The US has plenty of ICBMs buried in silos all over the country. They are so sophisticated that simply turning on a couple switches is all that is necessary to launch them at targets already encoded into their controls.
The US has fourteen aircraft carriers that can be armed with nuclear weapons, but the Navy decided against equipping carriers with nuclear weapons due their own vulnerability to destruction. Instead, nuclear weapons are kept for launch from underground storage silos, or for delivery by aircraft or submarines. The US has a huge stockpile of missiles ready for almost immediate launch.
After the destruction is completed, fallout resulting from the nuclear blasts will cover the entire earth with dense clouds, causing crop failures due to nuclear winter and possibly exterminating all the humans who were fortunate enough to survive the blasts.
I have been writing about the possible end of the world for some time now. The trigger for it will be the first nuclear strike from Russia or their allies. That will start the countdown to the end of the world. It that is really what is going to happen, we humans will not have more than three and a half years from the first strike until the end.
We are so close to Russia launching nuclear weapons now that it is truly frightening. We cannot do anything to stop it, but we can get our souls prepared to stand before God’s great white throne for our own particular judgements. If we spent our life ignoring what God wants from us now is the time to think seriously about it.
Fake News
I am alarmed at seeing some of the news on the Internet. They are the classic phony news stories having headlines that are completely misleading. I saw one on Easter Sunday that announced that WWIII has started. It may have started in the opinion of whoever wrote the article, but let’s be honest, WWIII will not officially start until one nation makes a public announcement that they are at war.
So many articles on the Internet employ bait-and-switch tactics. This is completely misleading to their readers. It’s bad enough that the internet has been showing graphic videos for months that war has already started in the South China Sea or in the Middle East and now in Ukraine.
They also post videos about new species of man (recently discovered). They place each of these new species into the genus Homo along with Homo sapiens. You all know of my arguments against evolution. There is only one species in the genus Homo: Homo sapiens, “wise man,” wise because he is partly spiritual as well as partly physical. But his spiritual soul is what makes him human, resembling God in that he has free will and lives in recognition of the existence of a spiritual God.
Conclusions
God still wants us to evangelize the nations, but particularly to teach our children about the real God and the spiritual world as God revealed it. Our children are bombarded by false information and alluring speculation about war and rumors of war, life on other planets, and multiple species of human beings. We need to be aware of this and train our children to recognize the truth about these issues to avoid them being led away from the faith and chase dreams that will never come true.
13 thoughts on “Another Way to Explain the Catholic Faith”
Pingback: Contemplate Jesus with these 3D Images from the Shroud, 12 Manliest Saints in History, and More Great Links! - JP2 Catholic Radio
Mr. Williams, what you say about Pope St. John Paul II’s opinion on evolution is not correct. See here,
https://www.jstor.org/stable/3037605
and here
https://catholicstand.com/can-a-faithful-catholic-believe-in-science/
and here
https://catholicstand.com/st-john-paul-iis-rapprochement-science-quest-common-understanding/
I don’t expect you to be correct in your understanding of science, but I do expect you to be correct in what you say about the Church. By the way, Pope Benedict XVI, reinforces what Pope St. John Paul II said:
Hello Bob Kurland,
Thank you for reading my essay, and thank you for your comment. Actually, you did not comment on my essay but on an answer I made to Captcrisis. Your comment is “Mr. Williams, what you say about Pope St. John Paul II’s opinion on evolution is not correct.”
I think what you objected to is my statement “I pointed out in one of my earlier essays that Pope John Paul quoted the Magisterium’s pronouncement on the validity of Catholic teaching using exactly the same words that were used during the council of Trent, a few hundred years prior to Darwin’s theory.
I stressed that point because some of my critics think the Catholic Church has finally surrendered to the findings of science. This is not my understanding, and I have tried to correct that misunderstanding in many of my essays.
I think I should defend my honesty and my good name by proving the truth of that statement. I had to do my research once again to verify what I said. I found verification in https://catholicorigins.com/the-testimony-of-the-magisterium-from-the-1909-pontifical-biblical-commission/ which list 9 truths taught by the Church about the creation of man.
A summation of the nine truths are:
1. God created all things out of nothing.
2. God created man special.
3. God created woman from man.
4. All humanity descended from an original pair of human beings.
5. Adam and Eve were created in an original state of holiness and immortality.
6. They underwent a test to prove their obedience to God.
7. They disobeyed at the instigation of Satan.
8. We all lost holiness and immortality because they disobeyed God.
9. God proposed a future redeemer to restore man to man’s original innocence.
You accused me a couple years ago of being a “bible literalist, someone with whom it is impossible to engage in rational discourse, someone who believes the book of Genesis to be literally true.” All of this because I held that
1. God created Adam from the dust of the Earth.
2. God breathed a spirit in the body of Adam, which made Adam become Human.
3. God made Eve from a rib of Adam.
4. All humans are descended from Adam and Eve.
I thought this document I quoted could be traced back to the Council of Trent. I see now that the Council of Trent says the same things but with much more words.
