- THE CITY OF GOD -  THE  OMNIPOTENCE  OF  THE  CREATOR -  BY SAINT AUGUSTINE OF HIPPO -

- Of those who fancy that, on account of the saint's intercession, no man shall be damned in the last judgment - P A G E  5 -

There are others, again with whose opinions I have become acquainted in conversation who though they seem to reverence the holy Scriptures, are yet of reprehensible life and who accordingly in their own interest, attribute to God a still greater compassion towards men. For they acknowledge that is is truly predicted in the divine word that the wicked and unbelieving are worthy of punishment, but they assert that the when the judgement comes, mercy will prevail. For they said, God having compassion on them, will give them up to the prayers and intercessions of His saints. For if the saints used to pray for them when they suffered from their cruel hatred, how much more will they do so when they see them prostate and humble suppliants? For we cannot, they say, believe that the saints shall lose their bowels of compassion when they have attained the most perfect and complete holiness; so that they who, when still sinners, prayed for their enemies, should now, when they are freed from sin, withhold from interceding for their suppliants. Or shall God refuse to listen to so many of His beloved children when their holiness has purged their prayers of all hindrance to His answering them? And the passage of the psalms which is cited by those who admit that wicked men and infidels shall be punished for a long time, though in the end delivered from all sufferings, is claimed also by the persons, we are now speaking of as making much more for them. The verse runs: "Shall God forget to be gracious? Shall He in anger shut up His tender mercies?" - Psalms 1xxvii. 9 - His anger, they say, would condemn all that are unworthy of everlasting happiness to endless punishment. But if He suffer them to be punished for a long time or even at all, must He not shut up His tender mercies which the Psalmist implies He will not do? For he does not say, Shall He in anger shut up His tender mercies for a long period? but he implies that He will not shut them up at all.

And they deny that thus God's threat of judgement is proved to be false even though He condemn no man, anymore than we can say that His threat to overthrow Nineveh was false, though the destruction which was absolutely predicted was not accomplished. For He did not say: "Nineveh shall be overthrown if they do not repent and amend their ways," but without any shall condition He foretold that the city should be overthrown. And this prediction, they maintain was true because God predicted the punishment which they deserved, although He was not to inflict it. For though He spared them on their repentance, yet He was certainly aware that they would repent and not withstanding, absolutely and definitely predicted that the city should be overthrown. This was true, they say, in the truth of severity because they were worthy of it; but in respect of the compassion which checked His anger, so that He spared the suppliants with which He had threatened the rebellious, it was not true. If then, He spared those whom His own holy prophet was provoked at His sparing, how much more shall He spare those more wretched supplicants for whom all His saints shall intercede? And they suppose that this conjecture of theirs is not hinted at in Scripture, for the sake of stimulating many to reformation of life through fear of very protracted or eternal sufferings and of stimulating others to pray for those who have not reformed. However, they think that the divine oracles are not altogether silent on this point; for they ask to what purpose is it said, "How great is Thy goodness which Thou hast hidden for them that fear Thee," - Psalms xxxi. 19 - if it be not to teach us that the great and hidden sweetness of God' mercy is concealed in order that men may fear? To the same purpose they think the apostle said, "For God hath concluded all men in unbelief, that He may have mercy upon all," - Romans xi. 32 - signifying that no one should be condemned by God. And yet they who hold this opinion do not extend it to the acquittal or liberation of the devil and his angels. Their human tenderness is moved only towards men, and they plead chiefly their own cause, holding out false hopes of impunity to their own depraved lives by means of this quasi compassion of God to the whole race. Consequently, they who promise this impunity even to the prince of the devils and his satellites make a still fuller exhibition of the mercy of God.

- Of those who promise impunity from all sins even to heretics, through virtue of their participation of the body of Christ. -    

So, too, there are others who promise this deliverance from eternal punishment, not, indeed, to all men, but only to those who have been washed in Christian baptism and who become partakers of the body of Christ, no matter how they have lived or what heresy or impiety they have fallen into. They ground this opinion on the saying of Jesus, "This is the bread which cometh down from heaven, that if any man eat thereof, he shall not die. I am the living bread which came down from heaven. If a man eat of this bread, he shall live forever." - John vi. 50-51 - Therefore, say they, it follows that these persons must be delivered from death and at one time or other be introduced to everlasting life.

- Of those who promise this indulgence not at all, but only to those who have been baptized as Catholic, though afterwards they have broken out into many crimes and heresies -

There are others still who make this promise not even to all who have received the sacraments of the baptism of Christ and of His body, but only to the Catholics, however, badly they have lived. For these have eaten the body of Christ, not only sacramentally but really being incorporated in His body as the apostle says, "We, being many, are one bread, one body;" - 1 Corinthians x. 17 - so that, though they have afterwards lapsed into some heresy or even into heathenism and idolatry, yet by virtue of this one thing, that they received the baptism of Christ and eaten the body of Christ, in the body of Christ, that is to say, in the Catholic Church, they shall not die eternally but at one time or other obtain eternal life; and all that wickedness of theirs shall not avail to make their punishment eternal, but only proportionately long and severe.

- Of those who assert that all Catholics who continue in the faith, even though by the depravity of their lives they have merited hell fire, shall be saved on account of the "foundation" of their faith and work -

There are some, too, who found upon the expression of Scripture, "He that endure to the end shall be saved," - Matthew xxiv. 13 - and who promise salvation only to those who continue in the Catholic Church / Universal Church and though such persons have lived badly, yet, say they, they shall be saved as by fire through virtue of the foundation of which the apostle says, "For other foundation hath no man laid than that which is laid, which is Christ Jesus. Now if any man build upon this foundation gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, stubble; every man's work shall be made manifest: for the day of the Lord shall declare it, for it shall be revealed by fire; and each man's work shall be proved of what sort it is. If any man's work shall endure which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a reward. But if any man's work shall be burned , he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as through fire." - 1 Corinthians iii. 11-15 - They say, accordingly, that the Catholic Christian, no matter what his life be, has Christ as his foundation while this foundation is not possessed by any heresy which is separated from the unity of His body. And therefore, through virtue of this foundation, even though the Catholic Christian by the inconsistency of his life has been as one building up wood, hay, stubble, upon it, they believe that he shall be saved by fire, in other words, that he shall be delivered after tasting the pain of that fire to which the wicked shall be condemned at the last judgment.

- Of those who fancy that the sins which are intermingled with alms-deeds shall not be charged at the day of judgement - 

I have also met with some who are of opinion that such only as neglect to cover their sins with alms-deeds shall be punished in everlasting fire; and they cite the words of the Apostle James, "He shall have judgement without mercy who hath shown no mercy." - James ii. 13 - Therefore, say they, he who has not amended his ways but yet has intermingled his profligate and wicked actions with works of mercy, shall receive mercy in the judgement, so that he shall either quite escape condemnation or shall be liberated from his doom after some time shorter or longer. They suppose that this was the reason why the Judge Himself of quick and declined to mentioned anything else than works of mercy done or omitted, when awarding to those on His right hand life eternal and to those on His left everlasting punishment. - Matthew xxv. 3 - To the same propose, they say, is the daily petition we make in the Lord's prayer, "Forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors." - Matthew vi. 12 - For, no doubt, whoever pardons the person who has wronged by the Lord Himself that He says, "For if ye forgive men trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you: but if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses." - Matthew vi. 14-15 - And so it is to this kind of alms-deeds that the saying of the Apostle James refers, "He shall have judgement without mercy that hath shown no mercy." And our Lord, they say, made no distinction of great and small sins, but "Your Father will forgive your sins, if ye forgive men theirs." Consequently they conclude that, though a man has led an abandoned life up to the last day of it, yet whatsoever his sins have been, they are all remitted by virtue of this daily prayer, if only he has been mindful to attend to this one thing, that when they who have done him any injury ask his pardon, he forgive them form his heart.

