Showing posts with label soul. Show all posts
Showing posts with label soul. Show all posts

Sunday, May 31, 2015

The Trinity, Baptism, and Eternal Life

The Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity, 2015:

The Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity, 2015

By Deacon Lawrence N. Kaas
May 31, 2015

Today is Trinity Sunday, a Solemnity we celebrate throughout the Catholic world.

Our challenge is to try to put form to the idea of three persons in one God, the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. We are taught that the Father is the Creator, and at the Word of the Father we have His only Son, with the Love of the Father and Son we have the Holy Spirit. We are also taught that the three persons of God are One. By the way, if you can figure this all out give me a call cause I want to know.

Quite a number of years ago even before I was ordained I either read or heard of a hypothesis that makes sense. And have meditated much on this idea since. It goes something like this.

God, who created all things and has given each of us a body, whether that body is human, an animal's or even plant's. That gives us a good start, at the bottom of the Trinitarian ladder. This idea goes on to claim that each of us whether human, animal or plant are gifted with a soul. Now we might shudder a little bit but hear me out. By this hypothesis the soul gives form and animates the body. Here is where there becomes a distinction between humans and the rest of God's creation. For in order for us to hold to the idea of eternal life there has to be an intimate relationship with the Third Person of the Blessed Trinity, that is the Holy Spirit. It is the Spirit that gives life to the soul.

To clarify: every living thing on earth that has been created by Almighty God will completely return to dust, except the soul of man that has been gifted of the Holy Spirit. The final gift of the Holy Spirit given to man then is the restoration of his body at the end of the world.

I'm sure some of you already thinking, there is something missing? And you are right! The missing factor here is Baptism. In order to give eternal life to the soul one must be Baptized in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. The Sacrament of Baptism fills out this hypothesis that could easily be summed up again as: the body created by God is animated by the soul which is given life by the Holy Spirit.

A point to be made about baptism: when we are baptized we are made sons and daughters of the Father with the same hereditary right of his firstborn Son. The point here is to understand that this is our right, given by the sacrament, the right to everything that belongs to the son now belongs to the new baptized. That is Eternal Life. And of course it's good to remind the adult that it is sin that destroys this beautiful gift granted at baptism and can be restored by a good confession.

To my way of seeing things this completes the Trinitarian comparison between God's creation of man and his own Trinitarian life.

I'm not trying to tell you that this is the only way to look at our relationship with the Trinity but I think it's certainly worth our meditation!

So you all be Good, be Holy, preached the Gospel using Words and Holy Actions.
'Thank you' to Deacon Kaas, for letting me post his reflection here.
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Wednesday, January 16, 2013

Jesus, Knowledge, and Stories From Egypt

Folks often use words like "infinite" and "almighty" when trying to describe God.1 (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 268-271)

The idea of God being immeasurably vast, all-powerful, and all-knowing, isn't too difficult to believe.

Believing that Jesus is God: not so much. Folks have had trouble believing that from the start, even when Jesus was right there, talking to them:
"So the Jews said to him, 'You are not yet fifty years old and you have seen Abraham?' 23

"24 Jesus said to them, 'Amen, amen, I say to you, before Abraham came to be, I AM.' "
(John 8:57-58)
"Philip said to him, 'Master, show us the Father, 7 and that will be enough for us.'

"Jesus said to him, 'Have I been with you for so long a time and you still do not know me, Philip? Whoever has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, "Show us the Father"? "
(John 14:8-9)
Maybe believing was hard because God was right there, quite visible, taking up a specific amount of space, speaking literally face-to-face. Later, after Jesus stopped being dead - - - and that's another topic. (March 11, 2012)

Metaphysical Knots and Pondering the Infinite

Folks have tied themselves in metaphysical knots, trying to explain how God Almighty could fit 'inside' one human being: or explain that God didn't.

I like to understand things, but have long since had to admit that God's God, and I'm not. I'm a finite creature, using a few pounds of neural circuitry to ponder the infinite and eternal.

The Incarnation

That brings up an interesting point. God is almighty. A human being is not. How could Jesus, the Son of God, possibly be God and human: and keep all that infinite power?

He didn't. As Paul put it, Jesus "emptied himself" to become one of us. (Phillipians 2:7)

I'd better back up a little. Jesus is human. Jesus is God. How, I don't know: and I don't need to. I accept the Incarnation as the least-complicated explanation for what's happened. Occam's razor, and all that.

Some folks balk at the idea that God would really become human. Maybe it doesn't seem 'spiritual' enough. They've said that Jesus is:
  • Is not really human (Gnosticism)
    • Catechism, 465
  • Is human, with a God implant (Nestorianism)
    • Catechism, 466
  • Started human, then became purely divine (Monophysitism)
    • Catechism, 467
    (December 26, 2012)
Then there's the currently-fashionable notion that God isn't involved, and that's yet another topic.

A Human Soul

A decade or so back, I ran across a discussion of the stories and parables Jesus told. Apparently they're a lot like stories folks told in Egypt around that time. That's hardly surprising. Jesus spent time in Egypt. He or his parents could easily have picked up a few stories while there. (Matthew 2:14-21)

I think it's a mistake to imagine Jesus as merely a wise man - who said "before Abraham came to be, I AM"?! I also think it's a mistake to imagine Jesus as purely 'spiritual,' someone who was just pretending to be human.