But this document was put out in 1909. The Pontifical Academy of Sciences where Pope John Paul II spoke with scientists was held on November 10, 1979. The teaching of the Church on the creation of man has not changed since 1909. There was no revision of wording since the Pontifical meeting in 1979. Therefore, it is logical to presume that the Pope din not change the Church’s position on creation because of the meeting with scientists in 1979.
My statement therefore stands as true and verified.
Dr. Kurland, I appreciate your interest in science and the Catholic Church. I invite you to read all my articles and I appreciate helpful criticism. But if you ever again sully my good name with unfounded and predigital criticism, I will take up my pen and defend myself.
Sincerely.
Maurice A. Williams
It is not logical to presume that if that inference contradicts the statements of Pope St. John Paul II. You’re stretching logic. If you want to believe in a literal interpretation of Genesis II, then of course you’re free to do so. My beef with what you wrote in the comment is that it does not agree with what Pope St. John Paul II has said in several contexts. Can you dispute that? And I am not disposed to impugn your honor, but one can be honorable and mistaken. I am going to continue to combat what you say about science and Catholic teaching, if it is not correct. If you can cite any direct statements from Pope St. John Paul II, Pope Benedict XVI that contradict what I’ve quoted in my articles, I’ll be perfectly willing to retract my statement that you were incorrect. To be more explicit, I’ll put these quotes in this comment.
I’d be grateful if you would explain to me how these statements show that Pope St. John Paul II says that a literal interpretation of Genesis holds, rather than the descent of species (not the Darwinian model for this).
Hello Dr. Kurland,
I may have sounded harsh when I answered your last comment, but I want to clarify my defense. We have a disagreement on whether Pope John Paul II altered his opinion on evolution or whether it remained fixed at what it was before he entered into a dialog with scientists in 1979.
I used the Magisterial statement of Church teaching about the origin of the human race to illustrate my opinion. My proof is that the Magisterial teaching on creation of man is still worded exactly as it was worded in 1909.
Obviously, the Magisterial teaching did not change. Since the Pope is the head of the Church, his thinking would have to be compatible what Magisterial teaching is. Since it still is, he did not change Church teaching or his own thinking.
I think I am correct in my opinion.
This is a very messy subject because of the way many people in the secular press, and many readers of Catholic Stand, and many professional scientists such as D. Jerry Coyne. Dr. Stephen Hawkins, Dr. Julien Huxley, and Dr. Donald Johansson argue in favor of evolution. I’m mentioning these considerations because they will illustrate where I am coming from, but they have nothing to do with our argument. One problem I have with you is your dismissing me as a bible literalist and advising my readers that Ít is not possible to engage in rational discourse with those who believe the book of Genesis to be literally true even though they credit the science applied to medicine, electronics, computation and other aspects of our contemporary world.”
Almost all of my critics think the entire human nature evolved from animals. I know you don’t but you don’t articulate yourself well enough to drive that truth home, and my critics fail to understand that man evolving from animals is erroneous.
I’m sure the pope does not believe that man can be summed up entirely within his physical nature. But most of my critics believe that, even Dr. Jerry Coyne, and he has a large following among the laity.
Using a previously formed animal as the evolutionary route for the physical body of man is hardly different from using clay or the dust of the earth. No animal has a spiritual soul, but every man has a spiritual soul. The difficulty the American public has in is due to very famous scientists like Coyne whose book “Why Evolution is True” is a best seller and others authors that do not believe humans have spiritual souls.
My problem with your blanket rejection of my writing is that I want to get my readers to appreciate the whole truth about man, and you take issue with me about the semantics of words. We should be on the same team teaching the Gospel to those who are not sure they want to hear it. Biology is a wonderful science full of interesting detail about life on Earth. We should want to spread reverence and awe for what the creator has bone in creating plants, animals, and man on Earth.
Sincerely,
Maurice A. Williams
Hello Dr. Kurland.
Now that I have entered into a dialog with you, I’m beginning to realize what the problem is between your view of the origin of man and my view of it.
Let me start off with the classification by Linnaeus of life forms found on Earth. He only listed two: plants and animals. I think science is wrong in only naming only two categories. There are actually at least three: plants, animal, and spirits.
All tribes of humans recognize spiritual life: good spirits, evil spirits. And Christians, with benefit of divine revelation, recognize angles and devils. Many scientists are atheistic and do not recognize any spiritual beings.
The fault here is not with Christianity, but with science. The omission of the spiritual world has left science to fall into the error of thinking that man’s physical nature fully defines man. Probably the physical body did evolve from the body of an anthropoid ape into man, but where did man’s spiritual nature come from? There is no way to discuss the formation of man’s spiritual nature except creation.
