Apologetics Question for the Day: Did God Commit Genocide in the Old Testament?

This is not an easy question to answer when you look at all the evidence honestly, but there are answers out there!  Along with the question of the devil's existence which I linked to the other day, this is a topic I take up in my recent book Dark Passages of the Bible, which was recently discussed along with other important works on the subject by Brandon Vogt. You can read his excellent piece here.

Christian, I Presume?

When I attended UMKC Law School back in the early 1980s, I had a classmate named Barry (not his real name). At the time, I was not practicing the faith and by no means was I a paragon of virtuous living. Despite my own low standards, I thought Barry’s carousing lifestyle crossed the bounds of propriety. He even confided to me that while he was home one weekend he made his girlfriend procure an abortion, because he was not willing to take responsibility for his actions.

One day, months later, Barry out of the blue told me, “It’s time for a revival.” It was only then that I learned that he was a part-time preacher who from time to time would go barnstorming through Missouri and Arkansas, inviting people to become “saved.”

I was shocked. I admitted that I had no room to talk, since in my estimation I was no longer a Catholic or even a Christian. Even so, the disparity between Barry’s faith and his ongoing debauchery confused and scandalized me. He eventually explained that I had to learn to separate faith from daily life. I told him–with less refinement and charity than I’d use today–what I thought of a religion I could test drive but not take home. My burning intuition was that a religion that did not affect who I was and how I lived was not worth my time.

An analogous situation arises today in the context of funerals. As many of us know, the dominant mindset is that the deceased is “in a better place,” and thus the funeral rite itself becomes nothing other than a mini-canonization.

Assuredly we entrust the deceased to the mercy of God, who alone judges hearts. We also must console those who are mourning, offering them solid grounds for hope that their departed loved one is indeed with the Lord. In this regard, it is entirely fitting to recall the good deeds and accomplishments of the deceased to buoy our hope in his or her resurrection.

Yet the current trend goes even further. Our contemporaries assume the deceased is in heaven, so the only real concern is helping friends and family cope with the temporal loss. This approach effectively does away with the need to pray and offer sacrifice for the deceased, which Scripture describes as a “very excellent and noble” practice (see 2 Mac. 12:43; Catechism, no. 1032).

It also derails a teachable moment: The reality of death affords all of us the opportunity to consider our own mortality and thus seek to be in right relationship with God. A casual observer at many funerals today could easily conclude that it really doesn’t matter how one lives, because everyone’s eternal fate--except for the occasional Hitler or bin Laden--seems to be the same.

Both my encounter with Barry and the experience at many funerals today reflect the error of presumption, which takes many forms (see Catechism, no. 2092). One form of presumption is the timeless heresy of Pelagianism, which holds that happiness is attainable by merely human effort, without the necessity of grace. This is manifested today by those who place all their hope in technological progress. Another example of presumption, commonly seen at funerals, is the attitude that in the end God will forgive us irrespective of our cooperation with grace. Following this view, heaven is the inevitable and more or less universal sequel to this life.

Christian fundamentalism is yet another form of presumption. Granted, Barry’s case is an extreme example of the “once saved, always saved” mentality. Most Bible Christians would be aghast at Barry’s lifestyle. Further, they rightly affirm in the midst of our largely secular and indifferent society the centrality of faith in Jesus Christ (see Acts 4:12; 1 Cor. 3:11). Even so, the necessity of a “born again” experience is often presented and understood in a way that leaves no room for human freedom. Once “saved,” the individual can’t “lose” his salvation, even through mortal sin.

The corrective to every form of presumption is Christian hope, which acknowledges both God’s unwavering fidelity to His promises and our responsibility as Christian disciples to lead lives worthy of our heavenly calling (see Eph. 4:1).

This post previously appeared at No Place Like Home.

What does evangelization mean to you?

I recently asked this question to Catholic young adults at a City on a Hill Event  called Tuesdays at the Boulevard.  The event begins with Mass at Our Lady of Guadalupe in Kansas City, MO, followed by pizza and fellowship.  It is a hospitable event that gives young adults in their 20’s and 30’s a space to pray together and socialize as a community.  I spent this particular evening interviewing persons about what evangelization meant to them.  You may find their responses here.

My students often ask me why they cannot see God working in their daily lives as clearly as in scripture.  It reminds me of a psalm in the liturgy of the hours: “Day unto day takes up the story, and night unto night makes known the message.”  Our Lord continues to speak to us by connecting the thoughts, persons, moments, and encounters of each day.  It is up to us to enter into his plan.

Archbishop Joseph Naumann recently joined Bishop Ward High School for adoration.  He read the gospel about when Jesus calls Simon Peter.  “Put out into deep water … from now on you will be catching men” (Lk 5).  I thought this was a fitting gospel choice as we go forth and continue the Lord’s mission  to share the gospel with others.

