10/26/2005
Martyrs Day
On October 25th we celebrated martyrs day at the college here. It was inspiring to hear those who had sacrificed their lives for the continuation of the faith in Britain. The martyrs of England and Wales had great heroism, bravery and adventure and regardless of the dangers had returned to Britain to be witness during the Elizabethan era. The pictures of the Martyrs in the college display their great virtue and holiness, as well as their authority as saints. The horrific forms of death that they were likely to receive when they returned to Britain did not deter their spirits. To be hung, draw and quartered had no influence on their fearlessness to proclaim the Gospel. Tertullian was certainly correct when he proclaimed: “The blood of the martyrs is the seed of the Church,” and the red of the Cardinal’s dress is also a great testimony to the importance of martyrdom. It is a sign of close unity with the Lord to be vilified, despised and executed for love, faith and truth.
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The real truth on fertility Robert Colquhoun 26/10/05
In Britain we live in a culture saturated by sex. Advertising uses sex appeal to sell all sorts of products, television programs are more and more interested in sex and the internet is overloaded with pornography. Media has embraced sexual images because it knows that it is more financially rewarding. However, there is another side to the story. Infertility is the next biggest issue to hit Britain. One expert recently stated that in 10 years 1 in 3 couples will have serious difficulty conceiving. The Human Fertilisation and Embryology authority (HFEA) currently believes that 1 in 5 women have serious fertility issues.
Yet few people have seen the connection between sex and infertility in true perspective. This has been because an enormous pharmaceutical industry has developed offering miracle drugs and with large interests, abortion groups and clinics have a flawed understanding of fertility and politicians have been busy compiling league tables and quotas to notice the correlation.
Promiscuity increases infertility
As contraception and abortion are widely used in the country, an interesting development has occurred. Sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) have increased relentlessly in the last few years, many with the side effects of infertility. During 2000, chlamydia rose by 30% alone in Britain. Both chlamydia and gonorrhoea cause infertility and are not easy to detect with very few symptoms. Many carriers are simply unaware that they have the disease. Other STDs can cause pelvic inflammatory disease and ectopic pregnancies. The increase in the number of sexual partners has meant that promiscuity has increased the difficulty of conceiving a child for many couples. Given the secrecy and symptom less nature of some STDs, it is evident that Britain is awaiting a very serious infertility crisis in the next 10-30 years. The STDs have the potential to grow exponentially in the next few years as the diseases naturally spread, because when you have sex with somebody, you also can inherit all the sexual diseases of all the people of whom that person has slept with.
Contraception can damage your fertility
Contrary to popular opinion, some forms of contraception are actually damaging towards your women’s fertility. The pill has been the subject of very few in depth medical studies. Due to the weight of the pharmaceutical industry behind it, the medical consequences of the pill have never firmly been established. There is considerable evidence to show that there is a clear link between breast cancer and the pill, whilst the effects of taking the pill also age the womb. It is undeniable that the pill is bad for your health. Messing around with drugs and hormones can never be naturally good for your body, and long term use of the pill has been reported to especially damage women’s fertility. Emergency IUD coils also can seriously damage your fertility. For injected contraceptives, fertility can take many months to return and little evidence is available on their true effect on fertility. More medical research needs to take place, but making your body infertile for long periods of time with drugs will affect hormonal rhythms and subsequently fertility.
IVF is unsafe and immoral
The infertility industry is currently booming in the UK. Many doctors are appealing to couples desperate for children to not only part with thousands of pounds, but also to undergo stressful and unnatural medical procedures to have their own baby. IVF is beginning to show its true colours with every medical statistic that is released on the matter. IVF pregnancies are far more likely to end in ectopic pregnancies, and there are health complications for the children. IVF is immoral because it divides up the unitative and procreative aspects of sex by conceiving embryos in a laboratory rather that in a natural way. Many embryos are consequently destroyed in this method that have some recognised status in international law. The success rate for artificial procreation is still very low. Despite this the multimillion pound industry and the desperation of couples to conceive manage to ignore these facts. Overall IVF is expensive, over stressful and immoral. Many forms of Natural family planning have shown to be effective and 100% natural, and very cheap in contrast to IVF. Adoption is also often forgotten in this complicated equation of supply and demand.
Age at which it is difficult to have children is not fully realised
Many people in British society seem deluded as to the real age at which women begin to have difficulty conceiving and the menopause comes to an end. Although women’s employment has brought many wonderful opportunities for women, increased pressure is put on many women to carry on working and to delay having children until later in life. Beyond 35 some women begin to have problems conceiving. Many newspaper articles have foretold of miracle babies at 50, and this has helped to increase the myth. If more women were more aware about infertility problems and some difficulties of conceiving beyond 35, it is unlikely that pregnancy would be delayed as much. Many are repulsed by the idea of children because they are a burden on time and money, but the vast majority of new parents discover children to be a joy.
Only way to solve huge number of unwanted teenage pregnancies in Britain is to promote a culture of abstinence within schools.
The message of safe sex promoted today is a lie to young people. The condom policy of “Be safe, use a condom” has done nothing but increase unwanted teenage pregnancies in Britain. The fact that condoms can be up to 20% ineffective, and totally ineffective with regards to preventing some STDs is ruthlessly ignored. Recently the government admitted they were virtually powerless in solving this problem, however, they were wrong and their policies have been flawed. Evidence from America shows that abstinence programs have been far more successful at reducing unwanted teenage pregnancies. However, young people cannot be scared into not having sex. A message that true love waits and authentic relationships should be chaste has to be promoted that is positive and encouraging to young people. Chastity and celibacy are hopelessly out of fashion, but a culture can be created whereby sex is not overemphasised and that sex is only authentic within the confines of marriage. Sex is wonderful and a good within the context of marriage, yet its dark side creates infertility, rape, pornography and paedophilia. The fact is that young people could learn to have safe sex if they were educated about the proper context of sex through moral education mixed in with sex education.
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10/24/2005
News from Valladolid
Tomorrow is the Martyr's day celebrations at the College which is one of the most important day in the year. We have lots of guests for the Mass. We also have lots of Catholic Archivists staying and that makes the College full which is encouraging! Last weekend I went to Burgos, which has a stunning Cathedral on a par with Westminster Abbey and it is another beautiful Castilian city. Alas Jonathan and Mark have now left the College which is sad but for different reasons.
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10/18/2005
Observations on family, marriage and children today
Observations on family, marriage and children today
18/10/05
Robert Colquhoun
18/10/05
Robert Colquhoun
Throughout the history of humanity, the transition of generations has occurred through the institution of the family. From the family, a freshness and enthusiasm of love can be experienced, a hope for tomorrow and a springtime of love is realised by the love of spouses and children. God willed marriage to be part of the divine plan for happiness and the fulfilment of mankind and also for the passing on of generations. This is why Christ raised the community of life and love in marriage to the dignity of a sacrament. God has a wonderful plan for all our lives, and we are never deprived of the possibility of his divine grace and hope. The Family as a unit is written into many constitutions of nations, understanding it to be the main building block for society. A Catholic understanding of marriage shows it to be united, indissoluble and open to life. This is because Christ preached the unity of marriage and wanted mankind to be fruitful and multiply. Tertullian, the early Church apologist was a keen advocate of Church marriages. He exclaimed “how can I ever express the happiness of the marriage that is joined together by the Church, strengthened by an offering, sealed by a blessing, announced by angels and ratified by the father… they are both brethren and both fellow servants; there is no separation between them in spirit or flesh… Christ rejoices in them and he sends his peace; where the couple, there he is also to be found, and where he is, love can no longer abide.”(Ad Uxorem, II, VIII, 6-8: CLL 1, 393-4 cf. Familiaris Consortio 13).