Jesus has a human soul: and had human, limited, knowledge. He was born in a particular time and place, learned to speak, and grew up: just as we all do. (Catechism, 472)
"And Jesus advanced (in) wisdom and age and favor before God and man."
(Luke 2:52)
"He asked them, 'How many loaves do you have? Go and see.' And when they had found out they said, 'Five loaves and two fish.' "
(Mark 6:38)
"6 Now Jesus and his disciples set out for the villages of Caesarea Philippi. Along the way he asked his disciples, 'Who do people say that I am?' "
(Mark 8:27)
"When Jesus saw her weeping and the Jews who had come with her weeping, he became perturbed 7 and deeply troubled,

"and said, 'Where have you laid him?' They said to him, 'Sir, come and see.'"
(John 11:33-34)
About questions like "Who do people say that I am," I suppose Jesus could have been using the Socratic method: asking questions to elicit answers. It's a pretty good method for getting students to think about a subject, rather than just record what an instructor says: and that's yet again another topic.

Some commentary on the fifth chapter of Mark focuses on belief that physical contact and faith in Jesus' saving power. I'm also interested in this brief glimpse of my Lord's awareness:
"Jesus, aware at once that power had gone out from him, turned around in the crowd and asked, 'Who has touched my clothes?'

"But his disciples said to him, 'You see how the crowd is pressing upon you, and yet you ask, "Who touched me?" '

"And he looked around to see who had done it."
(Mark 5:30-32)
Jesus not knowing everything doesn't make my Lord seem 'too human,' as far as I'm concerned. If the Son of God wasn't human, Christ's death on Golgotha would have been an interesting bit divine play-acting. And that's still another topic.

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1 Titles of God include:
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Sunday, April 29, 2012

Gray Afternoon of the Soul

I write these 'Sunday morning' posts on Saturday, then set them to get posted a little before 8:00 a.m. in my time zone. That lets me take a deep breath, think about what I've written, and even then obvious typos slip past me. Which is another topic.

A Cold, Damp, Dreary, Day

Right now, it's not one of those 'picture postcard' days here in Sauk Centre. The sky is a uniform, dim, damp, gray mass. It's been not-quite-raining off and on all day, refreshing the grass and the street's little reflecting ponds: but not my spirits.

Earlier, the vault of heaven's oozing patterns of ash and slate seemed to bleakly proclaim "be cold, and know that life is damp." Weather forecasts for tomorrow promise more of the same.

I feel like staying inside, where it's warm and dry.

I don't feel like going to Mass tomorrow morning.

But I will, anyway.

When I Gotta Go, I Gotta Go

It's not that I'm so 'spiritual' that I'm 'moved' to go. I'm a practicing Catholic, and we've got something called the Sunday obligation. If possible, I have to go to Mass each week. It's 'in the rules.' (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 2180-2183)

If I can't go, there are backup procedures. (Catechism, 2183) Sometimes I've done 'none of the above,' generally when I was really sick. But those are rare occasions. When it's time to go to Mass, I go to Mass: partly because it's an obligation.

Sunday Obligation, Not Sunday Fear

So, am I 'burdened with care,' worried that an OCD God will smite me, casting me into the pit because I've occasionally missed Mass? Hardly.

That's not because I think Hell doesn't exist, or that God wouldn't let anybody go there. I'm a practicing Catholic, so I have to make long-range plans. Really long range plans, since I'm going to live forever. I'll get back to that.

'Spiritual Hygiene,' Sort of

I decide to join my neighbors in the parish church each Sunday, and the occasional Saturday late-afternoon, because I think it's a good idea. I also think flossing and brushing my teeth is a good idea, and I've been over that before. (October 20, 2010)

An Obligation, a Privilege, and a Blessing

Once in a while, I find great emotional satisfaction in the experience of Mass. Quite often I enjoy moments of beauty.


Mass at Our Lady of the Angels, Sauk Centre, Minnesota. April 8, 2012.

But that's 'frosting on the cake.' Each week I have the obligation - and privilege - and blessing - of being with my Lord:
"...we'll be celebrating Mass that day at Our Lady of the Angels Church, here in Sauk Centre.

"Which means that, as I understand it, we'll be at the Mass at St. Peter's Square, too, and the Passover meal we call the Last Supper, and Golgotha - in a way. (Catechism, 1326, 1330, 1545)"
(April 23, 2011)
That, in my considered opinion, is a pretty big deal.

Feelings: Nice, But Not Essential

I hope that I'd have the good sense to fulfill my Sunday obligation even if I never got an emotional 'zing' out of the process.

Emotions are okay: and very much a part of being human. By themselves, emotions aren't good: or bad. It's what we decide to do with them that makes the difference. (Catechism, 1767) I've been over that before. (March 17, 2009)

As a practicing Catholic, it's okay if I feel all warm and fuzzy about going to Mass. It's also okay if I don't. It's even okay if I go hours - days - years - without feeling 'spiritual.' Provided that I keep soldiering on, doing what I'm supposed to:
"...Catholics recognize a prolonged dry period like that as the dark night of the soul - a name that comes from "The Dark Night," by St. John of the Cross, which described and discussed this part of a soul's growth. ... Many saints, and many Catholics who haven't been canonized, went through that experience. I can't think of one who was given as long a dark night of the soul as Mother Teresa's, though...."
(August 26, 2009)

Living Forever: Good News, Bad News

I'm going to live forever. So will you. It comes with being human, and it's not something we can get out of.

Living forever doesn't mean not dying. My body will die somewhere in the next few decades: assuming that the Last Judgment doesn't come first: which seems a bit unlikely, and that's yet another topic.

