Questions from the Unsettled Mind

How Many Baptisms are There?

Jeffrey Tiel — Thu, 24 Jul 2025 13:00:00 -0400

The Church has taught from the beginning that there is only one baptism, namely that baptism in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit that Jesus tasked his apostles with spreading to the four corners of the earth.

When are the Last Days?

Jeffrey Tiel — Fri, 18 Jul 2025 17:02:00 -0400

Imagine if you knew that Jesus was coming back to judge the world and bring in his kingdom in exactly 17 months. What would you do? You might quit your job and cash out your retirement. No sense saving for what’ll never happen! Some people have done that. You might get all serious about your faith, thinking that maybe you need to make up for some missed masses and some gaps in your devotion! Some people have done that, too. You might join some sort of special religious group focused on spirituality, communal living, daily praise worship, and an overall sense of seriousness. Some people have done that, also. You might consider all the bloody reports about the Last Days and take the military route, prepping for Armageddon, fortressing yourself in the mountains or else preparing for an urban guerilla war. Some people have done that, even.

Are Unforgivable Sins Real?

Jeffrey Tiel — Mon, 10 Jun 2024 15:00:00 -0400

The notion that there might be a sin or sins that are absolutely unforgivable, even by a bishop, is pretty terrifying. Given what the Church teaches about the sacrament of confession and reconciliation, it’s hard to see how a priest or the bishop wouldn’t be in a position to provide some way back to God. What’s more, isn’t baptism, the originating sacrament of faith, supposed to be able to cleanse all sins? A clean slate? A totally new beginning?

How Did We Get Here? The Evolution of Transgender Ideology

Jeffrey Tiel — Fri, 23 Feb 2024 11:15:00 -0400

Many Catholics are puzzled by the embrace of incoherent ideas and straightforwardly bizarre practices advanced by the cultural elites in contemporary American society. How can young men claiming to be women seriously expect to compete in women’s athletics? But they do. And they are competing. How can women in their final weeks of pregnancy discredit the fact that they are carrying a human child and then murder it? But they do. And some of them celebrate with abortion parties. How can state governments having convicted men of felonies incarcerate them in women’s prisons when those men start taking hormones? But they do. And the predictable results of sexual assault are now becoming apparent. It seems to many that we aren’t living in the same world anymore. And that sentiment isn’t far from the truth of the matter, so let’s look at how we got here, because radical rejection of human nature doesn’t just happen.

Can I Change My Gender?

Jeffrey Tiel — Fri, 09 Feb 2024 11:30:00 -0400

Let’s begin our exploration of the way in which human nature is essentially expressed through gender by taking a look at the current lay of the land on sex, sexual preference, and gender. What, in other words, do our universities, entertainers, and cultural elites showcase as the truth of the matter on these issues?

What did Mary Know?

Jeffrey Tiel — Mon, 18 Dec 2023 10:30:00 -0400

Imagine entering a quiet church, looking about to ensure no one else is there, then walking up the center aisle toward the altar, bowing, and sitting in one of the first couple of pews on the right. You drop the kneeler and take on the position of a supplicant to God, beginning your prayers. But unlike the many times you have done this in the past, you suddenly feel a wave of heat to your left. Opening your eyes, you behold what has to be an angel, a dazzling bright young man, wings outstretched behind him, and his feet not exactly standing on the cold stones of the sanctuary. How would you react?

Why Does Mary Matter?

Jeffrey Tiel — Tue, 05 Dec 2023 10:00:00 -0400

Other than the Pope, no person rankles Protestants more than Mary, the mother of Jesus. Protestants see what looks like hysterical Marian worship in many videos of third world Catholic masses, hear Mary described as co-Redemptrix and the Queen of Heaven, and observe her being called theotokos, the very “Mother of God.” If Mary is divine, then who needs Jesus? How many Gods do these Catholics have? Just how far have they sunk into the abyss of paganism? So, what’s with Mary anyway? Why does Mary matter?

How do we Face the Challenge of Infertility?

Jeffrey Tiel — Tue, 28 Nov 2023 12:00:00 -0400

I’m writing this question at the outset of Advent, which might seem an odd time with the season’s emphasis on the birth of Jesus to instead write about marital infertility. However, the Christmas story does not begin with the annunciation, but instead with an infertile couple, Mary’s relative Elizabeth and her husband Zechariah. So, Advent is exactly the right time to approach this traumatic challenge to married couples. And a quick note to those who have been fortunate enough to conceive, carry children to term, and birth them into the world, do not pass on this question. Why? Because all around you are other couples approaching Christmas yet again with an agonizing longing that they cannot satisfy. Imagine how difficult your Christmas would be without your children. So, with the golden rule in mind, listen on.

What if we are not Alone?

Jeffrey Tiel — Wed, 12 Jul 2023 15:30:00 -0400

As Congress continues to be briefed by numerous whistleblowers concerning a significant program to recover and reverse engineer extraterrestrial UFO technology, we appear to be ever-closer to what UFO-researchers call “Disclosure.” Disclosure is the moment when government officially acknowledges or reveals the existence of alien life, particularly, sophisticated and advanced extraterrestrial persons. Such an event would likely be the most important event in human history other than the Incarnation. While it has not yet happened, it is worth our considering how we might react if it did, especially if we consider our reactions not just as stunned human beings but as Catholics. So, what if we really are not alone?

