Convert Me

[PJM]

Originally Posted by Realist
Perhaps, as has been suggested, my sensibilities might change if I became a convert, and that’s a legitimate concern for non-convert me. I don’t agree with censorship and I believe that by suppressing ideas and experiences we miss important opportunities for growth and understanding. I know many of you are telling me that Catholicism isn’t in the business of censorship, but this comes with the asterisk that art can’t be pornographic (which I assume to mean anything involving nudity or overt displays of sexuality) and it can’t be produced in such a way that it could be construed as sacrilegious or as promoting behavior that runs counter to Catholic morality.

Obviously not all art needs these elements that Catholics might consider unsavory, but great artists do explore these elements as themes or employ them as integral pieces of their work. Great art has always been in the habit of doing this.

Friend,

Ask yourself honestly and candidly, are your selling “art” or are you selling “sex”? Certainly selling sex is easier than selling ones art. If you’re selling sex, it’s not art! If your not truthful with even yourself, I might question if you are truly an artist?

To believe in art is not the same as believing one is entitles to sell sex and call it art!

I graduated from the NY Institute of Photography in 1968, and practiced my craft for a few years, but got out of it when “my art” and what others saw as art, seldom seemed to match up.

If goes back to the Masters, there was a great respect for the body and nudes were often painted and depicted. But this friend, was art, not pornography.

There is no legitimate need today to depict copulating couples, and most certainly same sex union! Today’s TV and Movies have educated even the youngest kids, so there is no needed instruction, and way too much sex and emphasis on sex!

Ask yourself friend if you’re “in the art” primarily because you like what you’re doing and you find it personally stimulating. (I’m trying to be sensitive here).

Luke 17:1 “And he said to his disciples, "Temptations to sin are sure to come; but woe to him by whom they come! 2 It would be better for him if a millstone were hung round his neck and he were cast into the sea, than that he should cause one of these little ones to sin. “

Friend, your talent is from God, and all-though different than what someone else has been loaned, what comes from God is to be used to build up His Church.

Your right friend, you have some very serious thinking and praying to do.

Love and prayers,

…

 

[Becks]

but I would like to extend the dialogue on art. Perhaps, as has been suggested, my sensibilities might change if I became a convert, and that’s a legitimate concern for non-convert me. I don’t agree with censorship and I believe that by suppressing ideas and experiences we miss important opportunities for growth and understanding. I know many of you are telling me that Catholicism isn’t in the business of censorship, but this comes with the asterisk that art can’t be pornographic (which I assume to mean anything involving nudity or overt displays of sexuality) and it can’t be produced in such a way that it could be construed as sacrilegious or as promoting behavior that runs counter to Catholic morality.

Obviously not all art needs these elements that Catholics might consider unsavory, but great artists do explore these elements as themes or employ them as integral pieces of their work. Great art has always been in the habit of doing this. We can even go back to Christian figures like the reverend Jonathan Swift to see evidence of this. Look at his poem “The Lady’s Dressing Room,” or his novel “Gulliver’s Travels” and you’ll see work many considered pornographic in it’s time (and many still do today), but you’d have to have flipped your brain off while reading these pieces to miss the value in them.

To everyone who has listed their favorite Catholic artists: I will never deny the fact that Catholics can’t create great works of art. Flannery O’Connor is my favorite Catholic author and is my second favorite short fiction author of all time. But she is unique. Her thematic interest was in exposing hypocrisy, something no one would want to censor (except perhaps hypocrites). Her writing would be a different story if she was interested in, say, sex.

G.K. Chesterton wrote in Heretics (either the intro or one of the first chapters) that you will never find a better portrayal of the devil in fiction than in Milton’s Paradise Lost. The point is that having a strong belief in God is actually necessary if you want to explore themes involving sin and evil. How can you know what is evil and how to write about it if you don’t know what is good?

 

[Joe_5859]

I applaud you for your honest seeking. Many of your questions remind me of the questions I had circulating through my brain during my late high school/early college years, so I thought I should reply.

1. Why is religion so regional? If I were Japanese and wanted to find a path back to my faith, would I be on a Catholic forum or would I be somewhere else? It seems that because I grew up where I did, Catholicism was it. But for people around the world, other religions fill this void, and they are just as adamant that their religion is the true religion.