St. Peter's Cathedral Kansas City, KS

I asked my students if they thought it was a coincidence that the gospel and message from Archbishop Naumann paralleled the video of people I had just interviewed.  It gave them pause for reflection.  May we all continue to be fishers of men for the kingdom. 

Let us enter in and go out into the deep!

Farewell to the Devil?

The existence of the devil is not very compatible with modern thinking. Such is the view confronted by Benedict XVI in a response he once wrote to a book called Farewell to the Devil. Its author, an Old Testament scholar, expressed the view of many a modern man in claiming, “By now we have understood that the term ‘devil’ in the New Testament simply stands for the term ‘sin.’” The devil is just an image for sin, just something Jesus talks about to keep a little holy fear in us—but not someone we really have to fear, someone whose existence we can prove and wiles we can’t explain otherwise through modern psychology.

I recently authored a book entitled Dark Passages of the Bible: Engaging Scripture with Benedict XVI and Thomas Aquinas. In that book one of the three main themes I treat is the problem of evil in the Old Testament.  I have been encouraged to link here to the various evangelization projects I am working on, so I encourage you to read my post at Benedictine College's Gregorian Institute on what Pope Benedict has to say about the existence of the devil.  Do the Scriptures really affirm the existence of the devil, or is he a superstition from a bygone age which enlightened people today need to move beyond? 

The Bishops Speak

 

There has been a lot of great teaching from some bishops with Kansas ties regarding evangelization lately. 

In the latest issue of The Leaven, Archbishop Joseph F. Naumann of the Archdiocese of Kansas City in Kansas discusses the connection between St. Paul and the challenges of the New Evangelization.  Archbishop Naumann notes:

In his Second Letter to the Corinthians, St. Paul addresses the rivalries within the Christian community itself. Some had questioned Paul’s credentials and leadership. With embarrassment, Paul begins to “boast” of his qualifications to preach and teach the Gospel:

“But what anyone dares to boast of (I am speaking in foolishness) I also dare. Are they Hebrews? So am I. Are they Israelites? So am I. Are they descendants of Abraham? So am I. Are they ministers of Christ? (I am talking like an insane person.) I am still more, with far greater labors, far more imprisonments, far worse beatings, and numerous brushes with death. Five times at the hands of the Jews I received forty lashes minus one. Three times I was beaten with rods, once I was stoned, three times I was shipwrecked, I passed a night and a day on the deep; on frequent journeys, in dangers from rivers, dangers from robbers, dangers from my own race, dangers from Gentiles, dangers in the city, dangers in the wilderness, dangers at sea, dangers among false brothers; in toil and hardship, through many sleepless nights, through hunger and thirst, through frequent fasting, through cold and exposure. And apart from these things, there is the daily pressure upon me of my anxiety for all the churches” (2 Cor 11: 21-28).  

When you listen to that litany of adversities, the challenges we face today pale in comparison. As we strive to embark on the new evangelization, St. Paul is an excellent model and patron. The new evangelization is not about inventing a new Gospel or new message. What is new about the new evangelization is it utilizes some of the modern tools for communication. In part, the new evangelization is aimed at presenting the truth and beauty of the Gospel to the so-called digital continent, where so many young people today spend a great deal of time. 

What is also new about the new evangelization is to whom it is directed. The new evangelization attempts to re-evangelize parts of the world that historically were profoundly Catholic, but where today the practice of the faith has been radically diminished.  

However, what remains consistent about evangelization in every age is that it requires individuals, like St. Paul, who are willing to make heroic sacrifices to bring the truth and the beauty of the Gospel of Jesus Christ to others. In part, what made St. Paul’s preaching so powerfully compelling were the extraordinary personal sacrifices he was willing to make so that others would experience the love of God revealed in his Son, Jesus Christ.  

If we want to turn the hearts of people today toward Jesus Christ and his Gospel, we must be willing to do no less.

This month, Archbishop Paul S. Coakley, who was raised and ordained in Kansas, released a pastoral letter on evangelization for the Archdiocese of Oklahoma City.  The pastoral letter is a vision of evangelization rooted in the universal call to holiness that leads to apostolic zeal.  In Go Make Disciples: A Vision forthe Archdiocese of Oklahoma City, Archbishop Coakley reminds us that we cannot give what we do not have:

To evangelize others is to invite them into friendship and relationship with Jesus Christ. Before we invite others, we the evangelizers must ourselves be truly evangelized. The evangelizers must first become disciples. We have to be in relationship with Jesus. We have to know him and know that we are loved by him. It is not enough to know about Jesus. We have to become his friend. We have to sit at his feet and learn from him as did Mary, the sister of Martha and Lazarus (Lk 10:39). We have to fall in love.