How do I Know if I should become a Priest?

Jeffrey Tiel — Sun, 04 Jun 2023 15:00:00 -0400

Because the choice of the priesthood or the consecration of a nun (just two examples of the non-marital vocation) is unnatural insofar as it requires non-marriage as part of its discipline, it’s quite rare. People accordingly figure that there must be some means by which God selects who will join this separate vocation. And as such, they say that God “calls” people to it. Biblical examples are then trotted out to support this view: Jesus literally called out his disciples, “Drop your fishing nets and come, follow me.” St. Paul was knocked off his donkey and surrounded by a great light when Jesus personally came to him and redirected his life to become an apostle. So, one might think that it’s the same today, that there must be some special sort of event whereby God “calls” people into these vocations. As a result of this assumption, it’s hard to find a seminarian who doesn’t have some bizarre story about the moment God “called” him. Or, if he doesn’t have one yet, he is earnestly concerned about the legitimacy of his vocation.

How can we Tell if God Answers our Prayers?

Jeffrey Tiel — Sun, 28 May 2023 15:00:00 -0400

Let’s begin our exploration of this question by remembering that all of the created world is a divine gift. Thus, we should be thankful for everything regardless of whether God did a second miracle (after the miracle of creation) to convey one of his products to us in an hour of need. So, we can always give thanks, because God has already provided everything. We call this creative act of God his general providence.

Could God be Evil?

Jeffrey Tiel — Wed, 26 Apr 2023 11:20:00 -0400

This question haunted me for a very long time during my slow philosophical education into the Faith. I could clearly see why God had to be all-knowing and all-powerful if he were infinite, but why good? It wasn’t until I read into St. Thomas Aquinas’ Summa Contra Gentiles that I finally understood the essential nature of divine goodness, something, it turns out, that some 1,500 years earlier, Socrates had already realized! Socrates assured his followers that he feared nothing from death, because, he said, the affairs of a just man are not a matter of indifference to the gods. It follows that the gods love justice, a principle that becomes crucial to the conclusion of Plato’s Republic, where Socrates showcases the surpassing value of justice not only in this life but also in the next. Socrates knew that the gods ultimately had to be just, because justice lies at the bottom of all things. Because he also understood that the Greek pantheon mixed good and evil in its gods, Socrates often talked about “the God,” the God he could not name but knew had to be perfectly just. After the Athenians began to regret killing Socrates, they constructed an altar to this unnamed or unknown God, an altar that some 400 years later, St. Paul pointed to as honoring the true God whose Son, Jesus Christ, had become incarnate into the world. St. Paul realized that Socrates had it right, that to truly understand the nature of the divine, we must identify God with goodness. But why?

Who is This Jesus?

Jeffrey Tiel — Sun, 04 Dec 2022 13:45:00 -0400

After Jesus rose from the dead, the Church started thinking about everything Jesus had said, what he had done, what God had said about him, and what the Hebrew Bible (our Old Testament) had prophesied about him as Messiah. They recalled how Jesus had called himself both the “son of man” and the “son of God,” and they were accordingly struck both by how human he was and also how divine he was. They quickly realized that you cannot be part-god the way Hercules was, because God is infinite. You’re either God or you aren’t. Being the “Son” of God didn’t diminish that, of course. On the contrary, it established that he was nothing other than the perfect image of the Father, hence “true God from true God.” But likewise, the Church realized that you cannot really be part human either. So, the Church mulled this over and eventually came to the conclusion that Jesus can only be fully God and fully man! The technical formulation is that while the Trinity is three persons in one substance/nature, so Jesus is one person in two natures. How that can be and what that ultimately signifies is the point of this question on the significance of Jesus in the Incarnation.

Is it Ever Ok to Lie?

Jeffrey Tiel — Tue, 15 Nov 2022 09:00:00 -0400

The answer to this question is “no, never” or “yes, and a lot more often than you might think,” depending on exactly what we mean by a “lie.” The problem is complicated by the multiple ways people use that term. For example, you’ll often hear someone confess to you, “I lied,” when what the person really means is nothing more than, “I made an error.” But being mistaken is not the same thing as lying, since lying requires a deliberate intention to tell a falsehood, a condition that is absent when we make mistakes. Thus, mistakes are not lies, and we would do well not to confuse them. Why? Because we use certain terms to convey automatic moral condemnation, and lying is one of these terms.

How can We Know God?

Jeffrey Tiel — Tue, 18 Oct 2022 09:00:00 -0400

Knowing God is understandably a major problem for creatures like ourselves. We are the bottom rung of rational creatures, heavily linked to our physicality that narrows the extension of our minds. Nearly all of our knowledge is derived through our sensory systems, yet God is not subject to sensory inspection. What color is God? Does God smell of citrus or hickory wood smoke? How does God’s skin feel, furry or scaly or feathery? None of these questions make any sense to us, because we know that God is a spirit, a wholly immaterial being. Yet our primary mode of knowledge is sensory, rooted in physicality. So, how can creatures like ourselves possibly know God?