Children are a great blessing for a marriage, a wonderful physical sign of the love of the spouses and the fruit of their conjugal love. When children are conceived in this context of great self giving between human persons, the beautiful peaceful and harmonious growth occurs. One only needs to think of parents of newly born children to remember their joy, hope, freshness and enthusiasm that they have after a birth of a child.
The family supports society and the state, and “The business done in the home is nothing less than the shaping of the body and soul of humanity. The family manufactures mankind.” (New Witness, Nov 14, 1919). Thus the family and children are of fundamental importance to the healthy existence of society. Dysfunctional families create dysfunctional societies. A healthy family teaches its members about generosity, self giving, respect for others, self control and temperance.
Within the last 50 years the understanding of the family has come under attack, mostly from a collection of cultural forces which have accumulated over time. The contraceptive culture was fully away by the 1960s, which changed the size of families and has created a culture of conditional love as well as a widespread fear of being parents. The acceptance of abortion was closely attached to this, in part a result of the inadequacy of contraception and also in order to alleviate individuals of the hassle of unwanted children. This belief was part and parcel of the sexual liberation of the 1960s, which attempted to liberate women from the ‘degradation’ of childbirth. The women’s movement had some great achievements. It helped to emphasize the equality in dignity of women and created many opportunities unbeknownst to women previously. However many feminists still today consider that motherhood is a dirty word and that children are a product which might contaminate their career. An ideological approach to gender still exists embracing an individualist anthropology of radical neoliberalism. In other words, the ideas of some feminists were that man had harassed woman throughout history and liberation from the cultural conditioning of marriage and children was needed. The autonomy of women was needed to be freed from such repression. In attempt at gender equality, some women tried to be exactly like men. In this cultural environment the lowering respect of family and marriage was created by the legalisation of divorce.
As a consequence of the cultural trends of the last half century, Europe is on the eve of a demographic winter. This effectively is a potential disaster due to a drop in births, an aging population with unforeseeable moral, civil and political dangers. The population of Europe is struggling to maintain itself having problems for the future of the economy and well being of society. The Human Fertilisation and Embryology authority (HFEA) in Britain stated that 1 in 5 people in the UK are currently infertile. Sexually transmitted diseases such as Gonorrhoea threaten to damage the so called “sexual health” of many people. With an aging population, the number of workers at the working age has decreased substantially. Therefore, pensions must be scrapped, retirement cancelled and legislation proposing the systematic disposal of the elderly, either by assisted suicide or by voluntary euthanasia proposed. With less people able to do the work, economic problems will inevitably arise. Nevertheless, government policy has done very little to promote the concept of healthy families and marriage in society in Britain.
At the same time across Europe, respect, practice and understanding of marriage is under threat. With commitment a seriously unfashionable practice, a culture of de facto unions has appeared, poking out its head demanding legal recognition. To put a de facto union on par with marriage in law would provide discrimination against families. De facto unions have a paradoxical desire to maintain the autonomy of one’s will in a relationship. There is no trusting openness to open life together in an authentic manner in a de facto union. Most importantly of all de facto unions can also have the problem of a serious lack of self commitment. They are the embodiment of the pragmatism and hedonism of a generation not willing to commit to one another. Most importantly they are much more likely to miss the stability, responsibilities, rights and duties that conjugal love in marriage can possess. De Facto unions have arisen because of the failure of previous marriages and the high rate of divorce; however this can in no way legitimise their existence. De facto unions encourage the couples to merely be friends with their children, if they have them, rather than loving them to the full. This can also mean that parents refrain from correcting their children when needs be. In many ways De Facto unions embrace the “Free love” (cf. Gaudium et Spes) without attachments. This does nothing to the well being of society and of the participants of such unions. Love within a long term relationship cannot avoid the attached strings of stability, responsibilities, duties and giving and receiving. The legal acknowledgement of free unions would do nothing but damage the social fabric of society.
To counter cultural problems today, marriage needs to be promoted as an essential good in society and as the cultural norm. Legislation should be kept to recognise how the family and marriage keeps society healthy. The media needs to promote an image in preference of the family. People have a right to be free from pornographic information and especially to protect their children from it. A culture which is obsessed with sex will breed some fairly horrible obsessions, monsters and illnesses, the worst of which is paedophilia. If the media and culture promote a healthy version of sex within marriage, such problems will decline dramatically. Mary Whitehouse was right all along.
Sex education also needs to be seriously reformed. Rather than just stating the factual information about sex, children should be taught about the responsibilities, rights, duties, self control, respect for others and self giving that should be integral to relationships. The dangers of unwanted teenage pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases should be addressed by a full understanding of temperance, given that it is the only clear way to address this problem. In this way a healthy transmission to new generations can be established and a healthy society can have a greater chance of existing.
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Latest from Valladolid 17/10/05
Last week we had a look around Avila on Friday, seeing the convent of St. Teresa of Avila and the Cathedral and other sites. The city has some amazing city walls along with Segovia. We had a massive steak the size of a large plate which I finished (but only just). On Segovia, about 8 of us visited Segovia where there is a Castle which inspired the Disney castle, an amazing aquaduct and overall a beautiful town. Last Sunday I watched the local football team win one-nil against another local non entity in the local stadium- its about a 24,000 seater stadium but there were about 4,000 people there and the "panceras" are down in the doldrums having been relegated two years ago. Nevertheless this win, with a header in the last minute has put them up to about 5th. This week we have had an American priest staying talking on human formation and an English priest talking on scripture. I have had to do all the readings, and I have been doing lots of reading, swimming. Yesterday I had a decent game of badminton, and discovered that you could play this game here of a mixture between tennis and squash and you hit the ball really hard and it looks knackering. We also had the Scots College Old boys come for lunch and then we had a great Thursday night in Valladolid and met some medical students who showed us the best bars.
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10/13/2005
The existence and attributes of God
The existence and attributes of God 13/10/05
Anselm in the Proslogion attempts to presuppose God in a similar fashion to Epicurus: “O Lord, you are not only that there which nothing greater can be conceived, but you are greater than all that can be conceived, If you were not such, something greater than you could be thought, but this is impossible.” (St Anselm of Canterbury, Proslogion, Proemiumand Nos. 1,15: PL 158, 223-4, 226,235). This premise is that a thing is greater if it necessarily exists than if it does not necessarily exist. The most perfect conceivable being therefore must be perfect. Descartes and Liebniz followed this argument, albeit in a slightly different fashion, because God was a “supremely perfect being” (cf. Descartes, Meditations on first philosophy), existence is a perfection and since God is supremely perfect he must exist or he would be less than supremely perfect. However, these arguments attempt to define God who is beyond definition into existence. It is not fully possible to logically deduced proof of God’s existence because part of that existence is based in faith. The logical argument that the existence of the concept of God necessarily involves the objective existence of God is however convincing as it does not appeal to facts, experience or science but common sense.
This argument is based on the purpose and regularity of the universe. Because the universe runs like clockwork (as argued by William Paley), it is complex and shows evidence of design. Henceforth the universe had a designer called God. As the universe has such wonderful order naturally this could not have come about by chance and therefore there is a painter behind the picture.