“Nothing is more practical than finding God, than falling in love in a quite absolute, final way. What you are in love with, what seizes your imagination, will affect everything. It will decide what will get you out of bed in the morning, what you do with your evenings, how you spend your weekends, what you read, whom you know, what breaks your heart, and what amazes you with joy and gratitude. Fall in love, stay in love, and it will decide everything.” These words of Fr. Pedro Arrupe, S.J., former Superior General of the Jesuits, describe the experience of discipleship rooted in a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. Only the disciple can effectively evangelize others.

Bishop James D. Conley of the Diocese of Lincoln, also raised and ordained in Kansas, offers two articles this month on evangelization.  Adapting an address he gave to a Catholic Answers Conference, Bishop Conley stresses the role of beauty in the New Evangelization in his article Ever Ancient, Ever New: The Role of Beauty in the Restoration of Catholic Culture.  After sharing the story about his conversion to a deeper spiritual life inspired by an encounter with beauty while studying at the University of Kansas, Bishop Conley explains:

Beauty is both ancient and new: we are at once surprised and comforted by its presence.  Beauty exists in a sphere beyond time. And so beautiful things expose us to the timelessness of eternity.

This is why beauty matters, in an eternal sense. Beauty was part of God’s creative plan in the beginning, and it is just as much a part of his redemptive plan now. God has placed the desire for beauty within our hearts, and he uses that desire to lead us back to himself. 

Truth and beauty are both gifts from God. So our New Evangelization must work to make truth beautiful. By means both ancient and new, we must make use of beauty—to infuse Western culture, once more, with the spirit of the Gospel. 

By means of earthly beauty, we can help our contemporaries discover the truth of the Gospel. Then, they may come to know the eternal beauty of God—that beauty Saint Augustine described as “ever ancient, ever new.”

Bishop Conley recommends three areas of focus especially when it comes to beauty and the New Evangelization:  present truths of the faith in a beautiful way (especially in liturgical worship), become more familiar with the beauty found in historic Christian culture, and recognize all authentic manifestations of beauty.

In his second article this month on evangelization, Bishop Conley addresses those who are already evangelized in Evangelizing the Evangelizers.  I especially like his call for more “Frank Sheeds”:

Frank Sheed was a British layman who converted to Catholicism in 1913 at the age of 16. He became one of the most prolific theologians and apologists of the 20th century. Sheed wrote volumes of Catholic books intended for ordinary, working-class Catholics. He published the work of great Catholic minds like Christopher Dawson and Ronald Knox. His books converted thousands. Sheed’s theology was borne of his intimate relationship with Christ and his evangelical fervor: For years, he stood on a soapbox in London’s Hyde Park and discussed Catholicism with hecklers and passersby. Many of them became disciples.

Sheed’s ministry was the fruit of his discipleship. With his wife, Maisie, Frank Sheed regularly frequented confession and Mass, and he studied Scripture carefully. His effective apostolate was rooted in an active relationship with the living Christ. 

It is said that people today have more questions about the faith than ever before, and there are fewer people trained to answer those questions than ever before. The world needs more Frank Sheeds — more active Catholics committed to a new evangelization. And more Catholics today are eager to engage in the Church’s evangelical mission.

Bishop Conley also commends the work of the Fellowship of Catholic University students:

FOCUS, the Fellowship of Catholic University Students, is an incredibly effective apostolate of evangelization on university campuses. Through scripture study and social activity, FOCUS invites students to real relationship with Jesus Christ. FOCUS missionaries undergo training in leadership and evangelization. They also undergo training in the spiritual life – in practical habits of prayer that root ministry in communion with Christ. FOCUS utilizes a simple paradigm for evangelization: Win, Build, Send.

While recognizing the kergymatic encounters with Christ are a beginning, FOCUS recognizes that successful evangelization depends on the formation of evangelizers themselves, because successful evangelization depends on relationship with Jesus Christ. 

Encouraging evangelizers to lives of prayer — and sharing with them how to pray — is an essential component to the Church’s mission. Offering regular opportunities to grow in the spiritual life, and regular opportunities for spiritual direction and prayerful community, is an essential component of formation. Encountering Christ is the beginning. Today, the Church must find new ways to build relationships from encounters.

Finally, Bishop Thomas J. Olmsted of the Diocese of Phoenix, a Kansas Native, has published part six of a planned seven installments about evangelization in the United States.  The first six parts of his series Catholic and American? Key Ways to Evangelize Today’s Culture can be found here:

Part One   Part Two   Part Three   Part Four   Part Five   Part Six

The final installment will also focus on the role of beauty in evangelization.  The series by Bishop Olmstead serves as a valuable assessment of the challenges facing efforts to evangelize in America and some key points of reflection.  His focus on the need for discernment in assimilation is one such point made in Part Three:

The Catholic standard for discerning the viability and wisdom of when to assimilate to a culture, or when to resist assimilation, must be the Gospel of Jesus as handed down to us within the Church, and as celebrated in the Sacred Liturgy. In this regard, it is good to recall what Pope Francis said in his first homily as the Successor of Peter: “When we journey without the Cross, when we build without the Cross, when we profess without the Cross, we are not disciples of the Lord; we are worldly… We may become a charitable NGO, but not the Church, the Bride of the Lord… When we do not profess Jesus Christ, we profess the worldliness of the devil.”

