Dante in the Underworld by George Augustus Wallis. Public Domain, courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.
When I was 24, I was asked at the last minute to substitute teach a religious education class at another parish. I was not given a topic or syllabus, so I racked my brain for something compelling for this sixth-grade class. Then, eureka: I taught about Hell.
The students seemed like the typical religious education crowd: unchurched and uninterested. Yet as soon as I mentioned Hell, ears and hands shot up. They had heard about Hell and knew it as a place of punishment – but nothing more. This little bit was enough to entice them. Who, after all, isn’t intrigued by thoughts of eternal punishment, everlasting fire, and evil? There’s a reason Dante’s Inferno is more popular than his Purgatorio and Paradiso. The stuff of Hell strikes at the gut and inflames the imagination.
In our short time together, the students asked dozens of questions, which opened doors to other topics: God and His plan of salvation, Heaven, the Ten Commandments, sin, Jesus, the Mass. The give and take between them and me made the class far more engaging than the typical method of religious ed classes: e.g., read the textbook aloud, then color something.
These students were not unique: over the years I have been peppered with questions about all things Catholic from people of all ages. And they are right to ask: the Catholic faith plumbs the deepest mysteries of God, of eternity, of human existence. To seek God requires asking questions. Every answer leads to another question, and every answer, no matter how brilliant, is, to paraphrase St. Thomas Aquinas, only straw compared to the infinite reality that our finite words cannot capture.
Today, with multitudes of Catholics uncatechized, unchurched, and inundated by anti-religious messaging, questions about the faith have a certain cast. First, they often begin, “How do we know that. . .?” The formulation suggests not disbelief or hostility, but puzzlement – and fear. It’s as if they want to believe yet, like Thomas on Easter Sunday, they want an empirical guarantee. This refusal to trust – whether God or others – is the pox of Modernity that has destroyed faith in God and faith in reason. Modernity promised individual freedom; it instead brought paralysis and depression.
Second, many questions are shaped by a secular worldview that is hostile to Christianity. In most cases, Catholics do not realize this, but the world has a far stronger influence than the Church on how most of us perceive the faith. Compare: “Why does the Church oppose gay marriage?” versus “What are the Church’s teachings on marriage?” The former implies the Church is the nasty oppressor and that gay marriage is a good thing – implications that would not arise from a Catholic worldview. We could multiple examples, especially on moral teachings: “Why does the Church oppose abortion? Artificial contraception? IVF? Human cloning? Embryonic stem cell research?”
There are other types of questions that show the secular world putting the Church on trial: “Why do Catholics think their religion is better than others?” “Why does God allow innocent people to suffer?” “Why can’t women be priests?” It’s no wonder that Catholics cite not believing the Church’s teachings as the top reason for leaving. With the secular world driving the narrative, the deck is stacked against the Church, which cannot easily respond to these deeply embedded assumptions.
Answering these questions, then, requires more than a verbal answer. It requires providing a context, so the answers make sense. The Church’s teachings on sexuality, to name one prominent example, only can be understood in light of God’s plan for Creation: human beings participate in God’s love through marital love, which is stamped into the physical nature of men and women. Without this context, Church teachings can seem like abstract rules instead of emanations of divine revelation.
Providing context also generates opportunity: questioners can be raised up, out of the secular murk they unwittingly inhabit, to see vestiges of God’s grandeur. It may take years, yet the evangelist prays the questioners put the pieces together and see the reasonableness of God’s designs for the world and for human beings. From there, they can make the short step from knowledge to living faith, which involves both the head and the heart.
I present this context-then-answer approach, honed over years before teenagers and adults, in my new book 100 Tough Questions for Catholics: Common Obstacles to Faith Today. It provides direct, succinct answers to all the “hot button” questions currently vexing Catholics. The questions are arranged into 14 chapters by theme, in an arc that reflects the outline of God’s plan: God, Creation, human beings, good and evil, faith and science (and AI), Jesus Christ, the Bible, Catholicism and other religions, sin, morality (including a whole chapter on sexual morality), sacraments, prayer, how to live the faith, and the afterlife.
My hope is that my context-then-answer approach will not only successfully answer individual questions that Catholics have but also move them to understand – and adopt – a Catholic worldview that is so essential for faithful living yet hard to obtain when the secular world is controlling the narrative.
The final chapter ends to an entrance – or return – to the Church that leads us to Jesus Christ, who is the final answer to every question.
Facts Only
The event took place at a religious education class for sixth-graders.
The topic of discussion was Hell.
The students were initially uninterested but became engaged with questions.
The author has written a new book called "100 Tough Questions for Catholics."
The book addresses topics such as God, Creation, human beings, good and evil, faith and science, Jesus Christ, the Bible, Catholicism and other religions, sin, morality, sacraments, prayer, how to live the faith, and the afterlife.
Executive Summary
Full Take
The article highlights the author's experience teaching a religious education class on Hell to sixth-graders who were initially uninterested but became engaged with questions. The author uses this experience to introduce their new book, "100 Tough Questions for Catholics," which aims to provide answers to various questions on topics such as God, Creation, human beings, good and evil, faith and science, Jesus Christ, the Bible, Catholicism and other religions, sin, morality, sacraments, prayer, how to live the faith, and the afterlife.
The article suggests that Catholics today often have questions about the faith due to a lack of catechesis and exposure to anti-religious messaging. The author argues that these questions should be seen as opportunities to engage with others and provide context for Church teachings, rather than obstacles to faith.
The article can be analyzed using the A.R.C. analytical framework:
1. STEELMAN — The author presents their experience teaching a religious education class on Hell to sixth-graders who became engaged with questions, and introduces their new book, "100 Tough Questions for Catholics," as a resource for addressing various questions about the faith.
2. PATTERN SCAN — No manipulation patterns were detected in the article.
3. ROOT CAUSE — The root cause driving this narrative is the author's personal experience and desire to share their insights through teaching and writing.
4. IMPLICATIONS — The implications of this narrative are that Catholic faith can be engaging and relevant for people, even when discussing controversial topics like Hell, and that providing context for Church teachings can help address questions and objections.
5. BRIDGE QUESTIONS — What other strategies could be used to engage people with difficult or controversial aspects of the Catholic faith? How can we better provide context for Church teachings to help answer questions and objections?
Sentinel — Human
The article appears likely to be human-written, with evidence of personal experience and idiosyncratic emphasis. However, the presence of some uniformity in sentence length suggests a slight possibility of AI assistance.