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Kayla
Member
| Joined: | Mon Jul 30th, 2007 |
| Location: | Emmitsburg, Maryland USA |
| Posts: | 349 |
| First Name: | Kayla | | Gender: | Female | | Faith History: | Atheist, kind-of Mormon, Catholic |
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Posted: Sat Sep 15th, 2007 09:26 am |
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Okay, no, I'm not asking you to define eternity for me- that would be far too difficult. Well. Yes, I guess I kind of am. But hear me out here.
Last night I stayed up with a bunch of friends really late talking about our beliefs about God. Funny enough, even though we were all Catholic, there was a lot of... interesting beliefs that I'm not exactly sure fit in with the Church's teaching. I'm only going to talk about one thing that really struck last night.
One of my friends is an intellectual genius- she knows almost everything. She's smart, witty, and all of that jazz. So, usually, I'm good to go on what she says because, for the majority of the time, she's definitely right. But last night she was saying stuff about the Church and the end of times that I'm really thinking isn't right, but I could be wrong, so that's why I'm asking here.
Basically, she says that after the final judgement; time, along with Hell and earth will be destroyed.
I was under the impression that yes, earth would be destroyed, but that there would be a 'New Heaven' and a 'New Earth'. Secondly, that Hell is an eternal place- how could it be destroyed, in that sense? If Hell is destroyed that would mean those souls damned to Hell would cease to exist, which if I'm not mistaken, is completely against Catholic teaching, right?
Basically, what I've concluded by talking with my friend (and arguing against her in a sense) is that she has a different definition of eternity than I do. She sees eternity as being part of time... That eternity is from the beginning of time to the very end of time, that is all. I was under the impression that eternity is that which is outside of time and is everlasting.
I just need some clarification here. I know that I'm a new Catholic and haven't learned everything about the Church, but I'm more than a little weary on this one. I don't know a lot about the end of times and my friend may be a life-long Catholic, but I'm still not very sure of what she's saying here.
Help, please?
Kayla
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I believe, Lord, help my unbelief.
Jesus, I trust in You!
There's not a lot of job security for us after death. I suppose that's one advantage of being a philosopher. - Peter Kreeft
http://kayla23mount.blogspot.com/
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CajunRick
Network Helper
| Joined: | Fri Sep 29th, 2006 |
| Location: | Houma, Louisiana USA |
| Posts: | 4981 |
| First Name: | Rick (& Kermie) | | Gender: | Male | | Faith History: | Lifetime Catholic, Latin Rite |
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Posted: Sat Sep 15th, 2007 12:49 pm |
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Kayla wrote: One of my friends is an intellectual genius- she knows almost everything.
Geniuses often think differently, and while they may not be wrong, they often have difficulty explaining their thought processes to us mere mortals. Einstein had a great deal of difficulty explaining even the most basic concepts, so much so that he had trouble passing in school.
Basically, she says that after the final judgement; time, along with Hell and earth will be destroyed. I was under the impression that yes, earth would be destroyed, but that there would be a 'New Heaven' and a 'New Earth'. Secondly, that Hell is an eternal place- how could it be destroyed, in that sense? If Hell is destroyed that would mean those souls damned to Hell would cease to exist, which if I'm not mistaken, is completely against Catholic teaching, right?
Scripture mentions a "new heaven" and a "new earth" but we see the "new earth" as part of the "new heaven", just like the "new and eternal Jerusalem". The meanings are symbolic. There will be no "place" called "new earth". We believe that all that is a part of time will cease to exist, which means that heaven and hell will remain. And yes, believing that those in hell would cease to exist is against Catholic teaching.
Basically, what I've concluded by talking with my friend (and arguing against her in a sense) is that she has a different definition of eternity than I do. She sees eternity as being part of time... That eternity is from the beginning of time to the very end of time, that is all. I was under the impression that eternity is that which is outside of time and is everlasting.
Again, I would never argue with a genius because her concepts may well be so far above mine that she just has trouble expressing them to terminally stupid people like me, but yes, almost by definition, eternity is that which exists outside of time. In mathmatical terms, "time" is a subset of "eternity" which is in turn a subset of "God".
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Understanding is the reward of faith. Therefore seek not to understand that you may believe, but believe that you may understand. - Augustine
Rick Luquette
Luquette Lane
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JillD
Member
| Joined: | Fri Sep 29th, 2006 |
| Location: | Visalia, California USA |
| Posts: | 600 |
| First Name: | Jill | | Gender: | Female | | Faith History: | heathen, EvFree, Messianic, LC-MS, Catholic 2007 |
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Posted: Sat Sep 15th, 2007 01:37 pm |
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| Others may find this silly or absurd, but here is how I look at "time." The events of history, all of history, are strung like beads on a gigantic ball of jumbled up yarn. God and those in Heaven, including our Blessed Mother, stand apart from the ball of yarn and yet can see all of the events from the beginning of time to the end. I suppose they can even intervene at any point and make changes, if they like. I know I've heard it said that prayers can be valuable even after the fact. It's all hard to wrap your mind around, but this picture helps me.
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"The alternative to obedience is to turn the conversation into a cacophony of Christians making it up as they go along." - Fr. Richard John Neuhaus
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beachmoss
Member
| Joined: | Mon Nov 13th, 2006 |
| Location: | Simpsonville, South Carolina USA |
| Posts: | 270 |
| First Name: | Beth | | Gender: | Female | | Faith History: | Catholic (raised Baptist) |
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Posted: Mon Sep 17th, 2007 06:31 pm |
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Jill,
That's a great mental image! I'll have to remember that!
Beth
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