There are some elements in American culture that aid our faithful living of the Gospel and some elements that make doing so more difficult. Likewise, there are still other elements that can have either a positive or a negative impact in carrying out our mission from God. For example, individualism can positively help us to recognize the dignity of each human person, but it also can erode appreciation for the social nature of human beings, the communal nature of our faith, and the call to live in a communion of life and love with all members of Christ’s Body, the Church.

Overall, this is a rich time for receiving guidance from our pastors concerning the New Evangelization!
 

The Miracle of Conversion

Back in 1984, I was a young lawyer who years before had abandoned the faith of my youth. I had largely cleaned up my act since my wild undergraduate days, but that was more a matter of expedience, not moral conviction. I felt as though I should give my life to something or Someone, but I really didn’t know where to turn.

My sights weren’t set particularly high, so I resolved to help build the earthly city. After all, what else was there to life?

At that time, my mother asked me to start going back to Mass on Sunday so as to set a good example for my nephews and nieces. I was reluctant to do so, as I felt like a hypocrite since I no longer even considered myself a Catholic. I eventually relented, figuring that an hour a week wouldn’t kill me.

As it turned out, some of the Sunday homilies that I heard gradually drew me in, and I became increasingly receptive to what the Church had to say, especially in social justice matters. Soon, I no longer had to be asked to go to Mass, even though I was still on the fence.

Attending weekly Mass opened an unexpected door for me. One of the secretaries at my law office saw me one Sunday at Mass, so she invited me to a weekly young-adult Bible study. I wasn’t sure what to expect, but I said I would go with her to check it out. Here’s what happened.

I was immediately impressed by how genuinely welcoming the group was. I was also intrigued by the fact that everyone could be so fun-loving and at the same time so much in earnest when it came to the Bible and their Christian beliefs. The leader of the study, as I came to learn, originally started the group as a Protestant, but at this point he was in the process of returning to the Catholic Church. He was a veteran of Campus Crusade for Christ, and he sure seemed to know a lot about the Bible. And he definitely liked to talk!

Despite the dozens of good people who were “regulars” at this weekly study–many of whom are still dear friends to this day–the whole thing seemed uncomfortably “Protestant” to me at first. Reading the Bible, praying spontaneously, and the whole concept of “fellowship” were foreign to this cradle Catholic. I remember during one of my first Bible studies trying to conceal the fact that I was futilely searching the Old Testament to look up a quoted passage from the Letter to the Hebrews!

One evening, though, the leader affirmed the existence of objective truth, and his words shot through my entire being. It was as though I was immediately awakened from a ten-year slumber. Then and there I knew that it must all be true. I wanted to know the Lord Jesus and devote my life to Him and His Church.

The leader, by the way, was none other than Curtis Martin, who has gone on to found the Fellowship of Catholic University Students (FOCUS), far and away the most dynamic and effective Catholic evangelization program on college campuses today.

At that point, elements of my Catholic upbringing, such as Marian devotion, came back to me. I eventually resolved to go to Confession–a daunting prospect for someone who hadn’t gone for many years. The priest was very compassionate and helpful; my fears were not at all justified, as the weight of past sins fell off like scales.

One little miracle occurred at that time: Virtually overnight and without conscious effort or relapse I not only stopped using foul language, but became extremely sensitive to any violation of the Second Commandment.

Underneath, however, was the real miracle, as I was restored to God’s friendship. With a clean conscience (cf. 1 Cor. 11:28), I was able to receive our Lord in Holy Communion. I was back home! Why was I ever so foolish as to leave in the first place?

While that time of my life was a singularly important moment of conversion for me, I’ve had to renew my commitment to the Lord many times since then. I’ve made countless wrong turns–the hundreds of times I’ve been to Confession since 1984 attest to my need for ongoing conversion. I do think, however, that Our Heavenly Father takes a long view of the matter and has been genuinely entertained by my feeble and at times misguided attempts to follow His Son. In fact, I think He’s more than entertained: Scripture tells us He’s downright thrilled whenever He recovers one of His lost sheep (cf. Lk. 15:3-7).

Some of you might remember a movie called Miracle, which tells the story of the 1980 U.S. Olympic hockey team’s improbable upset of the Soviet Union en route to its remarkable gold medal. Who can forget announcer Al Michaels shouting triumphantly at the end of the game, “Do you believe in miracles?” In a manner of speaking, the U.S. hockey team’s performance was a miracle.