Augustine argued that we are in contact with an absolute truth which is superior to our minds as it was eternal, objective and absolute, and this eternal being was divine and not human. Newman argued that conscience was of utmost importance, and this could only come from God, who inspires our hearts. Kant argued that morality had to have perfection in some sense and this had to be real somewhere and therefore God existed. Von Balthasar argued that Beauty revealed the nature of God. As beauty exists, therefore so does God.
Pascal’s argument for the existence of God in Pensées is extremely convincing. At essence it is an existential argument in that it states if there is no God and no immortality life is ultimately meaningless. Dostoyevsky also argued along these lines stating that “If God does not exist, everything is permissible.” Pascal’s argument was that to bet on God is your only way of achieving eternal happiness, and to bet against God is a certain way of losing. And therefore to wage on God’s existence is the most sensible thing to do. In Pensees he argues, “If we are deceived into believing the true Christian religion to be true, the consequences are trifling. But if it were to be true, how woeful to deceive oneself in believing it to be false!” (Pensées, 21:36). However this does compare faith to gambling and betting on God’s existence needs to evolve to believing in God’s existence to be authentic.
If there is no God of love, and no absolute which is love, then love cannot be absolute. For in the eyes of love the infinite value of the human person is shown. If miracles exist, a miracle maker must exist. To disprove all alleged miracles is a great assumption given the number of miracles that have been claimed. Providence (or destiny) is evident in history and in personal life. Divine providence means that chance in properly put in context in a universe created designed and providentially cared for by God. Wisdom 14:3 and Proverbs 16:4 account for the providence of God. Boethius told us “Thou (God) governest this universe by mandate eternal.”
All attempts to prove God’s existence are a small portion of the attributes of God. Revelation is not provable by reason, because theology cannot be reduced to pure reason. At the heart of divisions in opinion on the existence of God is the nature of free will that God has given man. Many of those who do not believe in God have never tried to serve God with all their body, soul and mind and consequently it is hard to say that they have searched fully for him. It is not possible to define God into existence, as Aquinas testified the mystery of God prevents this, as God is ultimately indefinable by our miniscule understanding of the universe. Therefore, the argument of the existence of God finds itself caught in the minefield of language and definitions, attempting to explain a God who is beyond definition within human understanding. However, the cosmological, teleological and ontological arguments provide us with a thoroughly convincing argument that show it is highly likely that God exists, and that we must search for him with faith. This is because, “God has placed in the human heart a desire to know the truth—in a word, to know himself—so that, by knowing and loving God, men and women may also come to the fullness of truth about themselves.” (cf. Ex 33:18; Ps 27:8-9; 63:2-3; Jn 14:8; 1 Jn 3:2). (John Paul II, Introduction to Fides et Ratio).
At times of great crisis and in extraordinary circumstances, people naturally look to the supernatural in order to rationalize and explain events. The tsunami in the Indian Ocean on 26th December had people questioning the existence of God in England. How could a loving God tolerate such suffering and misery? Undoubtedly Hurricane Katrina and the earthquake between Pakistan and India will have had the same effect. Nevertheless, the arguments for the existence of God are overwhelming when considered in the right context. These proofs, whilst not definitive in themselves guide us towards the presence of a mysterious and hidden God.
A quick analysis of disbelief
Epicurus came up with the argument that “If God is willing to prevent evil, but unable then he is impotent, If God is able, but not willing, he is malevolent, if he is both able and willing, whence then is evil.” This has been known as the problem of evil that has puzzled philosophers and theologians for hundreds of years. However, Epicurus’ argument is based on a large assumption on the nature and will of God. Who is man to rationalize the will and order of the universe into our best understanding of its design? To presuppose that evil disproves God when we produce evil as a consequence of our own actions stinks of hypocrisy. Epicurus’ attempt to categorise God assumes compulsorily divine action at any point of suffering, which is arrogant and callous. The obvious response to this argument is: “If there is no God, how can there be good?” God needs no consultancy service on his will or ability, whilst he also needs no cause of his existence because his existence is his essence. Augustine refuted this argument well when he explained “Almighty God would not permit evil to exist in his works, unless he were so almighty and so good to produce good even from evil.” (Enchir. ii).
According to the great Christian writer Damascene, “The knowledge of God is naturally implanted in all.” (De Fid. Orth i I 3). As God breathed the breath of life into man (Genesis 2:7), man has possessed innate human dignity having been made in the image of God. Nevertheless, God “left him in the hand of his own counsel,” (Sirach 15:14), and man has free will over his actions since eating from the tree of Knowledge. As a consequence of original sin, man has had the ability for disbelief in God, as a part of his free will. The Psalmist testifies, “The fool said in his heart, there is no God.” (Ps 52:1). Some have attempted to create psychological objections to the existence of God. Belief in God was down to fear, folly, fallacy or fantasy. In a logical positivistic age, external verification is needed to acquire truth. Henceforth God has become increasing inaccessible within this logic and has been assumed to be a myth of our less knowledgeable predecessors. As the letter to the Hebrews exclaims, “Only faith can guarantee the blessings that we hoped for, or prove the existence of realities that are unseen.” (Heb 11:1). If we are to look at the traditional arguments for the existence of God, they are surprisingly down to earth and sensible.
The Cosmological argument
This argument attempts to answer the question: why is there something rather than nothing? Aristotle based his argument on “the unmoved mover” to explain that if we go back on cause and effect, we have to postulate one that caused the first effect, and that we call God. Either there is a first cause or there is not. With motion and causality, and because nothing can cause itself to be, creation happened ex nihilo. William Cane Craig explained this argument which was developed by Aquinas, by stating “Since everything in the universe that begins to exist has a cause of its existence, and since the universe began to exist… the universe has a cause of its existence.” Under this, God is the necessary being because contingent beings (beings not able to be) depend on God who is (a being not able not to be). As the act of creation presupposes a creator, time also must have had a beginning to give rise to the rest of time. Design can only be caused by an intelligent designer and mindless nature cannot come about by chance. Swinburne ridiculed the likelihood that we are on earth by probability. To state that we evolved from an ocean of primordial soup, gained consciousness and the knowledge of right and wrong breaches into the absurd. Degrees of perfection on earth presuppose the existence of perfection itself, which is God.
The Ontological argument
Anselm in the Proslogion attempts to presuppose God in a similar fashion to Epicurus: “O Lord, you are not only that there which nothing greater can be conceived, but you are greater than all that can be conceived, If you were not such, something greater than you could be thought, but this is impossible.” (St Anselm of Canterbury, Proslogion, Proemiumand Nos. 1,15: PL 158, 223-4, 226,235). This premise is that a thing is greater if it necessarily exists than if it does not necessarily exist. The most perfect conceivable being therefore must be perfect. Descartes and Liebniz followed this argument, albeit in a slightly different fashion, because God was a “supremely perfect being” (cf. Descartes, Meditations on first philosophy), existence is a perfection and since God is supremely perfect he must exist or he would be less than supremely perfect. However, these arguments attempt to define God who is beyond definition into existence. It is not fully possible to logically deduced proof of God’s existence because part of that existence is based in faith. The logical argument that the existence of the concept of God necessarily involves the objective existence of God is however convincing as it does not appeal to facts, experience or science but common sense.
The Teleological argument
This argument is based on the purpose and regularity of the universe. Because the universe runs like clockwork (as argued by William Paley), it is complex and shows evidence of design. Henceforth the universe had a designer called God. As the universe has such wonderful order naturally this could not have come about by chance and therefore there is a painter behind the picture.
