Family Empire

It’s 1973 and America’s first billionaire- J. Paul Getty (Christopher Plummer)- must decide whether or not to cough up a king’s ransom for his teenage grandson who’s been kidnapped in Italy. That’s our story here- and it’s a good one- although the movie based on the book at times seems a bit too steeped in factual detail while at other times stumbles into Hollywood convention. Perhaps it’s the European locales that give All the Money in the World its European feel and for me that’s a good thing and nets the film some extra points. I love European thrillers.

Seeing how the super rich live and behave is always interesting to me especially when the billionaire in question had a daddy who didn’t love him. Mark Wahlberg seems miscast to me but otherwise good performances all around. The movie unfortunately loses points for placing in 1964 a Zombies song which was not recorded until 1967 (although I’m probably one of the few moviegoers who noticed). Prepare yourself for some post-viewing discussion about your definition of success and how having all the money in the world can jeopardize not only your soul but also the souls of your children. Grade: B+

What Were We Thinking?

While I’m not particularly proud of the time and money I spent on heavy metal music in my youth, at least I had an excuse: I was young (maybe twelve or thirteen years old). But what excuse did the older people have for supporting a musical movement that (for the most part) was clearly total crap? I think the answer has something to do with the heavy metal bands and their fans all wanting to have- in the words of Poison- “nothin’ but a good time”. I guess I respect metal as an art form but most of the ‘80s metal I experienced as a kid was like something out of the movie This Is Spinal Tap.

Poison

‘80s metal didn’t have the politics of punk or the nerdiness of new wave- it was all attitude. With its tight pants, makeup, and hair spray- not to mention easy to follow lyrics, primal sexuality, and bad reputation- heavy metal filled a void in ‘80s rock music and its catchy anthems and power ballads set the malls and suburbs on fire for nearly a decade (until Guns N’ Roses came along and blew them all out of the water). Iron Maiden and Ozzy Osbourne (both accused of promoting devil worship) were about as heavy as I got back then and I always felt safer in the arms of pop metal which for me stayed much closer to the roots of rock & roll. Here are some of my favorite metal songs (from a time some of us would like to forget- well, sometimes). Enjoy!

Mötley Crüe

01. Ozzy Osbourne – “Crazy Train (Live)” (1981)
02. Mötley Crüe – "Kickstart My Heart” (1989)
03. Hanoi Rocks – “Don’t You Ever Leave Me” (1984)
04. Bon Jovi – “Livin’ on a Prayer” (1986)
05. Skid Row – “I Remember You” (1989)
06. Mötley Crüe – “Home Sweet Home” (1985)
07. Poison – “Every Rose Has Its Thorn” (1988)

08. Poison – “Cry Tough” (1986)

09. Poison – “Talk Dirty to Me” (1986)

Listen to the playlist on Spotify...

Recommended Links:

Bon Jovi – “Livin’ on a Prayer”

Mötley Crüe – “Home Sweet Home”

Belief in God – Part 3

In summary, we can use our reason to know the following:

1. There must be one God because there had to be an Ultimate Cause outside the material universe that causes everything else.
2. God must be a spirit because He exists outside the material universe.
3. God must be infinite because He creates something (spirit, matter) out of absolutely nothing.

So how does this affect us?

The Creation of Adam by Michelangelo

Faith, Reason, and God

As we have seen, we can use our reason to know each person is a union of both spirit and matter and that each of us has a spiritual soul. We can also use our reason to know only an infinite spirit God has the power to create spirit and matter from nothing. Therefore, there must be one infinite spirit God- our Creator- because our spiritual souls (as well as the material universe) are proof of His existence.

Because the human soul is a spirit- and spirit is immortal- we know there is more to existence than just matter and the human soul will continue to exist after death. This fact, I think, should motivate us to use our reason to ask the bigger questions about life and to seek the truth about what happens to our souls after we die.

To deny spirit is to reject reason; but to believe in spirit is to embrace reason and, ultimately, belief in God who Christians believe is the ultimate truth we all seek.

The desire for God is written in the human heart, because man is created by God and for God; and God never ceases to draw man to himself. Only in God will he find the truth and happiness he never stops searching for. 1

Faith in God- though itself reasonable- does not require reason. However, as Catholics, we believe faith without reason is a blind faith that can inhibit reason and thus lead to serious error.

Faith without reason withers into myth or superstition. Deprived of reason, faith is left with only feelings and experience. It loses its universality. 2

For Catholics, then, belief in God is more than a feeling. It is (in cooperation with divine grace) a rational human response.

