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If God Created the Universe Then Who Created God?

Posted on May 13, 2024 by Father Joe

Krystal Smith poses this question at STAPLER CONFESSIONS and states: “Most theists believe that God is eternal and therefore always existed. Some might suggest that God created time, space, and the universe all at the same time. Atheists insist that something cannot come from nothing, and therefore something must have created God in the first place. The phrase ex nihilo nihil fit is Latin for “from nothing comes nothing.” This argument has been used by philosophers throughout history to refute the notion of an eternal God.”

Yes, Christians believe that God has always existed; however, the matter is far deeper. God is the ground for all existence. He is existence itself or the great “to be.” The problem with atheists is that they are thinking about “god” as just another thing. He is not. God as a pure spirit exists from all eternity, but he wanted to share the goodness of existence. We believe that he created spiritual beings called angels and that he created material beings, the highest of which are men and women. Material things find themselves situated in time and space. They come into and go out of being. We are immortal because the soul is immaterial and has no parts to break down or die. The Latin phrase, ex nihilo nihil fit, is actually an argument against atheists, not theists. The proper question is not, “Who created God?” but rather, who created us and everything else? An infinite regression is an absurdity. If “nothing comes from nothing” then there should be no humanity and no creation around us to reflect upon. God is the necessary being. The catechism asserts that almighty God creates us through an act of the divine will out of nothing. Even the much touted theory of the “big bang” was theorized by a Catholic priest. Note the confusion of non-believing scientists when asked what existed prior to the singularity that became the big bang. They really do not know and their speculation takes them into the realm of magic.

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Why Does God Allow Tragedies?

Posted on May 12, 2024 by Father Joe

Krystal Smith poses this question at STAPLER CONFESSIONS and states: “You might hear an atheist bring up tragedies, people starving, genocide, or any example of immense suffering of the innocent and ask why. Theists believe that God gave man free will, and that god only intervenes in day-to-day life through miracles. Atheists question the logic of the conditional role God chooses to play in this scenario.”

Christians and Jews are realists. We know perfectly well that we find ourselves in a broken world. Indeed, those who minister view themselves as wounded healers. We believe that what God creates is necessarily good. The disharmony in the world is attributed to the sin of our first parents. It is a tenet of faith that suffering, sin and death enter the world through sin. God allows as part of his passive will both natural and moral evil. However, God in his direct or active will desires only the good for us. While we have brought our troubles upon ourselves, God gave his people a promise of a Messiah and redemption. Christians believe that Jesus is the Son of God and that as the “innocent one” he has made himself a sin-offering for us. He takes our suffering upon his shoulders and suffers and dies on the Cross. Doing so makes satisfaction for sin, redeems us, and offers us the gift of salvation. He rises from the grave and offers us a share in eternal life. It is in Christ that LOVE is stronger than DEATH. Sin and death are conquered by Christ, but the effects have yet to be undone. Such awaits his second coming. The problem of pain is answered within the solidarity of Christ. He commands us to take up our crosses and to follow him. We can add our struggle and pain to his and thus know transformation in Christ.

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Where is the Proof That God Exists?

Posted on May 11, 2024 by Father Joe

Krystal Smith poses this question at STAPLER CONFESSIONS and states: “Many theists believe that the existence of man, the world, and the universe are all proof that God exists. They argue that everything we see is God’s creation, and the forces of the universe serve as proof that only something as powerful as God could have created it. Atheists suggest that the big bang is origin of the universe and that beyond that everything can be explained by science. They claim that any existence at all before the big bang simply unknown, or even unknowable.”

The assertion that everything before the “big bang” is unknowable is a bit of a cop out. Avoiding the question of ultimate origins, it reflects a linear thinking about time and the limitations of the scientific method. Observation and celestial mathematics require something to see or measure. What was going on before the beginning? Most throw up their hands and say that cannot be answered or even asked. Frustration about this is known by believers as well. We claim a faith seeking understanding. But sometimes we must be humble. Atheism from scientists is frequently exhibited alongside a hubris for their calling and a disdain against believers. St. Augustine posed the question differently in his Confessions, “What did God do before he made heaven and earth?” He jokingly answered, “Preparing hell for those who pry into such mysteries.”