The easy answer is that the Catholic Church is in every region. There are Catholic Churches in Japan. But, I recognize that probably doesn’t get to the heart of what you are asking. The reality is that, yes, some areas of the world have high percentages of Catholics and some do not.

I think the reason for this is more historical than anything else. Some areas simply haven’t been evangelized yet. And some places simply aren’t as open to the evangelization as others. The real question to be asking here is, what is true? The only honest reason to believe in anything is because it is true.

Most religions offer a worldview that attempts to make sense of the world and the reality of the human condition. But not all of these religions are created equal. Here is where a person needs to ask: What are the differences between the religions? Do these differences matter? And which one is true (because they can’t all be true in everything).

For these questions, I would greatly recommend Peter Kreeft’s Yes or No?: Straight Answers to Tough Questions about Christianity. Kreeft is a Catholic Philosophy Professor. This book came to me at a time when I had many of the same questions you do. I desperately wanted to believe, but I simply could not get past some mental roadblocks. This book helped me enormously. I also recommend Kreeft’s Fundamentals of the Faith or his Handbook of Christian Apologetics. Both these books take a good look at how Christianity compares to the other major world religions.

1. Why do you believe in the Catholic God? Was it because you grew up having that faith drilled into you? Did you come to it some other way? As an adult, perhaps? And why? I know people who claim to have seen miracles (i.e. the miracle of the sun). Why should these miracles be attributed to Catholicism rather than some other religion? Could this be a misinterpretation? And for those of you who believe you feel the presence of God when you pray or at church, is it possible that you’ve simply convinced yourself this is what you feel? I remember having such a feeling when I was younger, but later came to believe I was deluding myself. If I were to believe again, I fear I would always have that nagging sense that I’m once again deluding myself.

I think the real issue here is: Can we know anything (or, in particular, can we know God) with any degree of certainty?

Faith isn’t about feelings. Feelings can accompany it, but they won’t always be there. For me, it comes down to: Do I believe the world was created by a powerful Supreme Being? Yes. Do I believe He is capable of revealing Himself to us with certainty? Yes. Do I believe He wants to reveal Himself? Yes. Do I believe that this God would leave it up to chance or personal opinion as to whether or not we have correctly interpreted his Revelation? No. Does it seem more likely that God would want to establish an authority we could turn to in order to be certain we are correctly interpreting who He really is? Yes. The only religion that convincingly makes the claim to be just such an authority is the Catholic Church.

Of course, I don’t believe this train of thought is a surefire way to “convert” any and all people. But it makes sense to me.

1. I’m a writer. My art is extremely important to me, and I believe that art must be honest. It cannot be censored. Is there a way for me to continue writing about the real world after adopting Catholic principles? I find that much of the truly great art being produced today is shunned by Catholics because it offends their moral sensibilities.

First, I would point out that, what offends some Catholic sensibilities does not necessarily offend all Catholic sensibilities. Some Catholics think that art should never contain anything that hints of immorality, and if it does, we should boycott it. But not every Catholic feels this way. This is one area that is open to discussion (to some degree). I would encourage you to read John Paul II’s Letter to Artists. It gives a nice explanation of what it means to be a Catholic artist.

As a Catholic, you can certainly write a book or short story that includes “villains” or unsavory people. But, if you are serious about your faith, I don’t think you will want to write a book that openly promotes something at odds with Church teaching. There’s a difference between portraying immorality and promoting immorality.

I think some people believe that any portrayal is a promotion, but I disagree. Just think of a movie like “The Passion”. Obviously, the brutal crucifixion of an innocent man is morally reprehensible. But the point of the movie (and indeed, the point of the Gospel) is not to somehow promote beating and crucifying people. The point is to illustrate the central Mystery of the Christian faith: that Jesus Christ died to save us.

Of course, there are some things (like pornography) that are never okay because the line between portrayal and promotion is truly erased.

I don’t know if any of this is helpful. My best advice is to keep searching. You might try asking God to help answer these questions for you. It won’t happen overnight, but it will happen.

