Archdiocese of Denver - Faith Challenges & Tricky Questions

I recently was watching the History Channel and learned that there are stories from the ancient world that are just like the stories of Christ. There is even a Roman story of a god being born in a manger to a virgin. Doesn't that show that Christian stories didn't really happen but are just "recycled" myths?

There are many stories from the ancient world that mirror Christianity. There are multiple myths of gods and goddesses dying and rising just like Jesus did.
To me, that only affirms my faith in Christ.

Countless love stories have been written- all following similar themes and storylines. Do we say then that each is just a cheap copy of another? Or that they disprove love stories that claim to be non-fiction? No!
The fact that thousands have been written only makes each story more legitimate, more believable, more relevant. It's proof that love stories represent universal longings and beauty in the human heart. And because of that, they are stories that we should expect to see repeated again and again in real life.

The story of the Birth of God - and of His dying and rising - is the ultimate love story and the ultimate adventure. Almost all stories from Spiderman to Egyptian myths resonate with this "story" in some way: The hero sacrifices himself for his beloved only to have his sacrifice turn into the ultimate victory and everyone lives happily ever after!

I believe that we were made for the love of God. We were made to be part of this divine "saga". If that is the case - of course we'd have people dreaming of such a fantastic event and making up stories about it before it happened, and stories mirroring it after it happened.

Jesus is THE Answer!

Evolution…Darwin…Dinos…Any of this true? How can I prove without using the bible that Evolution isn't true?

Evolution does not necessarily conflict with the bible. Genesis is historically true BUT it isn't a work of "scientific history". It is a "narrative history" - written poetically, in a certain order, and only bringing out certain details to show us the meaning, rather than just the chronology of what happened when God made the universe. (Even the use of the word "day" in Genesis could refer to an "era" rather than a 24-hour day…a more poetic use of language - but no less true…)

If I were to describe to you how I met my wife, I wouldn't go into a "scientific history". I wouldn't get into details like exact time of day, air temperature at the time, and the biological causes for the dryness in my mouth and butterflies in my stomach when I saw her. That wouldn't tell you the story of our relationship as much as sharing details with poetic beauty, and narrating the key points of our meeting in an order that conveys a point.

We believe, as Genesis teaches us that God created all things, that the human race has two first parents (two first people given souls in the image and likeness of God), that we were made in the image of God for a relationship with him, and that creation exists at the service of the human race. Genesis doesn't get into endless biological details. God left the message of how he did that in creation itself for us to marvel over and try to figure out through science over thousands of years. Genesis cuts to the heart of the meaning of life (which, thankfully, God didn't want to let us wait until the end of time to figure out by ourselves!).

While evolution may or may not be the way that God brought about the world as we know it - what both the bible and logic teach us is that "Darwinism" cannot be true. Darwinism is the belief that evolution can happen without a God. That is like saying that Webster's dictionary could come from a print shop explosion. Your eye is more complex than Webster's dictionary. No "big bang" could ever just "happen to" produce your eye. Not even over millions of years. Not by accident. My faith in an intelligent creator isn't the least bit threatened by the theory of evolution. Personally, I think it would take even more genius to make just the right "bang" to end up producing all of this than it would to constantly intervene in nature and create one new species after another.

Can I go into a tangent here? OK - I'm gone:
Note that I called evolution a "theory" not a "fact". I tend to believe that God used evolution to make the world as we know it, but I have to remember that it's no more than a theory (not yet proven) and its one that a lot of smart people question.

There are many things in nature that evolution alone can't explain. Why? Because they are irreducible complex. Take away one aspect of it and it won't be anything. So why would it have evolved to its current state through natural selection alone?

Also, many paleontologists (no - not just religious ones!) are questioning Darwin's theories now. Darwin said that the fossil records would prove him right or wrong. He said that if he were right countless links between species would be found. The fossil record is not showing that at all.
An example of what it does show: One species appears with a large brow.   Tons of them are found. They suddenly disappear and another species shows up with no huge brow. Fossils are showing us sudden appearances and disappearances of species, not slow evolution.

Sadly - schools don't hold up evolution as theory but as proven fact which is never to be questioned (even though Darwin himself didn't even think it was proven). We don't hold this theory up to the same scientific standards as others. Why? "Godophobia" in our schools...plain and simple! "If we question evolution...then there just may be no other option than (cringe)...a CREATOR!" (Though in reality, like I said, evolution doesn't disprove God either.)