Human experience and observations
Augustine argued that we are in contact with an absolute truth which is superior to our minds as it was eternal, objective and absolute, and this eternal being was divine and not human. Newman argued that conscience was of utmost importance, and this could only come from God, who inspires our hearts. Kant argued that morality had to have perfection in some sense and this had to be real somewhere and therefore God existed. Von Balthasar argued that Beauty revealed the nature of God. As beauty exists, therefore so does God.
Pascal
Pascal’s argument for the existence of God in Pensées is extremely convincing. At essence it is an existential argument in that it states if there is no God and no immortality life is ultimately meaningless. Dostoyevsky also argued along these lines stating that “If God does not exist, everything is permissible.” Pascal’s argument was that to bet on God is your only way of achieving eternal happiness, and to bet against God is a certain way of losing. And therefore to wage on God’s existence is the most sensible thing to do. In Pensees he argues, “If we are deceived into believing the true Christian religion to be true, the consequences are trifling. But if it were to be true, how woeful to deceive oneself in believing it to be false!” (Pensées, 21:36). However this does compare faith to gambling and betting on God’s existence needs to evolve to believing in God’s existence to be authentic.
Historical arguments for God
If there is no God of love, and no absolute which is love, then love cannot be absolute. For in the eyes of love the infinite value of the human person is shown. If miracles exist, a miracle maker must exist. To disprove all alleged miracles is a great assumption given the number of miracles that have been claimed. Providence (or destiny) is evident in history and in personal life. Divine providence means that chance in properly put in context in a universe created designed and providentially cared for by God. Wisdom 14:3 and Proverbs 16:4 account for the providence of God. Boethius told us “Thou (God) governest this universe by mandate eternal.”
The majority of humanity has believed in God, and especially those who were wise and moral people. Saints show the majesty of God through their joy and power and show the love that is possible in all of us. If God is unreal, Jesus was history’s biggest fake and therefore the majority of religions that acknowledge at least some status for Jesus were entirely inaccurate, and henceforth one’s existence is based on a cosmological fluke incapable of salvation.
Conclusion
All attempts to prove God’s existence are a small portion of the attributes of God. Revelation is not provable by reason, because theology cannot be reduced to pure reason. At the heart of divisions in opinion on the existence of God is the nature of free will that God has given man. Many of those who do not believe in God have never tried to serve God with all their body, soul and mind and consequently it is hard to say that they have searched fully for him. It is not possible to define God into existence, as Aquinas testified the mystery of God prevents this, as God is ultimately indefinable by our miniscule understanding of the universe. Therefore, the argument of the existence of God finds itself caught in the minefield of language and definitions, attempting to explain a God who is beyond definition within human understanding. However, the cosmological, teleological and ontological arguments provide us with a thoroughly convincing argument that show it is highly likely that God exists, and that we must search for him with faith. This is because, “God has placed in the human heart a desire to know the truth—in a word, to know himself—so that, by knowing and loving God, men and women may also come to the fullness of truth about themselves.” (cf. Ex 33:18; Ps 27:8-9; 63:2-3; Jn 14:8; 1 Jn 3:2). (John Paul II, Introduction to Fides et Ratio).
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10/05/2005
Pascal's Pensées
Robert Colquhoun
Pensées
By Blaise Pascal
Pascal used this work as an apology to state that God is possible to resemble and enjoy, however it is the corruption of man that renders his unworthy of him (8). Lastly Pascal used St Leo the Great to defend his vision of the omnipotence of God by quoting his famous passage: “We can do all things, by the aid of whom without whom we can do nothing.” (on Lent, XI, IV).
Descartes was condemned as a tepid theist on a number of occasions. Pascal showed that Descartes thought God started the universe and then did not do much else. Epictetus apparently erred as he thought suicide lawful, pain and death were not evils and the soul was part of the divine essence. Montaigne’s views were far more dangerous because man was seen to be divorced from divine revelation and had no justification for any law.
“In the person of Jesus Christ all the discordances are harmonized” (13:12)
Joel 2:28 “I will pour out my spirit on all flesh.”
Isaiah 51:7 “law not written on tables of stone but on hearts.”
Jeremiah 31:33, 32:40 He would put his fear in their hearts
Isaiah 55:2 “ A rebellious people walking in a way that is not good.”
Deuteronomy 28:28-9 God would smite them like the blind
Ezekiel 47 Church small in foundation, afterwards would increase substantially
Ezekiel 30:13 Lead men to the worship of the true God
Malachi 1-3 a pure offering offered, not sacrifices
Isaiah 2:3, Micah 4:2 Messiah to teach men the perfect way.
Ps 2:6, 8, 72:8 King of Jews and Gentiles
Isaiah 9:6 born an infant
Micah 5:2 born in the town of Bethlehem
Genesis 49:10 Born in the tribe of Judah
2 Sam 7:12-16, Isaiah 7:4 of the posterity of David
Malachi 3:1, Haggin 2:9 Jerusalem the scene of his appearance
Isaiah 6:10 close the eyes of the wise and learned
Isaiah 61:1 glad tidings to the poor and needy
Isaiah 42:7 open eyes of blind, give health to sick, cause light to shine in darkness
Isaiah 30:21 teach the perfect way
Isaiah 42:6 be the light of gentiles
Isaiah 53:5 a sacrifice for the sins of the world
Isaiah 28:16 a precious corner stone
Isaiah 8:14 a stone of stumbling and a rock of offence
Isaiah 8:15 many of Jerusalem fall on stone and be broken
Psalm 118:22 builders reject stone
Daniel 2:35 stone becomes a great mountain, and fills the whole earth
Psalm 118:22 God make the stone the headstone of the corner, must be rejected
Isaiah 53:2, 3 rejected
Ps 41:9 betrayed
Zechariah 11:12 sold
Isaiah 1:6 buffeted
Ps 35:16 mocked
Ps 69:7 vilified in numerous ways
Ps 69:21 received gall for drink
Ps 22:16 pieced in his hands and feet
Isaiah 50:6 spat upon
Dan 9:26 put to death
Ps 22:18 cast lots for his garments
Ps 16:10, Hosea 6:2 rise again on the third day
Ps 47:5, 68:18 he should ascend to heaven
Ps 110:1 sit at the right hand of God
Ps 2:2 All things should set themselves against him
Ps 110:5 at the right hand of the father, should be victorious over all his enemies
Ps 72:11 kings of the earth and all people should worship him
Jeremiah 31:36 Jew should exist as a distinct nation.
Amos 9:9 Jews should wander among all nations
Hosea 3:4 without king, sacrifices or altar
Ps 74:9 without Prophets
Isaiah 59:9, Jeremiah 8:15 expecting salvation but not finding it.
Ps 130:8 deliverer, break serpents head, deliver people from sins, and from all iniquities.
John 19:15 Jews say “we have no king but Caesar”
Zechariah 9:9, 10 Messiah poor, ruler of the nations.
Deuteronomy 10:17 God not partial to people.
Jeremiah 9:26 “all the house of Israel are uncircumcised in heart.”
Deuteronomy 32:2, 21, Isaiah 65 Jews with transgressions, rejected, heathen chosen instead.
Ps 73 earthly enjoyments in vain, happiness in being united to God
Amos 5:21 “I hate, despite your feast days, I will not smell your solemn assemblies.”
Isaiah 66, Jer 6:20 Did not want sacrifice of blood of beasts.
