The Logos-God in Creation: "Everything is Created by Him and for Him."-
Hello Father,
This is an interesting question, and it gives me occassion to reflect on some interesting theologicical issues. Let's see if I get this right.
We all know that at the final judgment, God will cast Satan and his angels, together with all the unsaved, poor souls "into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels." (Matthew 25:41) But why did God send Satan and his angels to earth first instead of directly to hell? This is where it gets interesting. Theologians believe that Satan, full of pride, thought he could outsmart his creator. Satan knew that he would fall from grace by refusing to obey, but he calculated that God could not simply extinguish his existence because God's infinite justice would also compel Him to extinguish Adam and Eve after their fall. Satan also calculated that God could not banish him from heaven because God would also have to banish man from heaven for all eternity because he knew that there was nothing that man could ever do to regain the "right" to enter heaven once more. So, Satan thought he could say "non serviam" to God and still remain in heaven with all his rebellious angels. But God knew Satan's intentions from the very beginning. Satan did not and could not forsee God's secret plan to redeem mankind by sending his only-begotten son, the second person of the Holy Trinity, to this world to be borne of a woman. Satan could not accept that God, an infinitely more superior being, would deign to become incarnate in form that is much inferior to his dignity. His disbelief, borne out of his own pride, is evident throughout the new testament. Satan was unsure who Jesus was, even when Jesus said He was the son of man, or that He and the Father were one, Satan still could not figure it out, despite his intelligence. And this disbelief unwittingly led Satan to cooperate in the redemption of mandkind (whom he hated and refused to serve) when he instigated Judas and the perfidious Jews to crucify and kill Jesus. The question is, if Lucifer and his followers did not sin, how would God have tested Adam and Even in Paradise? Or would God still have created Adam and Even if Lucifer did not sin? Thelogoians believe, as do some saints who were graced with private revelations from heaven, that man was created to fill the void left by Satan and his angels in heaven, and that the world will end when the last man that God intends to save has been saved. What do you think Father?
- Fr. Abe, CRS said...
.jpg "Fr. Abe, CRS")
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DEAR BRO. RICHARD,
[The question is, if Lucifer and his followers did not sin, how would God have tested Adam and Even in Paradise?]
THE TESTING OF OUR FIRST PARENT IS NOT DEPENDENT ON SATAN BUT ON THEIR FREE WILL AND THE WAY THEY USE IT AS REGARDS THE COMMANDMENT OF GOD. JUST LIKE LUCIFER DIDN'T NEED A PRIOR DEMON TO BECOME THE DEVIL THAT HE IS TODAY SO SATAN IS NOT A NECESSITY FOR ADAM AND EVE'S CAPACITY TO COMMIT SIN BECAUSE HAVING FREE WILL THEY ALWAYS HAVE THE FREEDOM TO CHOOSE THE LESSER GOOD OF THIS WORLD OVER AND ABOVE GOD THE SUPREME GOOD.
ANOTHER SOURCE OF MAN'S CAPABILITY TO SIN WITH OR WITHOUT SATAN IS MAN'S IMPERFECTION. THE FACT THAT HUMAN BEINGS ARE NOT PERFECT THEY ARE PRONE TO SIN, MISTAKES, ERRORS NO MATTER HOW LOFTY THE DIGNITY THEY POSSESSED BEFORE THE FALL.
[ Or would God still have created Adam and Even if Lucifer did not sin?]
OF COURSE GOD WOULD STILL CREATE ADAM AND EVE EVEN IF LUCIFER DIDN'T REBEL IN HEAVEN. WHY? BECAUSE THE EXISTENCE OF CREATED BEINGS IS AN ACT OF GOD'S LOVE AND NOT A MERE PUNITIVE ACT EXCLUSIVELY FOR SATAN.
BEING CREATOR IS ROOTED IN THE BEING OF GOD AND NOT ON THE REBELLION OF SATAN.
POPE PIUS X IN HIS CATECHISM AND OF COURSE ALL CATECHISM OF THE CHURCH BEFORE AND AFTER UNANIMOUSLY DECLARES:
"Q. Why did God create us? A. God created us to KNOW Him, to LOVE Him, to SERVE Him and to BE with Him FOREVER."
SEE, SATAN IS NOT INCLUDED IN THE REASONS FOR OUR EXISTENCE AND IN GOD'S ACT OF CREATING. EVEN IF SATAN DIDN'T REBEL GOD REALLY INTENDS TO GIVE US ETERNAL LIFE BECAUSE PROLONGING AND PRESERVING LIFE IS HAVING ITS SOURCE IN THE GOODNESS AND LOVE OF GOD AND NOT MERE CORRECTION TO THE FAILED LUCIFERIAN COUP DE ETAT.
TO STATE OTHERWISE IS VERY DANGEROUS. WHY? IT WOULD APPEAR THAT THE REASON FOR HUMAN EXISTENCE AND SALVATION IS THE REBELLION OF SATAN AND NOT GOD HIMSELF. LET US ALSO REMEMBER THAT GOD IS NOT NECESSITATED BY ANYTHING MUCH MORE BY SATAN. WITH OR WITHOUT SATAN GOD WILL BE CREATING, SAVING AND SANCTIFYING.
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[ Thelogoians believe, as do some saints who were graced with private revelations from heaven, that man was created to fill the void left by Satan and his angels in heaven, and that the world will end when the last man that God intends to save has been saved.]
