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Maryellen Jones
wrote:
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Hi guys,
I have a challenge for you. I received a group e-mail with some questions. Jim is
a faithful Catholic married to an Atheist who is the super intellectual type. She likes to argue for the sake of arguing — she treats it like a sport.
His Catholic friends have been praying for Evelyn's conversion for eons. She went
through RCIA last year, but dropped out when it was time to make a commitment. I happen to
know that our RCIA program lacks effective leadership and has poor instruction.
She shared with me the following dialogue that she had with her husband Jim and I was hoping the AskACatholic team could help me answer the questions.
Jim and I were in a deep philosophical discussion today. Okay, we were sitting
around with a beer and watching a movie. We wanted to get some more learned opinions
on the following questions:
- Did God create death?
- Could God bring a non-believing person to Heaven if he wanted to?
- Did Judas have a choice or was it his destiny to betray Jesus?
Any answers on any or all of these questions would be appreciated.
Besides, it is
too hot to do too much of anything else. (For those of you out of state, our high
today is supposed to be 102!)
Peace and Blessings,
Evelyn and Jim |
Thanks,
Maryellen - Grammarian
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{
Can you answer a few philosophical
questions from a super-intellectual type Atheist? }
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Mary Ann replied:
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Hi, Maryellen —
1. Did God create death?
1. God did not create death. Death is not a thing. Death is not an entity.
It is an event, a decomposition. However, the world of matter is subject
to decomposition, so it is natural for plants and animals to die.
Humans
have an immortal spirit, which is the form of its body, and in God's
original plan, man's proper relationship with God would have resulted
in the soul's immortality being shared by the body. Adam's sin brought
death because sin destroyed this original relationship. Two things have
come down to us from the Fall:
- the Original Blessing of marriage, and
- God's promise of salvation, which is fulfilled in Christ, who swallows
death in His own eternal Life, making it the entrance to eternal life
for those who are in Him.
2. Could God bring a non-believing person to Heaven if he wanted to?
Of course. He does it every day. Catholics know that, as Jesus said, the
nations (Gentiles - pagans - unbelievers) are saved by following
the good and true as they are given to know it: feeding and clothing
and visiting the Christ they do not recognize and are surprised to discover
on Judgment Day.
3. Did Judas have a choice or was it his destiny to betray Jesus?
Of course, he had a choice but once a choice is made, there is a logical
destiny attached to the choice. One can escape the destiny by changing
one's choice.
Hope this helps,
Mary Ann
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Maryellen replied:
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Thanks, Mary Ann
I passed on the answers to those questions. All I could say with certainty is God did not create Death because He is the author
of Life.
I wasn't sure about the second question but was sure that God could do whatever He
chose to do. Only He knows the human heart.
Yes, Judas had a choice because he had free will — not very theological answers from me, but then that's your team's job.
Maryellen
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Mike replied:
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Hi Maryellen,
I would just remind Evelyn that God gives each individual: free will and free will is something that the Church takes very seriously.
This may assist her in understanding Mary Ann's second and third answers.
Mike
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Maryellen replied:
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Thanks, Mike
This is extremely interesting to me and I'm so grateful to Evelyn for the questions
because we lay Catholics need to know what the stumbling blocks are for unbelievers
and skeptics.
Maryellen
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Bob replied:
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Hello all,
Thanks for your questions; the first is rather complex when looked at from all angles.
Here are my suggestions based on Catholic teaching.
1. Did God create death?
In as much as God created all things, you can say that God created death. However,
death was created as the natural consequence to sin, and therefore not God's direct desire (what is called his Perfect Will) for man. This can be derived from the fact
that God is good and perfect and has no evil within Himself. God had no desire to
have man sin, and consequently experience the natural result, but, as things are,
we sinned and therefore experienced the consequence — from which God also had
a plan to remedy.
2. Could God bring a non-believing person to Heaven if he wanted to?
Most definitely God can bring a non-believer to Heaven, for otherwise there would
be no hope of Heaven for infants or the mentally challenged. Consider Paul's remarks
in 1 Timothy 4:10 (paraphrased):
"...God who is the savior of all, especially those
who believe..."
In this context Paul implies that God's salvation extends beyond
the confines of those who hold explicit faith.
3. Did Judas have a choice or was it his destiny to betray Jesus?
With respect to Judas, of course he had free will. Jesus' remarks concerning the
foretelling of his doom, etc. stem entirely from God's foreknowledge regarding his
actions and subsequent lack of repentance. They in no way influenced Judas to do
wrong, but rather recognized his willing submission to Satan's dominion.
Hope this helps.
Peace,
Bob Kirby
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Maryellen replied:
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Thanks Bob,
This project is not only interesting, but very encouraging.
I'll be passing
these answers on to my friend.
Maryellen
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