Expert: Sal - 1/6/2005

Question
Hi Sal,

    I am in my sophemore year of high school, and have begun this year to research the Catholic faith. This began when a protestant friend of mine was asking about Catholicism. I am a cradle catholic and I have a few questions to ask, and if you could help that would be great. I am reading a book called Pierced by a Sword, written by a Catholic, and it regards the Mormon church as a cult, is this justified? Do Catholics believe in ghosts, or spirits? Is there anything in the bible about the beautific vision? And finally,regaurding my protestant friend, does God see priests as higher or better than regular people, arn't we supposed to be the same in Gods eyes?
Thank you so very much for your time, i appreciate it a lot.

Your Friend,
Kristina  

Answer
Dear Kristina:

Mormonism is a cult. The marks of a cult are that they consider themselves the True Church but have a beginning far removed from apostolic times, they claim in some way to be apostolic (Mormons use the “Great Apostasy” theory), they claim to have the only way to salvation, only they can be saved, they are usually work oriented, they were begun by a “prophet”, they add the so-called prophet's “inspired” writings to the Bible, they have secret ordinances, they have secret truth revealed only to them by God. This description fits the Mormon church perfectly.

Further, Mormons are not Christian. They believe in many gods, they believe that God was once a man, they believe that we can become gods, they deny the Virgin Birth of Christ, they deny the doctrine of original sin, they deny the doctrine of the Trinity, they deny the authority of the Bible, they do not believe that Jesus was always sinless, and they believe that God has sexual relations with His wives in order to create souls which then will inherit human babies bodies!   

Yes, we should believe in ghosts or spirits. The Catholic Church & the Bible plainly teach that they exist. Ghosts/spirits can give helpful information (II Mac. 15:12-16). They can announce God's judgment (I Sam. 28:15-20; cf. Sir. 46:20). They can be good and holy (Mt. 17:3). However, they can also be evil, consequently, we are not to attempt to contact them (Lev. 19:31; 20:6, 27; Deut. 18:10-11). We should let God use them to inform us of His will and not try to gain some advantage by contacting them when we wish to.   

The beatific vision is seeing God face to face. A Biblical example is seen in the calling of Isaiah to be a prophet (Is. 6:1-5). The beatific vision usually refers to seeing God in heaven. St. Paul speaks of this, “For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face” (I Cor. 13:12).

God does not see priests as better than non-priests. Priests are regular men who have been called to serve God in a particular manner. Catholic priests (and for that matter anyone who is called to live a celibate life) are living a spiritual superior life style. Celibacy is superior spiritually speaking to marriage. Jesus noted this truth when he stated, “Some men are incapable of sexual activity from birth; some have been deliberately made so; and some there are who have freely renounced sex for the sake of God's reign. Let him accept this teaching who can” (Mt. 19:12). St. Paul taught the superiority of celibacy to the early Church. “Now for the matters you wrote about. A man is better off having no relations with a woman”(I Cor. 7:1). But if one cannot control their desire toward the opposite sex then one should marry. “Given my preference, I should like you to be as I am. Still, each one has his own gift from God, one this and another that” (I Cor. 7:7). Why is the celibate life style spiritually superior? “I should like you to be free of all worries. The unmarried man is busy with the Lord's affairs, concerned with pleasing the Lord; but the married man is busy with this world's demands and occupied with pleasing his wife. This means he is divided” (I Cor 7:32-33; see also vv. 34-35). One can devote oneself fully to God if not married. This is a superior life style.

I hope that this was helpful to you. If I can clarify something that I said here, or if you have another question please let me know.

St. Michael the Archangel, Defender of the Faith, pray for us!
Sal