Why can't the church raise the dead like it can forgive sins?

[mariedove]

I am a faithful Catholic, but ever since I heard this question on the radio, it has been eating at me. The caller (hostile to the church in tone) had this premise: The Church claims that it can do things like forgive sins and celebrate the Eucharist because the apostles were given the command to do so, and the Church claims apostolic succession. But, the apostles were also commanded to do things like heal the sick and raise the dead, in order to prove to the people that they were the “real deal”. The caller was implying that since the current Church doesn’t claim to do these things that can be seen/proven, that we should not believe in its ability to do the others that cannot be seen/proven. Does anyone have an answer to this? Thanks!

 

[wmscott]

I am a faithful Catholic, but ever since I heard this question on the radio, it has been eating at me. The caller (hostile to the church in tone) had this premise: The Church claims that it can do things like forgive sins and celebrate the Eucharist because the apostles were given the command to do so, and the Church claims apostolic succession. But, the apostles were also commanded to do things like heal the sick and raise the dead, in order to prove to the people that they were the “real deal”. The caller was implying that since the current Church doesn’t claim to do these things that can be seen/proven, that we should not believe in its ability to do the others that cannot be seen/proven. Does anyone have an answer to this? Thanks!

This is just my opinion but Jesus gave His Church the power to bind and loose sin, in addition to healing the sick and lame. I do not remember anywhere that Jesus gave them the power to raise the dead. I am sure it is a bit more complicated than that its just my take on it.

 

[Darryl_B]

Mark 6:5 And he (Jesus) could no no mighty work there, except that he laid his hands upon a few sick people and healed them. And he marveled because of their unbelief.

There are many instances of saints raising people from the dead throughout Church history. However in a culture of unbelief (particularly our western culture), it is unlikely to happen.

 

[mikekle]

Mark 6:5 And he (Jesus) could no no mighty work there, except that he laid his hands upon a few sick people and healed them. And he marveled because of their unbelief.

There are many instances of saints raising people from the dead throughout Church history. However in a culture of unbelief (particularly our western culture), it is unlikely to happen.

Yes, but at the time it was done, he was marveled at their unbelief, yet it still happened…so why could it not happen in our time?

I think an event like this could change the course of many many people, just like back then, the people need to see something, if it was good enough then, it should be good enough in our times.

This is similar to the UFO hype, LOTS of people claim to see them, even be abducted, but since it is not PROVEN by modern science, alot of people are skeptical, same thing with Christianity, we all read the bible, hear of all the great things Jesus did 2000 yrs ago, but we dont see any REAL hard evidence of it in our world, walking on water, multiplying food, etc. those things dont happen anymore, its all about faith, believing in something even though you cant prove it.

 

[Darryl_B]

Yes, but at the time it was done, he was marveled at their unbelief, yet it still happened…so why could it not happen in our time?

I think an event like this could change the course of many many people, just like back then, the people need to see something, if it was good enough then, it should be good enough in our times, my 2 cents anyway.

If you read Mark 6:5 he could do no mighty work (which would be raising from the dead). He could only perform lesser work and only a little of it (which is not raising from the dead).

 

[Shin]

St. Catherine of Siena, whose feast was just the other day, raised her own mother from the dead.

St. Vincent Ferrer raised quite a number of people from the dead, prophecized the future, and worked innumerable miracles…

St. Martin of Tours besides miraculously reducing pagan temples to rubble, has three recorded instances of raising people from the dead that I’ve read of…

St. Anthony of Padua, St. Patrick, St. Elizabeth, St. Colette, St. Joan of Arc, St. John Capistran, St. Ignatius of Loyola…

Read the lives and writings of the saints.

 

[Darryl_B]

St. Catherine of Siena, whose feast was just the other day, raised her own mother from the dead.

St. Vincent Ferrer raised quite a number of people from the dead, prophecized the future, and worked innumerable miracles…

St. Martin of Tours besides miraculously reducing pagan temples to rubble, has three recorded instances of raising people from the dead that I’ve read of…

St. Anthony of Padua, St. Patrick, St. Elizabeth, St. Colette, St. Joan of Arc, St. John Capistran, St. Ignatius of Loyola…

Read the lives and writings of the saints.

Very nice list, my friend. I think though that the phone-caller, would still not believe even on the testimony of such a great cloud of witnesses.

 

[Jon_S_1]

I am a faithful Catholic, but ever since I heard this question on the radio, it has been eating at me. The caller (hostile to the church in tone) had this premise: The Church claims that it can do things like forgive sins and celebrate the Eucharist because the apostles were given the command to do so, and the Church claims apostolic succession. But, the apostles were also commanded to do things like heal the sick and raise the dead, in order to prove to the people that they were the “real deal”. The caller was implying that since the current Church doesn’t claim to do these things that can be seen/proven, that we should not believe in its ability to do the others that cannot be seen/proven. Does anyone have an answer to this? Thanks!

I sense a false premise…

Where was the church given authority to raise the dead…I don’t remember that.

