Four Questions

[Ziggamafu]

Hey guys,

Here are a few questions / objections that I've run into and I don't know how to handle them very well. What do you think?

1. If God prevented Mary from the stain of original sin at conception, why doesn't he do that for everyone?

2. If the Magisterium can remit the temporal punishment due to sins, why doesn't the Church attach the possibility of a plenary indulgence to every partial indulgence? Why have strictly partial indulgences at all? Why not, in one sweeping motion, use the keys to release all the souls of purgatory?

3. I used the argument from time and contingency against an atheist and his reply was that the same problem exists with an eternal God; in an infinite series, you never reach any given point - the "moment" of creation (the first moment of time-space) would have never arrived.

4. Why didn't God send Jesus within the generation of Adam and Eve?

[kenrockthefirst]

[quote name='Ziggamafu' post='1299024' date='Jun 20 2007, 02:29 PM']3. I used the argument from time and contingency against an atheist and his reply was that the same problem exists with an eternal God; in an infinite series, you never reach any given point - the "moment" of creation (the first moment of time-space) would have never arrived.

4. Why didn't God send Jesus within the generation of Adam and Eve?[/quote]

I'll take my best shot at Questions 3 and 4.

In respect of Question 3, God is eternal. What that means can be expressed in one of two, complementary ways:
[list=1]
[*]God exists outside of time.
[*]From God's perspective, everything is in the present tense.
[/list]In respect of Question 4, therefore, from God's perspective, He [i]did[/i] send Jesus in within the generation of Adam and Eve, because the Fall, Crucifixion, Resurrection, and ultimate return of Jesus in Glory all happen "at the same time."

[thessalonian]

[quote]1. If God prevented Mary from the stain of original sin at conception, why doesn't he do that for everyone?[/quote]The pupose of letting us sin is first to let us have free will. The second purpose is by the free will to come to a decision of the will to love him. Love that is forced or coerced is not really love. It is control. God loves us infinitely but wants us to come to him. Therefore he allows our natures to be corrupted and to sin. Further, sin allows for a higher state, i.e. a deeper love of God than was possible in the way that Adam and Eve loved him in the garden. Last sundays Gospel demonstrates it best. Simon the pharasee loved Christ okay. But he did not kiss his feet and wash them with his tears and his hair, while the woman who had sinned did these things because she had so much to be greatful to God for forgiving her for. Now one might ask, well then what about Mary's level of love. I think giving birth to Christ and seeing the trials he went through in life allowed her a greater love than any of us will ever attain.

[quote]2. If the Magisterium can remit the temporal punishment due to sins, why doesn't the Church attach the possibility of a plenary indulgence to every partial indulgence? Why have strictly partial indulgences at all? Why not, in one sweeping motion, use the keys to release all the souls of purgatory?[/quote]

I think a part of the problem would be that plenary indulgences would get watered down making them too routine. You see a pleanary indulgence involves certain conditions but there is that last condition that is the kicker, "and free of ALL detachment from sin". This perfect contrition is very difficult to achieve and so most attempts at plenary end up in partial anyway. But when the plenary are not given all the time, then more people will strive to achieve them. It's kind of like, an athlete may run a race every day or once a week but he would not do a marathon more than a couple times a year. I find partial indulgences to be quite neglected in this day and age, while plenary are not so much. I think your proposal would mean that all indulgences would be neglected.

I'll defer # 3 to others.

[quote]4. Why didn't God send Jesus within the generation of Adam and Eve?[/quote]

Once again I think the reason is that higher state that God wanted us to attain with regard to loving him as with the woman forgiven and simon. To attain this he had to lay out the salvation plan rather than just giving the salvation right away. He put images and symbols and stories to what he was going to do so that we could more deeply understand it. Thus coming to know him more deeply and so have greater love for him. He had to lay this all out in human terms and language and culture, giving a limited, finite mankind things when they could understand them. Adam and Eve would not have understood that cross. When we go to Mass the grace recieved is dependant more on us and our understanding and faith and love, than God, because the Eucharist is always infinite in grace. It is our limited love that limits the grace. That limited love is in part due to limited understanding of what God has done for us.

Hope that helps.

Blessings