I’m just getting back to this. I don’t want to bore everybody with long responses, although a lot can be said in answer to your questions … but I’ll just give a few notes that I hope can help.
- I asked Windfish but never recieved a reply. Why does Jesus cry out "My Father, Why have you forsaken me?"
You received a good answer about why there are different versions of what happened in the four Gospels. If the authors were fabricating a story (lying) then we wouldn’t see this kind of rough, personal, documentary-style testimony.
The same is true of this quote by Jesus while he was on the cross. It’s troubling and difficult – and yet it reflects the depth of pain that was present. It’s the sound of a man truly dying, and not of a super-hero who is “above it all”. We have to remember that this goes radically against what the Jews of the time expected of the Messiah. It even goes against what some believers wanted to hear – they didn’t want Jesus to be so vulnerable and hurt.
But the quote has to be seen in context also.
First, he prays: “If it be Your will, let this cup pass from me”.
So, he knows what he’s going to face. He asks the Father to take it away. But then he accepts and embraces it. Why?
We learn this when he says from the cross:
“It is finished”.
Now we can see – he felt abandoned by the Father. But then he knew, “it is finished” – the reason why he came to earth was completed.
He concludes: “Into your hands I commend my spirit”. He gives himself to the Father.
The message?
We are going to face some dark times. Jesus has been there – far darker and far more alone than we ever could be. But he is saying … hold on. Have faith. It will pass and the resurrection awaits (even “resurrections” in this life on earth – where blessings follow from hardships). And also – you too will “finish” a great work by being patient, faithful and hopeful in the darkest times. That’s the victory.
So, there’s the paradox again. In the darkest moment, the victory is gained. We arrive at the resurrection by going through the darkness to the light.
- Personal experiences are huge. I have yet to experience one or anything that would suggest the presence of a God. Now, why do so many people have “religious experiences” yet belong to different religions? If people were having religious experiences, wouldn’t God be guiding these people to one religion, and not to several different ones?
Religious experiences come in a variety of forms. Some are very strong – like St. Paul’s conversion. Some come to sinful men, like St. Augustine. Interestingly, in both of those cases – God made his existence and voice known clearly. But notice what followed – both men had to get help and guidance after they experienced God. St. Paul was taught by other believers. St. Augustine was told “take and read”. So, God told him to learn from the Scripture (where God “spoke” to him again).
So, God gives religious experiences, but only in rare cases does God communicate detailed messages about what to do for the future.
God also knows that people need time and maturity to respond correctly to religious experience. If a person is sincere and open – God will continue to lead them this way.
Then God makes his presence known, even when a person is not mentally or emotionally or spiritually ready to convert. God wants the person to continue growing in the spiritual life.
- Having said 4, my question now comes to, how do we know which religious experience is correct? I think it is pretty obvious that there are other people who claim to have been called by God yet belong to the Islam and Jewish communties. Which experience is correct?
St. Ignatius of Loyola gives some good teaching on “discerning the spirits”. The goal is to separate false experiences from true. False experiences come from temptations (evil) or from our own emotional or mental states (even drug use can simulate experiences).
So, what about a person who has a religious experience and as a result is convinced that Mormonism is true, and becomes a Mormon, etc.?
The goal remains the same – sincerity and response to truth.
Catholicism is not built on religious experience, but on claims that it teaches the truth about God. So, Catholic doctrine is logically and historically consistent and coherent.
It’s that kind of argumentation (as opposed to Islam or Mormonism) that goes along with religious experience.
We believe that if a person seeks the truth – then whatever religious experience they have will lead them to the Catholic Faith.
- In order to give us free will, God had to create the realms of good and evil. This means God created the devil, and because he is all knowing, God already knew Satan would turn on him, and create Hell. So did God create Satan, already knowing that it would turn into the battle of Good and Evil on Earth?
God created the realms of good, and made the realm of evil possible. The only options God had were to create creatures who were not free and were simply like puppets. Or, to create creatures who had the possibility of rejecting him and thus freely choosing him. To give his creatures the maximum possiblity for goodness, God didn’t want to create puppets. So, once freedom was truly necessary (knowing that everyone would have a merciful and fair chance at salvation), then even if God already knew that Satan would rebel and cause evil – God would have to accept that as part of the created world.