 

[quiet52]

Becoming Catholic involves a process of conversion. The process is more than acquiring knowledge of the faith and how we practice it. Being converted in Christ means that our identify is tied up in Him. Being Christian is who we are and we can’t separate what we do from our basic identity. When you allow yourself to be converted in Christ, when you open your heart, mind and will to Christ our Lord, you will find that your artistic talents will reflect that.

 

[rwoehmke]

1. Why is religion so regional?
2. Why do you believe in the Catholic God?
3. I find that much of the truly great art being produced today is shunned by Catholics because it offends their moral sensibilities.
   .

1.)being regional is very time conditioned. In pre-history, there were probably as many “religions” as there were tribal groups. Later in history certain new forms of religion arose, many died out as some, both older and newer spread and were adopted by wider regional groups, finally we arrive at a point in time where major very regional religions have intermingled and have spread throughout the world. Most will remain more
concentrated in specific parts of the globe.

1. There is no Catholic God, but those who believe in only one God, Christians, Muslims, and Jews all believe in the same God; the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Some groups called religions do not believe in any gods, some believe in a multiplicity of gods. These gods, however, are usually limited in some ways as opposed to the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob who is understood by His believers as having no limits and no evil characteristics.
2. All good art makes a valid statement about the human condition and the world in which we live. Nudity, sex, violence etc. can all be legitimately portrayed, but some art either makes invalid statements about the world and mankind or is a gross insult to almost any intelligent person. Some art like “the **** Christ” is either incomprehensible as to its meaning for most people or is a direct insult to values held by a larger block of good people. Not every artist is good enough pr proficient enough to convey his message to anyone except, perhaps, to himself.

 

[LongingForLight]

1. Why is religion so regional? If I were Japanese and wanted to find a path back to my faith, would I be on a Catholic forum or would I be somewhere else? It seems that because I grew up where I did, Catholicism was it. But for people around the world, other religions fill this void, and they are just as adamant that their religion is the true religion.

Catholicism is world-wide, in every country. I think it is more present in some places than in others (and once was not present in some places) because God wants us humans to participate in His works of salvation, and letting us spread the faith ourselves is one way He does that. As for why other religions exist, I think we all have a desire to seek God, even before we know Him. If we don’t know Him, we guess. These are my ideas, not the ideas of the Catholic church.

1. Why do you believe in the Catholic God? Was it because you grew up having that faith drilled into you? Did you come to it some other way? As an adult, perhaps? And why? I know people who claim to have seen miracles (i.e. the miracle of the sun). Why should these miracles be attributed to Catholicism rather than some other religion? Could this be a misinterpretation? And for those of you who believe you feel the presence of God when you pray or at church, is it possible that you’ve simply convinced yourself this is what you feel? I remember having such a feeling when I was younger, but later came to believe I was deluding myself. If I were to believe again, I fear I wwould always have that nagging sense that I’m once again deluding myself.

I was raised Catholic. I did not believe everything I was told however; for example, I was told that all non-Catholics go to Hell. That just didn’t sound right - my conscience rebelled that God would condemn those who, through no failure of their own, had not heard so much as the name of Christ.

So I started thinking, in my later teen years. And I realized that, if Catholicism was true and I had any faith at all, I wouldn’t be afraid to question. I would pray to God honestly and exposed my doubt, challenged Him to hold on to me (and meant it), and then sought the answers. I honestly expected to deconvert, but figured it was worth the risk.

To my surprise, the Catholic church nearly always agreed with my conscience, and added to my own arguments. For example, I learned that the Catholic Church actually believes (although not as a matter of dogma) that God probably has a means of salvation for those who are not baptised but would have been, if they had only known of baptism. And there is a concept of “invincible ignorance”, which is ignorance that seperates us from full communion with God’s church through no fault of our own. BTW, I strongly recommend that you check out the Catechism of the Catholic church. It is amazing. Read the section on conscience; part of what you are doing, while seeking, is forming your conscience.

In the cases where the church didn’t align with my conscience, I could see the church’s point of view. After making some mistakes by doing things “my way”, I decided to follow the church on those things, too. Just to see how that worked out for a bit. And to my surprise, I eventually was converted on those points, too. Eventually, I decided that the church seemed so right on morality and ethics that I found the more outrageous claims - like that Christ was God come down to earth to die for our sins - to be easy to have faith in, and I mean real faith, not just the nominal “Sure, I’ll go ahead and believe that” type of faith.