When, by God's help, I have replied to all these errors, I shall conclude this (twenty-first) book.

- THE CITY OF GOD -  THE  OMNIPOTENCE  OF  THE  CREATOR -  BY SAINT AUGUSTINE OF HIPPO -

- Against those who are of opinion that the punishment neither of the devil nor of wicked men shall be eternal - P A G E 6 -

 - WELCOME TO SACRED SCRIPTURE / WORD OF GOD / HOLY BIBLE READER'S COMMUNITY -

Wishing you, 'Happy Reading', and may God, the Father, the Son of the living God, Jesus Christ, fills your heart, mind, thoughts, and grants you: The Holy Spirit, that is, Wisdom, Knowledge, Understanding, Counsel, Piety, Fortitude, Fear of the Lord, and also His fruits of the Holy Spirit, that is, Love, Joy, Peace, Patience, Kindness, Goodness, Trustfulness, Gentleness and Self-Control. Amen! God blessing be upon you!

If we live by the truth and in love, we shall grow in all ways into Christ Jesus, who is the head by whom the whole body is fitted and joined together, every joint adding its own strength, for each separate part to work according to it function, so the body grows until it has built itself up, in love. - Ephesians 4:15-16 -

I STILL HAVE MANY THINGS TO SAY TO YOU BUT THEY WOULD BE TOO MUCH FOR YOU NOW. BUT WHEN THE SPIRIT OF TRUTH COMES, HE WILL LEAD YOU TO THE COMPLETE TRUTH, SINCE HE WILL NOT BE SPEAKING AS FROM HIMSELF, BUT WILL SAY ONLY WHAT HE HAS LEARNT; AND HE WILL TELL YOU OF THE THINGS TO COME.

HE WILL GLORIFY ME, SINCE ALL HE TELLS YOU WILL BE TAKEN FROM WHAT IS MINE. EVERYTHING THE FATHER HAS IS MINE; THAT IS WHY I SAID: ALL HE TELLS YOU WILL BE TAKEN FROM WHAT IS MINE. - JOHN 16:12-15 - 

 - THE CITY OF GOD -  THE  OMNIPOTENCE  OF  THE  CREATOR -  BY SAINT AUGUSTINE OF HIPPO -

- That everything which the grace of God does in the way of rescuing us from the inveterate evils in which we are sunk, pertains to the future world, in which all things are made new -        -  P A G E  4  -

Nevertheless, in the "heavy yoke that is laid upon the sons of Adam, from the day that they go out of their mother's womb to the day that they return to the mother of all things" there is found an admirable though painful monitor teaching us to be sober-minded, and convincing us that this life has become penal in consequence of that outrageous wickedness which was perpetrated in Paradise, and that all to which the New Testament invites belongs to that future inheritance which awaits us in the world to come and is offered for our acceptance, as the earnest that we may in its own due time, obtain that of which it is the pledge. Now, therefore let us walk in hope, and let us by the spirit mortify the deeds of the flesh and so make progress from day to day. For "the Lord know them that are His" - 2 Timothy  2:19 - and "as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are sons of God" - Romans 8:14 - but the grace, not by nature. For there is but one Son of God by nature, who in His compassion became Son of Man for our sakes that we by nature sons of men, might by grace become through Him sons of God. For he, abiding unchangeable, took upon Him our nature, that thereby He might take us to Himself; and holding fast His own divinity, He became partaker of our infinity, that we, being changed into some better thing, might by participating in His righteousness and immortality, lose our own properties of sin and mortality, and preserve whatever good quality He had implanted in our nature, perfected now by sharing in the goodness of His nature. For as by the sin of one man we have fallen into a misery so deplorable, so by the righteousness of one Man, who also is God, shall we come to a blessedness inconceivably exalted. Nor ought anyone to trust that he has passed from the one man to the other until he shall have reached that place where there is no temptation and have entered into the peace which he seeks in the many and various conflicts of this war, in which "the flesh lust against the spirit, and the spirit against the flesh." 

Now such a war as this would have had no existence, if human nature had, in the exercise of free will, continued steadfast, in the uprightness in which it was created. But now in its misery it makes war upon itself, because in its blessedness it would not continue at peace with God; and this, though it be miserable calamity, is better than the earlier stages of this life which do not recognise that a war is to be maintained. For better is it to contend with vices than without conflict to be subdued by them. Better, I say, is war with the hope of peace everlasting than captivity without any thought of deliverance. We long, indeed, for the cessation of this war, and kindled by the flame of divine love, we burn for entrance on that well-ordered peace in which whatever is inferior is forever subordinated to what is above it. But if (which God forbid) there had been no hope of so blessed a consummation, we should still have preferred to endure the hardness of this conflict, rather than, by our non-resistance, to yield ourselves to the dominion of vice. 

- The laws of grace, which extend to all the epochs of the life of the regenerate -

But such is God's mercy towards the vessels of mercy which He has prepared for glory, that even the first age of man, that is, infancy, which submits without any resistance to the flesh, and the second age which is called boyhood and which has not yet understanding enough to undertake this warfare, and therefore yields to almost every vicious pleasure (became though this age has the power of speech - "Fari." - and may therefore seem to have passed infancy, the mind is still too weak to comprehend the commandment) yet if either of these ages has received the sacraments of the Mediator. then, although the present life be immediately brought to an end, the child, having been translated from the power of darkness to the kingdom of Christ, shall not only be saved from eternal punishments, but shall not even suffer purgatorial torments after death. For spiritual regeneration of itself suffices to prevent any evil consequences resulting after death from the connection with death which carnal generation forms.  - Aug. Ep. 98, ad Bonifacium - But when we reach that age which can now comprehend the commandment and submit to the dominion of law, we must declare war upon vices, and wage this war keenly, lest we be landed in damnable sins. And if vices have not gathered strength by habitual victory they are more easily overcome and subdued; but if they have been used to conquer and rule, it is only with difficulty and labour they are mastered. And indeed this victory cannot be sincerely and truly gained but by delighting in true righteousness and it is faith in Christ that gives this. For if the law be present with its command, and the Spirit be absent with His help, the presence of the prohibition serves only to increase the desire sin and adds the guilt of transgression. Sometimes, indeed, patent vices are overcome by other and hidden vices, which are reckoned virtues, though pride and a kind of ruinous self-sufficiency are their informing principles. According vices are then only to be considered overcome when they are conquered by the love of God, which God Himself alone gives and which He gives only through the Mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who became a partaker of our mortally that He might make us partakers of His divinity. But few indeed are they who are so happy as to have passed their youth without committing any damnable sins, either by dissolute or violent conduct, or by following some godless and unlawful opinions, but have subdued by their greatness of soul everything in them which could make them the slaves of carnal pleasures. The greater number having first become transgressors of the law that they have received and having allowed vice to have the ascendency in them, then flee to grace for help, and so by a penitence more bitter and a struggle more violent than it would otherwise have been, they subdue the soul to God, and thus give it its lawful authority over the flesh and become victors. Whoever, therefore, desires to escape eternal punishment, let him not only be baptised, but also justified in Christ, and so let him in truth pass from the devil to Christ. And let him not fancy that there are any purgatorial pains except before that final and dreadful judgement. We must not, however, deny that even the eternal fire will be proportioned to the deserts of the wicked, so that to some it will be more and to others less painful, whether this result be accomplished by a variation in the temperature of the fire itself, graduated according to everyone merit, or whether it be that the heat remains the same but that all do not feel it with equal intensity of torment.