That said, miracles occur when and where God wants them to occur. It’s not our power it’s Gods power

 

[Viki63]

I’ve seen a few miracles, though not spectacular ones.
These things happen all the time (as a priest said when I told him about one). If people believe, they don’t need to see miracles. If they don’t want to believe, telling them doesn’t do any good.
If you want miraculous events to discuss, the tilma of Juan Diego, still on display in Mexico city, the uncorruptibles, and the miracles of the Eucharist (such as Lanciano) should be enough for anybody.

 

[Dorothy]

I sense a false premise…

Where was the church given authority to raise the dead…I don’t remember that.

That said, miracles occur when and where God wants them to occur. It’s not our power it’s Gods power

I agree that such miracles occur, and it is God’s decision when and how they should occur.

Also, we need to remember that repentance and the forgiveness of sins raises one who is dead in sin to a life of grace in the Lord. Our salvation in the Lord is our final end, and we need to rise every day and allow Him to sanctify us.

 

[tskrobacz]

I am a faithful Catholic, but ever since I heard this question on the radio, it has been eating at me. The caller (hostile to the church in tone) had this premise: The Church claims that it can do things like forgive sins and celebrate the Eucharist because the apostles were given the command to do so, and the Church claims apostolic succession. But, the apostles were also commanded to do things like heal the sick and raise the dead, in order to prove to the people that they were the “real deal”. The caller was implying that since the current Church doesn’t claim to do these things that can be seen/proven, that we should not believe in its ability to do the others that cannot be seen/proven. Does anyone have an answer to this? Thanks!

The short answer is it can and it does all the time. Many priests are involved in miraculous healings, exorcisms and, as others have noted, raising people from the dead (as in saints). We should not, however, expect this to be a common thing because God does not put on a show for us…blessed are those that have not seen, but believe (as he said to the Apostle Thomas)

 

[InNomineDomini]

Does anyone have an answer to this?

They still haven’t proven their case. Firstly, I would be interested in their demonstrating that raising the dead was supposed to be accomplished in all ages of the Church at all times as a perpetual sign to the world.

This cannot be proven from Scripture.

Since it cannot be proven from Scripture, it must come from someplace else.

Where does it come from, and why should it be seen as authoritative?

Moreover, if it’s not in Scripture, then why should someone who adheres to sola Scriptura view it as being doctrine?

Regarding the forgiveness of sins and the confecting of the Eucharist: yes, this is found in Scripture. But we Catholics understand Scripture as being one portion of Tradition, and do not ignore the other part of Tradition, which correctly aids the Magisterium in interpreting Scripture. It is through this that we know that these two things are Sacraments, unlike the raising of the dead, and that they are meant to exist in all ages of the Church.

Again, this objection comes down to authority, and who has the authority to correctly communicate the doctrines of Revelation: me and my Bible and whichever scholars I happen to agree with, or a hierarchical body established by Christ to shepherd His sheep in the age between the Ascension and Second Coming.

Moreover, the argument centers on sola Scriptura, and how we interpret Scripture, and how we know what is or isn’t a doctrine of the faith.

Lastly, the objection comes from a garbled understanding of Apostolic Succession: the Bishops are the successors of Apostles, but they are a different office from Apostle altogether. It is therefore unreasonable to assume the Catholic position teaches that *everything *at least some of the Apostles did must be done by Bishops also. If this were the case, we would expect our Bishops to write additional Scripture, which we clearly don’t.

In fact, that’s another problem for sola Scriptura: how do you know no more Scripture is meant to be written, outside of arbitrary criteria which basically amount to begging the question?

 

[Micosil]

St. Catherine of Siena, whose feast was just the other day, raised her own mother from the dead.

St. Vincent Ferrer raised quite a number of people from the dead, prophecized the future, and worked innumerable miracles…

St. Martin of Tours besides miraculously reducing pagan temples to rubble, has three recorded instances of raising people from the dead that I’ve read of…

St. Anthony of Padua, St. Patrick, St. Elizabeth, St. Colette, St. Joan of Arc, St. John Capistran, St. Ignatius of Loyola…

Read the lives and writings of the saints.

Just out of curiosity, has the Holy See “verified” these miracles somehow? Like they declare certain Marian apparitions “worthy of belief”?

Not doubting them, just curious if an official declaration of some sort has been made.

 

[SJacob7]

St. Catherine of Siena, whose feast was just the other day, raised her own mother from the dead.

St. Vincent Ferrer raised quite a number of people from the dead, prophecized the future, and worked innumerable miracles…

St. Martin of Tours besides miraculously reducing pagan temples to rubble, has three recorded instances of raising people from the dead that I’ve read of…

St. Anthony of Padua, St. Patrick, St. Elizabeth, St. Colette, St. Joan of Arc, St. John Capistran, St. Ignatius of Loyola…

Read the lives and writings of the saints.

I believe the question pertained to Apostolic succession and not to saints. Needless to say, the females listed above wouldn’t have been priests, thus, not in succession of the apostles.

