Weird Questions

Jimmy Akin, senior apologist at Catholic Answers, selects from weird and wacky questions submitted via the internet and tackles them head on in this episode of “Weird Questions.” If you have a mysterious, fantastic, or otherworldly query, please email it to radio@catholic.com.  

Questions Covered:

• 01:20 - There are certain acts which have an indulgence attached to them.  Let’s say that a woman named Mary is in the habit of a particular prayer at a particular place and time.  One day Mary explains her habit to Martha.  Martha exclaims “Did you know there’s an indulgence attached to that”.  “No, I didn’t”, Mary replies. My weird question is: Does Mary receive those indulgences retroactively with this knowledge and desire?  Or has she been unconsciously receiving them all along?  Or is it the case that only going forward, she will receive the indulgence?
• 06:30 - My understanding is that during the canonization process the body of the potential saint is exhumed and if their body has not suffered corruption that plays a role in their path towards sainthood. The question has to do with cremation. With the rise in acceptance and practice of cremation for Catholics, how would someone being a future incorruptible interact with the act of cremation? Would the body burn at all? If it would, are we destroying future incorruptibles by practicing cremation?
• 11:15 - I was wondering if Jimmy could speculate on a presupposed notion on the salvation of Erwin Rommel. Rommel was a Catholic German General during WWII and supposedly involved in the plot to kill Hitler. Because of the nature of the cause he fought for, would his Catholic faith have (assuming he stayed true to its tenants) be sufficient for his salvation?
• 17:35 - If someone went into a church and removed the consecrated Eucharist from the church.  Would it be a matter of kidnapping or theft?
• 21:20 - Saint Apollonia leaped into a fire. They would have tossed her in anyway, because she wouldn’t renounce her faith. Where do you draw the line between martyrdom and suicide?
• 34:30 –  I have heard a theory that alien abductions could be demons pretending to be aliens. This is supported by the fact that in a lot of these cases anti-religious messages are given by the aliens. Could this be possible? I have also been intrigued by the theory that gods worshiped in antiquity (specifically Mayan and Sumerian) may have been demons also. Would this fit the Catholic belief system? How would God allow this if true?
• 43:25 - Are you familiar with Isaac Asimov’s short story “The Last Question”? How do you understand the final sentence with in the whole of the story? And what was the message Isaac was trying to convey?
• 50:10 - I’ve been trying to read about the theological implications of finding out that aliens exist. How might we determine if any aliens we had met were fallen, once we knew they had souls?

Want more from Jimmy Akin?

• The Bible Is A Catholic Book

• Teaching with Authority 
• A Daily Defense: 365 Days (plus one) to Becoming a Better Apologist 
• The Fathers Know Best: Your Essential Guide to the Teachings of the Early Church