When I'm dead, I won't be a living human being. I'll be a dead person: someone whose body is dead. But the part of me that's spirit, the part that God made when I was conceived, can't die:
"SOUL: The spiritual principle of human beings. The soul is the subject of human consciousness and freedom; soul and body together form one unique human nature. Each human soul is individual and immortal, immediately created by God. The soul does not die with the body, from which it is separated by death, and with which it will be reunited in the final resurrection (363, 366; cf. 1703)."
(Glossary, Catechism of the Catholic Church) [links added]
Living forever is a sort of good news, bad news, proposition. Like I said earlier, I need to make really long-range plans: because how I spend eternity is up to me:
  • Hell exists
    (Catechism, 1033-1037)
    • "...This state of definitive self-exclusion from communion with God and the blessed is called 'hell.' "
      (Catechism, 1033)
  • Heaven exists
    (Catechism, 1023-1029)
    • "Those who die in God's grace and friendship and are perfectly purified live for ever with Christ...."
      (Catechism, 1023)
  • My final destination gets sorted out at my particular judgment
    (Catechism, 1021-1022)

Decisions, Deeds, and Death

I decide whether I want to be united with God in Heaven, or stay away from the Almighty in Hell. It's more than 'really believing,' though. What I've done about my faith counts, too:
"Death puts an end to human life as the time open to either accepting or rejecting the divine grace manifested in Christ.592 The New Testament speaks of judgment primarily in its aspect of the final encounter with Christ in his second coming, but also repeatedly affirms that each will be rewarded immediately after death in accordance with his works and faith. The parable of the poor man Lazarus and the words of Christ on the cross to the good thief, as well as other New Testament texts speak of a final destiny of the soul-a destiny which can be different for some and for others.593

"Each man receives his eternal retribution in his immortal soul at the very moment of his death, in a particular judgment that refers his life to Christ: either entrance into the blessedness of heaven-through a purification594 or immediately,595-or immediate and everlasting damnation.596
"At the evening of life, we shall be judged on our love.597"
(Catechism, 1021-1022)
Being all 'on fire' with faith, without doing something about it, doesn't make sense to me. Maybe because I've read this sort of thing:
"See how a person is justified by works and not by faith alone.

"And in the same way, was not Rahab the harlot also justified by works when she welcomed the messengers and sent them out by a different route?

"For just as a body without a spirit is dead, so also faith without works is dead."
(James 2:24-26)
That bit from James gets me into faith and works: and that's yet again another topic.

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Wednesday, April 25, 2012

Honoring the Body, Within Reason

For most of my life, I've had trouble dealing with gluttony: which is in the list of seven capital sins. (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1866) Gluttony involves intense human desires, where the way my body works makes it easy for me to act unreasonably.

One way to deal with gluttony is to decide that the body is bad, and try to be purely 'spiritual.' This is a bad idea. (Catechism, 2515-2516) And I'm getting ahead of myself.

Living in a Material World

The part of the Catechism I'm reading now is about man (humanity), what and who we are. Along the way I've written about American culture and language, a movie, and a unity that we don't quite have yet:
Here's how this part of the Catechism starts. Today's post picks up several paragraphs after #355.
" 'God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him, male and female he created them.'218 Man occupies a unique place in creation: (I) he is "in the image of God"; (II) in his own nature he unites the spiritual and material worlds; (III) he is created "male and female"; (IV) God established him in his friendship."
(Catechism, 355)
Backing up a bit more, I'm a practicing Catholic, so I have to believe that God created everything: and that what God created is good. (Genesis 1:1-31; Catechism, 337-338) Which isn't the same as believing Bishop Ussher, or hating science: and I've been over that before. (March 14, 2012, January 18, 2012)

The bottom line is that God made the material world, and God doesn't make junk.

Matter and Spirit: One Nature

I'm not nice soul, stuck in a nasty body that's dragging me into sin. I'm a human being, and the specs for this sort of creature say that a human being is a body and soul. Not a soul trapped in a body.
"The human person, created in the image of God, is a being at once corporeal and spiritual. The biblical account expresses this reality in symbolic LANGUAGE when it affirms that 'then the LORD God formed man of dust from the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being.'229 Man, whole and entire, is therefore willed by God."
(Catechism, 362)
There's more about body and soul, with emphasis on "and." (Catechism, 362-368) One of the important points is that man isn't two natures, body and spirit, welded together. We're body and spirit, united to form a single nature. (Catechism, 365)

Turns out that, as a practicing Catholic, I'm not allowed to despise my body:
"The human body shares in the dignity of the image of God: it is a human body precisely because it is animated by a spiritual soul, and it is the whole human person that is intended to become, in the body of Christ, a temple of the Spirit:232
Man, though made of body and soul, is a unity. Through his very bodily condition he sums up in himself the elements of the material world. Through him they are thus brought to their highest perfection and can raise their voice in praise freely given to the Creator. For this reason man may not despise his bodily life. Rather he is obliged to regard his body as good and to hold it in honor since God has created it and will raise it up on the last day.233"
(Catechism, 364)
I'm not supposed to worship my body, either, and that's another topic. (April 15, 2012)

Living in a Good World

Deciding that the world, the physical universe, is "good" wasn't hard for me. For starters, I've been fascinated by the world as far back as I can remember.

I also wasn't dismayed at the idea that the universe seems hostile or indifferent. I grew up in an region where water is a mineral for a significant fraction of the year. I figured that if I didn't have the sense to keep from freezing to death, blaming winter wouldn't help: and blaming God would be daft. Maybe that's why this is one of my favorite bits of poetry:
"A man said to the universe:
'Sir, I exist!'
'However,' replied the universe,
'The fact has not created in me
'A sense of obligation.' "
("War is Kind," Stephen Crane (1899), via Project Gutenberg)
I've run into folks who seem to think that God shouldn't exist, because there are places in the universe where we need to use our brains to survive. I don't see it that way: but like I said, I grew up in a place where winter happened.