Malachi 1:10, 11 Sacrifices of the heathen received by God, with his approbation from sacrifices of Jews
Jeremiah 31:31 new Covenant of Messiah, old covenant abolished
Isaiah 43:18, 19 All former things forgotten
Jeremiah 3:16 ark of covenant should not be remembered anymore
Jeremiah 7:13-6 Temple should be destroyed
Malachi 1:10-11 Pure sacrifices accepted
Isaiah 65 new name to the servants of God
Isaiah 56:5 made better than that of Jews and perpetuated
Jeremiah 31:36 nevertheless the Jews preserved as a distinct nation
Pensées
By Blaise Pascal
All numbers are chapters and verses are from Pascal’s Pensées.
Pascal uses his most famous work Pensées as an overview of his thoughts on a wide range of topics. Foremost he is a great apologist of Christianity in his works. He defends the Church, praises the glory of Christ and shows how the Old Testament prophecies are fulfilled by Christ. His writings convey a Jansenist spirituality that is concordance with his philosophical perspective in life. He does not hesitate to discredit the beliefs and philosophy of others in his work.
A substantial proportion of the Pensées is Christian apology. He portrays a vision of the Church in all its glory. He states that the Church has remarkably stood its ground and position in perfect inflexibility, as striking proof of its divine origin, whilst not one human constitution has even lasted 500 years (cf. 8:9-10). He boasts of the Apostles and confessors as they established Christianity with no external force with so much energy that no silence or torture could silence them. (cf. 8:12) The Apostles who were uneducated possessed all wisdom and and endured all courage. He described the Church as founded without a single prince and the subsequent perpetuity of Christianity is due to holiness, elevation and the humility of real Christians. Pascal argues that the Church authority was established by antecedent miracles (cf.20:10), and this proved the power God has over the hearts of men, by showing what power he can exercise over their bodies. He demonstrated that God has fixed components onto his Church to be discovered by all those who seek him.
He defends the apparent contradictions of Christianity in his apology. This is particularly characteristic of his creative style of a categorisation of things and division of peoples. He acknowledges that there are a large number of truths, in religion and morals that appear repugnant and contradictory, but actually subsist in admirable harmony (21:13). This is partly because Christianity recognises man as the most excellent and the most miserable (cf. 8). He proclaims that without Jesus Christ, the world would not continue to exist; for necessarily it would be destroyed or become a hell. (21:9). Nevertheless he saw that the knowledge of human nature was integral to the true religion, even showing paganism to be inadequate for the reflective and philosophical.
In Pensées, Pascal had a very pessimistic view of mankind, seeing man as full of sin and corruptibility. But this view was always qualified by the potential greatness that man could obtain only directly from God. He described man as “A monster, what a chaos, what a subject of contradiction, what a prodigy! A judge of all things, feeble worm of the earth, depositary of the truth, cloaca of uncertainty and error, and glory and the shame of the universe!” Pascal also saw man as “a reed, the weakest in nature, but a thinking reed.” He thought all of humanity under a form of death sentence (4:6) due to the immortality of man, and that man was totally in capable of having virtue by his unassisted efforts. (8).
Pascal used this work as an apology to state that God is possible to resemble and enjoy, however it is the corruption of man that renders his unworthy of him (8). Lastly Pascal used St Leo the Great to defend his vision of the omnipotence of God by quoting his famous passage: “We can do all things, by the aid of whom without whom we can do nothing.” (on Lent, XI, IV).
He demonstrated that the Old Testament prophecies really are fulfilled in the person of Jesus Christ and all the discordances of prophecy are harmonized. He provides us with the most convincing collection of Old Testament revelations that are evidently fulfilled in the Gospels, either literally or figuratively (see Appendix A). Furthermore, he considers the situation of the Jewish people since the time of Christ to be yet further evidence of the fulfilment of the prophets. The miserable condition that the Jews experienced since the time of Christ, with no temple, no symbol, no sacrifices and scattered across the earth as testimony to the fulfilment of Christ. He also uses the Old Testament to show the dissatisfaction of God with the Jews and even the prediction of the destruction of the Temple (Jer 7:13-6).
Pascal embraced spiritual assumptions and pickets of wisdom that are in concordance with his philosophical assertions. His first assertion is that a division between the pure misery of mankind and its potential greatness. His second assertion is that the immortality of the soul is of fundamental importance to man’s whole outlook and should be the starting point of arguments. He asserted that true holiness was dependant on annihilation of self and used many Old Testament quotations to show how antiquity gave his views greater credibility. He described the melancholy, shallowness and levity of spirit in the world. Nevertheless he also describes man as “A nothing in comparison to the infinite, a whole with regard to nothing a mean between nothing and everything.”[1] Man always has the potential to fall into pride or despair, as nature is able to continually tempt us with concupiscence. His views have been profoundly influenced by the Jansenist school of thought that he adhered to. Henceforth the concept of original sin, depravity and redemption have such a large emphasis in his work. This is clearly emphasized as he believed that humanity was under a “death sentence” (4:6). He also rejected the traditional proof of God’s existence, preferring his own speculative ideas.
Pascal’s spirituality is based on main Christian assertions, that it was the “design of God to redeem mankind and bestow Salvation on all who sincerely seek it.” (17:1). This is as the incarnation showed man the greatness of his misery by the greatness of the remedy. God also always works with benignity, and to implant religion by the heart of grace (21:4). Pascal also shows us that divine revelation is a science of the heart (21:106) and that the soul cannot obtain true happiness from perishable objects.
He asserts that it is undeniable that “All wish to be happy” (5.1), but the immortality of the soul “affects us all so profoundly” (6). This is part of his basis of his wager argument for the existence of God. The basis of this argument is that “If we are deceived into believing the true Christian religion to be true, the consequences are trifling. But if it were to be true, how woeful to deceive oneself in believing it to be false!” (21:36). Pascal makes faith sound like gambling, but on the assertion that you must either wager for or against God, the chances of heaven against nothing make it infinitely worthwhile waging for God. Yet this must be qualified with the rest of his work as stand alone philosophy it seems like a speculative jump towards God. He defended his views saying that “We know the truth, not only from reason, but also by the heart.” Pascal also examined conversion in this light by saying that the divine influence meant that one obtained a new perception of oneself and other objects and that this illumination created fear and anxiety as the serene enjoyment of one’s previous existence could no longer be enjoyed. This was because “True conversion involves annihilating one’s self before the eternal sovereign.” 10:3).
Pascal furthers his arguments of his apology of Christianity by criticising and discrediting those who are opposed to his views. Jews, Muslims, inaccurate philosophers, theists and atheists are all challenged with his version of the heterodoxy of their views. He claims that those portion of people who are unsure of whether their souls are immortal have only to hope for hell and annihilation. He criticised all those who live in hope in the future as those who are about to live, but never living (21).
Islam is challenged to be unsupported and without authority, without prophecy, commission from heaven, miracles, mystery, morals or enlightenment. (16:7). Pascal described the difference between Islam and Christianity. Mohammed was a man who established a religion by putting his enemies to death and Christ commanded his followers to lay down their lives. Pascal uses his intimate knowledge of the Old Testament even further by showing how the Judaism was ready to be superseded by Christianity (see appendix B). He also described God as a God who hid himself and had to be followed with all their hearts. Those who criticised Christians had not done this and they could not have a thorough cure of their evil. His mildly predestinarian views are emphasised when he alluded to the elect by stating “We understand none of the works of God unless we assume, as a first principle, that he blinds some and enlightens others.”
Descartes was condemned as a tepid theist on a number of occasions. Pascal showed that Descartes thought God started the universe and then did not do much else. Epictetus apparently erred as he thought suicide lawful, pain and death were not evils and the soul was part of the divine essence. Montaigne’s views were far more dangerous because man was seen to be divorced from divine revelation and had no justification for any law.