Of course, the Christian would respond that our existence is itself the answer to the question of God’s existence. Which seems more reasonable, that the universe and rational human life emerged on its own from nothingness or that there is a creator God? The cosmological argument insists that nothing comes from nothing. The universe exists and can be studied. If the atheists are right then we should not be here— not us, not the earth, not the stars— nothing. But the fact remains, we exist and know we exist. There is objective reality. As rational creatures we can observe, make deductions, and ponder the great questions. Are we to imagine that we are merely a cosmic accident?

Besides the cosmological argument that assumes God’s existence from that of the created universe, there are various other efforts to prove God’s existence. Many are familiar with the ontological argument of St. Anselm that God is the “being of which no greater can be conceived” and as such by necessity must exist. Descartes would argue that the existence of a good God under-girds the credibility of our senses to the objective world. Aquinas gives us his Five Ways (the unmoved mover, the first cause, the necessary being, the perfection of attributes or goodness, and the final cause).

Throughout history there have been many efforts to prove the existence of God or ways to know that he is real. Christians believe that philosophy and human reason can bring us to this awareness, but that revelation is necessary to know that he is a personal God who loves us and wills to save us.

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Do You Believe in Evolution?

Posted on May 10, 2024 by Father Joe

Krystal Smith poses this question at STAPLER CONFESSIONS and states: “Creationists, or people who take a literal translation of Genesis, the first book of the Bible, feel that scientific evidence for evolution was put here by God, possibly to test their faith. Atheists tend to believe strongly in Darwinism (the findings of Charles Darwin), and feel that it’s undeniable evidence that life evolved on our planet from simple life forms to all of the species we have now. There are some theists who believe in evolution, and believe in both modern science and the existence of God.”

Catholics are not fundamentalists who subscribe to a literal biblical interpretation of everything in the Old Testament. Believers are free to believe or not to believe in evolution. However, most scientists and no Catholics believe in strict Darwinism as one of his tenets was the evolution of the human soul. Atheists reject the existence of the soul. Catholics admit that the body might develop from more elementary forms but that the soul is directly infused by almighty God.

The Protestant notion of faith over reason would make God and not the devil into a prankster with the fossil record. This is ridiculous. Given that we live in a rational world with objective truths, there can be no competition between the truths of science, philosophy, and religion. All truth is complementary. Catholicism, which is Christianity 101, sees order in creation and makes the deduction of intelligent design and a first cause.

The complexity of creation and even the prospect of evolution points to an intelligence behind it all. It is ludicrous to imagine that given enough time and the right chemical stew that one might find the current complexity and vast diversity in the animal kingdom that we know. Order does not emerge from chaos and random accidents. The analogy is given of the first man to land on Mars. If he finds a watch, he will not surmise that it developed on its own from the natural properties of the planet. He would conclude that someone designed and built it. While this is a mechanical and not a biological find, we must admit that the complex diversity and interaction of systems in a human being are of a far greater level. A man might make a watch but only God can make a man— meaning from scratch!

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Why Do You Think Your Religion is the Correct One?

Posted on May 9, 2024 by Father Joe

Krystal Smith poses this question at STAPLER CONFESSIONS and states: “Religious people tend to subscribe to just one religion and reject the others. Theists who are impartial to any specific religion might share the same sentiment as atheists in this regard. They might acknowledge the similarities between some world religions and suggest that which exact one a person follows isn’t as important as recognizing there is a God and praying. Atheists tend to believe that a person’s choice of religion is based solely on what culture they were born into, and is thus arbitrary.”

Atheists are right that most people tend to join the majority religion of the culture and family into which they are born. However, we are not creatures of fate and many either change their affiliation or lose faith entirely. Further, given the missionary mandate of Christianity, many are moved by the preaching of the Church and the grace of God to become Christian or Catholic.

