Author: Domenico Bettinelli

It’s time for another set of weird questions posed by Cy Kellet of Catholic Answers to Jimmy Akin, including this time: whether time travel interferes with God’s plans; could an alien 2,000 light years away see Jesus on Earth; the origin of coal and the Great Flood; ghost hunting TV shows; and whether vampires could commit suicide to protect others.

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Questions covered:

• 02:31 – If a human is a rational animal (that’s to say that it has the natural tendency to grow, eat, feel, see, will, and reason) then would the consecrated Eucharist have these innate tendencies as well? Are there any conditions under which the Eucharist can do even one of those things mentioned, let alone all of them?
• 05:24 – By time traveling are you interfering with God’s plan? Even if we think we are stopping an evil act, God has his reasons.
• 07:26 – If you were to save someone in the past would that person in the new timeline have a different soul? They lived a longer lifetime and committed other acts either righteous or sinful. To me that would logically mean it’s not the same soul since we are judged by our one life. One version of the person could have gone to hell and other to heaven.
• 10:00 – Given the speed of light, is it possible that a person, right now, on a planet 2000 light years away and with a telescope so powerful that he could see onto the surface of the earth in great detail, could watch Jesus walking and teaching.
• 12:49 – Will every curiosity or question that I have in this life have an answer in heaven, or will the experience of sanctification or purgatory simply remove that curious or questioning spirit from me?
• 14:48 – What is your take on the floating log mat model for the origin of coal beds and biogeography? As both a coal miner and a Catholic, I am interested in the theory that the great flood caused a mass (or masses) of fallen logs to float about the world, but I have a hard time making the leap that this proves a young earth and our previous theories for the formation of coal seams taken millions of years are no longer valid. On a related note, is the story of the great flood required to be taken literally, or could it have been a regional flood that wiped out the human population but maybe did not cover the entire earth?
• 18:40 – I became Catholic, I enjoyed those shows on Travel Channel like Ghost Adventures, where these paranormal investigators would lock themselves in a “haunted” place and try to capture evidence of the paranormal through EVP [that is, Electronic Voice Phenomena] sessions and whatnot. I don’t necessarily believe it was all real (or all fake for that matter either) and I’m a fairly educated individual and understand the behavioral psychology of “hearing voices” through EVP and, as such, am highly skeptical. HOWEVER, these shows are very entertaining, and I have to admit, I enjoy them, for entertainment. As a Catholic, is it a sin to watch these shows for entertainment? I would never even think of doing it myself or even put any stock in what they do. I know we are forbidden from attempting to contact the dead, but is watching these shows for entertainment, per se, sinful? I can’t find anything definitive about it.
• 32:40 – Let’s say, in an alternate timeline, the Left Behind fictional series, centered around the end of the world and the 2nd coming of Christ, was authored by faithful Catholics. In order to keep the series in line with Church teaching, what events would need to be included, what events would need to be omitted, and what events may or may not be included as they are subject to theological speculation?
• 37:03 – Suppose someone became an undead vampire. Yet, they still have a moral conscience and know right from wrong. The Church also teaches that suicide is a mortal sin. Would it be a sin for such a person to commit suicide in order to protect others from becoming a vampire?
• 45:48 – How would you reconcile Earth’s liturgical calendar with planets that have longer or shorter solar years? Can you have Easter twice in one year? Could you have a year without Christmas?

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This Episode is Brought to You By:
Jimmy Akin’s Mysterious World is brought to you in part through the generous support of Catechism Class, a dynamic weekly podcast journey through the Catechism of the Catholic Church by Greg and Jennifer Willits. It’s the best book club, coffee talk, and faith study group, all rolled into one. Find it in any podcast directory.

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