Needed Help QUESTION from raymond December 17, 1999 Hi I have a friend here who is not a catholic but keep on pressing me that the religion that I been practicing is not true. This is becouse he mention that every human need to be punish for what he/she did wrong in the past so he believe in reincarnation. How can I explain to him that reincarnation isn't true? I don't know how to explain in the right term.
So do you think that the Holy Spirit or God is working on him if he is not believing in the catholic religion? By the way, is the holy spirit working on protestent during theirs worship? Is the healing possible?
Another thing is that what it means by God will provide? How should I live when the way our system work now a day to make a living? Is there any explaination for that? What chapter and verses in the catholic bible? Why I ask this? This is becouse doing business mean getting money and this will certainly lead to greed after long doing it or it has already started with the attempt of doing business to get money. All I know is that we need to survive in this world but is that what is life all about?Survival Then what about the body that is made from soil but not the soul that we concern when the day we died? How can I coupe with that? What can you say about the competative world? Such as capitalism widely practice now everywhere?
Another thing is where are we heading now? To the end of days? Is that compulsary that we ought to pray everyday? How about silence prayer when we drive a car or on our way to some places? Is it applicable?
Well since the church teaching is true, so what are they searching for in mars? Is that Christ will not come even when every human is able to settle in Mars and making advancement to other galaxy? What about UFO how can I know is not true? How can I explain it to others? In the bible which is the light where is the answer for this UFO?
Well here another question is that in book of Sirach mention about how a human live some of the sentence saying don't asking advice from a seller about selling, a coward about war or a lazy person about work so is that suppose to mean that no body is going to teach you to make a living? I mean that what they teach had something left behind for themself?
Question again, are we following the OLD,NEW or the DEUTEROCARONICALS? What bible stress upon on this kind of stuff? Which is suppose to be applicable in this ? I'm not a teologist but I keen to get informed.
Well please reply I'm in confusion here and I don't wish to mess it up again becouse the light will set you free! Thanks brother!
ANSWER by John-Paul Ignatius on December 19, 1999 Dear Mr. Raymond:
You are asking many, many questions that would take way too long to answer completely. I will attempt to answer some of them briefly.
You ask, . How can I explain to him that reincarnation isn't true?
Well, you probably can’t. The Christian faith teaches us that each individual is a unique person. In reincarnation, a person is not unique, but a re-cycled being of some sort. Most unknowledgeable people think reincarnation is a person coming back as another person. That is not true. In the theory of reincarnation, one could come back as a cockroach.
Nevertheless, God creates unique individuals who live life on earth, die, and then enter into eternity. That eternity is dependent on that state of soul at the time of death. If one is in the grace of God then one will go to heaven; if not, then one will go to hell.
Reincarnation presumes that we must go through many incarnations until such time as we reach nirvana. Christianity teaches, and the fact is, that we cannot reach perfect on our own EVER, no matter how man lives we have. Man will ALWAYS fall short of God. It is only through Jesus Christ that man can be reconciled to God.
In order for your friend to be convinced, he will have to change his worldview.
It is not up to you to convince him. That is the Holy Spirit’s job. It is your duty to merely tell him the truth. Once that is done, leave the rest to God and pray for him.
You ask, By the way, is the holy spirit working on protestent during theirs worship?
Yes, the Holy Spirit is with all men of good will and with all to genuine seek God. However, if is only in the Catholic Church that the FULLNESS of the faith will be found.
You ask, Is the healing possible?
Yes.
You ask, Another thing is that what it means by God will provide? How should I live when the way our system work now a day to make a living? Is there any explaination for that?
When we trust in God, He will meet the NEEDS that He know we have. The definition of NEEDS is that God knows that we need, not what we want the definition to be. Matthew Chapter 5 describes this in the Sermon on the Mount.
You ask, Another thing is where are we heading now? To the end of days? Is that compulsary that we ought to pray everyday? How about silence prayer when we drive a car or on our way to some places? Is it applicable?
We are heading to the final judgment of God, whether we die tomorrow or 80 years from now. My end days will be tonight if I die from a heart attack tonight.
Yes, we are to pray daily. Benedict and the Little Flower and many others saints talk about making our entire lives a prayer. We should be in a prayerful attitude at all times.
You ask about Mars and UFO. These things have NOTHING to do with the Church or with Christianity. Exploring God’s creation is fine. To explore the wonders of the world is to compliment God who created it.
As for UFOs, again God is the Creator of all things. If there are people on other planets, they too, were created by God. The presence of other people on other planets does not challenge, affect, effect, or disrupt Christianity in any way.
You ask, Well here another question is that in book of Sirach mention about how a human live some of the sentence saying don't asking advice from a seller about selling, a coward about war or a lazy person about work so is that suppose to mean that no body is going to teach you to make a living? I mean that what they teach had something left behind for themself?
It means that a coward is not qualified to give advice about war; a lazy person is not qualified to give advice about work. It is merely a statement about who is qualified to give advice.
You ask, Question again, are we following the OLD,NEW or the DEUTEROCARONICALS?
The Catholic Bible (which contains the Deuterocanonical books in the Old Testament –these are the seven books of the Old Testament and a few other passages that the Protestant Bible does not have) is the official Bible declared by the Church.
Martin Luther and his gang ripped these seven books out of the bible. Luther wanted to take out the Book of James in the New Testament too since James did not fit his personal opinion about justification. Such behavior is truly dishonorable on the part of Luther and others.
But the complete bible is the version of the Bible that the Catholic Church declared.
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