Catholic Replies

• 3 years ago

Editor’s Note: We are starting a new series on Apologetics that is based on the book Catholicism & Reason. Please feel free to use the series for high schoolers or adults. We will continue to welcome your questions for the column as well. You can send them either to the postal mailing address or to the email address below, and we will interrupt this series to answer them.

Special Course On Catholicism And Reason (Chapters 1 and 2)

Many people today describe themselves as spiritual rather than religious. What this means is that they are not bound by any religious beliefs or principles, but make up their own spiritual and moral values as they go along. They say that there is no such thing as absolute truth, and that everyone can decide on their own what is true. This becomes a big problem if you try to convince them that God exists, that Jesus is God, that there are only two sexes, male and female, or that certain actions, such as abortion or adultery, are always and everywhere wrong. They will respond by saying, “Well, that’s your truth.”

In 2005, Pope Benedict XVI called this false thinking “a dictatorship of relativism” that does not recognize anything as true except one’s own personal beliefs. But for thousands of years there are things that many people have believed to be true. For example, many people have believed in three great realities — God, Jesus Christ, and the Catholic Church, all of which they believe to be reliable sources of truth. The relationship that we have with these realities is called religion, which summarizes the truths and obligations that we have based on our dependence on God, Jesus, and the Church.

In seeking the truth, we first have to determine whether there is a God. Atheists are people who don’t believe that God exists, but millions of people have used their power of reasoning to conclude that there is a Supreme Being whom we call God. Here are three ways of showing that there is a God. First is the argument from history. It is a fact that at all times and in all places, people have believed in the existence of God. From ancient civilizations in Egypt, through the Greek and Roman Empires, and down to the present day, people have believed in some Being who is superior to them, whether they call him Baal, or Zeus, or Jupiter, or Allah, or God.

In other words, a belief that has existed among all races and nations from the beginning of time cannot be disregarded. We must admit that God exists.

Second is the argument from causality. It is a fact that everything must be caused by something or someone else. It is scientifically impossible for something to come from nothing.

The bacon and eggs you had for breakfast didn’t just appear magically on your plate; they came from pigs and chickens, and someone put them on your table. You yourself didn’t appear out of nowhere, but were caused by your parents, who were caused by their parents. You can trace the line as far back as you want, but there must have been one cause that caused everything else to come into existence, one cause that was not caused by anyone else. That Uncaused Cause we call God.

Third is the argument from intelligent design. Take a look at a computer or a smart phone. Did those devices come into being by chance? Did someone throw a bunch of components into the air and they came together into a computer or smart phone? Of course not. These devices were designed by intelligent persons. Look then at the universe with its marvelous order and design, so orderly that astronauts can plan space expeditions down to the smallest detail. Could they do that if the universe was just a haphazard collection of planets? Of course not. As one astronaut said, “The more one learns about scientific endeavors, the more one is convinced of the wonders of God’s creation.” So if you believe it took an intelligent person to design a computer, you must believe that it took an Intelligent Person to design the universe.

That Intelligent Designer We Call God

What about evolution, the theory that animals and humans came from primitive organisms and developed by a random series of circumstances and natural selection? There are huge holes in this theory and, even if hard evidence were ever discovered to prove it, it would not contradict the existence of a God who planned everything this way and started everything in motion. The ultimate answer will involve no conflict between science and religion, since God is the Author of both.

List Of Answers

ATHEISTS

AUTHOR

BENEDICT

CAUSALITY

CREATION

DESIGNER

GOD

HISTORY

JESUS

REASON

RELIGION

SPIRITUAL

TRUTH

UNCAUSED

Quiz:

1. Many people today call themselves _, not religious.
   
   2.They don’t believe in the existence of absolute ________________.
2. Pope _________________ called this thinking a “dictatorship of relativism.”
   
   4.Three great realities are ______, ____________, and the
   
   Catholic Church.
   
   5.Our relationship with these realities is called ____________________.
   
   ______________________ are persons who don’t think that God exists.
3. You can use your power of _____________ to show that there is a God.
   
   7.The argument from ______________ says that people in all times and places have believed in the existence of a Being superior to them, whom we call God.
   
   8.The argument from __________________ says that everyone and everything must be caused by someone or something else.
   
   9.We believe that God is the _ Cause of everything else.
4. Since it takes an intelligent person to design a smart phone, the universe could only have been planned by an Intelligent __________________.
5. One astronaut said that “the more one learns about scientific endeavors, the more one is convinced of the wonders of God’s __________________.”
6. There is no conflict between science and religion since God is the ____ of both.