This morning, starting at 7:15 AM EST, CatholicCulture.org was the target of an automated registration attack. This means that a computer or group of computers has been programmed to attempt an express registration on CatholicCulture.org. Sometimes the purpose of such attacks is to test stolen credit card numbers. Other times, the purpose is purely subversive. However, since we’ve coded a large number of logging/donation tests over the years based on past experience with such attacks, I found on inspection that none of these attempts – 1698 in all over the course of 4 hours and 28 minutes – exceeded Our defenses.
But the speed of the attack varied, and I became aware of it shortly after 9:00 when our site became unresponsive three times in about half an hour. Researching and looking at various indicators of digital health, I eventually realized why, and blocked the origin IP address in our firewall. But this got me thinking about… Providence. This is just an introduction to a big topic, but I hope you will consider it as well.
Providence at work
It would be absurd, of course, to say that there are times when it is Providence Not at work. But there are certainly times when we become more aware of how it works. This was one of those times for me because, after all, if this attack had been launched the day before (December 8th), our site would have crashed several times in the middle of the last day of our Fall Challenge campaign, during which we needed all Precious second to reach our goal. On top of that, getting donors to dead ends when they’re trying to help you out of a bind is a nonprofit’s nightmare. Instead, we had to deal with it only after we had reached our goal, and for that I am certainly more than usual grateful to Providence.
Now to the bigger picture: When St. Teresa of Avila fell down a muddy stream on one of her apostolic journeys in the 16th century, she is said to have raised her thoughts to God to offer this extraordinary prayer: “If this is how you treat your friends, no wonder you have so few of them.” Indeed, there are a variety of legitimate spiritual ideas that come into our conversations with Christ, and wry humor is by no means excluded—as long as we don’t take ourselves too seriously.
My biggest point in discussing providential relationships goes well with my comment on Tuesday, Refusal to preach purity in the face of sexual licence. In conclusion to this article, I introduced this idea: What I am saying is that this refusal to communicate God’s will is not just utter nonsense but a willful denial of God’s mercy and goodness, as if people somehow have a “better chance” if they don’t know Him!
It may be useful to hold on to this thought—this criticism—when we consider again St. Paul’s statement in his Second Letter to the Thessalonians, in which he made it clear that it is proper for God to administer justice to those who afflict the elect (Christians), and to make them suffer,
When the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with his mighty angels in a blazing fire, avenging those who do not know God and those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. They will suffer the punishment of eternal damnation, far from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his power, when he comes on that day to be glorified in his saints, and to marvel at all who have believed. [2 Thes 1:7-10]
There are now two things noteworthy, that every passage of Scripture must be interpreted in the light of every other passage touching on the same subject, just as every statement of a canonical teaching must be interpreted in the light of everything else. Judicial statement and all of the Bible itself – for it is easy to get caught up in a particular word or phrase that can be interpreted in a variety of ways, and thus jump to unwarranted conclusions when the whole is taken into account.
In this passage, again, there are two such issues. The first is St. Paul’s expression “eternal destruction.” Some have argued that this means that the souls of the damned will be erased from existence, but we know from many other biblical passages and church teachings that this is not the case, and that those who are damned suffer the anguish of their loss. God forever. Therefore, “eternal destruction” must be taken in the sense of a kind of final “spiritual retreat”, a final loss of God’s presence, which actually prevents what we might call our personal fulfillment forever. Being eternally unhappy: This is probably a greater motivator than ceasing to exist.
However, I hasten to add that both the condition of the damned in Hell and the condition of the blessed in Heaven are impossible for us to fully comprehend, let alone put into words. The most important thing is that we take seriously the revelations we have from God.
The second confusing matter is Paul’s statement that this punishment will fall “on those who do not know God and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus.” A reflection of the moment (as well as a host of other biblical passages and judicial instructions) reveals to us that there is nothing wrong with those who do not know God if they never had any reasonable opportunity to know Him. For example, from an outsider’s perspective (that is, regardless of what God may do within the human soul), no one is suggesting that children are cursed, or that all those who have not had the opportunity to hear the gospel are cursed. Quite apart from how God may identify Himself in the depths of the soul, other, more serious questions arise—that is, to what extent is the distance from God the result of our efforts? rejection rather than just our ignorance.
