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When exactly can Catholics fulfill their Easter duty, and why does the Church require it? In this episode of Catholic Answers Live, Jimmy Akin answers thoughtful questions from listeners on a wide range of topics. He explains how we know the Scriptures are divinely inspired without falling into circular reasoning, discusses theories about the causes of same-sex attraction, and examines whether monastic life conflicts with the Church’s mission to evangelize. Jimmy also explores the relationship between the Eucharist and the resurrection of the body, moral responsibility for actions done in ignorance, whether swallowing something stuck in your teeth breaks the Eucharistic fast, and how Catholic moral theology evaluates difficult scenarios like stopping a hijacked plane. A wide-ranging discussion covering Scripture, moral theology, and practical questions about living the Catholic faith.
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Questions Covered:
- 01:00 - When can you fulfill your Easter duty?
- 11:07 - How can we know that the Scriptures are divinely inspired?
- The idea that “the Church says the Scriptures are divinely inspired because the Church has the authority to say so, but the Church has the authority to say so because the Scriptures give them the authority to” feels like a circular argument. I know there’s more to it, but I can’t quite articulate it, so any help would be appreciated!
- 19:33 - Have you in your learnings come to understand what causes Same-Sex Attraction? Is there a theory you find convincing? Do you have a theory of your own?
- 29:11 - Is monasticism selfish? For example, how could have the apostles fulfilled the Great Commission if they were cloistered? And how would that apply today? Can evangelization be accomplished from inside a monastic cell?
- 39:54 - It seems to me that God’s ultimate goal is to get us back bodily in heaven with him. Would that be like the garden of Eden again and how does us eating the eucharist help with that? Or does it? It seems we need to eat our savior to be bodily with God like he is. Is this correct or am I going somewhere I shouldn’t with this line of reasoning?
- 44:17 - If somebody does something evil out of stupidity, how responsible is he for said action? Can he be at least partly excused?
- 47:58 - This might sound silly, but I’ve wondered it a lot: If you are in mass and you’ve fasted the hour but find something in your teeth, does it break the fast to swallow it?
- 50:00 - Would it be moral to shoot down a hijacked plane full of civilians over an unpopulated area, if it is believed the hijackers intend to crash it in a populated area? Would this be considered doing evil that good may come of it or double effect?