Expert: Marco - 4/12/2009

Question
QUESTION: I have trouble reconciling the story mentioned in the subject line with the Catholic Church's (and other Christian church's) focus on beautiful (= costly) places of worship and the Vatican's billions of dollars worth of art treasures and other worldly accumulations while the world is full of the poor and needy.  I don't think Jesus ever said, "Go forth and build me a church."  What am I missing?  Thanks for your help.

ANSWER: Dear Ted,

there is no doubt that Jesus asked His disciples to pray together, and praying together requires a church where to pray.
The fact that ancient paintings and statues now are worth billions of dollars is due to the fact the value of artistic works encreases with time. Think about the Monnalisa of Leonardo da Vinci: that painting now has a huge value, but it didn't have such a high value when it was done by Leonardo.

Your brother in Christ,

Marco



---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: I think praying, or connecting with God, is a personal, private experience, and that a church is not necessary and can actually be distracting.  I have been in numerous cathedrals worldwide, but I have experienced being closer to my God in a kiva in Chico Canyon.  I guess I disagree with your statement about a church being required, but I respect your opinion.  

So why doesn't the Vatican now recognize their God-orchestrated success in purchasing art objects that have greatly increased in value and auction some of these objects - say on eBay (just kidding) - to help alleviate world hunger or poverty or abuse of women and children?  Why does the Vatican need to hoard such valuable art objects?  I do respect your opinions and answers, and I am probably searching for answers to questions that cannot be answered.  Happy Easter!

Answer
Dear Ted,

I agree that private prayer is a fundamental experience in our faith.
Anyway, Jesus asked explicitly to pray together, so common prayer is another fundamental experience, which of course does not replace private prayer.

For the rest, you must consider that many of the artistic objects in churches cannot be sold because they are part of the church (such as wall paintings).
Besides, many turists visit such artistisc objects and they pay a ticket; the gains are used for many charity works.
If these artistic objects were sold, no more gains would be obtained to help the poor.

Happy Easter!


PS I think that faith cannot come only from logic, because to have faith in God means to trust and love God.
I think however that logics and science prove the existence of our soul and the existence of  God and that there are many rational arguments strongly supporting the christian faith.
The explanation of these aguments is rather long and Allexperts allows only to give short answers. You can find such arguments  in the following site

http://xoomer.alice.it/fedeescienza/englishnf.html

where  I analyse the incongruencies of the materialistic conception of the mind, on the basis of our present scientific knowledges about brain and matter.
This analysis points out how the laws of physics  prove that the   brain cannot generate consciousness, which existence implies  the presence in man of a unbiological/unmaterial element. The problem of consciousness is then strictly connected to the one of the existence of the soul and, consequently, the existence of God.
In the first article entitled “Mind and brain...” you can find a general discussion of the mind and brain problem from a scientific point of view.
In the second article entitled “Scientific contraddictions in materialism”
you  can find an explanation of the fundamental inconsistencies of  the  typical arguments used by materialists, such as the concept of emergent, macroscopic or holist property, complexity, information, etc.
In the section called “FAQ: answers to  visitors' questions” you can find the answer to many typical questions, such as "Are there any scientifically proved miracles?", "Does the existence of the universe imply the existence of God?", "Can science explain God?", "Can science establish which is the true religion?", "Can science explain consciousness in the future?", and many others.