Yet, finding our way back to God is even more of a miracle, because attaining our eternal prize on our own is not merely improbable or unlikely, but impossible. And if Our Heavenly Father is willing and able to save someone like me, I’m able to hold out a realistic hope that He will do the same for many others, as no one is beyond His reach.

Today, I am a husband and father with six children and one grandchild, and over the past 30 years I’ve been involved with many different apostolates and ministries (I didn't stick with the lawyer-stuff very long!). I currently work for the Archdiocese in our diaconate office, where I help coordinate our permanent diaconate program and I’m also a candidate for the diaconate myself. In addition to this incredible new blog on evangelization, I post regularly at another archdiocesan blog called No Place Like Home, where I go more in depth on various aspects of Church teaching. After all, in addition to an “Evangelized Kansas” we need a “Catechized Kansas” too! 

Little Inspirations

I'm a procrastinator. I admit it. It's hard to get started sometimes. I think this can be especially true when it comes to evangelizing. How often does God put opportunities right in front of us and yet we're too afraid to say something? It seems so easy to put off those opportunities for later, or even assume that "someone else" will take care of it or do a better job.

Today on my blog a shared a personal story of an encounter I had with one of the friars at the monastery where I'm living. Imagine how much more we could do if we just weren't afraid to say "yes" to the Holy Spirit's little inspirations. We could also find ourselves feeling very regretful one day if we say "no" too often. That almost happened to me.

Check out my story on ShawnTheBaptist.org : Don't Put it Off

Quick and Easy

Quick and Easy

I love to collect recipes. Wait, let me clarify that. I love to collect a certain kind of recipe. You got it – it’s anything with “Quick and Easy” in the title. That phrase is guaranteed to get my attention. I want meals that are full of flavor, healthy, and (did I mention this?) quick and easy.

“Quick and Easy” also sells a lot of household products. This gadget will make my floor clean, shiny, dust free and it’s quick and easy? Sold! This one detergent will pretreat and remove stains, restore colors to their brightest and it’s quick and easy? Sold!

You get the idea. Many of us don’t want to try anything that will take a great amount of time and effort. Let’s be realistic – sometimes we need quick and easy. Our lives are so full of the care of families, work and so forth, that we often need “quick and easy” to make the most of our time and efforts.

We tend to assume that evangelization is anything but quick and easy. True conversion does take a lifetime; it should be ongoing. However, small efforts on our part to evangelize can make an eternal difference. Let’s look at some examples.

Quick and Easy Ways to Evangelize….

• Keep pen and paper handy to jot down prayer needs, inspirational points from a homily and so forth. I have heard several seminarians and priests remark that they have been influenced by my pastor, Monsignor Michael Mullen, in many ways but one small way has really impacted them. He has been a priest for over 50 years but they noticed he always has pen and paper with him. He jots down notes at every event he attends. That small habit of his has reminded so many that you can and should always be learning the faith and enjoying it!
• Make the Sign of the Cross in public. That simple yet profound gesture tells those watching you are a Catholic Christian who believes in the trinity and you are unashamed to show it.
• If you walk for exercise, take your rosary along. A brightly colored one can be seen by drivers in their cars and you may inspire someone to pray it as well. They can’t hear you but your prayer can be seen.
• Laugh! St. Teresa of Avila prayed that we be saved from sour faced saints. Why would anyone want to be a Christian if we look so miserable and complain so much?
• When you are resting on a bench at a mall or park, pray for those who walk by. If you see someone with a health issue, pray for their healing. If you see a couple together, pray for them to have a holy, lifelong marriage. If you see a family, pray for them to be holy and happy. A few seconds of prayer may help open a heart to evangelization. Don’t wait to be asked for your prayers – give them freely!
• When others are discussing a film or TV show, mention the Christian values you noticed in the movie. You don’t have to sound like you’re preaching but comment on a character that showed moral strength, a couple sacrificing for the good of the other and so forth. Great storytelling will have Catholic values – point them out!
• Have Bible, will travel. Right now there are some adults with disabilities who are interested in the Church, but they can’t easily get to us so I go to them. We have discussions that are filled with laughter, questions and Scripture. Each week while we're meeting, other adults seem to wander by regularly. Hopefully, they may join us permanently. Be willing to offer alternative solutions to those who express an interest in the faith.
• Keep Catholic materials in your car or purse or backpack. If someone mentions a conflict in marriage, childrearing or other family situation, you can give the gift of a track or cd on the topic. Visit www.stjoe.com for inexpensive, quality recordings.

It is indeed possible to have quick and easy evangelization. May our little ways bring us all to great holiness!

God bless you.

Establishing Absolute, Knowable Truth, in Three Easy Steps

Gorgias

Gorgias the Nihilist, an ancient Greek philosopher, was said to have argued the following four points:

1. Nothing exists;
2. Even if something exists, nothing can be known about it; and
3. Even if something can be known about it, knowledge about it can't be communicated to others.
4. Even if it can be communicated, it cannot be understood.