What moves us to believe is not the fact that revealed truths appear as true and intelligible in the light of our natural reason: we believe “because of the authority of God himself who reveals them, who can neither deceive nor be deceived.” So that “the submission of our faith might nevertheless be in accordance with reason, God willed that external proofs of his Revelation should be joined to the internal helps of the Holy Spirit.” Thus the miracles of Christ and the saints, prophecies, the Church’s growth and holiness, and her fruitfulness and stability “are the most certain signs of divine Revelation, adapted to the intelligence of all”; they are “motives of credibility (motiva credibilitatis) which show that the assent of faith is “by no means a blind impulse of the mind.” 3

Galileo Galilei Showing the Doge of Venice How to Use the Telescope by Giuseppe Bertini

Refuting the New Atheists

Atheists are on the attack. Richard Dawkins’ The God Delusion and Christopher Hitchens’ God Is Not Great have become best-sellers. Sometimes called the “New Atheists,”  these authors claim that belief in God is irrational and that religion is destructive. 

How do we answer the New Atheists? We should note that the New Atheists are saying nothing new. They are simply rewarming the same objections that have been raised, and answered, for centuries. Many excellent books answer the particular claims of the New Atheists in detail. But in general, we can answer atheists like Dawkins and Hitchens by showing how they misuse science and misrepresent Christianity.

Are Science and Religion at War?

The New Atheists promote the idea that religion and science are at war. They claim faith and reason are fundamentally incompatible. That would certainly surprise leading scientists throughout history- including Copernicus, Kepler, Galileo, Descartes, Boyle, Newton, Pascal, Harvey, Faraday, Joule, Kelvin, Pasteur, Maxwell, Planck, and Mendel- all of whom were Christian.

The New Atheists depict Christians as ignorant, superstitious, and opposed to scientific inquiry. But it was Christianity that invented modern science and Christians who produced many of science’s greatest achievements. Modern science took root and flourished in a Christian culture that believed the order and rationality of the physical universe reflected the order and rationality of God. Christianity is not opposed to science, nor is faith opposed to reason. They work hand in hand.

Both atheists and believers see that the universe is orderly and rational. Both conduct scientific inquiry based on this truth. But while atheists take the order and rationality of the universe for granted, believers pursue the question of why the universe is this way. They conclude that the truths of the material world are not the product of chance, but of God who is the ultimate truth. 

Sir Issac Newton (1643 – 1727), one of the greatest scientists in history, saw his discoveries as revealing God’s intelligent design: “This most beautiful system of the sun, planets, and comets, could only proceed from the counsel and dominion of an intelligent and powerful Being.”

Isaac Newton

Limitations of the New Atheists' World View

In place of God and religion, the New Atheists champion materialism, evolution, and science. But materialism, evolution, and science have considerable limitations. (For more about materialism, see my previous apologetics post Spirit, Matter, and the Spiritiuality of the Human Soul).

Charles Darwin

Limitations of Evolution

As a scientific theory, evolution by natural selection has been extremely successful in explaining the genetic similarities between all living things. It can also account for the amazing diversity both within species and between species. 

But evolution doesn’t explain everything about life. It cannot, for example, explain the origin of life. Evolution can explain how living things transform, but it tells us nothing new about how life started in the first place. Evolution cannot explain human consciousness, our ability to perceive and understand the world around us. Nor can evolution explain human morality, our moral obligation to do what’s right even when it’s against our self-interest. Evolution is limited to biological changes, leaving untouched the more interesting questions about the origins of life, consciousness, and morality. 

Furthermore, nothing in evolution is incompatible with belief in God. Evolution could have been the mode by which God executed His design. He could have created directly or indirectly, instantly or slowly. He could have produced species by an external command or given them an interior power to change. Either way, God is still the ultimate cause.    

“If evolution simply means that a positive thing called an ape turned very slowly into a positive thing called a man, then it is stingless for the most orthodox; for a personal God might just as well do things slowly as quickly, especially if, like the Christian God, he were outside time. 

– G.K. Chesterton, Orthodoxy 

G.K. Chesterton

Limitations of Science

Science is the study and explanation of the physical world, based on observation and experimentation. Scientific discoveries and achievements have been astonishing. 

But the tremendous success of science shouldn’t blind us to its limitations. By its nature, science only studies the observable universe. Science cannot study non-physical realities. Science has nothing to say about immaterial ideas (how long is the idea of justice? how much does it weigh?) or spiritual realities like angels, grace, or God. Science can’t disprove spiritual or immaterial things because science only studies physical things. We cannot see God with either an electron microscope or the Hubble telescope. A good scientist knows what things are outside his field of study. 

Science itself depends on non-scientific truths. Science cannot tell us why the universe is rational and accessible to the human mind. Science cannot tell us why the universe is consistent and obeys fixed laws. Only philosophy and theology can give us these answers. And yet the truth that the universe is rational and orderly is the foundation of all science. True science must avoid materialism, which destroys the possibility of reason and thus, science. The great power of scientific tools to discover truth shouldn’t dazzle us into thinking they are the only tools to discover truth. 4

The Hubble telescope

Conclusion

Man’s belief in God is a rational response to the question of human existence. The more we learn about the material universe and our own existence the more we see God must exist.