My faith is now stronger than that of the family who raised me. . . and they disapprove. Go figure!

As for miracles, we are generally not required to accept the ones after the writing of the Bible - those are private revelation, and we can be skeptical without being “bad Catholics”. I generally don’t think on any of those except those I have experienced personally, and even those are not key to my faith (the Catholic church does not encourage us to rest our faith on miracles, though we may believe in them and they give some guidance on which miracles seem to be truly from God).

As to how I know these miracles are from the Christian God - well, it seems most likely, as they were associated with a strong urge to pray to the Christian God - the “get down on your knees and ask Me for this” type of sensation that was followed by receiving that which I was called to pray for, or the sudden answer when I was deep in prayer, or the gradually growing certainty as I continued to pray if my path was what God Wills, or the flood of grace that erased doubt as I started down a path after a long period of discernment.

Of course, there is the possibility that something is masquerading as the Christian God. There was a point in my discernment where I was praying something like, “OK, here’s the deal: I only worship You if You are good - as I understand good, not some weird twisting that is really evil - and truly love me, and created the universe, and all that. Otherwise, this worship isn’t intended for you. Same thing goes for all my worship for the rest of my life.” I don’t remember exactly what I said, but I wanted to cover my bases

1. I’m a writer. My art is extremely important to me, and I believe that art must be honest. It cannot be censored. Is there a way for me to continue writing about the real world after adopting Catholic principles? I find that much of the truly great art being produced today is shunned by Catholics because it offends their moral sensibilities…

I’m not quite sure what you mean, but I’m guessing you mean violence or sexual content.

My guess is that as you form your conscience and grow in faith, you will come to understand reality differently, and it will become a moot point as you realize that you are called to depict an honest reality that also highlights Catholic principles. But it may take you a while to discern exactly how to do that. Maybe try praying before or after you write?

I apologize if it’s abrasive.

I am actually very surprised by how graciously you asked these questions. It takes a lot of courage to go into a group of people of strong faith and say, “Uh, I’m really questioning all of this.” But it’s a good step to take, IMO and IME.

I pray God leads you to a rich and confident faith! Oh - and this conversion process? It never ends. But it does change into less of a challenging or a questioning of God / faith / the church into something more like working with God and Christ. I was lucky and had a fairly direct route into a strong faith (although it took years . . . and I’m sure in another five years, I’ll look back and laugh that I called this faith strong!) - may you receive the same. Or better

 

[Nino]

well actually,its the humanistic academicians and political hacks who do not tell the truth in creative writing etc…in how many popular top ten novels is disease ever mentioned…or guilty conscience…or regret from a sinful act??? Infedelity and apostasy are glorified in this world…how many times do you see a good decent father or husband on teevee viz a sitcom? In ads we see fathers as morons who cant see or think straight at all so your question is not on target…its the secular world that blacklists and consors truth…not Catholic christianity! I 've had stories published and also delivered many over the airwaves…but in certain major media circles I am blacklisted…like the current buzz word ‘hate’ it seems more and more the meaning of that word has been changed to benefit only the counterculture not traditional western civilization re: living by the ten commandments etc. Peyton Place is ole hat…what is shocking now a days is to see an intelligent dad ,a teen who listens to his parents and has a sense of humor and a woman who will stand by her morals instead of doing what everyone else is doing…all the best.

 

[iceman]

Realist,

My story was similar a few years ago. I needed a blunt wake-up calI and a friend (true friend). God sent me both. When I find myself starting to backpeddle, I remind myself of:

(1) Numerous miracles and apparitions that have occured and are occuring still all around the world (be careful to discern the true from the false);
(2) the persistent and growing presence of noticeable evil - abortion; mass murders; state promotion of homosexuality and sexual promiscuity; attacks on the institutions of marriage and the family; attacks against the true faith; etc., - the increase of which everywhere in the world can only be understood in the context of a worldwide evil presence;
(3) the effectivenness of prayer especially the Rosary: when I began my return back to the Catholic Faith, I was confronted with physical manifestations of pure evil more than once, usually in the middle of the night. I can only say that you will recognize pure evil when confronted with it. I was delivered from these forces specifically by appealing for help to our Blessed Mother through the Rosary. Our Lady always came to my assistance and I highly recommend praying the Rosary as often as possible.