Of course, if you can understand his argument, he’s wrong. So too, many modern thinkers hold to positions that, fall apart into self-refutation when critically examined.

Today, I want to look at three such popular claims. In showing their inherent contradictions, I hope to show why we can (and must) affirm that knowable, non-empirically testable, absolute truths exist.

Step 1: Answering Relativism

The claim: “Absolute truth does not exist.”

Why it’s Self-Refuting: The claim “absolute truth does not exist” is either absolutely true or it’s not. But, of course, it can’t be absolutely true, since that would create a contradiction: we would have proven the existence of an absolute truth, the claim itself. Since it cannot be absolutely true, we must concede that there are some cases in which the proposition “absolute truth does not exist” must be false… in which case, we’re back to affirming the existence of absolute truth.

What we can know: Absolute truth exists. Put another way, the claim “absolute truth exists” is absolutely true.

Step 2: Answering Skepticism

Allan Arnold, The Boy Nihilist (1909)

The claim: “We can’t know anything for certain.” Or “I don’t know if we can know anything for certain.”

Why it’s Self-Refuting: This one is a subtler self-refutation then the first, because it looks humble. After all, if I can say, “I don’t know the number of stars in the universe,” why can’t I take it a few steps further, and say, “I can’t know anything for certain”?

Simple. Because in saying that, you’re claiming to know something about your own knowledge. When we say, “I don’t know x,” we’re saying, “I know that my knowledge on x is inconclusive.”

Take the most mild-seeming statement: “I don’t know if we can know anything for certain.” What you’re really saying is that, “I know that my knowledge on whether anything can be known for certain is inconclusive.” So you’re still affirming something: that you know your knowledge to be inconclusive.

There are two ways of showing this. First, because it could be a lie. The claim “I don’t know who took the last cookie,” could very well be proven false, if we later found the cookie in your purse. So these “I don’t know” claims are still affirming something, even if they’re just affirming ignorance.

Second, apply the “I don’t know” to another person. If I said, “You don’t know anything about cars,” I’m making a definitive statement about what you do and don’t know. To be able to make that statement, I have to have some knowledge about you and about cars. So if I was to say, “you don’t know if we can know anything for certain,” I’d be claiming to know that you were a skeptic – a fact that I can’t know, since I’m not sure who’s reading this right now.

So when you say “I don’t know if we can know anything for certain,” you’re saying that you know for certain that you’re ignorant on the matter. But that establishes that things necessarily can be known for certain.

This is unavoidable: to make a claim, you’re claiming to know something. So any positive formulation of skepticism (“no one can know anything for certain,” “I can’t know anything for certain,” “I don’t know anything for certain,” etc.) ends up being self-refuting. For this reason, the cleverest skeptics worded their skepticism as rhetorical questions (e.g., de Montaigne’s “What do I know?”). If they were to say what they’re hinting at, it would be self-refuting. They avoid it by merely suggesting the self-refuting proposition.

Finally, remember that in Step 1 we determined that the claim “absolute truth exists” is absolutely true. We’ve established this by showing the logical contradiction of holding the contrary position. In other words, we’ve already identified a truth that we can know for certain: “absolute truth exists.”

What we can know: Absolute truth exists, and is knowable.

Step 3: Answering Scientific Materialism

Lovis Corinth, Ludwig Edinger (1909)

The claim: “All truth is empirically or scientifically testable.”

Why it’s Self-Refuting: The claim that “All truth is empirically or scientifically testable” is not empirically or scientifically testable. It’s not even conceivable to scientifically test a hypothesis about the truths of non-scientifically testable hypotheses. In fact, “all truth is empirically or scientifically testable” is a broad (self-refuting) metaphysical and epistemological claim.

What about the seemingly moderate claim, “We cannot know if anything is true outside of the natural sciences”? Remember, from Step 2, that “I don’t know x,” means the same as saying, “I know that my knowledge on x is inconclusive.” Here, it means, “I know that my knowledge on the truth of things outside of the natural sciences is inconclusive.” But the natural sciences can never establish your ignorance of truths outside the natural sciences. So to make this claim, you need to affirm as certain a truth that you could not have derived from the natural sciences. So even this more moderate-seeming claim is self-refuting.

Conclusion: There exists absolute and knowable truth, outside of the realm of the natural sciences, and not subject to empirical and scientific testing.

Profile of a Busy Catholic Mom

I'm so excited to be a part of this new Evangelized Kansas site!  My name is Shannon Vandaveer and I am a parishoner at Prince of Peace.  I am a wife of 16 years and mother of three busy children.  I am blessed to be able to stay home with my kids! 