To sum it all up - Catholics may believe that God created things in an "evolutionary" fashion. We may also hold that God just plopped everything down in seven literal days. Neither view necessarily contradicts the bible or reason. Catholics (and any logical person) cannot believe in Darwinism, which holds that it all happened by chance and without an intelligent Creator of creation.

Jesus is THE Answer!

Chris Stefanick

All that religious leaders and bureaucrats care about is gaining leverage over people, getting priority seating in expensive restaurants, and lining their pockets with cash!

Hmmm. That sounds more like a statement than a question - But I'll answer it like a question anyway.

You obviously haven't gotten to know many people in leadership in the Church.
As a full-time lay minister in the Church - I've heard this type of anti-Catholic rhetoric a thousand times.

The strange thing is I have yet to meet a single priest who is in this "business" to - in your words:
- "gain leverage"
- "have power over people"
- "get priority seating in expensive restaurants"
- "line their pockets with cash"

Actually - if your email weren't so full of hate I'd probably think it was a joke! If a priest, or I (as one of the members of the great "bureaucracy" as a full-time youth minister) were in it for those things - DANG! - we'd be the biggest idiots on the face of the earth! : )
Re. $$$ - Most priests get paid about $10,000/per year.
Re. "prestige" - priests are frequently mocked and looked down on more than most members of our society today.

Sure - there are dysfunctional people everywhere, and some even make their home in the Church. Some are even priests and church workers. I've met some of them myself. I've also met a dysfunctional Irishman person or two. I wouldn't judge all people of Irish decent because of them. Nor would I judge all priests because of the dysfunctional few. Most priests have given up everything for a life of selfless service. They have sacrificed income, family, children, marriage, etc. - because they felt that God was calling them and that life was worth giving.

I've found in my years of ministry that many "anti-establishment" people are coming from a place of hurt, not a place of true intellectual dissent.
If a Church "bureaucrat" has hurt you, and you are judging us all as a result - then please accept the apology of one on behalf of all...I'm sorry. Truly.

If someone else in your life has hurt you who you were supposed to be able to rely on (a dad, etc.) - I'd recommend getting counseling and moving on rather than taking it out on every symbol of authority you encounter. I hate to be so straight with you, but for your own sake, I really don't know how else to say it - and life is just too short for you to stay that angry…

Yours in Christ,

Christopher Stefanick

(Originally posted on the Diocese of La Crosse youth ministry page.)

What are ghosts seen as in the Church?

If someone encounters an actual "personal" being - that being is either from heaven, hell, or purgatory.

There are countless stories of Catholic Saints having supernatural encounters with people from purgatory, Saints from heaven, and demons from hell.

Could the apparition of a person from long past be anything else? I've heard some say that ghosts could be a paranormal ("natural" but not explainable by science), rather than a supernatural (not of this world) occurrence - something like an "echo" from a life once lived…who knows…though I kind of doubt it.

While this is a neat question, I'd strongly encourage you not to spend too much time thinking about this. Why? Because we can't see what's essentially beyond us and what hasn't been revealed to us by God. People tend to get obsessed and wind up seeking encounters with people from the past who actually wind up being demons "dressed up" like people from the past. It can be an open door to the occult if you don't guard your curiosity.

"Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light."
~ 2 Corinthians 11:14 ~

…So keep your eyes fixed on God.

Jesus is THE Answer!

Chris Stefanick

(Originally posted on the Diocese of La Crosse youth ministry page.)

If God is all powerful can he create a square circle, or a rock so heavy He can't lift it?

"All powerful" means the ability to do anything possible. God can do anything possible, even if it requires suspending the laws of the nature he created to do it (such as we see Him do in miracles).

"All powerful" doesn't mean the ability to do what is nonsensical and ridiculous - such as creating a squarecle. ; )

Jesus is THE Answer!

Chris Stefanick

Will God forgive the Devil if he is really sorry?

Tangent: Why do feminists fight for "inclusive language" with God and not the Devil? ; )

Unfortunately that won't happen.

Why can't it happen? I'll give you two theoretical answers:
1. According to St. Thomas Aquinas (the "Angelic Doctor" of the Church) - Angels are pure spirit, pure intellect and will, and an angel's will, unlike a human's more fickle will, is unchanging. The Devil is a fallen angel. He has chosen to reject God and won't change his mind.
2. The devil rejected God fully. Like the souls of humans in hell God has given the devil what he wanted - to be away from God. He has closed himself completely to the grace of God which is necessary for repentance. God has respected his free will.

Jesus is THE Answer!

Chris Stefanick