What do I tell my friend

[chrisofplano]

I have a few friends that don’t belive in God, Christ or the Holy spirt. I have explained Christ to them and they seem to belive that he is there. I am trying to work on God.

We were haveing a conversation the other day about how God was created. They asked me this seeming to think that i knew everything. Obiously i don’t, but the Catholic forms do. I don’t know what to tell him.

What do I tell him?

 

[RoBo_Hobo]

It is my understanding that god has always been, or his nature is beyond are comprehension. Really it seems like one of those questions that can’t really be answered.

 

[jimmy]

chrisofplano:

I have a few friends that don’t belive in God, Christ or the Holy spirt. I have explained Christ to them and they seem to belive that he is there. I am trying to work on God.

We were haveing a conversation the other day about how God was created. They asked me this seeming to think that i knew everything. Obiously i don’t, but the Catholic forms do. I don’t know what to tell him.

What do I tell him?

God was not created. He just is. God is not subject to time and change so to say he was created does not work because to create is something that is done in reference to time. For God everything is in the present. He always is. St Augustine talks about this in his Confessions, in book 11 I think it is.Augustines Confessions] Also you can see this in the bible. For example where it says, "Before Abraham was I AM."John8] This passage uses a past tense to refer to Abraham and a present to refer to God or Christ.

 

[SusanL]

Our understanding of time and God’s understanding of time are very very different. We understand time as going in one direction. We can’t go backwards or suspend time. God can and that is why the Mass is so significant. We can be in two time periods at once. We are at the foot of the cross and in the year 2005 at “St Such-and-Such Church” at the same exact same time.

God has always been in existence. It is a mystery. Your friend will have to acknowledge that no matter how brilliant humans can be, there will always be mysteries to us here on Earth.

An interesting book for them to read is actually written by a protestant. I heard it talked about and praised on Catholic radio once. It is by Lee Stroebel and is called “The Case for Christ.”

Written in a way that other men can appreciate and identify with. No nonsense. A lot of facts written plainly without a lot of hype. I think that he used to be an investigative reporter.

I wouldn’t delve into all of his books though unless you are ready to compare them adequately with good solid Catholic apologetics. I can agree with him on this one book because I can see his sources; however, if he starts comparing doctrines of faith then you need to be wary. That is when you get into interpretations and subjects that are not clearly defined.

Example:
He’s good with discussing the record-keeping of Rome back in the years of Christ because it is indisputable. Not so if he chooses to discuss “sola fide” in another book.

Hope this helps.