The change in the direction of my life initially occurred as I read some accounts of Catholic exorcisms and subsequently Catholic prophecy (some are available on the net). Again, I recommend proceeding very cautiously to discern the true accounts from the plethora of lies, hype and nonsense out there. To make a long story short, I quickly came to the realization of the truth about God by being shocked into the realization of the true existence of evil (Satan, demons, posession) manifested in the world, the many effects of which we see all around us.

The doubts will creep in as will the temptations to sin. You will fall along the way - I still do. The key is to persist in prayer, honest effort and rational thought (reasoning). I mention the latter as our faith is not a blind devotion, but something real and tangible, the evidence for which is all around us.

I highly recommend a book authored by Marino Restrepo called From Darkness Into The Light. The revelations made to him by Our Lord are staggering. Keep up your struggle. Remember in Whose Name we struggle.

 

[NHInsider]

Jonathan Swift is a funny one, he was a notably anti-Catholic protestant and wrote a terribly bigoted satire about killing Irish babies for food to solve the famine in Ireland (the worst part is he was Irish and jumped across to England to make such comments!)

You do know that A Modest Proposal was a satire written deliberately to force people to think about how badly the Irish were being treated, right?

Lastly, from the outside you won’t find a hook that will take you and pull you all the way in. Don’t look for a sign or for a proof, that’s the whole point of faith. Trust that if God is good then he will not cheat you. Oftentimes you need to crucify your logic and your intelligence and become like a child, as God did not reveal himself to great and scholarly men. We need to humble ourselves and embark on a journey that may seem foolish but yields great rewards. The cross made no sense to the philosophising Greeks, and likewise will not make any sense to anyone that tries to enter the faith through that door.

Ultimately only God gives the grace of faith, and many of us (cradle and convert) deal with intellectual questions and soul-searching doubts.

Faith is the substance of things hoped for and evidence of things not seen. Hebrews 11:1

So we cannot expect that all doubt will be removed during this life. But I think Realist has asked honest questions and I think that in itself is a sign of the working of the Spirit.

Realist, I was going to suggest Flannery O’Connor. I expect that there are others whose work you would appreciate who some of our brethren (Catholic and non-Catholic) would condemn, but the Church did not. Although I don’t like his fiction, I would point out that Andrew Greeley has not been silenced, (or even scolded, as far as I know) just as an example. I don’t think the Church is as censorious as you may think she is.

I for one have struggled and do struggle with those questions that essentially boil down to “how can we be so sure we’re right and everyone else is wrong?” particularly if the implication is that “everyone else” is condemned. And for me I tend to settle on resting in the assurance of God’s justice and mercy - I don’t understand how He can be both, but I believe that He is, and so I trust Him to act in ways that I cannot even imagine or comprehend. And to be grateful, so very grateful, that He drew me into His Church and that I was able to respond.

Keep searching, keep listening, keep that open mind and heart.

 

[PJM]

My dear friend in Christ,

We Catholics are not so much in the “conversion business” as we are in The Truth (only One Truth per specific issue) and information business.

One’s conversion is really between you and your God.

Where we can be of assistance is sharing why one may wish to Convert, and to answer, on Gods behalf, any questions and concerns you may have.

So friend, on that basis if I or we can be of assistance, please share how we might assist you (with God’s help) in understanding His Will for YOU in the present time.

Love and prayers, Pat

 

[Joe_5859]

My dear friend in Christ,

We Catholics are not so much in the “conversion business” as we are in The Truth (only One Truth per specific issue) and information business.

One’s conversion is really between you and your God.

Where we can be of assistance is sharing why one may wish to Convert, and to answer, on Gods behalf, any questions and concerns you may have.

So friend, on that basis if I or we can be of assistance, please share how we might assist you (with God’s help) in understanding His Will for YOU in the present time.

Love and prayers, Pat

I think the “conversion business” is our business. That’s why Jesus told us to go and make disciples of all nations.

I get what you’re saying, though. You mean that no one can force someone to convert. There is no magical formula we can follow. However evangelization is more than simply passing on information for people to either accept or reject. It includes that part, yes, but it is not only that.