The point I'm groping for is that I like God's creation: even the parts that could kill me if I'm not sensible. There are some Church teachings that I've had to struggle with. Believing that the world was created by God, and is basically good, isn't one of them

Sin and Virtue

In a way, it might be easier for me to deal with gluttony, if I could convince myself that 'spiritual' was good and 'physical' was bad. I could, in principle, develop an antipathy toward food and every other physical pleasure.

But I'm not going to spend the rest of my life eating barely enough to stay alive. And I'm not going to fume about the evils of steak and potatoes. Not that I'd be tempted to do that. I enjoy being a matter/spirit creature too much.

Another option I have would be to brood about the capital sins. (Catechism, 1866) And venial sins, and every other sort of sin. I could obsess about avoiding sin, and fume about how sinful other folks were: and that doesn't seem like a good idea. At all.

I think a better approach is to focus on virtues. Like the cardinal virtues:
  • Prudence
    • "Disposes practical reason to discern our true good"
    (Catechism, 1806)
  • Justice
    • "The constant and firm will to give their due to God and neighbor"
    (Catechism, 1807)
  • Fortitude
    • "Ensures firmness in difficulties and constancy in the pursuit of the good"
    (Catechism, 1808)
  • Temperance
    • "Moderates the attraction of pleasures and provides balance in the use of created goods"
    (Catechism, 1809)
Note: "Temperance," Catholic style, is about moderation, balance, and avoiding excess. (Catechism, 2290) Carry Nation, with her Bible and hatchet, are an American phenomenon. I've been over that before, too. (October 5, 2011)

Applying what I've read, it looks like I'm obliged to see my body as good, "and to hold it in honor since God has created it and will raise it up on the last day." (Catechism, 364) That's going to take quite a lot of work. Decades of overeating and under-exercising have effects that won't be undone quickly or easily. By the way, gluttony isn't the only sin I've had trouble with. And that's another topic. Topics.

Related posts:
1 A list of major points, from Catechism, 362-368. Like I've said before, I've got the teaching authority of "some guy with a blog." I recommend following those links and reading the Catechism yourself.

One reason I make these lists is that it helps me study the material:
  • The human person is
    • Created in the image of God
    • Both corporeal/material and spiritual
      • A unified whole
    • And that's the way God designed us
    (Catechism, 362)
  • In Sacred Scripture "soul" means
    • human life
    • The entire human person
    • The innermost aspect of man
      • That which is of greatest value
      • By which man is most especially in God's image
    • The spiritual principle in man
    • Sometimes the soul is distinguished from the spirit
      (1 Thessalonians 5:23)
      • The Church teaches that this distinction does not introduce a duality into the soul
      • "Spirit" signifies that
        • From creation man is ordered to a supernatural end
        • His soul can gratuitously be raised
          • Beyond all it deserves
          • To communion with God
    • The spiritual tradition of the Church also emphasizes the heart
      • In the biblical sense of
        • The depths of one's being
        • Where the person decides for or against God
    (Catechism, 363, 367, 368)
  • The human body is
    • Part of "the image of God"
    • A human body because it is animated by a spiritual soul
    • Intended to become a temple of the Spirit
      • As part of the whole human person
      • In the body of Christ
      (Catechism, 364)
  • Man is a unity
    • Body and soul
    • Man's "bodily condition" sums up the elements of the material world
    • Through man, the material world may freely praise its Creator
      • Therefore, man
        • May not despise his bodily life
          • Since God
            • Has created it
            • Will raise it up on the last day
        • Is obliged to
          • Regard his body as good
          • Hold it in honor
    (Catechism, 364)
  • The unity of soul and body is very profound
    • "One has to consider the soul to be the 'form' of the body"
    • A human body
      • Is material
      • Is a living human being because of its spiritual soul
    • A human being is
      • Not two natures united
      • A single nature
        • Formed from the union of two natures
    (Catechism, 365)
  • Every spiritual soul is
    • Created immediately/directly by God
      • Not "produced" by the parents
    • Immortal
      • Separated from the body at death
      • Reunited with the body at the final Resurrection
    (Catechism, 366)
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Wednesday, February 22, 2012

Angels, Theology, and Gilligan's Island

I'm pretty sure that nobody's going to watch "Gilligan's Island," and think they've learned how to survive a shipwreck.

I'm not sure how many folks take television theology seriously.

On the other hand, real-life analogues to my imaginary 'Bombastic Bob, Preacher of the First Hallelulia Church of Snort-and-Stomp' attract followers, so maybe some folks accept the good-enough-for-a-story assumptions behind these shows:
  1. "Teen Angel"
    (TV Series 1997–1998)
    • "After eating a six month old hamburger, Marty DePolo dies and God's Cousin Rod appoints him as his best friend's guardian angel."
      (imdb.com)
  2. "Touched by an Angel"
    (TV Series 1994–2003)
    • "Monica, Tess, and Andrew are a trio of angels sent to earth to tell depressed and troubled people that God loves them and God hasn't forgotten them."
      (imdb.com)
  3. "Highway to Heaven"
    (TV Series 1984–1989)
    • "A probationary angel sent back to earth teams with an ex-cop to help people."
      (imdb.com)
  4. "Charlie's Angels"
    (TV Series 1976–1981)
    • "The adventures of three sexy female private eyes."
      (imdb.com)
One of those series got it seriously wrong, when it comes to what angels are. And it's not number four.

"CHARLIE'S ANGELS?!"

The '70s television series was, in a way, more accurate than some more earnestly 'uplifting' and 'spiritual' programming. The decidedly flesh-and-blood trio in "Charlie's Angels" were, in a way, angels. They served as agents for the unseen Charlie.