- Of those who fancy that no men shall be punished eternally -

I must now, I see the lists of amicable controversy with those tender-hearted Christians who decline to believe that any or that all of those whom the infallibly just Judge may pronounce worthy of the punishment of hell, shall suffer eternally and who suppose that they shall be delivered after a fixed term of punishment, longer or shorter according to the amount of each man's sin. In respect of this matter, Origen was even more indulgent; for he believed that even the devil himself and his angels, after suffering those more severe and prolonged pains which their sins deserved, should be delivered from their torments and associated with the body angels. But the Church, not without reason, condemned him for this and other errors, especially for his theory of the ceaseless alternation of happiness and misery, and the interminable transitions from the one state to the other at fixed periods of ages; for in this theory he lost even the credit of being merciful, by allotting to the saints real miseries for the expiation of their sins, and false happiness which brought them no true and secure joy, that is, no fearless assurance of eternal blessedness. Very different, however, is the error we speak of which is dictated by the tenderness of these Christians who suppose that the sufferings of those who are condemned in the judgement will be temporary, while blessedness of all who are sooner or later set free will be eternal. Which opinion, if it is good and true in proportion as it becomes more merciful. let, then, this fountain of mercy be extended and flow forth even to the lost angels, and let them also be set free, at least after as many and long ages as seem fit! Why does this stream of mercy flow to all the human race, and dry up as soon as it reaches the angelic? And yet they dare not extend their pity further and propose the deliverance of the devil himself. Or if anyone is bold enough to do so, he does indeed put to shame their charity, but is himself convicted of error that is more unsightly and a wresting of God's truth that is more perverse, in proportion as his clemency of sentiment seems to be greater. -

- Of those who fancy that, on account of the saint's intercession, no man shall be damned in the last judgment - P A G E  5 -

 - WELCOME TO SACRED SCRIPTURE / WORD OF GOD / HOLY BIBLE READER'S COMMUNITY -

Wishing you, 'Happy Reading', and may God, the Father, the Son of the living God, Jesus Christ, fills your heart, mind, thoughts, and grants you: The Holy Spirit, that is, Wisdom, Knowledge, Understanding, Counsel, Piety, Fortitude, Fear of the Lord, and also His fruits of the Holy Spirit, that is, Love, Joy, Peace, Patience, Kindness, Goodness, Trustfulness, Gentleness and Self-Control. Amen! God blessing be upon you!

If we live by the truth and in love, we shall grow in all ways into Christ Jesus, who is the head by whom the whole body is fitted and joined together, every joint adding its own strength, for each separate part to work according to it function, so the body grows until it has built itself up, in love. - Ephesians 4:15-16 -

I STILL HAVE MANY THINGS TO SAY TO YOU BUT THEY WOULD BE TOO MUCH FOR YOU NOW. BUT WHEN THE SPIRIT OF TRUTH COMES, HE WILL LEAD YOU TO THE COMPLETE TRUTH, SINCE HE WILL NOT BE SPEAKING AS FROM HIMSELF, BUT WILL SAY ONLY WHAT HE HAS LEARNT; AND HE WILL TELL YOU OF THE THINGS TO COME.

HE WILL GLORIFY ME, SINCE ALL HE TELLS YOU WILL BE TAKEN FROM WHAT IS MINE. EVERYTHING THE FATHER HAS IS MINE; THAT IS WHY I SAID: ALL HE TELLS YOU WILL BE TAKEN FROM WHAT IS MINE. - JOHN 16:12-15 - 

                                   -  Straight to Catholics - Why I believe in What I believe  - 

                                                 By His Grace Bishop Paul Tan Chee Ing, S.J. 

                                                             SEARCH  FOR  MEANING 

                                                                  -  P A G E  -  2  -

                                              -  Why is there evil?  A Christian response  - 

God created us through Love and for Love. To love, then, is the nature of being human. But love is free ........ ............  - P A G E 1 -  In the light of what has been said, perhaps we Christians should ask ourselves about our attitude towards suffering. Do we consider suffering as evil? If so, we would try either to escape from suffering or to submit to it as the inevitable that comes from God.

                                                                  -  P A G E  -  2  -

                                                     -  Christian Meaning to Suffering -

We hear some Christians say that suffering is a punishment from God. An elderly woman in anguish came to me and said, "I have been praying hard and yet I still suffer. A Christian told me that it is due to my sins. I told him that I have confessed to God my guilt that I am sorry and that I will not sin again. He replied that I have secret sins of which I am unaware because if I were sinless, I would experience peace, joy and no suffering." The good-intentioned Christian was completely wrong. He should have found out first the kind of suffering the lady had. If it were a physical suffering, for example, arthritis, he should have said that this was the cause of some natural phenomenon - say, perhaps she slept with the fan blasting at her. He should then add that she should pray for a cure and seek medical help but more important she should learn how to bear the suffering in a Christian way thus giving praise to God and edifying other people. If the poor woman was suffering from some psychological problem, she should be helped psychologically. And it were some spiritual suffering, she should be helped spiritually, exhorting her to patience in the words of Saint Paul: "More than that, we rejoice in our suffering produces endurance and endurance produces character and character produces hope, and hope does not disappoint because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit which has been given to us." - Romans 5:3-5 - 

Obviously, this good-intentioned Christian took all suffering to be evil. He did not know the difference between evil and suffering. If suffering is the consequence of evil only, as suggested by the good-intentioned Christian, how is it that Our Lord Jesus Christ who is sinless (without sin) also suffered and died on the cross? Furthermore, Our Lord Jesus did promise us not only reward but also persecution (suffering). "Blessed are you when men revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad for your reward is great in heaven, for so men persecuted the prophets who were before you." - Matthew 5:11-12 - Surely, belief in the Sacred Scripture/Holy Bible tells us that suffering is also a Christian vocation. The Apostles were persecuted and some put to death, for example, Saint Peter and Saint Paul. After the Apostles, the early Church suffered 10 waves of persecution. The Book of Revelation or the Apocalypse was written during one of these persecutions to encourage Christians to persevere in their faith in spite of suffering imposed upon them by evil people. Christians today are still being harassed and unfairly treated in Communist countries especially and in other countries as well. Not only do we suffer persecution and false accusations from without the Christian Church but also from within. Tracts and pamphlets, attacking the Catholic Christian from Christians, as well as from non-Christians abound. - Many examples are available: by speech and writing -

Most of the time, this anti-Catholic Christian literature is full of half-truths which is worse than outright lies. Lies  and slandering can be recognized. Half-truths are insidious because most Catholics, who are not well versed in the understanding of their faith, fall prey to these half-truths. take a simple example: A certain B.F. Brewer in his pamphlets says, "The Holy Bible teaches that 'Faith' secures the remission of sins - Acts 10:43 - while Roman Catholicism teaches that the "Sacraments" (in addition to faith) do. - Brewer, Bartholomew F. (Ph.D) "Scriptural Truths for Roman Catholics". He is supposed to have been a former Roman Catholic Priest. If he were, then he must have purposely distorted Catholic teachings to suit his anti-Catholic stance. This would make him more guilty. - THE FIRST DECEITFUL TWIST IN Brewer's statement is the putting into brackets "in addition to faith." If he were to leave this out, it would have been an obvious lie. As it stands, it is a half-truth because he is saying that Catholics do speak of faith that brings "remission of sins" but they do not pay much attention to it, rather they say that it is the Catholics believe that Jesus Christ is the Saviour and this is our faith. Sacraments are aids to help us live out that faith in Christ Jesus in our daily lives. We, who are weak, constantly need Christ's grace. Sacraments is one of the means to obtain Christ's help. To go to the sacraments without faith is meaningless and useless. This is our belief. Now, we see how Brewer has stealthily distorted our teaching - a "quarter truth", if I may be permitted to coin a phrase, to put Catholics down. We should not be surprised at all these anti-Catholic lies and half-truths. The Apostles themselves complained that their teachings were distorted. hence Paul warned his disciples. "So Brethren, stand firm and hold to the traditions which you were taught by us either by word of mouth or by letter." - 2 Thessalonians 2:15 - Again Saint/Apostle Paul warned "For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own liking and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander into myths." - 2 Timothy 4:3-4 - Saint /Apostle Peter says, "There are something in them (Paul's epistles) hard  to understand which the ignorant and unstable twist to their own destruction, as they do to the other Sacred Scriptures." - 2 Peter 3:16 - In the face of these campaigns against us, let the words of the Lord console us: "Blessed are you when men revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you..." Indeed, not only the Gospels but also the history of Christianity attest that the Christian vocation is charged with suffering.