Lost and gained opportunities
It is true that there are many ways to learn something about God and goodness, even regardless of hearing the gospel or being raised in the church. There is a completeness in God’s plan which, when we think seriously about it, is absolutely amazing. First, as the maker of all things, God reveals himself and goodness in general through nature, by implication, in the things he has made. It is “only” in the second place that He reveals Himself in words and the word through a certain body of explicit vision.
While not all are exposed to what we call revelation, all of them (at least all those who have their intellectual capacities) are exposed to God and to the good as known through nature. And all (at least all those whose will is not weakened) can respond to this knowledge by seeking either to follow or turn away from what they can naturally distinguish from God and the good. This is why the Church teaches that those who seek to follow what they naturally know about God and goodness can also be saved, even if they never come into contact with divine revelation and the gospel of Jesus Christ.
But my point here is that we must increase every human person’s opportunity to be exposed and enlightened by the fullness of God’s self-revelation, the fullness of God, the knowledge of His holy will, and the true presence of Christ. Who exactly sacrificed Himself to overcome sin and draw each of us to the Father. The more we are exposed to these truths, the better we will become—the more chance we have of fulfilling God’s burning desires. That is why Saint Paul wrote to Timothy:
First of all, I urge supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgiving for all people… that we may lead a peaceful and serene life, pious and dignified in all things. This is good, and pleasing in the sight of God our Savior, who wants all people to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth. [1 Tim 2:1-4]
Now what do we say? That it is better that people be left in ignorance as much as possible, lest they make wrong decisions and thus be cut off? No, this kind of laziness is simply an excuse for two kinds of errors: first, the error that everyone is happily ever after in the presence of God no matter what (which we do not know through natural law or divine revelation, and in which there is a great deal unlike that, including passages cited here from St. Paul himself); and second, the error that the gospel of Christ and the ministry of Christians provide no greater likelihood that people will make an informed and determined decision for or against God than any other possible course of action.
conclusion
See: there is nothing in what St. Paul calls the “old man” that the gospel of Christ finds easy, but there is everything in the gospel that frees us if we are to accept it and put on the “new man.” Anyone who believes that the gospel and the church founded by Christ do not give us all a better chance of knowing, loving, and serving God in this life, and being happy with Him forever in the future, is in denial. This denial makes God a liar. Ninety-nine times out of a hundred—or more—this denial stems from our natural, fallen fear of either giving up our sinful pleasures or incurring the displeasure of “those who matter” by the standards of this world.
Perhaps it is time to read Saint Augustine’s commentary on all this, drawn from his famous book confessions:
I’ve loved you late, beauty old and always new: I’ve loved you lately. And behold, I was within and you were in the world outside and I sought you there, and in my unloving state I indulged in those lovely things you made. You were with me, and I was not with you. Beautiful things kept me away from you, though if they don’t exist in you, they don’t exist at all. You called and shouted loudly and broke my silence. I was radiant and radiant, I escaped from my blindness. You were fragrant, drew my breath and now I’m panting after you. I have tasted you, and am hungry and thirsty for you. You touched me and set me on fire to bring peace that is yours.
For Augustine’s liberation, Jesus Christ is credited with working through everything, but especially through his mother Saint Monica and his father in the faith Saint Ambrose. I repeat the point I made before: we are not better off in ignorance. Every human being can greatly benefit from hearing the truth about Jesus Christ and His Church, about human sin and divine salvation. As far as we know, not all will utility. But the point to remember is that everyone Can They benefit, if they only want to, and that the Big Three—Christ, the Gospel, and the Church—are far more powerful and far more attractive than anything in nature alone.
We must not put limits on such good, such opportunity. Nature may do alone in a pinch, but it’s nowhere near as good as all we have. And if our Lord cannot reach souls even through those who can offer the fullness of truth and grace, surely nature alone will never be sufficient.
We do no favors when we hide the gospel. The Church of Christ is Providence in its highest and most perfect work of sacramental union with the Lord.
Originally posted 2022-12-10 13:18:03.