For Catholics, to deny God’s existence is to deny reason. In fact, based on the evidence, it is atheism- not Christianity- that seems to require the greatest leap of faith, and we must ask ourselves: what is the real motivation of an atheist who denies the existence of God?

If I were discussing belief in God with a skeptic or an unbeliever then I would ask him or her the following two questions. First, would a belief in God require you to change the way you are currently living your life? And second, is your disbelief in God the result of honest, reasonable inquiry and a quest for truth; or is your disbelief in God simply based on your own self-interest?

Let me be clear: no one can or should be compelled- through faith or reason or anything else- to believe in God. I only hope I have at least shown that belief in God is reasonable and the Catholic faith is not contrary to reason.

____________________________
1 Catechism of the Catholic Church (Città del Vaticano, Libreria Editrice Vatican, 1994)
2 John E. Fagan, “Fides et Ratio (Faith and Reason)”. from The Teachings of Pope John Paul II: Summaries of Papal Documents (New York: Scepter Publishers, 2005)
3 Catechism of the Catholic Church (Città del Vaticano, Libreria Editrice Vatican, 1994)

Belief in God – Part 2

Believing is possible only by grace and the interior helps of the Holy Spirit. But it is no less true that believing is an authentically human act. Trusting in God and cleaving to the truths he has revealed is contrary neither to human freedom nor to human reason... In faith, the human intellect and will cooperate with divine grace: “Believing is an act of the intellect assenting to the divine truth by command of the will moved by God through grace.” 1

God the Father by Girolamo dai Libri

“Who Made God?”

Bernard Shaw tells of asking a priest “Who made God?” The priest, says Shaw, was thunderstruck, his faith shattered. Whether he committed suicide or merely left the Church Shaw does not tell. But the whole thing is ridiculous. Every student of philosophy has heard the question: and they all know that there must be a being which did not need to be made. If nothing existed except receivers of existence, where would the existence come from? In order that anything may exist, there must be a being which simply has it. God can confer existence upon all other beings precisely because He has it in his own right. It is in His nature to exist. God does not have to receive existence, because He is existence. 2

George Bernard Shaw

Reason alone tells us there can only be one God. The ancient Greek philosophers came to see this clearly. They realized that in a universe where all things can be explained through causes, there had to be an Ultimate Cause outside the material universe that causes everything else. This cause had to be one if it was the final explanation of all that exists. 3

Plato and Aristotle by Raphael

Proofs for the Existence of God

Not only does reason tell us that God exists, it also reveals many important things about God: that He is one, spiritual, eternal, and uncreated. Some truths about God cannot be known by human reason alone, such as the Trinity and the Incarnation. These mysteries can only be known by public revelation. 

How can reason tell us that God exists? There are five classic proofs for the existence of God. St. Thomas Aquinas lists them in the Summa Theologiae:  

1. The need for a Prime Mover.
2. The need for a First Cause.
3. The need for a Necessary Being.
4. The need for a Supremely Perfect Being
5. The need for an Intelligent Designer.

Proofs 1, 3, and 4 are highly philosophical and thus, not ideal to use with an atheist. Atheists tend to be steeped in materialism and attached to the scientific method. They are not ordinarily moved by abstract arguments. Arguments that resemble those used in science and that rely heavily on the observable universe will be more convincing to an atheist. Proofs 2 and 5 are best suited for this. These arguments are also easier to understand and strongly supported by recent scientific discoveries.

The Triumph of St. Thomas Aquinas by Benozzo Gozzoli (Note Artistotle and Plato to his right and left)

The Need for a First Cause

Everyone with the use of reason can easily grasp that everything in the material universe is explained by a previous cause. Nothing begins to exist without a cause. Nothing can cause its own existence. Every material object is the end product of a long chain of causes. If we go back far enough, we end up asking the ultimate questions: why does mater exist at all? Where does it come from? 

Just like every other material object in the universe, matter itself needs a previous cause to explain its existence. Since nothing can cause itself, why does matter exist? The only answer is that some power outside the material universe created matter to begin with. That power must be spirit, because it is outside the material universe. That power must be infinite to create something out of absolutely nothing. The gap between nothing and something, between a non-being and actual existence, is infinite. It takes an infinite power to bridge that infinite gap. Only God has infinite power. 

Recent discoveries in astrophysics have proven scientifically that the universe had a clear beginning: the Big Bang. This makes the First Cause proof especially compelling to atheists. Simply ask: “Who set off the Big Bang?” Many astrophysicists who are on the cutting edge of recent discoveries are answering, “God.”