Angels, like Gabriel, Michael, and Raphael, are servants and messengers of God. "Angel" is a sort of job title:
"St. Augustine says: ' "Angel" is the name of their office, not of their nature. If you seek the name of their nature, it is "spirit"; if you seek the name of their office, it is "angel": from what they are, "spirit," from what they do, "angel." '188 With their whole beings the angels are servants and messengers of God. Because they 'always behold the face of my Father who is in heaven' they are the 'mighty ones who do his word, hearkening to the voice of his word.'189"
(Catechism of the Catholic Church, 329)

I'm No Angel

Although I try to let God work through me, I'm no angel. Not like the guardian angels, or the rest of the host of Heaven.

I'm a human being: created with a physical body and a soul.

Angels are created along different lines:
"The existence of the spiritual, non-corporeal beings that Sacred Scripture usually calls 'angels' is a truth of faith. The witness of Scripture is as clear as the unanimity of Tradition."

"As purely spiritual creatures angels have intelligence and will: they are personal and immortal creatures, surpassing in perfection all visible creatures, as the splendor of their glory bears witness.190"
(Catechism, 328, 330)
I don't hear the word "corporeal" used all that much. Maybe a definition is in order. If not, skip to the next heading.

Corporeal:
  • Having material or physical form or substance
  • Affecting or characteristic of the body as opposed to the mind or spirit
    (Princeton's WordNet)

I'm Human: Soul and Body

I can't be an angel because I'm another sort of creature. Angels are people created as pure spirit: no body. I'm a person created as a living being who is spiritual and corporeal/physical:
" The human person, created in the image of God, is a being at once corporeal and spiritual. The biblical account expresses this reality in symbolic LANGUAGE when it affirms that 'then the LORD God formed man of dust from the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being.'229 Man, whole and entire, is therefore willed by God.

"In Sacred Scripture the term 'soul' often refers to human life or the entire human person.230 But 'soul' also refers to the innermost aspect of man, that which is of greatest value in him,231 that by which he is most especially in God's image: 'soul' signifies the spiritual principle in man."
(Catechism, 362-363)
A human being is designed and created as a spiritual/physical person. We don't 'become angels' when we die. We become dead. Our bodies stop living; we experience our particular judgment; and will later be raised from the dead. And that's another topic. Topics.

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Monday, October 10, 2011

The Strategy of Doctor Faustus - You Have Got to be Kidding

New post about Marlowe's
"The Tragical History of Doctor Faustus" each Monday
This blog's new schedule has me writing a "Featured Topic" post today: about Christopher Marlowe's "The Tragical History of Doctor Faustus," since I've wrapped up my take on the Pope's trip to Germany

Doctor Faustus: Master of Missing the Obvious?

So far, I'm a bit exasperated with the title character. We're told that Doctor Faustus is terribly bright, has whizzed through everything Elizabethan academics had to offer, and wants to know more.

That's not what exasperates me.

It's the Doctor's astonishing capacity for missing obvious implications, not asking enough sensible questions: and, when he does, not paying attention to the answers.

Here's where I left Marlowe's Mephistopheles and Faustus:
"...MEPHIST. Ay, Faustus, and do greater things than these.

"FAUSTUS. Then there's enough for a thousand souls.
Here, Mephistophilis, receive this scroll,
A deed of gift of body and of soul:
But yet conditionally that thou perform
All articles prescrib'd between us both.

"MEPHIST. Faustus, I swear by hell and Lucifer
To effect all promises between us made!..."
("The Tragical History of Doctor Faustus")
Today, an example of really bad business sense:

The Business Sense of Doctor Faustus

Marlowe's Doctor John Faustus may have a magnificent mind when it comes to reading the classics of his day. As a businessman, though? I think Faustus makes the most spectacular failure during the dot-com bubble seem a paragon of entrepreneurial acuity in comparison

Getting back to Marlowe's "...Faustus," the learned doctor has started reading that contract:
"...FAUSTUS. Then hear me read them. [Reads] ON THESE CONDITIONS
FOLLOWING. FIRST, THAT..."
("The Tragical History of Doctor Faustus")
The rest of what Faustus says is in all caps: and is crazy-long to read as one block. My opinion. I'll break it out as a bulleted list, with my comments included. Faustus's lines are in ALL CAP ITALIC, with the first word or two bold. My snide remarks and sarcasm insightful comments aren't.

