Too many of us have too limited a conception of conversion. We often think of it as something for other people, maybe especially for people who adhere to other faiths than Catholicism. This is certainly an element of conversion, and possibly the form we’ve read the most about. After all, history is full of peoples…
Category: Questions of Faith
Are objective moral values real?
Plenty of secular accounts pertaining to morality co-exist in the world today – some hold that objective moral values are real; others that moral actions can be reduced down to evolutionary behaviour; and many that morals don’t exist at all but have been created to allow for a functioning society. In opposition to some of…
Did God change between the Old and New Testaments?
It’s common in this day and age to hear the Old Testament decried as mad, bad and barbaric. Many atheists say that it’s an instruction manual for how to be a bad person, rather than how to be a good one. Others say that God seems to have undergone a major personality shift between the…
Do Catholics pray for the souls of the dead to save them from hell?
Jenna Marie Cooper Catholics don’t pray that souls in purgatory won’t wind up in hell, because hell is no longer a possibility for them. We do pray because we hope that, through our prayers and sacrifices, the sufferings of their purgation might be eased and their journey to heaven might be hastened. Let us recall…
Can Catholics support ‘assisted dying’?
Our paper’s headline last week, “Euthanasia committee promises fair hearing for concerned voices,” will have come as welcome news to many pro-lifers in Ireland who are tired and disheartened by the cold shoulder we’ve received from Government on the abortion front. Perhaps a few people read it, though, and wondered why there would be concerned…
What is the Catholic stance on the environment?
It might seem an obvious thing now, what with so much talk about the environment and “going green,” but humans have taken many approaches to the natural world throughout history. Sometimes, even when we talked a good game, our actions belied that we viewed the created world as something to be plundered, used and abused,…
Did Christ descend into hell after his death?
If you’re at all like me, the Easter Triduum through which we’ve just passed has proven confusing at some point. We’re told Christ dies on Good Friday, and three days later, he rises again from the dead. First of all, Friday to Sunday isn’t three days by our modern reckoning. Secondly, the space between Christ’s…
Does God do what we want?
Questions of Faith When Christians petition God for things they want, atheists and sometimes fellow Christian’s bristle. Isn’t that treating God like a fairy godparent or a gumball machine – you make your wish or put your prayers in and out comes what you want? This is a good question, given that the Catholic tradition…
Is God truly present in a Church dealing with so much sin?
One of the things that most hinders the Church in its mission and makes people reluctant to interact with it is the real presence of sin in those who profess to be Catholic. Every person walking the earth is a sinner, but those who claim to be adhering to the heights of goodness, truth and…
Why be religious if you can just be spiritual?
This is a common refrain in our times: I’m definitely spiritual, but I’m not religious. Or again, I personally believe in a higher power or a god, but I wouldn’t associate with a religion. I’ve heard this line personally on many occasions, and I think it expresses the fact that many people are aware that…