NGC 3949 - a galaxy similar to our own

The Need for an Intelligent Designer

When we see a complicated system that has been perfectly constructed for an obvious purpose, common sense tells us that an intelligent being is responsible. For example, if we found a perfectly running watch in the middle of the wilderness, we wouldn’t even consider that this watch came into existence by chance. Why? For two important reasons: 

1. The object is composed of many parts.
2. The object was designed for a clear purpose: to tell time. 

We immediately know there must have been intelligent beings responsible for this watch. No atheist would argue with this obvious conclusion.  

Consider the human eye. It is an amazingly complicated organ that is arranged for a clear purpose: to see. The development of the eye from the first cells in the embryo to the fully mature organ consists of countless steps in which many complex elements come together in perfect harmony. Each complex step in the process could only proceed because a previous complex step occurred correctly. The chain of steps is extremely long, as any microbiologist will confirm. This long, intricate process proceeds toward a clear purpose: to form an organ capable of sight. 

Assembling a watch is relatively easy. But no one argues that watches are made by chance. Assembling an eye is unbelievably complicated. All of the scientists of the world working together with the most advanced technology cannot synthesize a human eye. Yet, atheists insist the development of the human eye is the result of purely random, chaotic processes. The marvel of the human eye virtually screams: “Intelligent design!” Intelligent design demands an intelligent designer.

An eye by Leonardo da Vinci

If we examine the material world, we find countless examples of complex, purposeful systems that require an intelligent designer. In living organisms, we could look at the brain, the heart, the ears, or the digestive system. In the nonliving world, we can look at the findings of modern astronomy. With amazing tools like the Hubble telescope, we are discovering that the universe is more complicated than we ever dreamed. At the same time, it is more perfectly organized than we ever suspected. 

Astrophysicists have shown that the universe began with “the Big Bang,” an explosion so powerful it staggers the imagination. This awesome blast had to be regulated within an extremely narrow range in order for the universe to be formed. If the speed of the elements in the explosion had moved just fractionally faster or slower, there would have been only chaos instead of the amazingly complex, perfectly organized universe we know. Scientists tell us that events appear to have been “guided” to bring about a planet like earth, capable of sustaining intelligent life.

A view from the moon

Amazingly, the bodies and movements of the universe appear to have been “deliberately” made to correspond to the operations of the human mind and to be intelligible to it. Like the human eye, the processes of the material universe seem to shout: “Intelligent design!” Given the immense size and complexity of the universe, it is easy to see that this intelligent designer must be God. 

We can go even further and say the awesome power, beauty, and majesty of the universe appear designed to reflect the infinite power, order, beauty, and majesty of God. 4

____________________________

1 Catechism of the Catholic Church (Città del Vaticano, Libreria Editrice Vatican, 1994)

2 Frank Sheed, Theology for Beginners (Brooklyn, NY : Angelico Press, reprint edition 2011)

3 Fr. Frank Chacon and Jim Burnham, Beginning Apologetics 2: How to Answer Jehovah's Witnesses and Mormons (Farmington, NM : San Juan Catholic Seminars, 2007)

4  Fr. Frank Chacon and Jim Burnham, Beginning Apologetics 4: How to Answer Atheists & New Agers (Farmington, NM : San Juan Catholic Seminars, 2010)

Belief in God – Part 1

As mentioned in my previous apologetics posts, if I were going to explain the Catholic faith to someone then I would start by discussing three topics:

I. Faith and Reason
II. Spirit and Matter
III. The Spirituality of the Human Soul

Only after covering these three topics would I then feel comfortable discussing belief in God and answering the question: is it reasonable for man to believe in God?

Adoration of the Shepherds by Anton Raphael Mengs

God and the Light of Human Reason

As Catholics we believe through the use of human reason alone man can know that God exists.

Our holy mother, the Church, holds and teaches that God, the first principle and last end of all things, can be known with certainty from the created world by the natural light of human reason. 1

As Catholics we are also people of faith. Although we believe faith is superior to reason, we also believe faith and reason can never contradict each other since both come to us from the same God.

Reason can show that there is a God and can demonstrate his primary attributes such as his power and divinity. Reason lays the foundation for faith and makes revelation “credible”. Reason is thus the common ground between believers and unbelievers. 2

Skeptics will argue that the virgin birth, turning water into wine, and Christ’s resurrection are not reasonable and only wishful thinking on our part. I agree with the first part. These events are not reasonable- that’s why they are miracles- they are simply beyond human reason.

As we have seen, we can use our reason to know spirit, matter, and the spiritual human soul exist. We can also use our reason to know God exists. Reason tells us not only that there must be a God but that He must be an all-powerful, infinite spirit God (we will explore all this a bit later).