Catholicism views itself as the Church directly instituted by Christ and as the true religion. There is a historical bond between Judaism (the first People of God) and the consummation of the covenant by Christ for the Catholic Christian community, the new People of God, or the Church. Judaism and Islam are both natural religions with a belief in one God. Christianity is a supernatural faith given the belief in the mystery of the Trinity: three divine Persons in one divine Nature.

Just as scientific theories vary, so does religion. But the truth is still what it is. The many religions of the world are an expression of how we were made for God and search out ultimate meaning. Many are regarded by Christianity as wrong or incomplete. We reject the negation of Buddhism and the polytheism of Hinduism. While certain Protestant affiliations emphasize a personal or individualized faith; Catholicism also insists upon the corporate faith. The Church is not merely for fellowship but is the essential sacrament of salvation. Christ is the Mediator and is the one and only Savior. There is also no salvation outside the Catholic Church. It is for this reason that we intercede in prayer for those believers outside her fold.

We would claim that Catholicism best answers the longings of the human heart and the need for meaning and answers about suffering, death and our place in creation. The problem of pain finds resolution in a profound solidarity with Christ where there is redemption. Sacrificial love becomes a hallmark of Christian self-donation and identity. We have not been orphaned by God. We have a purpose and no one need live and die in vain. The Christian faith offers the gift of HOPE and LIFE while atheism can only grant a temporary respite for some, despair for the many and ultimately oblivion for all.

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Have You Found Any Contradictions in Your Holy Text?

Posted on May 8, 2024 by Father Joe

Krystal Smith poses this question at STAPLER CONFESSIONS and states: “Religious people tend to acknowledge the differences between modern society and antiquity. Beyond this, there are certain passages or certain aspects of the Bible and other holy texts that cause scrutiny from atheists under the context that they contradict statements made in other passages. Some more reformed believers consider biblical texts as being open to interpretation and metaphorical. Atheists tend to reject holy texts, citing any apparent contradictions they can find and pointing out what they consider to be flaws in the text.”

The Bible offers salvation truth, but it also reflects various situations and the development of a people over a period of 2,700 to 3,400 years. While certain truths about God and commandments are immutable, others develop or change due to the maturation of Israel and the intervention of Christ. Our Lord would rescind the Mosaic writ of divorce and the early Church would place faith in Christ over the saving works of the law. All foods are made clean, and baptism replaces circumcision as the rite of initiation. The prohibition against graven images, which was never absolute, is totally abrogated by the new economy of the incarnation. The keeping of the sabbath day would transition to the Lord’s Day due to the resurrection.

The Bible is not a science book, and its history is not like the news with video clips. All is viewed through the prism of the Semitic people and the cultures through which they lived. However, it should be mentioned that even atheists have their books and despite competing string theories and constantly corrected conjectures about evolutionary development, they can be every bit as dogmatic as theists. The Bible is many books and includes all sorts of literature: history, myths, speeches, hymns, legal codes, poetry, etc. Each must be understood as the genre it is.

Note that Genesis itself has differing depictions of the chronology to creation in the first two chapters. The Hebrews saw no problem with this, and neither should we. Different threads of tradition focus on varying elements. We see this as well in the four Gospels of the New Testament. Each proclaims the same Good News of Jesus from the perspective of a different angle or tradition.

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Do You Think Believing in an Afterlife Affects the Way You Behave in This Life?

Posted on May 7, 2024 by Father Joe

Krystal Smith poses this question at STAPLER CONFESSIONS and states: “Atheists might point out the idea that some believers could allow the concept of an afterlife, heaven and hell, or reincarnation to weigh the significance of the events in their worldly life. The presumption that death isn’t the end could have an influence of people’s behavior and day to day decision making.”

This is a no brainer. If religion with threats of eternal perdition cannot restrain some from evil acts, why should we expect atheism to do any better? Atheists have neither perfect contrition (sorrow for having offended God whom we are to love) or the imperfect (fear of the fires of hell and the loss of heaven). Where is the incentive to be good when we can only expect to be forgotten and the looming prospect of becoming worm food?

