In a world filled with uncertainty and inquiries, many people turn to religion for answers. Many investigations related to religion have led to lots of difficult and unanswered questions that have made others question their beliefs. Father Charlie Brown was willing to answer these challenging inquiries to the best of his ability to help more people understand and come closer to Jesus Christ.
Father Charlie Brown has been a beloved Catholic priest for 31 years for 3 different Michigan parishes (churches). He spent 6 years at St. Joseph – Weare & St. Vincent in Pentwater, 19 years at St. Francis De Sales in Holland, and 2 years at Holy Name Of Jesus in Wyoming. Brown adores his occupation. He loves to encourage
people to live their lives closer to Jesus, and he plays an important role in his church community. “What gives me most joy is celebrating the sacraments with people like Eucharist, baptism, reconciliation, and marriages. The biggest struggle for me is that I am in charge of a parish and Catholic school. The administration of it is very demanding and tiring at times,” Fr. Brown said.
Why does God allow evil if he is so loving?
The simple answer to this question would be, God did NOT create evil. God created the world and all of its goodness. He created Adam and Eve. If Adam and Eve are unfamiliar to some, they are two human beings who were tempted by the devil into eating the apple God forbid them from eating. They both disobeyed his rule and they themselves created separation from God. “Once they disobeyed God; sin, suffering, evil and death entered the world. God allowed it because he gave us and respects our free will.”
God, all powerful and all knowing, decided to limit his power and gave humans the choice to choose their own relationship with God. Anyone can choose their relation with God, whether that was completely separated, or trying to build a connection with him. “Love cannot be forced, it must be freely chosen. Nothing pleases God more than us choosing to love him. Therefore, God allows evil to happen since moral evil is caused by the misuse of human freedom. He shows his love by accompanying us in our suffering and through the fact he sent his son [Jesus Christ] to deliver us.”
What would happen to someone who knew nothing about God?
Nobody, not even experts, could determine what would happen. The Catholic Church does not teach that the person could go to Hell. “We would entrust that person to God’s mercy knowing that God knows and loves this person and would judge that person based on their knowledge of and response to God’s love and truth as they know it.”
How do believers know this religion is correct?
“I cannot answer that question for other Christian traditions, they have to do so themselves. I believe the Catholic faith to be true based on Jesus establishing Peter as the head of the Church and the apostolic tradition that passed on the faith.” Jesus entrusted Peter to teach the divine truth as Jesus promised to send the Holy Spirit to guide Peter and the church to the truth.
The Bible shows that one of the Sacraments of the Catholic Church is biblical. During the last supper, Jesus shares his wine and bread that becomes his blood and body for them to consume, this Sacrament is called the Eucharist. As 1 Corinthians 11:24-26 says, ‘In the same way, after supper he took the cup, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood; do this, whenever you drink it, in remembrance of me.”’
Why does God not show himself?
God has shown himself physically as Jesus Christ in the image of God. He was sinless with no hateful qualities but the society crucified him. The truth is, God is seen in everyday things as he created the Earth. “God is present to us in a real way, in the sacraments, which have natural signs that point to a supernatural reality which we can’t see but yet is real.”
But why does God make himself invisible? A good Bible verse for this would be 2 Corinthians, 5:7 which says, “’For we live by faith, not by sight.” This verse highlights the idea that people should trust and believe in God instead of focusing on his physical presence because God can do so much to impact lives without showing himself.
What happens after death? To believers and non believers?
Many speculate that after death, there is nothing, just complete darkness. To the Catholic faith, the soul goes to heaven to meet God face to face. But we have not been accepted to heaven at the very moment. We are judged by God by our faith towards him and how we acted throughout our lives. After this, they are sent to heaven immediately or the purgatory which is a purification to cleanse oneself from sins before going to heaven.
“The Church teaches us that hell is a reality, people have been condemned to be there but has not taught that any specific individual is condemned. That is for God to judge and know.” For non-believers, hell is assumed for their final destination. In reality, their destiny is determined by God’s judgment. But the non believer will most likely have more trouble achieving heaven as the final destination rather than a believer.
How can God forgive terrible people but send good people who don’t believe to Hell?
Everyone is a sinner; so nobody is better than a person anyone declares as a terrible person. “God can forgive the worst sins ever, even rapists and murderers. But the person needs to be repentant and turn away from their sin and life of sin and strive to live a new life in Christ.” Now, of course God’s love and forgiveness is much greater than any human in the world, so we might not understand why God could still forgive such disgraceful humans. Nobody knows who is condemned to hell but a way to understand is that non-believers stray away from God and do not believe in repenting for the sins they have committed.
Is it God or a coincidence?
On December 28, 2018, a man’s house in Tyler, Texas was almost completely burned down. But the only item that was salvageable, was his Bible. On October 24, 2018, a Baptist church in Wakefield, Massachusetts burned down except for a painting of Jesus Christ. Why would God let buildings burn down but save his creations?
“We cannot explain God’s will, how and when God decides to act or not to act, to stop evil or not, to heal a disease or not. We pray in the Lord’s prayer, ‘your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.’” Isaiah 55 verse 8 says, “‘For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,’ declares the Lord.” God’s knowledge is far from the understanding of humans. This verse reminds us that God works in mysterious ways. Ways that nobody will understand until they are face to face with him.
While we may not completely understand God or what his plan for everyone is, God’s love and knowledge is far superior than ours. Through God’s forgiveness and love, everyone can be guided to him.
1 John 4:16, “And so we know and rely on the love God has for us. God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in them.”