Therefore, with regards to the virgin birth, turning water into wine, and Christ's resurrection, it is quite reasonable for us to assume that an all-powerful, infinite spirit God can do whatever He chooses with spirit and matter- even if it appears to defy reason- since He created everything from nothing and continues to hold it in place.

As Catholics we believe our faith in God is completely reasonable. I think the more one studies philosophy and theology the more one discovers that belief in God is the most reasonable thing there is.

It is right and just to entrust oneself wholly to God and to believe absolutely what he says. It would be futile and false to place such faith in a creature. 3

Last Judgment by Michelangelo

The Spirituality of the Human Soul 

As mentioned in my previous apologetics entries, as Catholics we believe:

1. Faith is not opposed to reason.
2. Each human being is a union of spirit and matter.
3. The human soul is a spirit that never dies.

These are not easy concepts to grasp, but once we have grasped them we must continue to think about them and soon the fog begins to dissipate and the light begins to illuminate.

To believe in God requires belief in spirit. But to believe there is no spirit- as the materialist does- is to not only deny God’s existence but to deny man has a spiritual soul.

Yet it is quite easy- through reason- to establish man has a spiritual soul- a rational, immaterial faculty capable of forming abstract ideas and making decisions.

Before discussing belief in God, I would first like to revisit the subject of man’s spiritual soul and how it is we know he has one- as explained by Frank Sheed:

If we are continuously producing things which have no attribute of matter, there must be in us some element which is not matter, to produce them. This element we call spirit.

Oddly enough, the materialist thinks of us as superstitious people who believe in a fantasy called spirit, of himself as the plain blunt man who asserts that ideas are produced by a bodily organ, the brain. What he is asserting is that matter produces offspring, which have not one single attribute in common with it, and what could be more fantastic than that? We are the plain blunt men and we should insist on it.

Occasionally the materialist will argue that there are changes in the brain when we think, grooves or electrical charges or what not. But these only accompany the thought, they are not the thought. When we think of justice, for instance, we are not thinking of grooves in the brain; most of us are not even aware of them. Justice has a meaning, and it does not mean grooves. When I say that mercy is kinder than justice, I am not comparing mercy’s grooves with the stricter grooves of justice. 

Our ideas are not material. They have no resemblance to our body. Their resemblance is to our spirit. They have no shape, no size, no color, no weight, no space. Neither has spirit whose offspring they are. But no one can call it nothing; for it produces thought, and thought is the most powerful thing in the world- unless love is, which spirit also produces. 4

Once we have grasped what spirit is- and have accepted the reality that man is a union of spirit and matter- then perhaps we are ready to talk about belief in God, for if a person believes in the existence of his or her own spirit then belief in a spirit God does not seem like such a great leap.

The Annunciation by Philippe de Champaigne

____________________________
1 Catechism of the Catholic Church (Città del Vaticano, Libreria Editrice Vatican, 1994)
2 John E. Fagan, “Fides et Ratio (Faith and Reason)” from The Teachings of Pope John Paul II: Summaries of Papal Documents (New York: Scepter Publishers, 2005)
3 Catechism of the Catholic Church (Città del Vaticano, Libreria Editrice Vatican, 1994)
4 Frank Sheed, Theology for Beginners (Brooklyn, NY : Angelico Press, reprint edition 2011)

Four Guys from Liverpool – Part 3

In addition to their large number of excellent singles, the Beatles were definitely rock's greatest album band. The care, thought, and precision that went into their thirteen studio albums (in just seven years!) is inspiring. What's even more amazing is how quickly the Beatles were able to write good songs, record them in the studio, and then release them (while many bands today can't even find an idea).

I've heard it said that the Sgt. Pepper album changed rock music- and not for the better. A lot of bands were so inspired by the revolutionary sound of Sgt. Pepper that they lost the rock 'n' roll spirit and became "artistic" studio bands with "important" things to say. But you can't blame the Beatles for what happened to rock music after Sgt. Pepper. The lads from Liverpool accomplished their goal, made a lot of money, and brought the world some happiness. They set the rock bar high and continue to inspire millions of people all around the world. What else do you want? Here are some (more) of my favorite Beatles songs (all of which, by the way, are from the pre-Sgt. Pepper era). Enjoy!

01. The Beatles – “Yellow Submarine” (1966)
02. The Beatles – “Got to Get You into My Life” (1966)
03. The Beatles – “We Can Work It Out” (1965)
04. The Beatles – “Day Tripper” (1965)
05. The Beatles – “Doctor Robert” (1966)
06. The Beatles – “Good Day Sunshine” (1966)
07. The Beatles – “Rain” (1966)
08. The Beatles – “Paperback Writer” (1966)
09. The Beatles –  “In My Life” (1965)
10. The Beatles –  “Can’t Buy Me Love” (1964)

Listen to the playlist on Spotify...

