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Moral Life

605 articles from the existing collection.

The Church1 min read

Was not Alexander VI. one of the most evil men the world has ever seen?

Not quite, although he certainly was a disgrace to his office. But it is just because his office demanded such holiness that his life was so utterly incongruous. Yet if you reject the Papal System because of Alexander, you must logically reject the College of the Apostles because of Judas. And remember that the life led by Alexa…

God & Faith1 min read

St. Peter means that the Prophets did not prophesy by their own will, but by the Holy Spirit. He does not refer to interpretation by us.

Your own Protestant Bishop Ellicott says of these verses, “The words private interpretation might seem to mean that the sacred writers did not get their prophecies by private interpretation, but by divine inspiration. But this is certainly not the meaning. The real meaning is that the reader must not presume to interpret private…

Last Things & Salvation1 min read

May not heaven and hell be our present thought-forms which will give way to other thought-forms when we leave the body and go to the unknown?

We do not go to the unknown, though we do go to the as yet unexperienced. Christ has revealed the essential elements of our future lot. Meantime heaven and hell are not our present thought-forms. Heaven is prepared independently of our thinking processes. Christ said definitely, “I go to prepare a place for you, that where I am …

Moral Life1 min read

I think Catholic ideas most peculiar in this matter.

That is merely because Catholic ideas do not happen to fit in with your own religious upbringing. Things we don’t agree with usually seem peculiar to us. But the whole point is, are your ideas right, or are our ideas right? You have no proof whatever that your notions are right, or that Catholic ideas are wrong.

The Church1 min read

If a Catholic did marry outside the Catholic Church, would Christ cast a stain upon little children held up by Him to he the essence of goodness and innocence?

Christ would cast no stain upon them. Nor does the Catholic Church. Their goodness and innocence are not affected. But note this. The state says, “Unless you observe my laws your marriage will not be lawful wedlock, and your children will be illegitimate.” On your principle, the state has no right to cast such a slur on innocent…

Moral Life1 min read

Did not Christ say, “No man can serve two masters”?

He did. And we Catholics have but one Master—Christ. And we are serving Him even by the fulfillment of our lesser civic duties in so far as we do them for the love of Him. It is the man who gives himself up to worldly affairs in such a way as to separate them from the service of God who is attempting to serve two masters,

Other Christians & Religions1 min read

You Catholics got Sunday from Mithraism.

We did not. Sunday may have been the day celebrated in honor of Mithra. But this was not the reason for its selection by Christians. There is as much connection between the Christian choice of Sunday and Mithraism as there is between the fact that the Jews observed Saturday and the derivation of the word in English from Saturn. …

Moral Life1 min read

Will you apply these same questions to capitalism?

Capitalism is the economic system in which industry, production, distribution, and exchange are controlled by individuals who possess property, and who devote some or all of it to enterprises of commercial value, subject to certain restrictive state legislation. It is not a religion; nor a political form of government, since it …

Moral Life2 min read

He commanded the rich young man to sell all, and give it to the poor.

This was not a command, obliging in conscience. It was a special invitation which the young man was free to accept or reject. If the possession of goods as such were evil, Christ would have been recommending the young man to cause evil in the very ones who bought or accepted possession of his goods. But you have misunderstood th…

Moral Life1 min read

If God knows all things beforehand, is not that the end of our freedom?

No. God’s knowledge does not make us so act. An astronomer may be able to say, “There will be an eclipse of the sun.” When the eclipse comes, no one says that it had to come because the astronomer said it would. The astronomer’s knowledge was caused by the fact that it would come; the eclipse was not caused by the fact that he f…

The Church1 min read

You say that the Pope is not swayed hy national considerations. In a war between Italy and England, would not his sympathies be with Italy?

The Pope as Pope must forget his nationality. As a man his sympathies might be with Italy. But he could not favor Italy in his official capacity. Despite his national sympathies, the Pope has insisted upon being perfectly independent of Italian authority. If an English Pope had done this many would have ascribed it to anti-Itali…

Other Christians & Religions1 min read

We Protestants look upon the King, not as head of the Anglican Church, but as the representative of the British Empire.

If you have any respect for the law of England you must regard the King as head of the Anglican Church. The law says that he is, and to deny it is disloyal. As an Anglican I always accepted the King as head of the Anglican Church. As a Catholic, I still look upon him as head of that Church. Every loyal subject must do so. In the…

Sacraments & Worship1 min read

Anyway you allow misguided women to live unnatural lives away from the sunshine and from good men who would bestow upon them their love.

Most things that Christ taught and recommended seem to be misguided to those who are completely irreligious. No one claims that Christian and materialistic principles are in harmony. However, the good Sisters have private grounds for recreation in the sunshine, contrary to the creation of your melodramatic imagination. As for th…

Moral Life1 min read

But life seems to be becoming harder and more painful.

There has been a succession of world depressions and world recoveries through history. In any case temporal trials do not mean that life is becoming worse. It may be a means of great good. It is easy to follow all our lower instincts; difficult to battle against them. If your policy is to do only that which is easy and pleasant …

God & Faith1 min read

In all these replies to difficulties you are postulating free will, the sinful state of man, redemption by Christ, grace, and the eternal destiny of man!

That is so. These things are facts, and no problem can be fully solved except in the light of all the facts. I am quite prepared to justify these facts. Meantime, without them, no reasonable solution of the problems of God’s providence can be found at all; with them, the solution, even though inadequate, is at least rational and…

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