There is floating around in Malaysia and other countries, a wrong and false teaching that goes against the Gospels and reality. It denies not only that any good can come from suffering but also that all sufferings are evil. It may be that these good intentioned Christians are misled by a trend to emphasis only the joy of the Spirit of the Resurrected Lord Jesus Christ to the exclusion of the Cross of Christ. There is no Christianity without the Cross or the Resurrection (joy of the Spirit). Our faith in consonance with the reality of suffering as coming from the limitedness of Man as explained above, tell us that suffering can be turned into a source of salvation for mankind. Suffering is then endured with joy in the Spirit. Our Lord Jesus on the Cross is the supreme example.

The question Christians should ask is not how we can escape from suffering but how we can bring meaning into suffering. The Christian philosopher Paul Claudel said, "Jesus has not come to take away suffering. he has come to fill it with his presence."

Keeping in mind what I have said about suffering and evil from the Christian point of view, I would like to share with you how I see meaning in suffering. - You may say that I inject meaning into suffering. It is not what the meaning truly is of suffering. Hence, it is subjective. My answer is that all meaning are injected into things and events by human beings. Without human beings, there is no such thing as a meaning. - First I try to avoid inflicting suffering on others and causing myself to suffer. When suffering does come my way, either from the natural causes of nature, for example, cancer that I have contracted or from an intentional evil act by a human being, I accept it with faith and love, offering cheerfully my suffering with Christ Jesus for the salvation of mankind, saying with Saint/Apostle Paul: "Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake and in my flesh I complete what is lacking in Christ's afflictions for the sake of his body, that is, the Church." - Colossians 1:24 - With this attitude of faith and love, I can turn what is meaningless suffering into what is meaningful power of salvation. I can change what is bitter in itself to what is joyful pain for the salvation of others. It will lighten my burden in suffering. This is for me is what Jesus meant when He said: "Take my yoke upon you and learn from me; for I am gentle and lowly in heart and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light." - Matthew 11:29-30 -  This will also help me to be more compassionate with those who suffer. I will grow spiritually - Romans  5:3-5 - and become a better human being. Christ himself was made perfect through suffering - Hebrews 2:10 - How much more do we need to go through suffering to become more human, we who are so sinful?

                                           

 - WELCOME TO SACRED SCRIPTURE / WORD OF GOD / HOLY BIBLE READER'S COMMUNITY -

Wishing you, 'Happy Reading', and may God, the Father, the Son of the living God, Jesus Christ, fills your heart, mind, thoughts, and grants you: The Holy Spirit, that is, Wisdom, Knowledge, Understanding, Counsel, Piety, Fortitude, Fear of the Lord, and also His fruits of the Holy Spirit, that is, Love, Joy, Peace, Patience, Kindness, Goodness, Trustfulness, Gentleness and Self-Control. Amen! God blessing be upon you!

If we live by the truth and in love, we shall grow in all ways into Christ Jesus, who is the head by whom the whole body is fitted and joined together, every joint adding its own strength, for each separate part to work according to it function, so the body grows until it has built itself up, in love. - Ephesians 4:15-16 -

I STILL HAVE MANY THINGS TO SAY TO YOU BUT THEY WOULD BE TOO MUCH FOR YOU NOW. BUT WHEN THE SPIRIT OF TRUTH COMES, HE WILL LEAD YOU TO THE COMPLETE TRUTH, SINCE HE WILL NOT BE SPEAKING AS FROM HIMSELF, BUT WILL SAY ONLY WHAT HE HAS LEARNT; AND HE WILL TELL YOU OF THE THINGS TO COME.

HE WILL GLORIFY ME, SINCE ALL HE TELLS YOU WILL BE TAKEN FROM WHAT IS MINE. EVERYTHING THE FATHER HAS IS MINE; THAT IS WHY I SAID: ALL HE TELLS YOU WILL BE TAKEN FROM WHAT IS MINE. - JOHN 16:12-15 - 

                                       -  Straight to Catholics - Why I believe in What I believe  - 

                                                 By His Grace Bishop Paul Tan Chee Ing, S.J.  

                                              -  Why is there evil? - -  A Christian response  - 

God created us through Love and for Love. To love, then, is the nature of being human. But love is free. I cannot force you to love me. You must freely respond to my invitation of love before there is love between you and I. If you refuse to love me, even if I go down on my knees or lock you up in my house, I will not be able to force you to love me. Love and freedom are two sides of the same coin. Love that is forced is not love. Because I can love, I have freedom; or rather because I have freedom, I can love. Ironically, though, precisely because I am free, I can go against love. When I go against love, I go against myself and against the nature of human relationships, and therefore bring evil upon myself and others. This for us, Christian, is sin because evil or sin is the refusal to love for which we have been made. Evil destroys. Love creates. Hence the whole history of salvation hinges on God's call to us to love as He loves us. "This is my Commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you," says Jesus Christ, the Son of the living God.

                                                    -  The Buddhist-Hindu response  -

The Buddhists and the Hindus have one common root in their different traditions. They believe in karma and in reincarnation: They believe that the cause of all sufferings or evil is in human desire and craving. They do not make a distinction between evil or suffering.

                                                    -  Buddhism  -

Human beings are born into a world of suffering (dukkha) because of the illusory nature of things in this world. The cause of 'suffering' is 'craving' or sometimes translated as 'desire' (Tanha). Hence it is the craving after the unreal or illusory nature of things in this world that brings about dukkha, "suffering". The path to end suffering is to "dig up the very roots of Tanha." - (Dhammapada verse 337 found in the Significance of the Four Noble Truths, by V.C. Gunaratne, the Wheel Publication, No. 123; Buddhist Publication Society, Kandy, Sri Lanka 1973 p. 21) To be able to dig up the root of Tanha, craving in Man, he must be enlightened that all is transitory or illusion. "It is by reason of this reproductive power of thought, that the will to love makes man re-live or as Dalhke puts it, "We live eternally through our lust to live". - op.cit,. p. 26-27 - The Way to this enlightenment is the famous eightfold Path: through right Understanding, right Thought, right Speech, right Action, Livelihood, Effort, Mindfulness and Concentration. It is a programme of purification of thought, word and deed leading to cessation of craving. the total "extinction" of craving is the bliss of Nibbana or Nirvana.

                                                    -  Hinduism  -

Hindus also believe that the world of which one is aware is illusory (maya) in the sense that it is like a veil concealing the Absolute Reality (Brahman) or God who is One with everything, so much so that there is no longer and distinction between God and the whole of nature. Man, therefore, in his depth, his soul, Atman is Braham. The unenlightened Man craves for life in its illusory form as he is aware of it, not realizing that beyond the :illusion", God is all and all is God. The root of existence, then, is craving or desire which is suffering. Hence, to be released or liberated from the fatal chain of reincarnation into life, all desires must be extinguished. To achieve this, different paths are proposed, some better than others - the path of action with strict observance of rites, pilgrimages and prayers, the path of asceticism, etc. Yoga are practical methods of this spiritual training. living the spiritual experience revealed by the Veda can help one reach enlightenment where he, in ecstatic state, experiences the Oneness of Atman (his soul) and Brahman.

                                                     -  My personal view  - 

As can be seen, there is a common parenthood in Buddhism and Hinduism. All suffering or evil comes from craving or desire. The path of salvation lies in the extinction of all human cravings for this earthly life. The differences lie in their dissimilar concepts of the "Ultimate Reality" its relation to Man and the paths to achieve Salvation.