The Christian perspective is more complex than simple reward and punishment. The posture of the creature to the Creator is one of obedience and adoration. We have been promised a share in Christ’s life and the reward of happiness in the presence of God forever. However, we do not deserve salvation and could not merit it on our own. Humanity fell from grace and God made a promise to redeem us— but this is entirely on the level of gift, not entitlement (no matter how good we might be). Even if God should have decided to leave us estranged from him; we would still be obliged to worship and obey him. We thank God for what he gives us, but we praise or give him glory for who he is. This is the high ground of Christian discipleship. It is true that the resurrection is the hook of Christianity, and the prospect of heavenly reward or hellish punishment is real— but we are to love God because he is God. The gifts he gives us are wonderful but there is no bargaining with God. Our love must be freely returned to God. The love of a saint is not for sale and cannot be bought. If God can love us then we must freely love God in return, even if our lot is suffering, sickness and death. Many fail to understand this. Note that some equate prayer entirely with petition— they want this, that, and the other thing. The highest prayer of praise or adoration is very different— I love you; you know I love you; I will always love you. We sing glory to God, not to pamper a deity but to pour out hearts to a God for whom we were made.

Having said all this, some will only be good because there is reward or punishment. This appreciation is at the basis of most legal systems. Do something wrong and you will face fines or imprisonment. There is something of it in the classroom as well. Get an “A” and you pass and have promotion. Get an “F” and you fail and get sent back. But truthfully, the Christian perspective looks at all of us as failures. We receive merit or know victory in the salutary work of Christ and his Cross. Jesus pays the price for us. Of course, it is a gift that must be received. Disposition is everything.

The atheist must live with his failure. No matter what his earthly achievements, the end of one is the same for all. No matter whether one is rich or poor, powerful or weak, good or evil, healthy or sick— it all comes to the same thing— absolutely nothing. We along with all our works will be reduced to dust. We might find some short satisfaction in the present, but loss, pain and death will quickly follow. You cannot win. We all live in vain. Indeed, all the works of humanity will one day be destroyed and like the various species before us, we will know extinction. This view portrays humanity as a cosmic accident. There is no deeper meaning or purpose and definitely no hope.

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The Buck Stops with the Pope!

Posted on April 17, 2024 by Father Joe

While there has long been an invisible schism in the Church caused by the many loud liberal or progressive voices in the years since Vatican II, today matters have intensified with resistance from a growing arrogant traditionalism. Critics observe that the catalyst for the reaction on the right has been a papacy that represses the historical Latin Mass, sometimes pampers the Church’s enemies, glosses over what seem to be serious errors, and opts for diplomatic ambiguity when there is a pressing need for clarity and truth from the teaching office. Admittedly, the pastoral accommodation that belongs to the pastors on the ground cannot be appropriated by the highest shepherds or by the one who sits in the chair of Peter without doing insufferable harm to the transmission and interpretation of the deposit of faith.

Like the proverbial snowball rolling down a hill, many religious pundits who have made accurate assessments about what falls short of complete fidelity are now lashing out against anything and everything that comes down from Rome or the bishops in union with him. They make themselves into mini popes who presume to tell the Holy Father what he is doing and saying wrong. They are hesitant to admit agreeing with the pope when he says or does anything wholly Catholic.

The First Vatican Council of 1870 expounded upon its definition of papal infallibility:

“Both clergy and faithful, of whatever rite and dignity, both singly and collectively, are bound to submit to this power by the duty of hierarchical subordination and true obedience, and this not only in matters concerning faith and morals, but also in those which regard the discipline and government of the Church.”

If schism is a failure to submit to the Holy See or to be in full communion with the Church he leads, then we are indeed entering such dark days. However, the current situation is so chaotic that many pay lip service even as they dissent in practice. The mockery in social media, inclusive of those who flaunt their orthodoxy, is a clear denial of the Pope’s command authority. The left’s liturgical abuse and the right’s impugning of the Novus Ordo signifies both a refusal to embrace the Church’s current understanding of herself and her divine worship. Left unsaid is when the line might be crossed into excommunication.

