Expert: Marco - 7/27/2008

Question
Hi,

    My name is Daniel and I am a medical student. I have just read your explanation about the physics proving God's existance. I found it very interesting and insightful. I would like to ask a few questions though as to some of the things that you stated in there:

1. In reference to mind-altering drugs, you say that they modify the interaction of the psyche and the materialistic brain. However, using medical imaging techniques and molecular biology we can see how these mind altering drugs physically interact with the receptors in our brains. If, as you say, the psyche is truly not a mere manipulation of molecules (and thus the EM fields you were talking about), then how can a drug that alters the microscopic physical properties of the brain affect the psyche (which by your very definition is not physical)?
2. Assuming you are right that the psyche is an external property, given to us by something other than our biological development, how can you be so certain that it comes from the Catholic God? Could it not as easily come from Zeus or a physical force we have yet to discover and understand, or even aliens as some would believe?
3. Finally, you state that Catholicism makes sense as it is based on the oldest monotheistic religion, that God would not leave us alone in the early parts of our history. If so, how do you account for the polytheistic religions that existed long before monotheism? The early part of our history must surely extend to all those people who lived and died before monotheism was adopted.

I once again thank you for the interesting read, and look forward to your answer to these questions.

Kind Regards,
Daniel

Answer
Hi Daniel,

here are my answers:

1) there is no doubts that drigs phisocally interact with our brain, and they induce some changes into our brain. The point is that our soul fels such changes because of the existence of an interaction between the brain and the soul. Such interaction involves a physical entity (he brain) and an unphysical entity (the soul).

2)I think it is possible to prove rationally the existence of an intelligent God; My logical passages are the following:

If we define God as the necessary Cause of the existence of our soul; it is possible to deduce some attributes of God:

1) First of all, the fact that God has the capacity to create our psyche, while we, not only are unable to create any psyche, but we need be created in order to become to exist as conscious persons, proves that God is infinitely superior to us; there is an abyss of superiority, separating God from us, which is equivalent to say that God is transcendent to man.

2) Since God is the Creator of us, He must have existed before us and He must exist independently from us; His existence does not depend on us, while our existence depends on Him.

3) Since God has the capacity to create our intelligence, our consciousness and our will, He must be intelligent, conscious and He must have a will. In fact, since God is superior to us and He is the Creator of our own capacities, He must have at least our own capacities. Besides, since God is the Creator of our own mind, He must know us perfectly.

4) Since God is superior to us, He must have a superior capacity to love.

These considerations prove that the necessary Cause of the existence of our soul is necessarily a personal, conscious and intelligent God.

Of course, this does not prove that God is the God of the Catholic faith.
To believe in one religion rather than another is always a personal choice, but I think that there are some objective elements, distinguishing the different religions (their history, theology, etc.) that can be analysed from a rational point of view. I limit myself to a couple of cnsiderations. In the times when peoples used to worship many gods, represented with anthropomorphic idols, usually associated with natural elements, there were only one monotheistic people who worshipped one God of Spirit and rigorously prohibited any representations of God. This monotheistic concept of God has appeared in history through the jews and every monotheistic religion cannot but acknowledge its roots in the Bible.
There is another importatnt objective element to be considered. Through christianity, an absolutely new concept of divine love has come into history: the concept of a God who loves us so much that He makes Himself man and accepts an atrocious suffering and death in order to save us from our sinful and unhappy existence and lead us to the true and eternal happiness.

Why was it necessary that Jesus suffered so much to save us from our sins? Couldn't He simply save us without being crucified?


I believe that each of us needed know that God was willing to accept such a terrible suffering for us, in order to really trust God. Every man needed that proof of love, and God, who knew this, has accepted to give him what man consciously or unconsciously asked to Him. Jesus had to suffer and die that way to convince us about God's goodness and God's love towards us. It is man's obstinate distrust against God that has forced God to give man that proof of love, the proof he needed to trust God. By His death on the cross, Jesus destroys our distrust and our doubts, and He gives us the strength to believe in Him and trust Him. This means that each of us is personally responsible of Jesus ' sufferings and death. This distrust, this lack of faith in God, as well as the excess of trust in oneself, is just the essence of the original sin. Blinded by his pride, man rejects God's authority and prefers to trust himself, instead of His Creator; man deludes himself to be able to be independent from God, to be the god of himself. But God only is the source of all true good and true love. Man is unable to pursue the true good with his only strengths; man needs God, His teachings, His spiritual help, and so, after his rebellion against God, he gets deeper and deeper into a vortex of sin, which he can get out of only if he allow God to change his evil and impure heart. God in fact loves us infinitely, and He desires to lead each of us to the true life and true happiness, a condition existing only in God. But God cannot tolerate evil and sin, because they are incompatible with His good and holy nature. A deep interior change is then necessary for all of us to reach the eternal happiness; we must be sanctified and purified from all our evil and sinful desires. God has the power to change us but He wants to do that with our consent. Since He has chosen to create man with a free will, He wants to respect our will. Man cannot really accept to be changed by God and he cannot be in comunion with God as long as even a shadow of doubt and distrust remains in his heart ( it must be stressed that such a distrust may exist even without the man is aware of it, at the unconscious level). God had to destroy every shadow of doubt and distrust in our heart and He has chosen to give us the greatest proof of love that may exist: Christ's Passion. Christ's Passion has reconciled us to God because it has uprooted from our heart, our distrust and doubts about God; it has satisfied our (conscious or unconscious) desire and need of a proof of love, so that it has given us the strength to trust God and feel loved by Him.

Now I come to your last question:

"3. Finally, you state that Catholicism makes sense as it is based on the oldest monotheistic religion, that God would not leave us alone in the early parts of our history. If so, how do you account for the polytheistic religions that existed long before monotheism? The early part of our history must surely extend to all those people who lived and died before monotheism was adopted."

Because of sin, men were extremely confused during the first  part of history. They were not ready to understand and accept the Truth.
God gradually prepared a people (the Jew), teaching them some important moral and spiritual principles, so that they could get ready to receive the Truth,Jesus Christ. Through them, the Truth would have been announced to all peoples.
The catholic Church teaches that Jesus, after His death on the cross, went in Hades to announce the saving Truth to all the souls who lived and died without knowing Him. God has not forgotten them.

I hope this may be helpful.

Feel free to write again for any clarifications,

your brother in Christ,

Marco