 

[PJM]

I think the “conversion business” is our business. That’s why Jesus told us to go and make disciples of all nations.

I get what you’re saying, though. You mean that no one can force someone to convert. There is no magical formula we can follow. However evangelization is more than simply passing on information for people to either accept or reject. It includes that part, yes, but it is not only that.

Brother Joe,

Well done.

But let me ask you my friend. Would you agree with this statement?

We might be able to change a mind, but only God can change a heart?

Romans 9:14-18

Love and prayers Brother Joe,

 

[Joe_5859]

Brother Joe,

Well done.

But let me ask you my friend. Would you agree with this statement?

We might be able to change a mind, but only God can change a heart?

Romans 9:14-18

Love and prayers Brother Joe,

Absolutely. Only God can change hearts. I’m not sure if I can change anyone’s mind, either, though. I’ve been trying for years with my wife, to no avail.

 

[PJM]

=Joe 5859;5031313]Absolutely. Only God can change hearts. I’m not sure if I can change anyone’s mind, either, though. I’ve been trying for years with my wife, to no avail.

“no fair cheatin” Spouces don’t count in this war, unless it becomes a '"war for souls."

 

[survive]

1. Why is religion so regional? If I were Japanese and wanted to find a path back to my faith, would I be on a Catholic forum or would I be somewhere else? It seems that because I grew up where I did, Catholicism was it. But for people around the world, other religions fill this void, and they are just as adamant that their religion is the true religion.

There are Japanese Catholics at my parish. Religion is as regional as communication is limited – less so all the time. The limits on the spread of a religious claim to fact are the limits on any other kind of claim to fact. If someone living in a remote forest village in Panama (if there is still a forest there) believes that stomach illnesses are caused by jealousy and cured by the shaman’s going into a trance and naming the person who caused it, is it true? If such a person were frustrated by the endless attempts to cure a stomach ailment, and then met someone from another village who told her they are caused by eating undercooked meat, and she tried staying away from undercooked meat and it worked, the idea would spread.

1. Why do you believe in the Catholic God? Was it because you grew up having that faith drilled into you? Did you come to it some other way? As an adult, perhaps? And why? I know people who claim to have seen miracles (i.e. the miracle of the sun). Why should these miracles be attributed to Catholicism rather than some other religion? Could this be a misinterpretation? And for those of you who believe you feel the presence of God when you pray or at church, is it possible that you’ve simply convinced yourself this is what you feel? I remember having such a feeling when I was younger, but later came to believe I was deluding myself. If I were to believe again, I fear I wwould always have that nagging sense that I’m once again deluding myself.

I grew up having any kind of belief in God pounded out of me; I sought the truth of why I had so many uncanny experiences. My quest took place in secret mostly. I gradually tested my experiences to find out what religious practice brought positive, undeniable, healthy, virtue-promoting supernatural expereinces and “coincidences” the most, while examining the historic reasons to believe each body of prophecy or not to and testing everyone I met for the amount of real resilience, humility, decency and self-control their religions gave them. I also followed my intuition a lot. After checking out goddess spirituality, Zen Buddhism, NSA Buddhism, syncretic paganism (multiple pantheons and practices), a form of Santeria, LeVeyan satanism, Hare Krishna, westernized simplified Hinduism, channeling and other New Age practices, individual paganisms, neopaganism, mind-power, Wicca (eclectic, solitary), and I-don’t-know-what-else, I found that Christianity passed truth tests the rest all failed. Besides, the pages of my Bible, when I finally looked at them, glowed with clear golden light. This turned out to be true of other Bibles as well. When I turned to Christ in an act of will, I saw more clearly and thought more clearly, and suddenly found many tangled problems in my life solved easily. I valued myself more yet also perceived my faults more often, and felt more energy to solve them. Miracles abound in my life, and that’s why I’m alive. After searching for the correct “way to be a Christian”, I found that I needed three things: a church – but my first church, discovered after a two-year search, didn’t baptize people, and the second was baptism, so I got baptized somewhere else and moved on, and the third was the rest of the facts. Though I got pretty confused in a growth-heavy church, I lit on CA by accident on day, tried to get out and my cursor dragged oddly. I decided it was a sign, so, nervous, I read a few articles. A lot of my questions were answered. I brought more questions to the nearest, next available Catholic priest, who answered me brilliantly. I brought similar questions to my pastor, who chewed me out for bothering her with questions when I’d “been here long enough to know what was expected” – and it wasn’t asking questions about doctrine, apparently.