By the way, footnotes in the gutenberg.org that's my source are in the same size and font as the text. It's not the formatting I'd use, but since it's in the original, I'm keeping their format 'as is.' Moving on:
  • "FIRST, THAT FAUSTUS MAY BE A SPIRIT IN FORM AND SUBSTANCE"
    • Hubris, anyone? Satan and company are spirits
      • Fallen angels
        • Catechism of the Catholic Church, 329, 391-392
    • Faustus is almost certainly a human being1
      • A special sort of animal
        • With a soul
      • Not "a spirit"
        • Not the way angels are
          • Fallen or otherwise
    • Redefining "human being" seems a bit beyond what any of the parties involved in this contract can do
      • Which may have been Marlowe's point
      • Actually, they could 'redefine' anything, the way I could say "the sky is plaid"
        • But it wouldn't change reality
  • "SECONDLY, THAT MEPHISTOPHILIS SHALL BE HIS SERVANT, AND AT HIS COMMAND"
    • That's pretty straightforward
    • Daft
      • But straightforward
  • "THIRDLY, THAT MEPHISTOPHILIS SHALL DO FOR HIM, AND BRING HIM WHATSOEVER HE DESIRES.88"
    • Looks like Faustus wants to define what a "servant" is
      • Perhaps a tad vaguely
  • "FOURTHLY, THAT HE SHALL BE IN HIS CHAMBER OR HOUSE INVISIBLE"
    • Pronoun trouble
      • "He" could refer to either
        • Faustus
        • Mephistopheles
    • Other than that, this is more of Faustus defining Mephistopheles' job duties
  • "LASTLY, THAT HE SHALL APPEAR TO THE SAID JOHN FAUSTUS, AT ALL TIMES, IN WHAT FORM OR SHAPE SOEVER HE PLEASE"
    • This could contradict the "invisible" rule in "Fourthly"
      • But that's the least of Faustus' problems
        • Of which he seems oblivious
  • "I, JOHN FAUSTUS, OF WERTENBERG"
    • "DOCTOR, BY THESE PRESENTS"
    • "DO GIVE BOTH BODY AND SOUL TO LUCIFER PRINCE OF THE EAST"
      • "AND HIS MINISTER MEPHISTOPHILIS"
    • "AND FURTHERMORE GRANT UNTO THEM"
      • "THAT,89 TWENTY-FOUR YEARS BEING EXPIRED"
        • "THE ARTICLES ABOVE-WRITTEN INVIOLATE"
      • "FULL POWER TO FETCH OR CARRY THE SAID JOHN FAUSTUS"
        • "BODY AND SOUL"
        • "FLESH"
        • "BLOOD"
        • "OR GOODS"
      • "INTO THEIR HABITATION WHERESOEVER"
    • I've discussed benefit/cost ratios before2
      • Basically, getting small gains and a huge cost is daft
  • "BY ME, JOHN FAUSTUS."
    • Another straightforward bit
Remember, Doctor John Faustus is supposed to be an amazingly brilliant man. So, why does he wait until after finalizing the contract, to ask some pertinent questions?

Fairly Good Question, Lousy Timing

We've got laws in America, for some business transactions, protecting folks with more enthusiasm than sense. The idea is that someone might take a look at what a loan or insurance contract actually says: AFTER singing it.

Marlowe's Faustus might have had buyer's remorse at this point. If he had as much sense as he did ambition and curiosity:
"...MEPHIST. Speak, Faustus, do you deliver this as your deed?

"FAUSTUS. Ay, take it, and the devil give thee good on't!

"MEPHIST. Now, Faustus, ask what thou wilt.

"FAUSTUS. First will I question with thee about hell.
Tell me, where is the place that men call hell?..."
("The Tragical History of Doctor Faustus")
Considering where he's agreed to spend eternity, Faustus would have been well-advised to get this information before signing off on that agreement.

The Brilliant Strategy of Doctor Faustus

Turns out, John Faustus thinks he's tricked Mephistopheles. Let's look at the shrewd academician's reasoning, after Mephistopheles describes Hell:
"FAUSTUS. Come, I think hell's a fable.

"MEPHIST. Ay, think so still, till experience change thy mind.

"FAUSTUS. Why, think'st thou, then, that Faustus shall be damn'd?

"MEPHIST. Ay, of necessity, for here's the scroll
Wherein thou hast given thy soul to Lucifer.

"FAUSTUS. Ay, and body too: but what of that?
Think'st thou that Faustus is so fond93 to imagine
That, after this life, there is any pain?
Tush, these are trifles and mere old wives' tales...."
("The Tragical History of Doctor Faustus")
That's brilliant reasoning, in a way, Since Faustus doesn't believe that:
  • "After this life, there is any pain"
  • "Trifles and mere old wives' tales" should be taken seriously
Mephistopheles points out what seems to be a flaw in Faustus' view: Faustus is talking to a demon from Hell. The learned doctor may be too 'sophisticated' to let an awkward fact get in the way of his preferences.3

It does seem that Faustus doesn't quite realize who and what he's doing business with.

Hell, Satan, and Long-Term Planning

America's 'fire and brimstone' preachers were famous for painting vivid word-pictures of Satan's realm. "Infamous" might be a better word. I think many of them meant well, believed what they said, and thought people had to be scared silly if they were going to repent.

Repentance is a good idea. Scared silly? Not so much. My opinion.

Drawing on pretty much the same traditions, movies have shown entertainingly spectacular versions of Hell. Plus a few that make it look like an unusually tidy corporation. And that's another topic. Topics.

Witticisms about the "disagreeable people" in Heaven making Hell look acceptable notwithstanding: An eternity in Hell isn't the equivalent of having a vacation home overlooking Kilauea Volcano, with A-list celebrities and brilliant conversationalists for neighbors.

Getting Back to Hell

Come to think of it, Faustus asked Mephistopheles about Hell before.4 Maybe he didn't like the answer he got.

Picking up the dialog with Faustus' question:
"...FAUSTUS. First will I question with thee about hell.
Tell me, where is the place that men call hell?

"MEPHIST. Under the heavens.

"FAUSTUS. Ay, but whereabout?

"MEPHIST. Within the bowels of these90 elements,
Where we are tortur'd and remain for ever:
Hell hath no limits, nor is circumscrib'd
In one self place; for where we are is hell,
And where hell is, there91 must we ever be:
And, to conclude, when all the world dissolves,
And every creature shall be purified,
All places shall be hell that are92 not heaven...."
("The Tragical History of Doctor Faustus")
"THESE elements?? Elizabethan English is pretty close to the language we speak today, but if Marlowe was writing this today, he'd have used "the" instead of "these." At least that's what footnote 25 says.

Mephistopheles: Remarkably Accurate

As he did before, Mephistopheles' description of Hell isn't all that far from what the Catholic Church says about the place.