I think that’s why the pope tried to carefully word his judgement on creation. Take the quote you gave me:
“It is by virtue of his eternal soul that the whole person, including his body, possesses such great dignity. Pius XII underlined the essential point: if the origin of the human body comes through living matter which existed previously, the spiritual soul is created directly by God.”
The pope is saying exactly the same thing I am saying. But he is trying to be careful not to give the impression that the newly existent man evolved from an animal.
But the wicked world is not so careful when they assert that the entire man evolved from preexisting animals. Another problem, that science has and creation does not have, is how long did it take for evolution to fully endow man with the spiritual/mental capacity man now has? One or two generations or hundreds of years?
Genesis reveals that the first man already spoke with God right after being created; and later spoke with the Devil and family members. Nobody’s religion would make any sense if man had to take generations to act like a man.
Dr. Kurland, I hope there is no hard feeling about our disagreement. I view you as a fellow Catholic who is trying to convince unbelievers that our faith is really true. I think we both are on the same side if we are both doing that.
I knew when, you posted on my articles, that your logic was not getting through to my critics because they kept on taunting me with not only having apes in my family tree but also fish.
Sincerely,
Maurice A. Williams
Pingback: THVRSDAY EDITION – Big Pulpit
Hello Person Who Can Read,
Thanks for reading my essay and thanks for defending me in my efforts to speak the truth to everybody,
Sincerely,
Maurice A. Williams
So, how do you reconcile the end of this prayer ‘Glory be to the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit……as it was in the beginning, is now and ever shall be. Amen.”
Hello Dario,
Thank you for reading my essay, and thanks for the comment. The end of the prayer you questioned is a repetition of something God revealed to us. The Catholic Faith is based in large part on what God revealed to us ever since He crated Adam and Eve.
Science is something we discover for ourselves observing nature and studying our impressions. Since it is not revealed, our scientists could be wrong on some elements, but with additional years of observation and study, eventually science will come up with the truth. But we can’t understand all truth through science.
Not too long ago, and even when I was in high school, science in that day still held that the universe is stable and will go on ticking forever like a watch. Much about the universe has been learned about the universe since then. Today most scientists realize the universe, let’s say the solar system to consider a smaller section, is very unstable. Collisions occur frequently as is obvious by the craters on every moon or planet without an atmosphere. Scientist think the universe began 12.7 billion years ago and will collapse 22 billion years from now, but this is all conjecture and will be revised as more is learned.
We can learn a lot from science, but revealed knowledge is something we usually could not discover through science. We show our faith in God’s revelation by repeating what He revealed. The famous Apostles Creed lists 21 truths God revealed that we could not possibly discover through our own observation. It’s good to memorize that prayer and repeat it frequently. That way if we ever hear a contradiction of any one of the 21 elements, we right away know something is being said that contradicts revealed truth.
If you want to love and serve God, you should guard yourself from losing the faith. I hope this helps. Keep the faith. Nobody wants to go to a heaven that disappears in 22 billion years. After the final judgement and the reconstruction of heaven and earth, we will dwell with our resurrected physical bodies in the new heaven and new earth forever. That’s worth waiting for.
Hope his helps,
Maurice A. Williams
If part of your faith is that evolution is false and there can’t be life on other planets, then you are at odds with Church teaching and not the best person to explain it to others.
Admiral Crisis,
But clearly YOU are the best person to explain church teaching. If only you would write on this website instead of the people who currently do. Maybe if you keep spouting stupidity in the comments of every article they will notice and ask you to become a contributor. If only we had you to guide us in these confusing times.
Hello Captcrisis,
Thank you for reading my essay and for the comment. I think you misunderstand my thinking. I have never claimed that there can’t be life on other planets. In fact, I affirmed my conviction that there could be life on other planets, and I drew some logical conclusions about what that life could be like. I think I discussed this in some of my earlier essays on Catholic Stand.
As far as evolution goes, I think it is a logical theory as long as it does not contradict God’s revelation. God clearly revealed that He created Adam and Eve special by, as He put it, breathing His breath into Adam’s nostrils, and He revealed that He created Eve special form one of Adam’s ribs. They are the first members of Homo sapiens. I object to the secular press, and those who argue against revealed religion, for placing about a dozen homaloid apes into the same genus as man.
I pointed out in one of my earlier essays that Pope John Paul (that my critics cited against me) John Paul quoted the Magisterium’s pronouncement on the validity of Catholic teaching using exactly the same words that were used during the council of Trent, a few hundred years prior to Darwin’s theory.
My critics tried to convince me that the Pope had finally came to term with the findings of science. He did not. The truth is that the spokespersons for the scientific world, you and the secular press, but not most of the really honest scientists, refuse to come to terms with revealed religion.
Sincerely,
Maurice A. Williams