One of Pascal’s favourite generalisations is the categorisation of thoughts, peoples and ideas. There are numerous examples of his use of this technique. Philosophy is either based on pride, being ignorant of man’s sin or it is unaware of man’s dignity and believes man is beyond recovery and therefore licentiousness should be the solution. Pascal categorised humanity into 3 groups. The first was those who had found God and serve him, consequently being rational and happy. The second group of people were seeking him in unhappiness but rationality. But the third group lived without seeking him and were unhappy and irrational (21). There were also two paths in life leading from fear. Right fear came from faith, which then led to hope and a fear to lose God. However false fear came from doubt, which led to despair and fear to find him (21:57). Pascal saw a dichotomy between the pyrrhonists and the dogmatists and one cannot be purely either but must fall under either or both categories. (5:1).
Pascal based his philosophy in Pensées mostly on faith, infused with reason, wisdom and scepticism. He claimed that to “mock at philosophy is to philosophise truly.” He acknowledged the sheer probability of history in the meeting and marriages of all our ancestors (33:1). He also plays with historical probability by stating, “If Cleopatra’s nose had been a few lines shorter, the state of the world would have been changed.” (30:46). His simple wisdom was based on the fact that one’s rights are not founded on any personal qualification or right. For this he used the parable of a shipwrecked man who was made a king by chance and forgot his luck. (33:1).
He acknowledged that reason is not the only way to truth, and that truth could be declared “Truth this side of the Pyrenees, error beyond.” (5:294). It believed that philosophy inevitably led to theology as so much depended on the immortality of the soul. Despite his work as a scientist and a mathematician he challenged the logical view of reason because his reason was compounded with the majesty of creation and God.
In conclusion, There is immense depth and variety in the analysis of ideas and philosophy in Pascal’s Pensées, However, Pascal defended a ‘Jansenist' version of Christianity, partly from arguments from his wager, from the Old Testament and from historical and philosophical thought. He attached great importance to the immortality of the soul, the misery of man and the importance of redemption from sin. He attempted to discredit those views he disagreed with. Overall, his work displays great logic and simple wisdom, summarising the fundamentals of the Christian religion, legitimising the prophecies and insuring oneself against eternal damnation.
Appendix A – The Old Testament prophecies fulfilled in Christ.
“In the person of Jesus Christ all the discordances are harmonized” (13:12)
Ps 147:20 “He hath not done so to every nation.”
Joel 2:28 “I will pour out my spirit on all flesh.”
Isaiah 51:7 “law not written on tables of stone but on hearts.”
Jeremiah 31:33, 32:40 He would put his fear in their hearts
Isaiah 55:2 “ A rebellious people walking in a way that is not good.”
Deuteronomy 28:28-9 God would smite them like the blind
Ezekiel 47 Church small in foundation, afterwards would increase substantially
Ezekiel 30:13 Lead men to the worship of the true God
Malachi 1-3 a pure offering offered, not sacrifices
Isaiah 2:3, Micah 4:2 Messiah to teach men the perfect way.
Ps 2:6, 8, 72:8 King of Jews and Gentiles
Malachi 3:1 Christ should have a forerunner
Isaiah 9:6 born an infant
Micah 5:2 born in the town of Bethlehem
Genesis 49:10 Born in the tribe of Judah
2 Sam 7:12-16, Isaiah 7:4 of the posterity of David
Malachi 3:1, Haggin 2:9 Jerusalem the scene of his appearance
Isaiah 6:10 close the eyes of the wise and learned
Isaiah 61:1 glad tidings to the poor and needy
Isaiah 42:7 open eyes of blind, give health to sick, cause light to shine in darkness
Isaiah 30:21 teach the perfect way
Isaiah 42:6 be the light of gentiles
Isaiah 53:5 a sacrifice for the sins of the world
Isaiah 28:16 a precious corner stone
Isaiah 8:14 a stone of stumbling and a rock of offence
Isaiah 8:15 many of Jerusalem fall on stone and be broken
Psalm 118:22 builders reject stone
Daniel 2:35 stone becomes a great mountain, and fills the whole earth
Psalm 118:22 God make the stone the headstone of the corner, must be rejected
Isaiah 53:2, 3 rejected
Ps 41:9 betrayed
Zechariah 11:12 sold
Isaiah 1:6 buffeted
Ps 35:16 mocked
Ps 69:7 vilified in numerous ways
Ps 69:21 received gall for drink
Ps 22:16 pieced in his hands and feet
Isaiah 50:6 spat upon
Dan 9:26 put to death
Ps 22:18 cast lots for his garments
Ps 16:10, Hosea 6:2 rise again on the third day
Ps 47:5, 68:18 he should ascend to heaven
Ps 110:1 sit at the right hand of God
Ps 2:2 All things should set themselves against him
Ps 110:5 at the right hand of the father, should be victorious over all his enemies
Ps 72:11 kings of the earth and all people should worship him
Jeremiah 31:36 Jew should exist as a distinct nation.
Amos 9:9 Jews should wander among all nations
Hosea 3:4 without king, sacrifices or altar
Ps 74:9 without Prophets
Isaiah 59:9, Jeremiah 8:15 expecting salvation but not finding it.
Ps 130:8 deliverer, break serpents head, deliver people from sins, and from all iniquities.
John 19:15 Jews say “we have no king but Caesar”
Zechariah 9:9, 10 Messiah poor, ruler of the nations.
Appendix B- Judaism Fulfilled in Christianity
Deuteronomy 8:19-20 forget God, serve other Gods, you will perish
Deuteronomy 10:17 God not partial to people.
Jeremiah 9:26 “all the house of Israel are uncircumcised in heart.”
Deuteronomy 32:2, 21, Isaiah 65 Jews with transgressions, rejected, heathen chosen instead.
Ps 73 earthly enjoyments in vain, happiness in being united to God
Amos 5:21 “I hate, despite your feast days, I will not smell your solemn assemblies.”
Isaiah 66, Jer 6:20 Did not want sacrifice of blood of beasts.
Malachi 1:10, 11 Sacrifices of the heathen received by God, with his approbation from sacrifices of Jews
Jeremiah 31:31 new Covenant of Messiah, old covenant abolished
Isaiah 43:18, 19 All former things forgotten
Jeremiah 3:16 ark of covenant should not be remembered anymore
Jeremiah 7:13-6 Temple should be destroyed
Malachi 1:10-11 Pure sacrifices accepted
Isaiah 65 new name to the servants of God
Isaiah 56:5 made better than that of Jews and perpetuated
Jeremiah 31:36 nevertheless the Jews preserved as a distinct nation
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10/01/2005
If you really loved me quotations
If you really loved me Bible quotations
1 Thess 4:3-8 This is the will of God, your holiness: that you refrain from immorality, that each of you know how to acquire a wife for himself in holiness and honor, not in lustful passion as do the Gentiles who do not know God;not to take advantage of or exploit a brother in this matter, for the Lord is an avenger in all these things, as we told you before and solemnly affirmed. For God did not call us to impurity but to holiness. Therefore, whoever disregards this, disregards not a human being but God, who (also) gives his holy Spirit to you.
Eph 5:3 Immorality or any impurity or greed must not even be mentioned among you, as is fitting among holy ones, no obscenity or silly or suggestive talk, which is out of place, but instead, thanksgiving.
Sir 4:28 Even to the death fight for truth, and the LORD your God will battle for you.