Mephistopheles also gave Faustus more than he'd asked for, explaining that at the end, all creation would be either Heaven or Hell. Again, Marlowe has Mephistopheles repeating rather ordinary Catholic doctrine.5 Which doesn't prove that:
  • Marlowe was a closet Catholic
  • The Catholic Church is a Satanic plot
  • The first Queen Elizabeth was really Shakespeare
    • Sir Francis Bacon was a cover story to hide the fact
Say! I might have the start of a new angle for literary conspiracy theories here. Never mind.

Hell: Knowing the Enemy

I'm a practicing Catholic, so I have to believe a few things about Hell and Satan. My focus is on God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit: but I think it's prudent to know a little about the enemy. That's 'know' about, not 'obsess' about. For me, it's a little like studying a map to see where the quicksand is.

I've put a summary under "Background," toward the end of this post. Here's a summary of that summary:
  • Satan
    • Opposes God
    • Brought sin into the world
      • And death
      • Catechism, 2852
  • Hell
    • Really exists
    • Is the post-judgment option for those who refuse to love God
      • (My take on Catechism, 1033)
    • "God predestines no one to go to hell...."
    • Catholic teaching about Hell is
      • Not a threat
      • A warning
Remember: I've got the authority of "some guy with a blog." That's why the links are there.

'Where's the Brimstone?'

My experience with the Catholic Church, before and after my conversion, hasn't included a Catholic analog to the old-school 'fire and brimstone' preacher. The occasional homily points out that Satan's retirement plan is unacceptable, but we're more focused on God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit: not a rogue angel.
"The affirmations of Sacred Scripture and the teachings of the Church on the subject of hell are a call to the responsibility incumbent upon man to make use of his freedom in view of his eternal destiny. They are at the same time an urgent call to conversion...."
(Catechism, 1036)
That's pretty dry stuff. Particularly compared to folks like my imaginary 'Bombastic Bob, Preacher of the First Hallelulia Church of Snort-and-Stomp.' Little wonder, I think, that so many folks seem to believe that Christians in general are obsessed by some gigantic dude in red tights, living in a geologically-impossible flaming cavern at the center of Earth.

As I've said before: It's the colorful, noisy, ones who get noticed.

More posts in this series:Other related posts:
Background:
  • Satan
    • Opposes God
    • Brought sin into the world
      • And death
      • Catechism, 2852
    • "A murderer from the beginning"
    • Has been defeated
    • And fallen angels
  • Hell
    • Really exists
    • Is
      • The post-judgment option for those who refuse to love God
        • (My take on Catechism, 1033)
      • A "state of definitive self-exclusion from communion with God "
      • "...'The unquenchable fire' reserved for those who to the end of their lives refuse to believe and be converted, where both soul and body can be lost..."
    • "God predestines no one to go to hell...."
    • Catholic teaching about Hell is
      • Not a threat
      • A warning
        • "The affirmations of Sacred Scripture and the teachings of the Church on the subject of hell are a call to the responsibility incumbent upon man to make use of his freedom in view of his eternal destiny. They are at the same time an urgent call to conversion...."
"...Faustus" excerpts in these posts taken from:
1 The Chorus doesn't waste much time, in the opening of "...Faustus," saying that the title character was "...born, his parents base of stock, In Germany...." England and Germany haven't always been on the best of terms, but my guess is that Marlowe's Elizabethan audience recognized Germans as human beings. Even if they weren't English.

2 Let's see: 24 years of getting help being a big shot, balanced against an eternity of Hell? Doctor Faustus seems to have no business sense. At all:
3 'Sophisticated' ideas about Hell have been around for a few centuries, at least. That's part of what the first post in this series was about:
4 For whatever reason, Marlowe's Mephistopheles gave Faustus quite a bit of information about Hell: 5 'Not sure' isn't one of the options for allegiance at our final performance review:
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Wednesday, August 31, 2011

Humans are Animals: But Not Just Animals

At the end of yesterday's post, I said I'd get back to Genesis 1:22. That's the verse that starts, "God blessed them, saying, 'Be fertile, multiply....' (Genesis 1:22)

Sounds like what God told our first parents to do, doesn't it?

This "be fertile" command, though, was directed at critters:
"God created the great sea monsters and all kinds of swimming creatures with which the water teems, and all kinds of winged birds. God saw how good it was, and God blessed them, saying, 'Be fertile, multiply, and fill the water of the seas; and let the birds multiply on the earth.' "
(Genesis 1:21-22)
We come a little later, and got the same basic instructions, plus a sort of special assignment:
"God created man in his image; in the divine image he created him; male and female he created them. God blessed them, saying: 'Be fertile and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it. Have dominion over the fish of the sea, the birds of the air, and all the living things that move on the earth.' "
(Genesis 1:27-28)

Oh! Horrors! I Think Humans are Animals?!

I'm about as sure as I can be, that human beings are animals. When I look in a mirror, I see eyes, nostrils, and a mouth. That means I've got a physical form, one with characteristics of an animal: the hair tells me I'm looking at a mammal; other characteristics peg me as a primate.

That's assuming that the mirror, my body, the room I'm in, and everything else, isn't a figment of my imagination. Which is another topic.

Does my acknowledging that I'm an animal mean that I 'believe in' Godless science, Communism, and fluoridated water?

No.

I'm a Catholic, so I don't have to check my brain at the door when I enter church. I've discussed science, religion, and being Catholic quite a bit.

Bottom line? It's faith and reason.

Human Beings: Animals, but Not Just Animals

As I wrote a couple weeks ago, I like animals. (August 13, 2011) I also noted the basics of what the Catholic Church has to say about what sort of creature a human being is.