IF MAN WAS CREATED 'MERELY' TO FILL THE VOID LEFT BY SATAN THEN IT INSULTING TO HUMANITY. IN FILIPINO IT MADE US: "PANAKIP BUTAS NA LAMANG". HE, HE, HE... THAT IS NOT SO. GOD WILLED MAN AS HE IS. GOD LOVED US AS WE ARE. THAT IS NOT SUPPORTED BY THE CREATION ACCOUNT THAT GOD CREATED MAN OUT OF HIS OWN LIKENESS:
Genesis 1:26-27 [Douay-Rheims Bible]
26 And he said: Let us make man to our image and likeness: and let him have dominion over the fishes of the sea, and the fowls of the air, and the beasts, and the whole earth, and every creeping creature that moveth upon the earth. 27 And God created man to his own image: to the image of God he created him: male and female he created them.
IT MEANS THAT 'GOD' IS THE REASON OF CREATION NOT TO FILL THE VOID OF ANY MAD ANGEL LIKE LUCIFER. LUCIFER IS NOT EVEN IN THE EQUATION WHEN GOD DECIDED TO CREATE MAN.
MUCH MORE, THAT IS ALSO INSULTING TO CHRIST BECAUSE THE GOSPEL CATEGORICALLY THAT EVERYTHING IS CREATED 'FOR HIM' AND 'THROUGH HIM'. IT MEANS WE ARE CREATED BY THE FATHER BECAUSE OF GOD THE SON:
John 1:3 [DRB] "All things were made by him: and without him was made nothing that was made."
SEE, IT IS JESUS THAT MOTIVATED GOD THE FATHER TO CREATE AND WE ARE CREATED FOR JESUS AND THROUGH JESUS. ANY INSINUATION THAT WE ARE A SORT OF 'REPLACEMENT' FOR THE LOST OF LUCIFER IS NOT COMPATIBLE WITH THE CHRISTOLOGICAL AND TRINITARIAN VIEW OF THE THEOLOGY OF CREATION.
THESE SAINTS REFLECTED AND FOCUSED THEIR THEOLOGICAL STUDIES ON SIN AND REDEMPTION WHEREIN THE SON OF GOD HAS REDEEMED US FROM THE POISON OF SIN STARTED BY SATAN. IF THAT IS OUR FOCUS OF ATTENTION THEN WE WILL REALLY BE COMPELLED TO ATTAIN SUCH A CONCLUSION. OF COURSE, THESE SAINTS ARE NOT HERETICAL AND HAVE NOT TAUGHT US ANY ERROR BUT THEIR TEACHINGS ESPECIALLY THE MYSTICS MUST BE VIEWED IN THE LIGHT OF MYSTICAL THEOLOGY. IT IS AN INVITATION TO BE CLOSER TO GOD BY DEEPER CONSCIOUSNESS OF OUR SINFULNESS AND NOTHINGNESS IN FRONT OF THE INFINITE CREATOR.
BUT THE FAITH-UNDERSTANDING OF THE CHURCH IS GROWING AND DEVELOPING THROUGHOUT THE CENTURIES. LATER ON OTHER POPES, DOCTORS AND THEOLOGIANS REFLECTED ALSO ON GOD'S INFINITE LOVE AND GOODNESS, THEN ABOUT THE THEOLOGY OF THE KINGDOM OF GOD, THE THEOLOGY OF THE COVENANT, ETC. SO THAT NOW WE ARE LOOKING AT THE QUESTIONS WITH WIDER PERSPECTIVE NOT JUST ON THE PERSPECTIVE OF SIN-JUSTICE-REDEMPTION.
THOSE SAINTS ARE CORRECT IN THEIR UNDERSTANDING. BUT THE CHURCH HAS STUDIED THE MATTER FURTHER WITH BETTER UNDERSTANDING MORE THAN THOSE WHO STUDIED IT 500 YEARS AGO EVEN THOUGH WE HAVE THE SAME FAITH. FOR INSTANCE, THE BISHOPS OF THE COUNCIL OF EPHESUS WERE ABLE TO FORMULATE AND COMPREHEND BETTER THE DOGMATIC FORMULA 'THEOTOKOS' BECAUSE OF THE 'CONSUBSTANTIAL' OF NICEA. THE COUNCIL OF NICEA OPENED FOR US A BETTER UNDERSTANDING OF THE ROLE OF THE BLESSED VIRGIN EVEN THOUGH THE FAITH OF OUR BISHOPS IN EPHESUS IS THE SAME AS THE FAITH OF THE PRE-EPHESIAN BISHOPS. SAME THING IN THE HOLY EUCHARIST. WE HAVE THE SAME FAITH THROUGHOUT THE AGES BUT NOW WE CAN UNDERSTAND IT BETTER BECAUSE OF LATERAN'S TRANSUBSTANTATION.
THE ISSUE THAT WE ARE DEALING WITH IS BETTER CLARIFIED NOW BECAUSE OF BLESSED DUNS SCOTUS AND THE CLARIFICATIONS DONE BY POPES IN THE CATECHISMS.
[ What do you think Father?]
GOD IS THE CAUSE OF OUR EXISTENCE NOT THE REBELLION OF SATAN. CREATION IS ROOTED IN THE FATHERHOOD OF GOD NOT ON THE SIN OF LUCIFER. GOD THE FATHER WILL BE CREATING WITHOUT SIN OR WITH SIN BECAUSE HE IS A FATHER. HE DID IT WITHOUT ANY OUTSIDE INFLUENCE - HE SIMPLY WANTED TO SHARE HIS LIFE WITH HIS CREATURES PARTICULARLY MAN SO THAT WE CAN KNOW HIM, LOVE HIM, SERVE HIM AND BE WITH HIM FOREVER.
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