Although I believe that there are beautiful truths in both Buddhism and Hinduism, I cannot accept certain ideas. To me, existence is not all suffering. There are joys as well as sufferings. There is good and bad. God, who is all Good, all Wise, all beautiful, etc. cannot create evil. Creation as it is, is not evil It is good, although imperfect. Evil come from Man himself or from the Evil Force. - I will not go into a discussion of what this Evil Force is - If we say that life is all suffering or evil, and that the only happiness is the release from this earthly life, we are saying that God has created an evil world. That which is all Good cannot create evil. It is a contradiction. I personally  think that the only sensible and coherent answer is what I have said earlier: to distinguish between evil and suffering, to distinguish suffering that is a consequence of an evil deed and suffering that is the result of the limitedness or finiteness of creatures, and to see that suffering in itself is not evil; it is our reaction to suffering that brings evil or good. I do not believe either that all desires or cravings are evil. I do not see how my desire or even craving for bad things that is evil.

                                                     -  The Islamic response  -

The official orthodox view of Muslims is that everything even good and evil comes from God. "A Muslim should believe in his heart and confess with his tongue that the most exalted God hath decreed all things; so that nothing can happen in the world, whether it respects the conditions and operations of things, or good or evil, or obedience or disobedience, or sickness or health, or riches or poverty, of life or death which is not contained in the written tablet of the decrees of God." - Caesar E. Farah, Islam, Barron's Educational Series, Inc., United States, 1970, p. 120 -

There are many Quranic verses which support this. To give a few: (1) "Naught befalleth us save that which Allah hath decreed for us." (S.5:9, v. 51)- (2) "All things have been created after a fixed decree." (S.5:54, v. 49) - (3) "He whom Allah leadeth, he indeed is led aright while they whom Allah sendeth astray, they indeed are losers." (S.7, v. 178).

Since everything, even one's final destiny either in heaven or in hell, is ordained by God, one can only say in everything "if God wills," or In Sha Allah.

On the other hand, Prophet Muhammad also insisted that one should do good. "lo! Allah enjoins justice and good deeds and that ye be kind to kinfolk as He condemns indecency, illicit deeds and all wrongs?" (S.16, v. 90)

Hence the ensuing debate followed after Muhammad's death: the Jabrite theologians taught that Man had no freedom of choice while the Qadrites taught that evil is the result of Man's own free choice. The Ash'arites tried to harmonize the contradiction by saying that although God decreed what a man should do, He also gives Man the choice to do it. Although some educated Muslims today tend to place more emphasis on Man's responsibility for his actions, the general tendency is still to stress God's inflexible decree. Thus Caesar E. Farah says: "Man is not cognizant of what he was predestined to do until the act is committed by his own choice and free will, of which he is quite conscious. It is then and only then that he realizes that the act committed was preordained. By such an argument, faith in divine predestination can neither require denial of human consciousness or freedom of will, nor eliminate the factor of individual responsibility from human conduct.' - Caesar E. Farah, op. cit. p. 121 -

                                                      -  My personal views  - 

Whether or not Man is conscious or not of his action as free, he is still ultimately determined by God. The contradiction still exists. In the final analysis, suffering and evil for the Muslims come from God. This is also why Muslims must submit totally to God in good or evil, in suffering or in joy. And this is the meaning of Islam or Total Submission.

My above argument for a clear distinction between evil and suffering, and a distinction to be made between the different causes of suffering, also holds for this section.

                                               -  Christian view on freedom and predestination  -

I would like to go a step further to show why I hold my viewpoint by giving the Christian viewpoint on freedom and predestination. 

We distinguish between God's passive and active will. His passive will would be the existing Universe with its natural laws which He holds in existence. His passive will allow Nature to function according to its laws. Since man's nature is to be free to choose love or not to choose, God's passive will allow Man to act according to his nature. Hence Man responsible for his own action be it good or bad, without God's preordained decree. God does not force Man to do this or that. God's active will is when He intervenes and goes against the laws of Nature which He has created, for example in a true miracle. He seldom does this because it would put in question His creation. Why then did He create such a laws if He were to break it all the time? But, no one can limit God case, who is to say that He should not? An analogy may help to clarify the passive and active will of God. I build a two storey house with a staircase. The laws that govern going up and down the staircase are there. By this, I do not intend or will that my son will fall down the steps. The passive will of God is similar to allowing my son to climb up and down the stairs that has certain laws which govern the climbing up and down. One day my son, defying these laws, jumps from the top of the stairs. To prevent my son from falling, I say, "Stop in the air". Let us suppose I have miraculous powers. Thus, my son stops falling and hovers in the air. This willing of mine goes against the laws that govern climbing up and down the steps. God's active will is similar to this. I know that all analogies limp. So does this one.

This does not take away God's omniscience or All Knowing. To know and to will are two different acts. I can know something, yet I need not will to act upon it. I can know what you will do in a certain circumstance, that is, if I have a good knowledge of you, without making you do it. Suppose I know you well enough and that you have a craze for coca cola drink. When all the different kinds of drinks are there for you, I know that you will opt for coca cola. My knowledge of you does not force you. You choose coca cola yourself. God Knows from eternity all that I will do (Knowledge) without forcing me to do it (Will).

Why then does God not prevent me from doing evil since He knows it? I have already implicitly given the answer above. God created through Love and for Love which by its very nature entails freedom. To take away my freedom is to take away Love. This means that I would not have been created. It contradicts the essence of the creation of Man.

A last word on this subject. God's Knowledge is not like ours at all. Our knowledge is limited by time - past, present and future. God, the Eternal has no time. His Knowledge has no past, present and future. When we post the question of why God does not prevent our evil deeds, we have placed God's Knowledge into time. He knows what we will do tomorrow (future) so now (present) He should prevent us from doing it. If we do this, God's Knowledge becomes no longer God's Knowledge but the projection of our human knowledge into God's. It would be then, a figment of our imagination.

In a brief comparison, this is the difference between the Islamic and the Christian concepts of evil. The general orthodox Islamic belief is that God has decreed eternally everything, even Man's actions. Therefore, good and evil come from God. Allah has decreed from eternity whether a man will go to Paradise or Hell (S. 7, vv. 178-179). Christians believe that God's passive will holds all the laws of His creation in existence without His active interference (active will). Hence, Man is free to choose good or bad (love or sin) Although God Knows eternally what each man will do (Psalms 139; Isaiah 46; Hebrews 4:13). Evil comes from Man or the Evil Force. Good comes from God. And God says that He does not want any man to perish but that all should repent and be saved ( 2 Peter 3:9; 1 Timothy 2:4).

In summary, my tremendous respect and love for Muslims as well as for the Hindus and Buddhists, and my acknowledgement of the good in their beliefs, does not prevent me from believing that the Christian explanation of suffering and evil is more coherent to me personally.

                                              -  Christian Meaning to Suffering -

In the light of what has been said, perhaps we Christians should ask ourselves about our attitude towards suffering. Do we consider suffering as evil? If so, we would try either to escape from suffering or to submit to it as the inevitable that comes from God.

We hear some Christians say..............   

- WELCOME TO SACRED SCRIPTURE / WORD OF GOD / HOLY BIBLE READER'S COMMUNITY -

Wishing you, 'Happy Reading', and may God, the Father, the Son of the living God, Jesus Christ, fills your heart, mind, thoughts, and grants you: The Holy Spirit, that is, Wisdom, Knowledge, Understanding, Counsel, Piety, Fortitude, Fear of the Lord, and also His fruits of the Holy Spirit, that is, Love, Joy, Peace, Patience, Kindness, Goodness, Trustfulness, Gentleness and Self-Control. Amen! God blessing be upon you!

If we live by the truth and in love, we shall grow in all ways into Christ Jesus, who is the head by whom the whole body is fitted and joined together, every joint adding its own strength, for each separate part to work according to it function, so the body grows until it has built itself up, in love. - Ephesians 4:15-16 -

I STILL HAVE MANY THINGS TO SAY TO YOU BUT THEY WOULD BE TOO MUCH FOR YOU NOW. BUT WHEN THE SPIRIT OF TRUTH COMES, HE WILL LEAD YOU TO THE COMPLETE TRUTH, SINCE HE WILL NOT BE SPEAKING AS FROM HIMSELF, BUT WILL SAY ONLY WHAT HE HAS LEARNT; AND HE WILL TELL YOU OF THE THINGS TO COME.