Earlier this year, I felt like God was calling me to begin my own website - despite my many objections!  He opened so many doors for me that I felt He was almost pushing me through them! 

Now, I have BusyCatholicMoms.com and I am excited to be a part of this new ministry. 

Thank you, Fr. Andrew, for this opportunity!

http://busycatholicmoms.com/2013/10/10/are-you-a-mom-are-you-catholic-are-you-busy-you-are-a-busy-catholic-mom-too/

Check It Out: BusyCatholicMoms.com

 Here are the latest articles from my website - BusyCatholicMoms.com


Check it out to find articles on how to teach your children about the Bible and how to improve your prayer life.  Also see the Saint of the Week and thoughts from the upcoming Sunday Gospel!

http://busycatholicmoms.com/2013/10/10/new-articles-for-october-10-2013/

St. Teresa of Avila: Model for New Evangelization

St. Teresa of Avila in Ecstasy by Bernini

Today the Universal Church celebrates the feast of St. Teresa of Avila.  St. Teresa was a powerful example of prayer leading to reform.  She first set her heart on the Lord to reform herself.  She was actually shown a vision of the spot in Hell she was headed for if she hadn't been personally reformed to belong totally to Jesus Christ.

In addition to herself, St. Teresa set out to reform the Carmelite Order.  In a letter last year to Bishop Jesus Garcia Burillo of Avila, Spain marking the 450th anniversary of St. Teresa founding the Monastery of St. Joseph as part of her reform of the Carmelite Order, Pope Benedict XVI described the apostolic work of her prayer life.  The Catholic News Agency reported the Holy Father's thoughts:

In the “exhilarating task” of the New Evangelization, he said, the example of St. Teresa should inspire all Christians because she “evangelized unhesitatingly, showing tireless ardor, employing methods free from inertia and using expressions bathed in light.”

“This remains important in the current time,” said the Pope, “when there is a pressing need for the baptized to renew their hearts through individual prayer in which, following the guidance of St. Teresa, they also focus on contemplation of Christ’s blessed humanity as the only way to reach the glory of God.”

May the intercession and example of St. Teresa of Jesus lead more hearts to evangelize "unhesitatingly, showing tireless ardor, employing methods free from inertia and using expressions bathed in light."

Mother of Mercy, Pray for Us

As I read the Holy Father's address to the Plenary Assembly of the Pontifical Council for Promoting the New Evangelizaiton, some of the lines Fr. Beseau mentioned stood out to me as well:

So many people have fallen away from the Church. It’s a mistake to put the blame on one side or the other, in fact, it’s not about talking about fault. There are responsibilities in the history of the Church and of her men, in certain ideologies and also in individual persons. As children of the Church we must continue on the path of Vatican Council II, stripping ourselves of useless and harmful things, of false worldly securities which weigh down the Church and damage her true face.

There is need of Christians who render the mercy of God visible to the men of today, His tenderness for every creature. We all know that the crisis of contemporary humanity is not superficial but profound. Because of this the New Evangelization -- while calling to have the courage to go against the current, to be converted from idols to the only true God --, cannot but use the language of mercy, made up of gestures and attitudes even before words. In the midst of today’s humanity the Church says: Come to Jesus, all you who labor and are heavy laden and you will find rest for your souls (cf. Matthew 11:28-30). Come to Jesus. He alone has the words of eternal life.

"Our Lady of Sorrows" by Jay Crisafulli

So many times my heart breaks when someone asks me to pray for their "prodigal" loved ones.  It's painful to hear stories about people falling away from the Catholic Church.  The words of Pope Francis to not focus on who's to blame, but to focus on mercy are encouraging.  Instead of wallowing in what we could have done to keep a loved one from falling away from the Church, the Holy Father challenges us to focus on what we can control now: the Mercy of Jesus.

This approach is taken by the Marian Mantle Group.  They are one of my favorite prayer groups.  Started by a mother and father in Kansas who turned to prayer above all else for their prodigal child, the Marian Mantle group reminds us that "it's not hopeless and we're not helpless."

As they explain on their site:

A mother's heart ached because a grown child had ceased to be a practicing Catholic.  She and her husband searched for a way to bring their child back to the Church but the answers were not easily found since a grown man's life is his own.

As they prayed, they met parents, grandparents, and many others with the same heartache. The mother began to realize that in the midst of what seemed to be an impossible situation, through the grace of God and the leading of His Mother, she found herself reaching out to other parents who also hurt. The result is Marian Mantle Group - a group of Catholic parents dedicated to helping each other, and other parents with our same heartaches, to rest in the peace of the Lord while we join together in prayer for all our grown children.  Our goal is to work and pray together in the hope that every Catholic mother and  father will someday see the return of their prodigals to Holy Mother Church.