Recommended Links:

The Beatles – “In My Life”

Interview of Beatles, Why the Beatles Broke Up

Four Guys from Liverpool – Part 2

Yes, these four music obsessed Englishmen and their friends changed the course of popular culture and I doubt there is any person on earth who doesn’t have some meaningful connection to the Beatles and their music. If you’re going to sing a song called “Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds” then you better sing it with conviction, which they do- on every song! The group's proficiency, empathy, and commitment to quality all combine to help draw the listener in until you become part of the music.

The Beatles could do it all from blistering rock 'n' roll covers to harmonized folk, from psychedelic rock (which they pretty much invented) to timeless pop- and everything in between. Most bands would kill for just one of these songs and the lads from Liverpool make it all look so easy. The smiles, the joy, the hopeful spirit- not to mention the handclaps, hooks, and harmonies- all these gifts they gave the world simply demand the Beatles receive the Nobel Peace Prize. Here are some (more) of my favorites. Enjoy!

01. The Beatles – “Come Together” (1969)
02. The Beatles – “A Hard Day’s Night” (1964)
03. The Beatles – “Something” (1969)
04. The Beatles – “Yesterday” (1965)
05. The Beatles – “Eight Days a Week” (1964)
06. The Beatles – “And I Love Her” (1964)
07. The Beatles – “She Loves You” (1963)
08. The Beatles – “I Want to Hold Your Hand” (1963)
09. The Beatles – “Let It Be” (1970)
10. The Beatles – “All You Need Is Love” (1967)

Listen to the playlist on Spotify...

Four Guys from Liverpool – Part 1

I caught a bit of the new Beatles television documentary “Sgt. Pepper's Musical Revolution” on PBS recently and it was really great. Just when I'd given up on trying to extract any new meaning or pleasure from Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band this intelligent documentary provided me with new insight into and appreciation for “Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds” and “She's Leaving Home” (though “Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite” still ranks pretty low on my Beatles list. Sorry, John).

I guess my favorite thing about the Beatles (other than their music having formed the soundtrack to a large part of my life) is their willingness to experiment and let their imaginations soar while staying true to their universal mission of peace, love, and rock & roll. (And what a great bass player!) Here are some of my favorite Beatles songs- which really just leave me wanting more. Enjoy!

01. The Beatles – “Because” (1969)
02. The Beatles – “Ticket to Ride” (1965)
03. The Beatles – “Here Comes the Sun” (1969)
04. The Beatles – “Norwegian Wood (This Bird Has Flown)” (1965)
05. The Beatles – “Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds” (1967)
06. The Beatles – “She’s Leaving Home” (1967)
07. The Beatles – “With a Little Help from My Friends” (1967)
08. The Beatles – “Roll Over Beethoven” (1963)
09. The Beatles – “Revolution” (1968)
10. The Beatles – “Bad Boy” (1965)

Listen to the playlist on Spotify...

... or check out the playlist on YouTube

(To open music in separate window, click title bar at top of video box)

Classical Christmas

Luke 2:10-14: The angel said to them, “Do not be afraid; for behold, I proclaim to you good news of great joy that will be for all the people.  

For today in the city of David a savior has been born for you who is Messiah and Lord.  

And this will be a sign for you: you will find an infant wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger.”  

And suddenly there was a multitude of the heavenly host with the angel, praising God and saying: “Glory to God in the highest and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.” 

When I just want to chill out- in traffic or at home- I usually turn on the local classical radio station WETA. They play some great Christmas music this time of year and the older I get (ie. the closer I get to the end of my earthly pilgrimage) the more I enjoy listening to classical Christmas music. WETA just happened to be playing A Mormon Tabernacle Choir Christmas on the radio the other night and so I chose this album to represent my fondness for classical Christmas music. With the exception of one scary song about casting down the proud, the Mormon Tabernacle Choir hits another holiday home run and classes up the joint. Grade: A- 

Listen to the album on Spotify...

Christmas Faves

Matthew 2:9-11: And behold, the star that they had seen at its rising preceded them, until it came and stopped over the place where the child was.  

They were overjoyed at seeing the star, and on entering the house they saw the child with Mary his mother. They prostrated themselves and did him homage. Then they opened their treasures and offered him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh.  

Burl Ives

I recently saw on television a Catholic priest talking about his years of experience with performing exorcisms. He said singing Christmas songs is a really powerful weapon to use against Satan because the devil hates Christmas music for what it represents and celebrates: the birth of Jesus- God become man- the hope of the world. Here are some of my favorites. Enjoy- and Merry Christmas!