HE WILL GLORIFY ME, SINCE ALL HE TELLS YOU WILL BE TAKEN FROM WHAT IS MINE. EVERYTHING THE FATHER HAS IS MINE; THAT IS WHY I SAID: ALL HE TELLS YOU WILL BE TAKEN FROM WHAT IS MINE. - JOHN 16:12-15 - 

- THE CITY OF GOD -  THE  OMNIPOTENCE  OF  THE  CREATOR -  BY SAINT AUGUSTINE OF HIPPO - 

- Whether it is just that the punishments of sins last longer than the sins themselves lasted -  Page  Three  -

Some, however, of those against whom we are defending the city of God think it unjust that any man/woman be doomed to an eternal punishment for sins which no matter how great they were, were perpetrated in a brief space of time; as if any law ever regulated the duration of the punishment by the duration of the offence punished! Cicero tells us that the laws recognise eight kinds of penalty - damages, imprisonment, scourging, reparation - "Talio," that is, the rendering of like for like, the punishment being exactly similar to the injury sustained. - disgrace, exile, death, slavery. Is there anyone of these which may be compressed into a brevity proportioned to the rapid commission of the offence, so that no longer time may be spent in its punishment than in its perpetration, unless, perhaps, reparation? For this requires the offender suffer what he did, as that clause of the law says, "Eye for eye, tooth for tooth." - Exodus 21:24 - For certainly it is possible for an offender to lose his eye by the severity of legal retaliation in as brief a time as he deprived another of his eye by the cruelty of his own lawlessness. But if scourging be a reasonable penalty for kissing another man's wife, is not the fault of an instant visited with long hours of atonement and the momentary delight punished with lasting pain? What shall we say of imprisonment? Must the criminal be confined only for so long a time as he spent on the offence for which he is committed? or is not a penalty of many years' confinement imposed on the slave who has provoked his master with a word, or struck him a blow that is quickly over? And as to damages, disgrace, exile, slavery, which are commonly inflicted so as to admit of no relaxation or pardon, do not these resemble eternal punishments in so far as this short life allows a resemblance? For they are not eternal only because the life in which they are endured is not eternal; and yet the crimes which are punished with these most protracted sufferings are perpetrated in a very brief space of time. Nor is there anyone who would suppose that the pains of punishment should occupy as short a time as the offence; or that murder, adultery, sacrilege or any other crime, should be measured not by the enormity of the injury or wickedness, but by the length of time spent in its perpetration. Then as to the award of death for any great crime, do the laws reckon the punishment to consist in the brief moment in which death is inflicted or in this, that the offender is eternally banished from the society of the living? And just as the punishment of the first death cuts men off from this present mortal city, so does the punishment of the second death cut men off from that future immortal city. For as the laws of this present city do not provide for the executed criminal's return to it, so neither is he who is condemned to the second death recalled again to life everlasting. But if temporal sin is visited with eternal punishment, how, then, they say, is that true which your Christ says, "With the same measure that ye mete withal it shall be measured to you again?" - Luke 6:38 - and they do not observe that "the same measure" refers, not to an equal space of time, but to the retribution of evil, or in other words, to the law by which he who has done evil suffers evil. Besides, these words could be appropriately understood as referring to the matter of which our Lord was speaking when He used them, viz. judgements and condemnation. Thus, if he who unjustly judges and condemns is himself justly judged and condemned, he receives "with the same measure" though not the same thing as he gave. For judgement he gave and judgement he receives, though the judgement he gave was unjust, the judgement he receives just.

 - Of the greatness of the first transgression, on account of which eternal punishment is due to all who are not within the pale of the Saviour's grace - 

But eternal punishment seem hard and and unjust to human perceptions because in the weakness of our mortal condition there is wanting that highest and purest wisdom which it can be perceived how great a wickedness was committed in that first transgression. the more enjoyment man found in God, the greater was his wickedness in abandoning Him; and he who destroyed in himself a good which might have been eternal because worthy of eternal evil. Hence the whole mass of the human race is condemned; for he who at first gave entrance to sin has been punished with all his posterity who were in him as in a root, so that no one is exempt from this just and due punishment, unless delivered by mercy and undeserved grace; and the human race is so apportioned that in some is displayed the efficacy of merciful grace, in the rest the efficacy of just retribution. For both could not be displayed in all; for if all had remained - Remanerent. But Augustine constantly uses the imp. for the pulp, subjunctive. - under the punishment of just condemnation, there would have been seen in no one the mercy of redeeming grace. And on the other hand, if all had been transferred from darkness to light, the severity of retribution would have been manifested in none. But many more are left under punishment than are delivered from it, in order that it may thus be shown what was due to all. And had it been inflicted on all, no one could justly have found fault with the justice of Him who taketh vengeance; whereas, in the deliverance of so many from that just award, there is cause to render the most cordial thanks to the gratuitous bounty of Him who delivers.

 - Against the opinions of those who think that the punishments of the wicked after death are purgatorial - 

The Platonists, indeed, while they maintain that no sins are unpunished, suppose that all punishment is administered for remedial purposes, - Plato's own theory was that punishment had a two fold purpose, to reform and to deter. No one punishes an offender on account of the past offence, and simply because he has done wrong, but for the sake of the future, that the offence may not be again committed, either by the same person or by anyone who has seen him punished." See the Protagoras, 324, b, and Grote's Plato, ii 41. - be it inflicted by human or divine law, in this life or after death; for a man may be scathless here, or, though punished, may yet not amend. hence that passage of Virgil, where, when he had said of our earthly bodies and mortal members, that our souls derive - 

"Hence wild desires and grovelling fears, And human laughter, human tears; Immured in dungeon-seeming night, They took abroad, yet see no light," goes on to say: "Nay, when at last the life has fled, And left the body cold and dead, Even then there passes not away, The painful heritage of clay; Full many a long-contracted stain, Perforce must linger deep in grain. So penal sufferings they endure, For ancient crime, to make them pure; Some hang aloft in open view, For winds to pierce them through and through, While others purge their guilt deep-dyed. In burning fire or whelming tide." - AEneid, vi. 733 - 

They who are of this opinion would have all punishments after death to be purgatorial; and as the elements of air, fire, and water are superior to earth, one or other of these may be the instrument of expiating and purging away the stain contracted by the contagion of earth. So Virgil hints at the air in the words, "Some hang aloft for winds to pierce;" at the water in "whelming tide;" and the fire in the expression "in burning fire." For our part, we recognise that even in this life some punishments are purgatorial - not, indeed, to those whose life is none the better, but rather the worse for them, but to those who are constrained by them to amend their life. All the punishments, whether temporal or eternal, inflicted as they are on everyone by divine providence, are sent either on account of past sins, or of sins presently allowed in the life, or to exercise and reveal a man's graces. They may be inflicted by the instrumentality of bad men and angels as well as of the good. For even if anyone suffers some hurt through another's wickedness or mistake, the man indeed sins whose ignorance or injustice does the harm; but God, why by His just though hidden judgement permits it to be done, sins not. But temporary punishments are suffered by some in this life only, by others after death, by others both now and then; but all of them before that last and strictest judgment. But of those who suffer temporary punishments after death, all are not doomed to those everlasting pains which are to follow that judgment; for to some, as we have already said, what is not remitted in this world is remitted in the next, that is, they are not punished with the eternal punishment of the world to come.