 

[padrepio_2012]

First off, the caller you refer to seems to be atheistic in tone, since he is demanding to see “physical proof” that the Church is the real deal. “blessed are those who believe but have not seen” says the Lord! secondly, I think that the dead are not raised anymore because of two reasons: one, it really isn’t important? I think the Church has more important things to worry about than raising the dead. it just isn’t relevant. besides, if you raise one dead guy, everyone will be bringing their dead people (and probably animals) demanding that you raise them too! the second thing is that we live in an era of such disbelief that I think many people wouldn’t believe it even if they saw it firsthand. People in the Gospels witnessed Jesus perform the very same miracles and came in contact with God himself in the person and yet they did not believe and even killed him. I think that if a priest raised a dead man, most people would laugh and say it was a hoax to make the Church seem real. it would tear down the Church more than it would build it up

 

[mikekle]

The short answer is it can and it does all the time. Many priests are involved in miraculous healings, exorcisms and, as others have noted, raising people from the dead (as in saints). We should not, however, expect this to be a common thing because God does not put on a show for us…blessed are those that have not seen, but believe (as he said to the Apostle Thomas)

Why did Jesus have to do all the supernatural things he did when he walked the earth then? I sometimes wonder if Christianity would have taken off in the way it did if Jesus did not walk on water, multiply food, heal people, raise people from the dead, etc. all right in front of peoples eyes.

It is still my opinion, if Jesus saw it necessary to do things like this back then in order to get peoples attention, and to get them to believe, there would be no harm in doing so in our times…

This is why so many people doubt, they havent seen anything that makes them take notice, they just see it as something written down 2000 yrs ago, it could be true, it could all be fiction, and weve all been duped. If people in modern times saw just one thing they could attribute to the existence of God, I truly believe it would turn millions of people to the faith.

 

[Jon_S_1]

Why did Jesus have to do all the supernatural things he did when he walked the earth then? I sometimes wonder if Christianity would have taken off in the way it did if Jesus did not walk on water, multiply food, heal people, raise people from the dead, etc. all right in front of peoples eyes.

It is still my opinion, if Jesus saw it necessary to do things like this back then in order to get peoples attention, and to get them to believe, there would be no harm in doing so in our times…

This is why so many people doubt, they havent seen anything that makes them take notice, they just see it as something written down 2000 yrs ago, it could be true, it could all be fiction, and weve all been duped. If people in modern times saw just one thing they could attribute to the existence of God, I truly believe it would turn millions of people to the faith.

But Jesus was God. He was demonstrating his divinity.

Why would the church demonstrate something that they are not.

It actually shows the uniqueness of Christ as God that these things don’t happen now since he is not on earth right now.

 

[tskrobacz]

Why did Jesus have to do all the supernatural things he did when he walked the earth then? I sometimes wonder if Christianity would have taken off in the way it did if Jesus did not walk on water, multiply food, heal people, raise people from the dead, etc. all right in front of peoples eyes.

It is still my opinion, if Jesus saw it necessary to do things like this back then in order to get peoples attention, and to get them to believe, there would be no harm in doing so in our times…

This is why so many people doubt, they havent seen anything that makes them take notice, they just see it as something written down 2000 yrs ago, it could be true, it could all be fiction, and weve all been duped. If people in modern times saw just one thing they could attribute to the existence of God, I truly believe it would turn millions of people to the faith.

While Jesus did many miracles he often said “Tell no one” and did not take out a billboard ad to announce his acts to the world. He was simply demonstrating that he and God were one and able to act from that authority outside of time and space in ways that we perceive as miraculous. Check out the tilma of guadalupe, the incorruptible bodies of saints, or a flower that blossoms in spring if you need to see modern day miracles. The key is being able to see the miracle of being itself. When you do, magic tricks are not required to latch on to the faith…

 

[MarcoPolo]

The Church claims that it can do things like forgive sins

Imparting forgiveness of sin IS raising the dead.

Remember, the physical miracles Jesus performed were signs of spiritual things unseen. This is perhaps clearest when Jesus heals the paralytic through the ceiling. He shows how he healed the man physically and then declared the man’s sins forgiven, so that the crowd would believe the more important miracle of spiritual healing had occurred.

Another example is that the blind “see.” The “seeing” is not just a physical healing, but a spiritual recognition of Christ. The man born blind in John 9 is a good example.

 

[mikekle]

But Jesus was God. He was demonstrating his divinity.

Why would the church demonstrate something that they are not.

It actually shows the uniqueness of Christ as God that these things don’t happen now since he is not on earth right now.

So, he HAD to demonstrate his abilities for people to believe him…NO difference in todays world…Of course people are going to be skeptical of such claims of things that supposedly happened 2000 yrs ago, without any kind of demonstration back then, those people would not have paid him much attention either.

I realize he is not on earth anymore, but he COULD cause major miracles to happen, either THRU the church or on his own, but the CC is his ‘representative’ here on earth… he could cause all the water in the oceans to rise up if he wanted, he could cause the dead to crawl out of the ground and walk again, he could do anything whether hes in heaven or on earth.

If something major like this happened today, the churches would be overflowing daily, I would bet most nations would be suddenly changed, an event like this would turn many millions of people to God.