Da Techguy's (no longer backup) Blog

I’m jumping a bit ahead in my writing about religion and Catholic faith to touch on something that people find uncomfortable particularly in this modern age.

If one claims to be a Christian in general and a Catholic in particular there are several things that are required beliefs. The defining belief is the divinity of Christ. No less critical is the existence of the Devil and Hell.

People like to think that due to the modern world that such things as Devil’s and Satan can’t be real, that no reasonable person can choose to believe in such a supernatural concept. One doesn’t want to deal with the ridicule of such a belief, particularly publicly expressed. After all its one thing to believe in Christ, there is history that shows his existence but to believe in a fellow with a pitchfork and horns out to novel you, that’s just a story to frighten children.

CS Lewis talked about this very thing in Screwtape #7:

We currently live in an age where people believe in psychics, witchcraft and various unseen forces. I can drive down the street in Leominster or Worcester and see the shingle for psychics advertising their services. I have wiccan friends one who is a wiccan priest. You see all kinds of books on harnessing various forces. Science Fiction fans talk of all kinds of planets that might be inhabited by all sorts of creatures; yet all these same people would look as if you had 4 heads if you suggest that the devil or hell exists.

We have the direct testimony of priests and saints dating back centuries that this is so and before you scoff remember for over 16 centuries it was the priest who was the scholar, the literate. It was the priest and the monk who copied manuscripts by hand and read far and wide. Their direct testimony is the testimony of the learned men of their time who founded the educational systems that ironically produce so many of today’s skeptics. Historian Lowrie Daly commenting on the Church’s development of the University system said it was:

the only institution in Europe that showed consistent interest in the preservation and cultivation of knowledge. (Woods p 47)

But we do not have to rely on the testimony of those Churchmen alone, we can also take the direct testimony of Christ himself in the gospel. The Devil is specifically mentioned in New Testament scripture over and over from the temptation of Christ to his own warning of the Devil’s tactics and the punishment that follows. The Catechism of the Church specifically mentions both the Devil and Hell. If one believes in Christ and the church one must also believe his warning of the Devil and hell. This is not optional. In fact it is an amazing thing to me that so many people who profess belief in a God that remains largely unseen can’t allow themselves to believe in the Devil and temptation and all that comes with it.

Some argue that a good God would not allow such a thing, yet they don’t question that a good law (against murder for example) may cause a person to be imprisoned for life or worse. It isn’t bad law its the offenders bad choice that makes him liable to judgment.

Our unwillingness as people to face that fact is not unlike an overweight person avoiding a scale or a person sick unwilling to see a doctor. It is much easier to avoid an unpleasant truth than to confront it and do something about it. To the degree that Satan is active this is by design, denial works in his favor, but consider does the following sound familiar:

I’ll eat that extra doughnut it won’t hurt my weight too much.
I won’t get involved I don’t want any trouble.
Its only a small lie nobody is getting hurt.
What’s one more drink for the road?
I can’t spare that money times are tough.
I’m too busy to visit my parents it can wait till next week.
I can’t afford another kid right now.
Hey its only a few bucks I’ll find the money for the bills somehow.
Hey the wife doesn’t put out I’m entitled to some fun.

Isn’t it odd how easy it always seems to be to make the choice that we later regret, even in terms of small sins and decisions. Why is the path to trouble always so easy and tempting? The answer is because there is a side actively trying to lead us in that wrong direction. The sooner we acknowledge the existence of that side the better we will be prepared solicit God’s help to resist it.

And don’t let anyone tell you its too late. That is another clever tactic like a pusher saying you can never quit. Stuff like the Blasphemy Challenge for example is a crock; an unknowing or deliberate misinterpreting of scripture. Don’t fall for that nonsense. As long as you are alive you can fight back.

After that you’re on your own.