       - Of the temporary punishment of this life to which the human condition is subject -  

Quite exceptional are those who are not punished in this life, but only afterwards. Yet that there have been some who have reached the decrepitude of age without experiencing even the slightest sickness and who have had uninterrupted enjoyment of life, I know both from report and from my own observation. However, the very life we mortals lead is itself all punishment, for it is all temptation, as the Sacred Scripture declares, where it is written, "Is not the life of man upon earth a temptation?" - Job 7:1 - For ignorance is itself no slight punishment, or want of culture which it is with justice thought so necessary to escape, that boys are compelled under pain of severe punishment, to learn trades or letters; and the learning to which they are driven by punishment is itself so much of a punishment to them, that they sometimes prefer the pain that drives them to the pain to which they are driven by it. And so would not shrink from the alternative and elect to die, if it were proposed to him either to suffer death or to be again an infant? Our infancy, indeed, introducing us to this life not with laughter but with tears, seems unconsciously to predict the ills we are to encounter. - Compare Goldsmith's saying, "We begin life in tears and everyday tells us why." Zoroaster alone is said to have laughed when he was born and that unnatural omen portended no good to him. For he is said to have been the inventor of magical arts, though indeed they were unable to secure to him even the poor felicity of this present life against the assaults of his enemies. For, himself king of the Bactrians, he was conquered by Ninus king of the Assyrians. In short, the words of Scripture, "An heavy yoke is upon the sons of Adam, from the day they go out of their mother's womb till the day that they return to the mother of all things," - Ecclesiastes 11:1 - these words till the day that they return to the mother of all things," - 2 Timothy 2:19 - these words so inffallibly find fulfilment that even the little ones, who by the laver of regeneration have been freed from the bond of original sin in which alone they were held, yet suffer many ills and in some instances are even exposed to the assaults of evil spirits. But let us not for a moment suppose that this suffering is prejudicial to their future happiness, even though it has so increased as to sever soul from body, and to terminate their life in that early age.

 - That everything which the grace of God does in the way of rescuing us from the inveterate evils in which we are sunk, pertains to the future world, in which all things are made new - 

Nevertheless, in the "heavy yoke that is laid upon the sons of Adam, from the day that they go out of their mother's womb to the day that they return to the mother of all things" there is found an admirable though painful monitor teaching us to be sober-minded, and convincing us that this life has become penal in consequence of that outrageous wickedness which was perpetrated in Paradise,.............

   - WELCOME TO SACRED SCRIPTURE / WORD OF GOD / HOLY BIBLE READER'S COMMUNITY -

Wishing you, 'Happy Reading', and may God, the Father, the Son of the living God, Jesus Christ, fills your heart, mind, thoughts, and grants you: The Holy Spirit, that is, Wisdom, Knowledge, Understanding, Counsel, Piety, Fortitude, Fear of the Lord, and also His fruits of the Holy Spirit, that is, Love, Joy, Peace, Patience, Kindness, Goodness, Trustfulness, Gentleness and Self-Control. Amen! God blessing be upon you!

If we live by the truth and in love, we shall grow in all ways into Christ Jesus, who is the head by whom the whole body is fitted and joined together, every joint adding its own strength, for each separate part to work according to it function, so the body grows until it has built itself up, in love. - Ephesians 4:15-16 -

I STILL HAVE MANY THINGS TO SAY TO YOU BUT THEY WOULD BE TOO MUCH FOR YOU NOW. BUT WHEN THE SPIRIT OF TRUTH COMES, HE WILL LEAD YOU TO THE COMPLETE TRUTH, SINCE HE WILL NOT BE SPEAKING AS FROM HIMSELF, BUT WILL SAY ONLY WHAT HE HAS LEARNT; AND HE WILL TELL YOU OF THE THINGS TO COME.

HE WILL GLORIFY ME, SINCE ALL HE TELLS YOU WILL BE TAKEN FROM WHAT IS MINE. EVERYTHING THE FATHER HAS IS MINE; THAT IS WHY I SAID: ALL HE TELLS YOU WILL BE TAKEN FROM WHAT IS MINE. - JOHN 16:12-15 -                               

                                      -  Straight to Catholics - Why I believe in What I believe  - 

                                                 By His Grace Bishop Paul Tan Chee Ing, S.J. 

                                                             SEARCH  FOR  MEANING 

Since the dawn of consciousness, human beings have been plagued with two questions: (1) Why is there suffering; and related to this is why is there evil? (2) Why am I here? Or what is the meaning of Creation? It was really to these basic questions of life that human beings developed religions, perhaps in the beginning intuitively and later in a more rational way.

                                                             Why Creation?

Some so-called scientists say that it was fear that made Man concoct the notion of God: fear of thunder, lightning, floods, earthquakes, etc... Fear may be one of the factors that stirred in Man a questioning of his own fragile existence. And why not? Everything in the Universe, in fact, prods Man to ask questions. I believe human awareness is much richer than just fear. As man/woman sat and watched the splendour of sunset, for example, he/she was filled with an awe which in turn posed to him/her a question of his/her own smallness. Watchers of monkeys, especially of a higher species, tell us that some monkeys sit for hours watching the sunset, as if mystified by its glory. How much more are human beings endowed with consciousness? It was not only fear but everything in Life itself that set Man's mind into operation. Life still moves us to wonder. Who am I? What is this thing call life - the trees, birds, animals, sky, water, stars, etc. And I am only one among so many of my own kind. In the midst of all creation, I am only a drop which disappears practically into nothingness. It is natural when one comes to grips with the reality of one's smallest to think of "Something greater", the Cause of this changing finite existence. Some call this infinitely greater "Something" God; other the Absolute, etc. Call "It" whatever it might be, the Reality is there. Aristotle, through his reasoning on the principle of course and effect came to his belief in the "Absolute-Uncaused-Cause." The process to this Ultimate Reality between Aristotle and the primitive Man is the same. The difference lies in the degree of intellection: the former through a very sophisticated logical reasoning, the latter through a more intuitive grasp. But why must this "Absolute-Infinite Reality" create a finite Universe? I am not asking the question: why am I created. Rather, why is there creation at all?

                                                             Christian perspective

It seems to me that only Christianity answers the question satisfactorily. All other religions seem to accept creation as a fact. Perhaps I do not know other religions well enough. Up to the present, as far as my knowledge goes, there are creation stories in all religions. However, creation stories answer the question of how, not why. Only Christianity answers to my satisfaction the "why". And it is not found in the creation story in Genesis. It is found in the Life and teaching of Christ. Saint Paul sums up beautifully Jesus Christ's life in his letter to the Philippians, chapter 2, verses 6-8.

              "though he was in the form of God, he did not count equality with God a thing to be

               grasped, but emptied himself, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness 

               of men. And being found in human form he humbled himself and became obedient unto 

               death, even death on a cross."

This captures neatly Christ's life of love. Love is the ability to get out of my own world ( just as Christ got out of his divine world ) to enter into the world of the other ( just as Christ entered our human world ) and to come to serve the real - (Real need: I use the word "real" because we often think "what I think is good for the other is really good for him," which in fact may not be the real good for other.) need of the other (just as Christ came to save us from sin), to the extent of laying down my life for the other. - John 15:13 - 

When someone is in love, he/she wants to share first what he/she possesses with his/her beloved. Hence he/she gives to his/her beloved a gift or gifts - a sharing of what he/she has. If the love goes deeper, then he desires to share himself with her. And so, they get married and lived together, sharing what they have and what they are. God who is Love - John 4:8, 16 - cannot but share what He is. This sharing of Himself is creation. It is Love that creates.

                                                             Why Suffering?  

A Christian response

If the Source of creation is Love, whence comes evil and suffering in creation? before I tackle evil in the world, I would like to make a distinction between: suffering as the effect of evil and suffering that is not the effect of evil. For me, evil means, "the harm brought upon Man through malicious intent" which always entails suffering. All evils bring suffering but not all sufferings are the consequences of evil.