Human beings are:
  • Animals
    • A special sort of animal
      • Endowed with reason
      • Capable of
        • Understanding
        • Discernment
      (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1951)
  • People
    • Rational and therefore like God
      • Made in the image and likeness of God
      (Catechism, 1700-1706)
    • Created with free will
    • Master over our actions
      (Catechism, 1730)

Animals?! Eww! That Sounds so - Beastly

To hear some painfully 'spiritual' Christians talk, a person could get the idea that Jesus came into the world to let us know that His Father had blundered. And that we should shun and despise the physical world. Especially sex.

I don't see things that way. At all. Partly because I like physical things, partly because I think God is competent.

I'll get back to that.

God Made a Mistake?!

I worship the Eternal God who is:
  • All-powerful
    • Created everything
    • Rules everything
    • Can do everything
    (Catechism, 268)
  • The source of
    • Every good
    • All love
    • All truth
    (Catechism, 1723, 2465)
  • The great HE WHO IS
    • From everlasting to everlasting
    • Without origin and without end
      (Catechism, 212-213)
  • A "mystery without words"
    • Even after revealing Himself
      • "If you understood him, it would not be God"
        (St. Augustine)
    (Catechism, 230)
If I said that the physical world was bad, I'd be claiming that the great I AM goofed. I do not need that kind of trouble.

Fallen, But Basically Good

The world as it is today, human beings included, isn't in ideal shape. Our first parents made a choice: and we've been living with the consequences ever since. (Catechism, 390, 391, 402-406, particularly 405)

But God made a creation that's basically good.

God, by the way, after finally getting the descendants of Abraham and Isaac to acknowledge that there was one God: let us know that there are three of him. The Father, Son, and Holy Spirit aren't three gods. (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 659, 689) (July 2, 2011) Yet another topic.

'Darkness and Light, Locked in Combat' - Nifty Slogan, and Wrong

I'm a bit of a nerd. More than a bit, according to #3 daughter. (Apathetic Lemming of the North (April 15, 2011))

My interest in matters of the mind could lead me into Gnosticism: the notion that what matters is knowing the 'inside secrets.'

That would be a very bad idea. The Church has been affirming that Jesus is Man and God since the 3rd century. (Catechism, 465)

Where was I? Creation. The physical world. God doesn't make junk. Right.

"Utter Pessimism" - Not For Me

Gnostics thought (and think) that knowledge is important. That, I don't have a problem with.

But they took that truth, and ran with it straight off the edge of sanity's map:
"...The Gnostics, it is true, borrowed their terminology almost entirely from existing religions, but they only used it to illustrate their great idea of the essential evil of this present existence and the duty to escape it by the help of magic spells and a superhuman Saviour....

"...This utter pessimism, bemoaning the existence of the whole universe as a corruption and a calamity, with a feverish craving to be freed from the body of this death and a mad hope that, if we only knew, we could by some mystic words undo the cursed spell of this existence — this is the foundation of all Gnostic thought...."
(Catholic Encyclopedia)
Sounds like some radio preachers - who inspired me to take a long, hard look at Christianity and other major religions. Which led me to become a Catholic. Yet another topic again.

Dualism and Weekend Grilling

For full-bore dualism you'd have to go to Manichaeism. I've put links to background resources under, what else? "Background," near the end of this post.

There are different sorts of dualism. There's the idea that there's a good god and an evil god in opposition to each other, or light and darkness, or some other pair of equally-powerful principles. Then, there's the notion that matter and spirit, body and mind, are radically different - and that one's inherently good, and the other evil.

It doesn't take a degree in theology to guess whether terribly 'spiritual' folks decided which of those pairs was evil. Matter and the body, 'obviously,' are basically icky.

Again, I can't see it that way. God made the physical world, and God doesn't make junk.

That's not just my opinion:
"Because God creates through wisdom, his creation is ordered: 'You have arranged all things by measure and number and weight.'151 The universe, created in and by the eternal Word, the 'image of the invisible God', is destined for and addressed to man, himself created in the 'image of God' and called to a personal relationship with God.152 Our human understanding, which shares in the light of the divine intellect, can understand what God tells us by means of his creation, though not without great effort and only in a spirit of humility and respect before the Creator and his work.153 Because creation comes forth from God's goodness, it shares in that goodness - 'And God saw that it was good. . . very good'154 - for God willed creation as a gift addressed to man, an inheritance destined for and entrusted to him. On many occasions the Church has had to defend the goodness of creation, including that of the physical world.155"
(Catechism of the Catholic Church, 299) [emphasis mine]
Looks like I don't need to writhe in agony because I enjoy grilling burgers on weekends. As God was creating the physical world, He "saw that it was good. . . very good."

Spiritual People: There Ain't No Other Kind

Ever hear someone talk about 'spiritual' people? In contrast with not-spiritual people, I suppose.

Turns out, I'm a 'spiritual' person. So are you. So is everybody. It's how we're designed.

Spirit is 'built in' to the human person. (Catechism, 363) And because it's animated by a spiritual soul, the human body "shares in the dignity of 'the image of God': it is a human body precisely because it is animated by a spiritual soul...." (Catechism, 364)

And, 'spiritual' or not, I'm still an animal. It's the way God made me: so I'm not going to complain.

Related posts:
Background:
1 Don't get me wrong: 'spirituality' is okay. I've gone over sense, nonsense, common sense, and spirituality before:
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Marian Apparition: Champion, Wisconsin

Background:Posts in this blog: In the news:

What's That Doing in a Nice Catholic Blog?

From time to time, a service that I use will display links to - odd - services and retailers.

I block a few of the more obvious dubious advertisers.

For example: psychic anything, numerology, mediums, and related practices are on the no-no list for Catholics. It has to do with the Church's stand on divination. I try to block those ads.

Sometime regrettable advertisements get through, anyway.

Bottom line? What that service displays reflects the local culture's norms, - not Catholic teaching.