When teaching upon faith and morals for the whole Church and doing so from the chair and in union with the world’s bishops, St. Peter and his successors are guaranteed the grace of infallibility from the Holy Spirit. Of course, they can interpret and explain but cannot invent anything entirely new or contrary to revealed truths. Popes are not always accurate in private opinions and the fact that they go to confession is proof that they are not impeccable. Just as St. Paul corrected and changed the mind of St. Peter at the council of Jerusalem, they can be admonished, particularly by other apostles or bishops. But ultimately, much like the cat dropped from a height, the papacy lands on its feet. Those who would deliberately trip a pope up and then expose and laugh at his tumble, are not faithful sons of the Church. Instead of a true dialogue and shared creativity leading to a satisfactory consensus regarding matters like liturgy and morality; there is instead, a combative “us and them” attitude that is tearing the Church apart. Traditionalists fight for anachronisms and progressives enshrine the trite and untried.

Those who propose a rigid interpretation of “No Salvation Outside the Church” would often cite the 1302 papal bull of Boniface VIII: “. . . we declare, we proclaim, we define that it is absolutely necessary for salvation that every human creature be subject to the Roman Pontiff.” Catholicism takes seriously its divine institution by Christ and how its foundation is inseparable from the Petrine office:

“And so I say to you, you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church, and the gates of the netherworld shall not prevail against it. I will give you the keys to the kingdom of heaven. Whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven; and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven” (Matthew 16:18-19).

We pray that we will have saintly popes, but the charism is given to the good and the bad alike, not for their own sake but for the overriding good of the Church. Historically they rule as absolute monarchs and for all practical purposes the popes constitute the Roman rite, with an emphasis upon living men over the dead. The latter point is essential to the so-called liturgical wars.

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Don’t Mess with the REAL Jesus!

Posted on April 10, 2024 by Father Joe

Several years ago, there was a fad where people placed the logo WWJD on clothes, wristbands, and what-have-you. The letters signified the question, “What Would Jesus Do?” It was a cool idea but there was one significant problem— many fashioned a parody of Jesus and did not know him in truth. The Jesus they created was “nice” and pandered to the humanism of our times. He failed to make judgments and subscribed to popular misconceptions. The judge of all was reduced to a rubber-stamp weighed against those hard right-wing “conservative” Christians who dared to claim that God rewards obedience and punishes sin. The clichéd slogan was not alone. Another would-be sacramental for a false Christ was the plastic Jesus that adorned many car dashboards. Often, they could be found alongside a rosary hanging from the mirror, employed not as a tool for prayer but as a superstitious talisman against accident and other irate drivers.

The Jesus of the world is weak, fallible, and cowardly. The Jesus of the Bible and the Church is almighty, courageous and the truth, itself. Yes, he makes himself weak on the Cross; but he proves himself strong by overcoming the grave and the false conviction of evil men.

The argument about the strength and weakness of Christ resonates with the historical tension between his humanity and divinity. He proves himself as strong in repelling the three-fold temptation of Satan in the desert. He struggles with the human condition in the garden before his betrayal.

Then Jesus came with them to a place called Gethsemane, and he said to his disciples, “Sit here while I go over there and pray.” He took along Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, and began to feel sorrow and distress. Then he said to them, “My soul is sorrowful even to death. Remain here and keep watch with me.” He advanced a little and fell prostrate in prayer, saying, “My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from me; yet, not as I will, but as you will.” When he returned to his disciples he found them asleep. He said to Peter, “So you could not keep watch with me for one hour? Watch and pray that you may not undergo the test. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.” Withdrawing a second time, he prayed again, “My Father, if it is not possible that this cup pass without my drinking it, your will be done!” (Matthew 26:36-42)

The prayer of Jesus was not one of despair but rather demonstrates the truth about the human condition and our Lord’s firm resolve to carry out the Father’s will. Only a sadist would desire the agony of the passion and death that Jesus would experience. Our Lord is a divine person but there is no abnormality in his humanity. The “angst” he feels is normal. Indeed, it is felt by all the great heroes. Jesus does not run away from what is coming. He faces it. Indeed, it is allowed to happen. When captured, Jesus pleads only for the release of his friends. Jesus gives all who would follow him the right to pray to be delivered from temptation and from the evil one. But his actions also reveal a deep humility in accepting the Father’s will, even when there is a part of us that wishes it could be otherwise. When Jesus tells us to take up our crosses and to follow him, he fully appreciates how difficult this might be. It is this Jesus we must know to respond as we should to our calling.