Heb 13:17 Obey your leaders and defer to them, for they keep watch over you and will have to give an account, that they may fulfill their task with joy and not with sorrow, for that would be of no advantage to you.
Rom 12:2 Do not conform yourselves to this age but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and pleasing and perfect.
Phil 4:11 Not that I say this because of need, for I have learned, in whatever situation I find myself, to be self-sufficient.
Jer 29:11-14 For I know well the plans I have in mind for you, says the LORD, plans for your welfare, not for woe! plans to give you a future full of hope. When you call me, when you go to pray to me, I will listen to you. When you look for me, you will find me. Yes, when you seek me with all your heart, you will find me with you, says the LORD, and I will change your lot; I will gather you together from all the nations and all the places to which I have banished you, says the LORD, and bring you back to the place from which I have exiled you.
Sir 17:19-21 But to the penitent he provides a way back, he encourages those who are losing hope! Return to the LORD and give up sin, pray to him and make your offenses few.Turn again to the Most High and away from sin, hate intensely what he loathes;
Sir 2:1-6,10,11 My son, when you come to serve the LORD, prepare yourself for trials. Be sincere of heart and steadfast, undisturbed in time of adversity. Cling to him, forsake him not; thus will your future be great. Accept whatever befalls you, in crushing misfortune be patient; For in fire gold is tested, and worthy men in the crucible of humiliation. Trust God and he will help you; make straight your ways and hope in him. Study the generations long past and understand; has anyone hoped in the LORD and been disappointed? Has anyone persevered in his fear and been forsaken? has anyone called upon him and been rebuffed? Compassionate and merciful is the LORD; he forgives sins, he saves in time of trouble.
Lament 3:22-3 With what is too much for you meddle not, when shown things beyond human understanding.Their own opinion has misled many, and false reasoning unbalanced their judgment.
Isiaih 44:22 I have brushed away your offenses like a cloud, your sins like a mist; return to me, for I have redeemed you.
Isaiah 43:25 It is I, I, who wipe out, for my own sake, your offenses; your sins I remember no more.
Isaiah 43:1 But now, thus says the LORD, who created you, O Jacob, and formed you, O Israel: Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name: you are mine.
Isaiah 49:16 See, upon the palms of my hands I have written your name; your walls are ever before me.
Ps 51:10, 17 Let me hear sounds of joy and gladness; let the bones you have crushed rejoice. Lord, open my lips; my mouth will proclaim your praise.
Jer 15:19 Thus the LORD answered me: If you repent, so that I restore you, in my presence you shall stand; If you bring forth the precious without the vile, you shall be my mouthpiece. Then it shall be they who turn to you, and you shall not turn to them;
Rom 14:21 it is good not to eat meat or drink wine or do anything that causes your brother to stumble.
Prov 5:17-9 Let your fountain be yours alone, not one shared with strangers; And have joy of the wife of your youth, your lovely hind, your graceful doe. Her love will invigorate you always, through her love you will flourish continually,
Phil 1:6 so that your partnership in the faith may become effective in recognizing every good there is in us that leads to Christ.
1 Cor 15:33 Do not be led astray: "Bad company corrupts good morals."
1 Cor 10:13 No trial has come to you but what is human. God is faithful and will not let you be tried beyond your strength; but with the trial he will also provide a way out, so that you may be able to bear it.
1 Tm 4:12 Let no one have contempt for your youth, but set an example for those who believe, in speech, conduct, love, faith, and purity
Song 3:5 I adjure you, daughters of Jerusalem,
by the gazelles and hinds of the field,
Do not arouse, do not stir up love
before its own time.
Num 6:24-6 The LORD bless you and keep you! The LORD let his face shine upon you, and be gracious to you! The LORD look upon you kindly and give you peace!
1 Tm 5:6 But the one who is self-indulgent is dead while she lives.
Mal 1:6-14 A son honors his father, and a servant fears his master; If then I am a father, where is the honor due to me? And if I am a master, where is the reverence due to me? - So says the LORD of hosts to you, O priests, who despise his name. But you ask, "How have we despised your name?" By offering polluted food on my altar! Then you ask, "How have we polluted it?" By saying the table of the LORD may be slighted! When you offer a blind animal for sacrifice, is this not evil? When you offer the lame or the sick, is it not evil? Present it to your governor; see if he will accept it, or welcome you, says the LORD of hosts. So now if you implore God for mercy on us, when you have done the like Will he welcome any of you? says the LORD of hosts. Oh, that one among you would shut the temple gates to keep you from kindling fire on my altar in vain! I have no pleasure in you, says the LORD of hosts; neither will I accept any sacrifice from your hands, For from the rising of the sun, even to its setting, my name is great among the nations; And everywhere they bring sacrifice to my name, and a pure offering; For great is my name among the nations, says the LORD of hosts.But you behave profanely toward me by thinking the LORD'S table and its offering may be polluted, and its food slighted. You also say, "What a burden!" and you scorn it, says the LORD of hosts; You bring in what you seize, or the lame, or the sick; yes, you bring it as a sacrifice. Shall I accept it from your hands? says the LORD. Cursed is the deceiver, who has in his flock a male, but under his vow sacrifices to the LORD a gelding; For a great King am I, says the LORD of hosts, and my name will be feared among the nations.
1 Cor 6 Do you not know that the unjust will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived; neither fornicators nor idolaters nor adulterers nor boy prostitutes nor practicing homosexuals nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor robbers will inherit the kingdom of God. That is what some of you used to be; but now you have had yourselves washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and in the Spirit of our God. "Everything is lawful for me," 5 but not everything is beneficial. "Everything is lawful for me," but I will not let myself be dominated by anything."Food for the stomach and the stomach for food," but God will do away with both the one and the other. The body, however, is not for immorality, but for the Lord, and the Lord is for the body; God raised the Lord and will also raise us by his power.Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ? Shall I then take Christ's members and make them the members of a prostitute? 6 Of course not! (Or) do you not know that anyone who joins himself to a prostitute becomes one body with her? For "the two," it says, "will become one flesh." But whoever is joined to the Lord becomes one spirit with him. Avoid immorality. Every other sin a person commits is outside the body, but the immoral person sins against his own body. Do you not know that your body is a temple of the holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God, and that you are not your own? For you have been purchased at a price. Therefore, glorify God in your body.
1 Thess 4:3-8 This is the will of God, your holiness: that you refrain from immorality, that each of you know how to acquire a wife for himself in holiness and honor, not in lustful passion as do the Gentiles who do not know God;not to take advantage of or exploit a brother in this matter, for the Lord is an avenger in all these things, as we told you before and solemnly affirmed. For God did not call us to impurity but to holiness. Therefore, whoever disregards this, disregards not a human being but God, who (also) gives his holy Spirit to you.
Eph 5:3 Immorality or any impurity or greed must not even be mentioned among you, as is fitting among holy ones, no obscenity or silly or suggestive talk, which is out of place, but instead, thanksgiving.
Sir 4:28 Even to the death fight for truth, and the LORD your God will battle for you.
Heb 13:17 Obey your leaders and defer to them, for they keep watch over you and will have to give an account, that they may fulfill their task with joy and not with sorrow, for that would be of no advantage to you.
Rom 12:2 Do not conform yourselves to this age but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and pleasing and perfect.
Prov 15:22 Plans fail when there is no counsel, but they succeed when counselors are many.
Phil 4:11 Not that I say this because of need, for I have learned, in whatever situation I find myself, to be self-sufficient.