Three categories of suffering

It is here that we must be clear on the different types of suffering. There are three main categories of suffering. The first, I have already mentioned: suffering as an effect of an evil deed. If I maliciously and falsely accuse you of being corrupt to destroy your reputation, you suffer because of my evil words. In anger, I hit you over the head with a chair. You suffer because of my evil deed. Wars are waged because of man's evil intentions - greed, envy, desire for power and glory, etc. In wars, many innocent lives are taken but it is a consequence of man's evil deeds. Often we conveniently blame God saying, "Why can't God stop the wars since He is all powerful?" If God were to stop all the evils that we human beings do, we would be robots, not human beings with free wills. As mentioned, free will is an essential part of being human.

The second is suffering that comes from the nature of creation itself; that is, earthquakes, floods, diseases, etc. The third, is a mixture of the first and the second. I lead an immoral life, say I womanize, and contract a sexual disease. This can affect the child that I will produce. My child, born defective or with any hereditary disease, is suffering because of my sins (evil) and because of the laws of nature in procreation the child inherits the parent's genes. It is easy to understand suffering as coming from Man's evil deeds directly or indirectly. It is difficult to understand innocent people suffering because of natural disasters. The question that one is forced to ask ultimately if one pursues this problem tenaciously is: Why must there be natural disasters which bring about suffering in human beings? Nature has its laws. If it rains very heavily and continuously for a long period, and if the water cannot be channelled fast enough into the sea, low lying areas will be flooded (the law of gravity). If a virus attacks my body and I am not healthy enough to resist that type of virus, I will fall sick. In spite of the fact that the laws of Nature keep the universe in order or in harmony, they do sometimes cause suffering to human beings independent of Man's will. This is what we call finiteness or limitedness or imperfection in Nature itself.

Why cannot God create a perfect Universe where there is no natural disaster, you might ask? What is perfect in the absolute sense is infinite, without limitation and only God is perfect. What is without limit or infinite cannot reproduce itself. Two infinites would be a contradiction. "Without limit" cannot have "something" outside itself because, if it were so, it would be limited; it would not be "without limit". A fortiori "Without limit" or Perfection cannot reproduce itself. God cannot create Himself or create Perfection because he is Perfection. Hence, God's creation, by its very nature, must be limited or imperfect. This is as far as our imperfect intellect can go. However, I must admit that ultimately I do not know why God created the universe as He did. How can I, a small drop that disappears practically into nothingness in the immensity of the universe, understand the Creator of this universe? How can the finite mind grasp totally the Infinite. The distance between the finite and the infinite is infinite! By this argument, I am not trying to escape grappling with the problem. All I am saying is that I must admit this reality; but at the same time, I must also try with my very limited intellect to understand it.

The right question to pose in the reality of the infiniteness of nature is: What is the meaning of my existence in the suffering caused by natural phenomenon? It seems to me that suffering in itself is neither good or bad. It is how I react to it that causes good or bad. If there is a flood and many are made homeless, our response or non-response to this causes good or bad. When, moved by the disaster, I go to help the poor people, my action is good. A suffering situation has elicited good out of me and I become a better and a greater person. However, if I turn my back on the suffering of these poor people, my action is bad because it has degraded me and nothing constructive has been done to help the situation. In the same way, if I am one of the victims of the flood, I can react in either a positive or a negative way. I can curse and swear, and do nothing about my situation. Then I would have allowed the natural catastrophe to crush me as a human person. This is bad. Or I can be challenged by it to help others and myself. Let us say, I use my sampan/boat to go and pick up stranded people, forgetful of my own safety. My heroic action will make me a greater person. This, ultimately, what is important , isn't it? It is no use crying over a disaster. It would not improve the situation. But it is important that I take up the challenge to my humanity to help others and the situation of suffering.

There is another dimension to the meaning of being in a finite world. God has given us an intellect. We can make use of this intellect to do a scientific research into the laws of nature so as to find solutions to prevent disasters. The building of dams and dikes is a great human achievement. Scientist in observatories who can predict earthquakes and typhoons, can help to eliminate or at least, diminish human sufferings. God have given us an intellect and a will and placed us in a limited world of nature, tame it and channel it for the building up of a true human society where there is concern and care for one another; in short, where there is love. This, as I have said as above, is the purpose of God's creation: Love.

Again, this principle of love can even be applied to suffering brought about by evil intentions of human beings. If, I maliciously and falsely accuse you of being corrupt to destroy your reputation, you can react to this in different ways. You feel the hurt (suffering) and you nurse the hurt till bitterness and hatred take root in you. Who does it destroy, if not you? You have no peace of mind because of this bitterness. Often this bitterness expresses itself in retaliation: You speak badly about me, and I am hurt. And this could go on till we tear at each other. Evil has brought on more evil and therefore, more suffering. This is the principle of "an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth" which our Lord Jesus condemns. It will only bring destruction and more suffering.

Happily, there is another way that you can react to the situation: the way of Love. Although feeling hurt, you can say to yourself, "I am not corrupt, so does it really matter? I am what I am. People will find out the truth. Well, he does this to me because he is jealous of my success. Jealousy is a spirited sickness. One should not hurt a sick person. Understanding this, I should not feel hurt. Rather, I should feel sympathy for him." This sympathy will overcome the hurt in me. It is forgiveness that the Sacred Scripture/Holy Bible speaks of. You will, then, not retaliate. And because you can see concerned for me. You care that I grow out of it and learn to accept myself. You will praise my good performance and good points. This affirmation of me will produce good results in me - a sense of my own worth. If it does not take away all my sense of insecurity, it will at least diminish it. The general reaction in me and in all human beings when we are praised, is that I react positively. So, I begin to like you and speak good about you. So evil is overcome by good. This is what Saint Paul says, "overcome evil with good. It is a concrete application of Jesus' command - "Love your enemies". If we analyse the above case, we will see that it is true love because you are able to get out of your own "hurt feelings", enter into my world to understand my insecurity and come to my aid.

From the above examples, it can be seen that true love not only overcomes situations of suffering caused by natural disaster but it also heals wounds brought about by evil intentions in human beings. In summary, for Christians, suffering is neither good nor evil. It is Man's/Human beings reaction to suffering that is good or evil. 

                                           -  Why is there evil?  A Christian response  - 

God created us through Love and for Love. To love, then, is the nature of being human. But love is free.......                                            

 - WELCOME TO SACRED SCRIPTURE / WORD OF GOD / HOLY BIBLE READER'S COMMUNITY -Wishing you, 'Happy Reading', and may God, the Father, the Son of the living God, Jesus Christ, fills your heart, mind, thoughts, and grants you: The Holy Spirit, that is, Wisdom, Knowledge, Understanding, Counsel, Piety, Fortitude, Fear of the Lord, and also His fruits of the Holy Spirit, that is, Love, Joy, Peace, Patience, Kindness, Goodness, Trustfulness, Gentleness and Self-Control. Amen! God blessing be upon you!

If we live by the truth and in love, we shall grow in all ways into Christ Jesus, who is the head by whom the whole body is fitted and joined together, every joint adding its own strength, for each separate part to work according to it function, so the body grows until it has built itself up, in love. - Ephesians 4:15-16 -

I STILL HAVE MANY THINGS TO SAY TO YOU BUT THEY WOULD BE TOO MUCH FOR YOU NOW. BUT WHEN THE SPIRIT OF TRUTH COMES, HE WILL LEAD YOU TO THE COMPLETE TRUTH, SINCE HE WILL NOT BE SPEAKING AS FROM HIMSELF, BUT WILL SAY ONLY WHAT HE HAS LEARNT; AND HE WILL TELL YOU OF THE THINGS TO COME.

HE WILL GLORIFY ME, SINCE ALL HE TELLS YOU WILL BE TAKEN FROM WHAT IS MINE. EVERYTHING THE FATHER HAS IS MINE; THAT IS WHY I SAID: ALL HE TELLS YOU WILL BE TAKEN FROM WHAT IS MINE. - JOHN 16:12-15 -