I suspect that his words in the garden reverberate with those on the Cross when he pleads that his Father might forgive us. Did he see in his mind’s eye all who would follow him as martyrs on the road to Calvary and desire in his heart of hearts that he might preserve his children from such a test and pain? Certainly, he prayed that they might have strength to endure the trial. Did he also suffer the many who would find it all too much and would turn away and abandon him? This may be the crucible where the Divine Mercy is most engaged in the lot of sinners. Ultimately, the heavenly Father does not directly desire that his Son should suffer and die; however, he does expect that his Son would be faithful to the mission given him. God is demanding but he is not a monster. It is a fact in this world that the price to save a people is the cost of a life. The value of sacrificial love makes all other loves pale by comparison.

Our Lord’s prayer is heard but he himself knew what the answer must be. There can be no tension or conflict in the trinitarian godhead. Jesus expresses in time the human turmoil that afflicts us when facing betrayal, suffering, and death. One might argue that this is his offertory to the Father before the sacrifice of the Cross.

Given the gravity of Christ’s redemptive work, we must never dismiss his role as the one mediator and savior. There is no other way to the Father except through him. It is in understanding Jesus that we come to appreciate the truth about the Gospel.

What is the Gospel NOT? It is not about a carefree toleration. It is not about being nice to each other. It is not about a libertine freedom. It is not about keeping peace at all costs. It is not about staying quiet to avoid conflict. It is not about focusing on oneself as number one. It is neither about pursuing pleasure nor avoiding pain or vice versa. It is not a political agenda or a philosophy of life. Our understanding of Christian discipleship is caught up with our appreciation of saving faith, not as a simple profession of words, but as a lifetime response to the person of Christ that is realized with love and obedience. While there is an unconditional element to divine love, it is a love that makes serious demands. There is a cost to responding to the Christ. There is no Christianity without the Cross. Obedience does not mean be true to yourself or do what you want— this is a lie that the evil one sows that we might harvest weeds against the wheat of Christ. The commandments maintain their binding force and we are obliged to offer assent, in both words and actions. We must be transformed to the likeness of Christ. The Lord must be alive and active in us. At the heart of the Christian mission is a profound humility— “Thy will be done!”

What is the goal of this saving faith in Christ? Is it a better and more utopian world? No. Is it a comfortable life where God makes all his children happy and prosperous? No. The faith is directed to the forgiveness of sins and the salvation of souls. If you end up going to hell, then your life is a failure, and you live in vain. Yes, hell is real, and Jesus is the judge of all. Some will know the reward of heavenly bliss and union with God. Others will know fire and eternal alienation from God. Ours is not the God that says everything is okay. Our Lord makes demands and disobedience will elicit the direst consequences.

The Jesus that many imagine is not the Jesus of the Bible or that of the Church. Jesus is critical with his words and actions. Look at how he addresses the Jewish leadership:

“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites!” (Matthew 23:13,15,23,25,27,29).

“Woe to you, blind guides!” (Matthew 23:16,24).

“Blind fools!” (Matthew 23:17).

“Blind Pharisee!” (Matthew 23:26).

“You are like whitewashed tombs, which appear beautiful on the outside, but inside are full of dead men’s bones and every kind of filth” (Matthew 23:27).

“You serpents, you brood of vipers, how can you flee from the judgment of Gehenna?” (Matthew 23:33).