Jer 29:11-14 For I know well the plans I have in mind for you, says the LORD, plans for your welfare, not for woe! plans to give you a future full of hope. When you call me, when you go to pray to me, I will listen to you. When you look for me, you will find me. Yes, when you seek me with all your heart, you will find me with you, says the LORD, and I will change your lot; I will gather you together from all the nations and all the places to which I have banished you, says the LORD, and bring you back to the place from which I have exiled you.
Sir 17:19-21 But to the penitent he provides a way back, he encourages those who are losing hope! Return to the LORD and give up sin, pray to him and make your offenses few.Turn again to the Most High and away from sin, hate intensely what he loathes;
Sir 2:1-6,10,11 My son, when you come to serve the LORD, prepare yourself for trials. Be sincere of heart and steadfast, undisturbed in time of adversity. Cling to him, forsake him not; thus will your future be great. Accept whatever befalls you, in crushing misfortune be patient; For in fire gold is tested, and worthy men in the crucible of humiliation. Trust God and he will help you; make straight your ways and hope in him. Study the generations long past and understand; has anyone hoped in the LORD and been disappointed? Has anyone persevered in his fear and been forsaken? has anyone called upon him and been rebuffed? Compassionate and merciful is the LORD; he forgives sins, he saves in time of trouble.
Lament 3:22-3 With what is too much for you meddle not, when shown things beyond human understanding.Their own opinion has misled many, and false reasoning unbalanced their judgment.
Isiaih 44:22 I have brushed away your offenses like a cloud, your sins like a mist; return to me, for I have redeemed you.
Isaiah 43:25 It is I, I, who wipe out, for my own sake, your offenses; your sins I remember no more.
Isaiah 43:1 But now, thus says the LORD, who created you, O Jacob, and formed you, O Israel: Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name: you are mine.
Isaiah 49:16 See, upon the palms of my hands I have written your name; your walls are ever before me.
Ps 51:10, 17 Let me hear sounds of joy and gladness; let the bones you have crushed rejoice. Lord, open my lips; my mouth will proclaim your praise.
Jer 15:19 Thus the LORD answered me: If you repent, so that I restore you, in my presence you shall stand; If you bring forth the precious without the vile, you shall be my mouthpiece. Then it shall be they who turn to you, and you shall not turn to them;
Ps 119:9-11 How can the young walk without fault? Only by keeping your words. With all my heart I seek you; do not let me stray from your commands. In my heart I treasure your promise, that I may not sin against you.
Rom 5:20 The law entered in so that transgression might increase but, where sin increased, grace overflowed all the more,Rom 14:21 it is good not to eat meat or drink wine or do anything that causes your brother to stumble.
Prov 5:17-9 Let your fountain be yours alone, not one shared with strangers; And have joy of the wife of your youth, your lovely hind, your graceful doe. Her love will invigorate you always, through her love you will flourish continually,
Phil 1:6 so that your partnership in the faith may become effective in recognizing every good there is in us that leads to Christ.
1 Cor 15:33 Do not be led astray: "Bad company corrupts good morals."
1 Cor 10:13 No trial has come to you but what is human. God is faithful and will not let you be tried beyond your strength; but with the trial he will also provide a way out, so that you may be able to bear it.
1 Tm 4:12 Let no one have contempt for your youth, but set an example for those who believe, in speech, conduct, love, faith, and purity
Song 3:5 I adjure you, daughters of Jerusalem,
by the gazelles and hinds of the field,
Do not arouse, do not stir up love
before its own time.
Num 6:24-6 The LORD bless you and keep you! The LORD let his face shine upon you, and be gracious to you! The LORD look upon you kindly and give you peace!
1 Tm 5:6 But the one who is self-indulgent is dead while she lives.
Mal 1:6-14 A son honors his father, and a servant fears his master; If then I am a father, where is the honor due to me? And if I am a master, where is the reverence due to me? - So says the LORD of hosts to you, O priests, who despise his name. But you ask, "How have we despised your name?" By offering polluted food on my altar! Then you ask, "How have we polluted it?" By saying the table of the LORD may be slighted! When you offer a blind animal for sacrifice, is this not evil? When you offer the lame or the sick, is it not evil? Present it to your governor; see if he will accept it, or welcome you, says the LORD of hosts. So now if you implore God for mercy on us, when you have done the like Will he welcome any of you? says the LORD of hosts. Oh, that one among you would shut the temple gates to keep you from kindling fire on my altar in vain! I have no pleasure in you, says the LORD of hosts; neither will I accept any sacrifice from your hands, For from the rising of the sun, even to its setting, my name is great among the nations; And everywhere they bring sacrifice to my name, and a pure offering; For great is my name among the nations, says the LORD of hosts.But you behave profanely toward me by thinking the LORD'S table and its offering may be polluted, and its food slighted. You also say, "What a burden!" and you scorn it, says the LORD of hosts; You bring in what you seize, or the lame, or the sick; yes, you bring it as a sacrifice. Shall I accept it from your hands? says the LORD. Cursed is the deceiver, who has in his flock a male, but under his vow sacrifices to the LORD a gelding; For a great King am I, says the LORD of hosts, and my name will be feared among the nations.
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Euthanasia
Euthanasia
Yet again Britain seems to be on the verge of adopting another very anti life and anti Christian piece of legislation with the discussion of Lord Joffe's bill on the assisted dying for the terminally ill bill in October. It appears that this bill is going to be the floodgates bill and even if it does not admit euthanasia but patient assisted suicide (PAS) , it will be another blip on the law, creating an opt out clause in life. The right to life as stated under article 2 of the ECHR (European convention on human rights) precludes any nonsense euthanasia. There is little to regulate euthanasia. No doubt that euthanasia must be happening in Britain at the moment. The most dubious aspect of legalising voluntary Euthanasia or PAS is the reliability of consent: is the person competent and is the decision voluntary? The World Medical Association and the Council of Europe are both firmly opposed to any form of Euthanasia as well as both patients and doctors in the UK. The bill has serious implications for doctor/patient relationships and the element of trust that must exist. It is a wholesale rejection of the Hippocratic tradition in the medical field. We must ask are doctors to be at the service of life, or should the doctors be doctors of death by murdering their patients? A person who wishes to die never constitutes a legal claim or justification to carry out such activity. It will bring profound changes in attitude towards death, old age, illness and doctors. All the safeguards and assurances that the 1967 Abortion act had were ignored to a large extent. Many Dutch elderly patients are too frightened to go to their doctor and choose to go to Germany instead, due to such horrendous laws in Holland. There have even been reports that euthanasia has been performed on infants in Holland and it has gone unchallenged. It may create pressure on the elderly who feel useless to their family to request euthanasia.
The death of the Holy Father John Paul II was a real example of death with dignity. We need to respect and honour the elderly in society rather than plot up techniques of how to get rid of them. Regardless of the increase in numbers of the elderly, the techniques of palliative care are sufficient in dealing with pain. Hard cases make hard law, and to introduce any law trying to introduce a right to death would be a tragedy in Britain. Further liberalisations to this law, if introduced would probably happen and this may be detrimental to the safety and proper care of the elderly in hospitals (as in Holland). An introduction of this bill would be immoral, dangerous and unnecessary. It is immoral because it turns tradition medical ethics upside down and ridicules the right to life established in the ECHR and UNHR (Universal declaration on human rights). It is unnecessary because alternative measures and options exist and it is dangerous because it hampers the concept of autonomy and radically reverses the Hippocratic core of medical work.
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