Andy Williams

01. Burl Ives – “Have a Holly Jolly Christmas” (1965)
02. Judy Garland – “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas” (1944)
03. Louis Armstrong –  “Cool Yule” (1953)
04. Louis Armstrong – “’Zat You, Santa Claus?” (1953)
05. Frank Sinatra – “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas” (1957)
06. Nat King Cole – “Hark, the Herald Angels Sing” (1960)
07. Andy Williams – “O Holy Night” (1963)
08. Andy Williams – “The First Noël” (1963)
09. Johnny Cash – “The Christmas Spirit” (1965)
10. Johnny Cash and the Carter Family – “Silent Night” (1965)
11. Johnny Cash – “Christmas As I Knew It” (1970) (this rare live version is not currently available on Spotify but you can find it on my Youtube playlist)

Louis Armstrong

Listen to songs from the playlist on Spotify...

Johnny Cash, Santa, and June Carter Cash

A Winter Bromance

This is some kind of winter romance concept album- which actually seems like a good idea- and it sounds like Dean Martin is crooning right across from you in the ski lodge. Even on the played-out Christmas standards Dino sells it like nobody else. Pleasant, fun, and smoother than hot cocoa- have this one ready for your next date. Grade: B+

Listen to songs from the album on Spotify...

Spirit, Matter, and the Spirituality of the Human Soul

The Church teaches that every spiritual soul is created immediately by God- it is not “produced” by the parents- and also that it is immortal: it does not perish when it separates from the body at death, and it will be reunited with the body at the final Resurrection. 1

As mentioned in my previous apologetics post, if I were going to explain the Catholic faith to someone then I would start by discussing faith and reason. The second thing I would discuss is the spirituality of the human soul, the study of which begins with understanding the difference between spirit and matter.

Lamentation by Giotto

Spirit and Matter

The universe (which God created and in which we exist) consists of two things: spirit and matter. Spirit is invisible. It has no shape and no parts. God is a spirit. Only a spirit can know and love. Because they cannot decompose all spirits are immortal. Angels are spirits, too. To be spirit is to lack parts and to have the faculties of reason and will.

Matter is not immortal. It has parts and occupies space. Living things- plants and animals- are matter. Plants and animals have souls but they are not rational souls (since they are not made of spirit) and so plants and animals cannot know or love like spirits can. Unlike spirit, all matter will eventually decompose and cease to exist. 

So how does all of this spirit and matter affect human beings?

Vitruvian Man by Leonardo da Vinci

The Spirituality of the Human Soul

We humans are the only creatures in the universe who are made of both spirit and matter. Your body is matter but your soul is spirit and so- unlike other living things- you can know and love. After you die, your body will decompose but your soul- which is spirit and thus immortal- will never die. So what will happen to your immortal soul after you die? This is an important question and begs further discussion (though I think most people today would rather avoid this topic altogether).

For thousands of years, people much smarter than you and me have grappled with the question of whether or not man has a soul. Even pagan philosophers and non-religious people- through reason- can come to the realization that man must have a spiritual soul.

Proving the spirituality or immateriality of the human soul is easy. Human beings can study the visible world and, from sensible experiences of material objects or events, create purely immaterial realities called ideas. For example, a person sees crimes being committed and criminals being punished. From these observations the mind forms the idea of “justice,” a purely spiritual reality. He may see justice being applied in individual cases, but the idea of “justice” is a universal, abstract concept that is immaterial or spiritual.

If you doubt this, simply form any abstract idea in your mind and ask yourself: How much does this idea weigh? How long is it? What color is it? What shape is it? How much space does it take up? The answer is that your idea has no weight, no length, no color, no shape, and takes up no space. It simply has no material attributes at all. Something with no material attributes is immaterial, another word for spiritual.

Immaterial ideas imply an immaterial faculty capable of forming them. It is impossible for something material to create something immaterial. Therefore, the faculty capable of forming spiritual ideas must itself be spiritual. This spiritual faculty can only come from a spiritual substance, the soul.

In short, human thinking reveals the ability to form purely immaterial concepts, called ideas.

These immaterial concepts require an immaterial faculty, the intellect.

This immaterial faculty requires a spiritual reality, the soul.

The Thinker by Auguste Rodin

Limits of Materialism

Materialists believe that the only reality is the material universe. They deny God, the spiritual soul, angels, and all other spiritual realities. Hard-core materialists deny universal ideas and free will, since these are spiritual realities. Materialism is the underlying philosophy of communism, which has enslaved billions since the early 1900s. Communists attempted to replace God with the communist state. They outlawed belief in God. In communism, atheists achieved their greatest victory.  

