Satan's Chess Match

I am an avid Internet chess player. The site I play chess on allows players to sign on, make a move and then sign off and wait for the opposition to make a move, which could take anywhere from a few seconds to thirty days (even longer with a special dispensation from Stan). So on my way home from work I was evaluating a game I am currently involved in, in which my opponent allowed me to capture his queen without the loss of my own. I know what what happened in this game - my opponent simply made a costly oversight. I know this because we are not playing our first game against each other and I know he is a thoughtful player. When I evaluate a game I am in the middle of I try to objectively evaluate the strength of my position, the strength of my opponent's position, the strength of our pieces in play, what I have to do to quickly checkmate my opponent or what I have to do to avoid being checkmated.

In this evaluation I look at many, many things, on of which is my own ability to prosecute a prejudicial campaign against my opponent. This is critical in a chess match. I used to extend Christian mercy towards my opponents during a chess game. That is a path towards destruction, because let me assure you, no one else is doing such nonsense. In the many hundreds of chess games I have played I have only been extended that mercy one time (by someone other than my mother!). Eventually, as all things do, it lead me towards thinking about Christianity , the Church and the world. So it made me think about Satan's campaign against the Church, and that he is prosecuting it with extreme prejudice, and that there are seemingly neutral parties which Satan is able to utilize against the Church. He has even used Christian institutions against Christ! That is the importance of the Magisterium and submission to the authority of the Church.

Second Coming of Christ

To all who read the Et In Terra Pax Hominibus; I am searching for a Catholic Order, Discipline, or Association devoted to the study of the Second Coming of Christ. My own search has resulted in the failure to find such a group.

I am not sure that one actually exists. The absence of such a group or groups would, in itself, be indicative of a “poor spirit” within the Church as we invoke the Second Coming at least five times during the Mass.

I have grown tired of talking to various “Protestants” about this subject because much of their theology, IMHO, is debased into “dispensationalism”. They also have a fondness for labeling the Catholic Church “The Whore of Babylon”.

The return of Christ is a major theme of much of the Apostolic writings of the New Testament and is mentioned in the Didache. We Catholics seem to have an abundance of groups that are dedicated to a particular spiritual subject. Perhaps you could recommend an Order, Discipline, or Association to me that has an interest in the Second Coming.

I thank you for your loving kindness.
Lowtec

Did He Beat Me To It?

I recently read an article on World Net Daily about a physicist who claims to have proven the existence of God through the application of physics. He performed an experiment in which photons of light were released when sound waves were passed through water.

The only thing I read so far is his introduction, but I do plan on reading his outline and his eminent book. At the very least it sounds interesting and, if you are optimistic, it could be very exciting! Visit his website to read the claim.

Into Great Silence

I have been greatly anticipating "Into Great Silence" coming to Alaska. Finally it did and played the past two evenings at a local theater. It is a documentary film about Roman Catholic monks who have the reputation of being the most ascetic brotherhood in the Western Tradition. Of course there was not an extensive amount of talking. In one of the reviews I read while waiting for the documentary's arrival I was amused that the producer spoke about developing a plot, but as I watched it I really saw a story develop, and I thought a lot about it all, and my own role in the grand scheme of things. Even the local cows observed the rule of silence. Those rebellious birds never quit running their mouths the entire time though, not even in the dead of winter! One of the things I found particularly funny were the multiple "documentary interviews" given by the monks. There were ten to fifteen of such interviews, and I finally saw the humor in them about half way through (okay, I never said I was swift). Another thing I got a kick out of was in the end credits - they showed no less than five (count 'em - one, two, three, four, five) sound editors! This is one I would definitely be able to watch again.

The Likeliness of God (Part 11)

In the post entitled "Newton and Photosynthesis" I came to the conclusion that it is possible for God to exist and possible for evolution to exist. In the post "Orgins of Life On Earth" I excluded the possibility of aliens beginning life on Earth, not merely as something I felt was ridiculous, but because if it were true then where did the aliens come from? I made the assumption that Earth is as good a place as anywhere in the universe to begin all temporal life in the universe. In the interim I feel I presented sufficient evidence to exclude Darwinian Evolution as a viable means of explaining the development of life on Earth. Where does that leave us? It leaves us certainly with the possibility of a Creator of the universe who designed and controlled the development of life on Earth, and any number of other unmentioned possibilities for an explanation of our existence. Unfortunately I have no other explanations to offer, so we shall conclude that it is likely that our universe was created by an Unmoved Mover.

I presume an astute student of metaphysics would be able to offer a variety of options from a diversity of world religions. I am no such person. The only account I am well versed in is the Genesis account of the Judeo-Christian tradition. I have a sprinkling of knowledge of other religions, but am only familiar with very basic concepts. I know, for instance, that Eskimos believe in one Creator, and that Pagans believe in a multitude of petty gods, usually under the authority of one powerful god or a small group of powerful gods who share authority over all others who is/are the Creator/s, which ever the case may be. I have no idea what Buddhism, Shintoism or Taoism offer as an explanation. I imagine that Hinduism falls under the category of Polytheistic Paganism. It was widely believed for many centuries that the universe is eternal, that there was no beginning to it, but both religion and physics deny such a notion. This, however, is not meant to be a philosophical explanation to our existence, but a scientific one.

One of the problems with science is that it has historically been put at odds with religion, whether justified or not. In the next post I will attempt a reconciliation of the two.