Questions of Faith There’s an old story about an astronaut who went far out into space and upon his return was asked if he had seen God. He replied, to their surprise, that he had, and when pushed to describe what God looked like, he said: “She’s black.” It’s not clear when this thought-provoking tale…
Questions of Faith It’s almost taken as a given today that the origins of humankind can be explained through the theory of evolution: the process by which different kinds of living organisms are believed to have developed from earlier forms. There’s a common assumption today that Catholics don’t believe in evolution, and instead adopt a…
Questions of Faith Easter is a very special time in the liturgical calendar, in fact, out of all the events Catholics celebrate, Resurrection Sunday is undoubtedly the most important. This is because on this day, Christians remember that after three days of death following his crucifixion, the Son of God rose from the dead fulfilling…
Questions of Faith There’s a common belief today among sceptics of Catholicism, and Christianity in general, that Jesus was just another pagan god, and so no different from the pagan deities that were believed in before him. This has become a popular internet conspiracy, and even some, though not many, scholars have endorsed this theory.…
A common attitude or approach towards different religions is to treat them as all equally true – we can’t prove which one is actually correct, and given that they all try to achieve the same thing, describing one particular religion as having more truth value than another just doesn’t make sense. This view is known…
Questions of Faith It can be heart-wrenching when a couple experiences fertility problems that make bearing children through natural conception impossible. The inability to have children can cause severe emotional stress, and make the world seem like an unfair place. After a long period of anguish and discernment, many couples eventually find closure in their…
Questions of Faith It’s often said by theologians that before the Incarnation, history was pregnant with Christ – that is to say, history itself was waiting for God to enter into humanity. It’s a powerful and almost poetic idea, that the world was preparing and anticipating for this momentous point in time. But was there…
Questions of Faith A common question that often puzzles believers and non-believers alike concerns God’s hiddenness. The question might look something like this: “If God wants us to know and believe in him, why doesn’t he present himself more explicitly, perhaps through a miracle? If God can do anything, surely this is the first thing…
Questions of Faith It can seem odd to non-believers that at a certain point every year, Catholics abstain from certain practices considered comfortable, or adopt new behaviours aimed at improving their spiritual lives. While initially this may sound slightly off-the-wall, there’s a very good reason behind it. The season of Lent lasts 40 days (technically…
Questions of Faith One common argument presented against religious people is that faith is completely incompatible with science and the empirical method. The sentence might go something like this: “I only believe in what we can see, analyse and prove, whereas religion says we should believe ideas based solely on faith. They’re completely contradictory.”…
Colm Fitzpatrick