Vladimir Lenin

We are creatures of sense. Our five senses put us in contact with the external world. Human knowledge, no matter how advanced, depends on knowledge that was initially obtained through the senses. Our contact with the material world through the senses is direct, concrete, and immediate. Our knowledge of spiritual realities requires that we reason with abstract concepts. This means forming immaterial ideas from the sensation of material things, a process that is obviously indirect, abstract, and less immediate. Because of this difference between knowing sensible things and spiritual things, many people accept the position of materialism: that the only reality is what can be known through the senses and that spiritual knowledge is simply imaginary.

Materialism claims that physical matter is the only reality, and that everything in the universe- including thought, feeling, mind, and will- can be explained in terms of matter and products of matter.

Karl Marx 

If everything in the universe is matter made from matter, then human thinking is a product of matter. Matter acts, not for its own purposes, but rather, out of necessity. Water doesn’t choose to flow downhill; it simply must. But if all matter acts necessarily, following physical laws to inevitable results, then human thought- also a product of matter- is simply the result of necessary physical causes. Our thoughts, then, are not true or false. They simple are, as a necessary effect of our physical state. 

If materialism is true, we are not free to choose one theory over another based on which fits the evidence better. We must think as we do, for all thought is the inevitable effect of physical causes. Therefore, it is absurd for us to try to “convince” another person that our idea is “true.” Truth and choices are illusions. Atheists’ attempts to persuade are sheer folly. No one can freely change his thinking, for man’s thoughts result from his physical condition. Of course, if his physical condition changes, then his thoughts will change correspondingly. But no one- including an atheist- is free to weigh the evidence, or choose the idea that best corresponds to reality. No one is free to think, let alone convert. 

Materialism is self-contradictory. If materialism is true, then thoughts cannot be true- they simply are- including the thought of materialism. The claim that all thought is the necessary result of physical conditions destroys the possibility of thought. It is, as G.K. Chesterton observed, a thought that stops all thought. If materialism is right, then thinking is an illusion, including thinking that materialism is right.  

G.K. Chesterton

Materialism destroys the very things atheists extol: reason, free will, and, ultimately, science. You can’t do science if you can’t form abstract, immaterial ideas. You can’t do science if you aren’t free to choose the theory that best fits the evidence. 

Materialism grants atheists a victory, but at a terrible cost. Materialism does banish spiritual entities such as God. But it also eliminates abstract thought, freedom, and all human inquiry. Honest atheists will find this price too high. 2

Saint Paul Preaching in Athens by Raphael

Conclusion

We live in a world of spirit and matter where human beings grow increasingly materialistic and treat spirit as superstition. But man is a union of spirit and matter. To deny spirit is to deny ourselves and to live in a dangerous fantasy world. Matter can give us temporary pleasure and gratification but only spirit can give our souls complete and everlasting joy and peace.

I believe through reason we can demonstrate 1) man has a soul, and 2) man's soul must be spiritual. After explaining to someone the difference between spirit and matter- and how man's spiritual soul is immortal- I would then ask him or her two basic theological questions. First, what do you think is the origin of your spiritual soul? And second, where do you think your soul will ultimately spend eternity? I think these two questions are worth asking for Catholics and non-Catholics alike. In fact, what questions could be more important to the human race? 

____________________________
1  Catechism of the Catholic Church (Città del Vaticano, Libreria Editrice Vatican, 1994)
2  Fr. Frank Chacon and Jim Burnham, Beginning Apologetics 4: How to Answer Atheists & New Agers (Farmington, NM : San Juan Catholic Seminars, 2010)


Recommended Links:

Archbishop Daniel Pilarczyk – A Brief Summary of Catholicism

From Death to Life by Christoph Cardinal Schönborn

Theology and Sanity by Frank Sheed

Rock: Think & Relax

Socrates (who may have been the world's first hippie) once said “the unexamined life is not worth living” and I think sometimes even rock fans need to slow down and take stock. Here are some of my favorite folk-rock, jam rock, boogie rock, classic rock, and singer-songwriter songs which usually help to put me in a calm, reflective mood. These songs are timeless, soothing, and give me space to think and relax. They make me want to take a long walk or drive in the country or, better yet, put my feet up in front of a warm fireplace on a cold winter night. Enjoy!

Grateful Dead

01. Buffalo Springfield – “Kind Woman” (1968)
02. Jorma Kaukonen – “Genesis” (1974)
03. Gordon Lightfoot –  “Second Cup of Coffee” (1972)
04. Bob Weir – “Ki-Yi Bossie” (2016)
05. Faces – “Ooh La La” (1973)
06. John Phillips – “Topanga Canyon” (1970)
07. Bob Dylan – “Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door” (1973)
08. The Youngbloods – “That’s How Strong My Love Is” (1971)
09. Grateful Dead – “Ripple” (1970)

Bob Dylan and Gordon Lightfoot

Listen to the playlist on Spotify...