The Marian Mantle Group assists parishes in forming prayer groups to pray for prodigals.  By wrapping loved ones in the Mantle of the Blessed Virgin Mary, powerful conversions have taken place.  If you're interested in joining or forming such a prayer group, contact: editor@marianmantle.com

Our Family’s Little St. Therese of Lisieux Miracle

Lesle Knop, the Executive Director for the Office of Stewardship and Development for the Archdiocese of Kansas City in Kansas, has the following guest post for EVANGELIZED KANSAS:


A routine trip to the dentist when you’re 66 years old doesn’t usually reveal any problems greater than “you’ll need a new crown.”

At my husband’s last check-up, a Wednesday in early October, the dentist delivered a shock: “Doug, you will need to have a biopsy on a lesion I see under your tongue.”

Later that day, my husband struggled to grab his slippery tongue, turning it over to show me what the dentist had discovered. Together, we looked in the mirror and under his tongue. Sure enough, we saw an almost imperceptible, less than half an inch, gray bubble.  “Ith dothn’t hurth,” he mumbled.

But that night he wouldn’t kiss me.  He gave me a dry little peck instead.  So I could tell that he was worried: “What if it’s contagious? What if it’s cancer?”

Because my husband takes blood thinners, a trip to an oral surgeon, or any surgeon, is complicated. In order to prepare for the biopsy, a consultation with the oral surgeon was scheduled for the following Wednesday and we began praying.

What happened next could merely be a coincidence.

The priest who serves as the pastor of our small rural Catholic parish, Father Ric Halvorson, also serves on the Board of Directors of the USCCB’s Pontifical Mission Society. In this capacity, he was able to secure a display of a relic of the patron saint of the mission society, St. Therese of Lisieux, on Monday and Tuesday of the following week at a parish in our archdiocese.

On Tuesday afternoon, I joined the long procession of about 2,000 pilgrims who gathered at the large parish in a nearby suburb to view a small wooden writing desk, pen and ink bottle, and a page of tiny, precise French writing – relics of the beloved saint.  A relic is something connected with a saint or a person who has been beatified. It could be a part of their body or clothing, or an object that the saint used or touched. Veneration of relics is as ancient as the disciples visiting the graves of martyrs. This activity draws us closer to God. It’s not the size of a relic that matters, but the faith and prayer that links our humble lives to a particular saint and to the communion of saints.

When I arrived at the church for the veneration, I was given a small card on which to write a prayer. My little prayer, I was told, would be added with those of others and taken back to France where the Saint’s living sisters would lift them to the Lord in their prayers. The holiness of Saint Therese is inspirational to many to live the same kind of life – a life of faith, hope and trust in God.

As I made my way slowly to the front of the line that stretched the length of the center aisle of the big church, I observed entire families kneeling in prayer. Mothers with their daughters. Fathers with their sons. Clergy. Religious. The elderly. Young workers. Students. Some of those who came, I later learned, had traveled great distances for the opportunity to view the little desk.

St. Therese's Desk

Finally at the front of the church near the altar, I was able to place my rosary and my wedding ring, on the top of the relic and place my tiny prayer petition into an over-flowing little basket.  When I murmured my prayer request that Doug be healed, I felt a great wave of emotion flood over me. With tears, I returned to a pew, fumbled for a tissue in my purse, put my wedding ring back on my finger and knelt to say prayers on the same rosary. I prayed the joyful mysteries and asked our sweet St. Therese, who suffered and died from tuberculosis at age 24, to intercede with Jesus on Doug’s behalf.

The following morning, Doug got in his truck and drove into the city for his appointment with the oral surgeon.

At 11 a.m. he called me at my office and said, “You won’t believe this. The surgeon said there is nothing wrong with me. He couldn’t find a lesion on my tongue or anywhere in my mouth.”

I have been skeptical of reports of miracles in my adult life: Surely, that potato chip was not an image of Our Lady…that crying statue, there must be a trick or some technical deception.

But today, I am writing to say that there was a lesion in my husband’s mouth, on the right underneath side of his tongue, and now it is not there. Perhaps it was only a sore; yet he had no pain. Perhaps the lesion wasn’t there at all; yet at least three people, the dentist, my husband and I, saw it.

Faith is a remarkable gift from God. We don’t create it in ourselves – but it is a gift that we can accept or refuse. I am greatly moved by this little miracle in our lives. And I am grateful.

Before she died in 1897, about the same time that my grandparents were born, St. Therese said, “I feel that I’m about to enter into my rest. But I feel especially that my mission is about to begin, my mission of making God loved as I love Him, of giving my little way to souls…Yes, I want to spend my heaven in doing good on earth.”

I am filled with joy, gratitude and love as I share this story with you. My pastor, when I told him this story, said, “Lesle, just be sure you give credit where credit is due.”

Thank you, St. Therese of Lisieux, for winding your little way into my heart, and thank you, Lord, for Doug's healing.

Read more about St. Therese's desk here.