1. I’m a writer. My art is extremely important to me, and I believe that art must be honest. It cannot be censored. Is there a way for me to continue writing about the real world after adopting Catholic principles? I find that much of the truly great art being produced today is shunned by Catholics because it offends their moral sensibilities.

I find the opposite. I find that the honest writing, the skillful and moving art, the intrepid research, is being done by Catholics more than their percetnage of the population would suggest. The truly depressing, banal, listless, derivative art I was slogging through in the university is still going on, and is just like it was then, and is very offensive to my sensibilities, but then it was when I basically agreed with the secular culture too. Even when I was preoccupied by rebelling against a nonexistent conservative hegemony, I noticed when art was just a rude joke and it made me sick for art’s sake. Is that the art you mean? I couldn’t tell from your post.

 

[joe370]

Sorry the title is a little strange, but it gets right to the point. I grew up Catholic, left the church as a teenager, and now I’m searching for something bigger than myself but am not convinced anything is truly out there. There are some nagging concerns I have that I will present to you in the hopes that there are people on this forum more informed than I am. I’ve read some of the posts here and I know this place is full of knowledgeable Catholics.

1. Why is religion so regional? If I were Japanese and wanted to find a path back to my faith, would I be on a Catholic forum or would I be somewhere else? It seems that because I grew up where I did, Catholicism was it. But for people around the world, other religions fill this void, and they are just as adamant that their religion is the true religion.

1. Will all those people who have never heard of Jesus Christ be sent to hell? First we must note that the Bible says God will judge all people righteously. It seems there will be a stricter judgment for those who have rejected the church built by Jesus to which He is the head and savior…who reject the gospel of Jesus Christ than those who have never heard. Paul tells us that those who have never heard of the law are not imputed sin under the law. Paul also tells us that those who follow the law (e.g., practicing Jews) will be judged by the law. The people who have never heard of the law are judged by the law of God which He has placed into their hearts:

For when Gentiles who do not have the Law do instinctively the things of the Law, these, not having the Law, are a law to themselves, in that they show the work of the Law written in their hearts, their conscience bearing witness, and their thoughts alternately accusing or else defending them, on the day when, according to my gospel, God will judge the secrets of men through Christ Jesus. (Romans 2:14-16)

A further indication that the judgment of God is based upon what we know and what we have been given can be seen in a warning by James:

Let not many of you become teachers, my brethren, knowing that as such we shall incur a stricter judgment. (James 3:1)

In other words, those who belong to Jesus’ One church and know the gospel, study it, and teach it, pursuant to Magisterial guidance of Jesus’ church, will be under stricter judgment, since they have the ability of guiding others, or lead them astray. Jesus, in the parable of the Master and the slaves (Luke 12:41-48) talked about the difference in judgment between those who know the will of God vs. those who do not know:

"And that slave who knew his master’s will and did not get ready or act in accord with his will, shall receive many lashes, but the one who did not know it, and committed deeds worthy of a flogging, will receive but few. And from everyone who has been given much shall much be required; and to whom they entrusted much, of him they will ask all the more. (Luke 12:47-48)

I know there are many Christians who say that all those who die without faith in Christ will be relegated to spend eternity in Hell - even if they have never heard of Jesus Christ or His gospel. I think scripture suggests otherwise, as does the C.C. - we are judged on the basis of what we know and how we act upon it. This is not any sort of ecumenical theology or “all ways lead to God.” Those who have heard the gospel of Jesus Christ and have refused to believe have rejected Him, and, as such, will fall under the condemnation of God, because they have rejected His provision for our disobedience. Therefore, witting atheists are still without excuse in rejecting God. Those who perpetrate evil, even without the knowledge of the gospel, will likewise be condemned, since they have violated their God-given conscience. In the same way, those who play the “religion game” of going to church on Sunday, but living apart from a relationship with God, will be condemned.