Jesus is neither polite nor civil when it comes to the money changers in the temple:

Jesus entered the temple area and drove out all those engaged in selling and buying there. He overturned the tables of the money changers and the seats of those who were selling doves. And he said to them, “It is written: ‘My house shall be a house of prayer,’ but you are making it a den of thieves.” (Matthew 21:12-13)

We are told in John 2:15 that Jesus chased them out with a whip of cords. Any child that ever had the belt taken to him for being bad could well appreciate this scene. Jesus is not always kind or nice or gentle. He can be abrasive and filled with righteous indignation. Disobedience cries out for punishment.

Our Lord is harsh but just in his judgments. The woman at the well cannot hide her background from Jesus and the many men with whom she has been intimate. He even casts off Satan in reference to Peter who becomes a stumbling block regarding the prophecy of the passion. While many placate the whims of our society today, Jesus did not hesitate to condemn his own times as a “faithless and perverse generation” (Matthew 17;17).

We must never forget that Jesus is both the Divine Mercy and the Divine Justice. He says:

“Everyone who acknowledges me before others I will acknowledge before my heavenly Father. But whoever denies me before others, I will deny before my heavenly Father. Do not think that I have come to bring peace upon the earth. I have come to bring not peace but the sword.” (Matthew 10:32-34)

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Jesus Descends to the Dead

Posted on April 9, 2024 by Father Joe

Jesus is risen. We read in 1 Corinthians 15:3-8:

“For I handed on to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the scriptures; that he was buried; that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the scriptures; that he appeared to Cephas, then to the Twelve. After that, he appeared to more than five hundred brothers at once, most of whom are still living, though some have fallen asleep. After that he appeared to James, then to all the apostles. Last of all, as to one born abnormally, he appeared to me.”

If we are to be fishers of men, the apostle Paul images the resurrection as the hook of Christianity. He asserts:

“But if Christ is preached as raised from the dead, how can some among you say there is no resurrection of the dead? If there is no resurrection of the dead, then neither has Christ been raised. And if Christ has not been raised, then empty too is our preaching; empty, too, your faith” (1 Corinthians 15:12-14).

What happens with the death of Christ on the Cross? Death is defined as the separation of the body and the soul. In the case of Jesus, his body and soul were still united to him as a divine Person. The creed stipulates that he descended into hell, or unto the quick, or to the dead. I recall an Eastern icon with devils reaching for the feet of Adam and Eve as Christ raises them up by their hair. However, despite the symbolism, this is not the hell of the damned. Our Lord descends to the Limbo of the Fathers to take claim of the righteous dead who from the beginning of the world were awaiting the opening of heaven’s gates. Jesus is literally the bridge or the way to the Father. The prophets, patriarchs, and other faithful waited in a passing abode for the dead. Also included among their number would have been godly gentiles. The Good News is preached by Jesus to those who preserved the promise and came before his redemptive work. We are reminded of Jesus’ words when he told his critics:

“And concerning the resurrection of the dead, have you not read what was said to you by God, ‘I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob’? He is not the God of the dead but of the living” (Matthew 22:31-32).

We do not cease to be at death. The dead are alive. The Limbo of the Dead ceases to exist with the translation of its inhabitants to heaven. Between now and the end of the world there exists a transitory place of purification called purgatory. At the judgment that will also pass away. The two realities that will remain are heaven for the angels and saints and hell for the devils and damned. (Some argue for a Limbo of the Innocents, but many reckon it as only a Scholastic theory devised to keep unbaptized infants out of hell. The speculation is that they might be naturally happy but ignorant of God. Many of us hope that they will be granted so much more. We were made for God.) The chief apostle acknowledges Jesus’ proclamation to the dead. “In it he also went to preach to the spirits in prison” (1 Peter 3:19). Of course, Jesus did not stay dead. Those in the prison of Limbo find release and are given a share in Christ’s life. As a sign of this reality, we read in Matthew 27:52-53:

“. . . tombs were opened, and the bodies of many saints who had fallen asleep were raised. And coming forth from their tombs after his resurrection, they entered the holy city and appeared to many.”

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