Is Judging Always Wrong?

Jeffrey Tiel — Mon, 03 Oct 2022 10:45:00 -0400

The term “judge” seems to connote different things in different contexts. Legally, we think of the judge as the person who oversees the judicial process, ensuring that the law is followed. We tend to feel pretty good about him. Morally, we often think of judgment as something suspicious, that we’d best tend to our own affairs rather than sticking our noses into everyone else’s business, judging them. Prudentially, we think of judgment as a character quality, a person of sound judgment being capable of making the wise choices in tough situations. Philosophically and scientifically, we think of judgment as the capacity to distinguish truth from error, something pretty important if we intend our planes to stay in the air! So, is judgment good or bad? Should we judge or not? Why does Jesus condemn it, in one of the most oft-quoted verses of the Bible in contemporary America? And what does he mean when he does condemn it?

What is the Immaculate Conception?

Jeffrey Tiel — Tue, 06 Sep 2022 15:45:00 -0400

Since not all of you are Roman Catholic Christians, the doctrine of the Immaculate Conception of Mary, the mother of Jesus, may be less well known to you. It is different from the Virgin Birth of Jesus and different yet again from the Incarnation of the Son of God. Let me start, then, with those two doctrines in order to set up the contrast clearly.

Do We Seriously Want to Meet God?

Jeffrey Tiel — Fri, 26 Aug 2022 14:00:00 -0400

One of the more surprising stories in the Old Testament book of Exodus receives

little attention, perhaps because the story is so short. But Moses is up on

Mount Sinai receiving the Law, and God tells him that He intends to come down

into the camp and meet the people in three days. Moses accordingly reports

God’s intention to the people down below who tremble with fear (they can see

the fiery shaking mountain, after all) and suggest, alternatively, that they

will stay in their tents, and perhaps Moses can just climb back up the mountain

and meet God there.

Do You Have a Goddess Within?

Jeffrey Tiel — Mon, 08 Aug 2022 15:45:00 -0400

My wife and I recently found ourselves at a dinner/musical performance where a young female singer began her set with a question to the audience: “How many of you have ever met a goddess?” We were mildly alarmed when some forty percent of the audience raised their hands. Was it possible that paganism was making major inroads into the American heartland? Were Athena, Aphrodite, and Hera back at it? Well, her next question clarified things a bit: “How many of you have a goddess within you?” Our alarm turned to shock when nearly every member of the audience—save us, of course—raised their hands. Males and females, mind you. Nearly all claiming to have a goddess within them. We took this to mean not that they were admitting to possession by feminine demons, but rather that they were claiming divinity for themselves.

Can We Derive Norms from Nature?

Jeffrey Tiel — Tue, 26 Jul 2022 11:15:00 -0400

A British empiricist philosopher named David Hume is famous for his skeptical arguments attacking the notion of a natural morality. Hume claimed that no moral (“ought”) claims could be derived from descriptive (“is”) claims. From the mere fact that something happens to be a certain way, it doesn’t follow that it’s supposed to be that way. Hume assumed that things just happened to be the way that they are. But what if he were wrong? What if God created the world, human nature in particular, in such a way that it reveals the way things are supposed to be?

What if I Just Want to Give Up?

Jeffrey Tiel — Mon, 18 Jul 2022 15:30:00 -0400

There are many times in our lives where fatigue, suffering, disease, and sorrow weigh down on us unrelentingly. We shake our heads and wonder if going on like this makes any real sense. Why not just throw our responsibilities to the wind and go out on a bender?

What if I am Asking the Wrong Question?

Jeffrey Tiel — Fri, 08 Jul 2022 15:15:00 -0400

Religious people are often obsessed with the question of how to get into the kingdom of heaven, how to guarantee a spot there rather than the fiery alternative. But sometimes what heaven is seems less important to us than getting in, and that failure to consider heaven’s nature might well inhibit our entry. In fact, I suspect that asking how to get into heaven isn’t all that different from asking how to get into a girl’s pants. It’s really the wrong question. When the sole focus of our attention is the physicality of sex, we lose not only the reality of sex but its object: unifying love with a human person. Sex without love, physical intimacy without emotional intimacy, biological unity without marital fidelity—all of this sacrifices our personhood on the altar of appetite.

How Can Submission to God Free Us?

Jeffrey Tiel — Tue, 28 Jun 2022 14:45:00 -0400

Human beings possess gifted imaginations. One misuse of this remarkable faculty is to reconstruct reality so that it fits our own vices. Sometimes we reconstruct the world so that we are “forced” to obey a set of absolute moral requirements maintained by the authority of an angry deity, an unrelenting Church, or a social order that still occasionally expects conformity. Against that, we sometimes construct an alternative vision of our own autonomy, where even if we are miserable with our choices, heigh-ho, they are ours to make, and, by golly, better to rule in hell than to serve in heaven.

Is Unconditional Love Really Good?

Jeffrey Tiel — Fri, 24 Jun 2022 04:45:00 -0400

It is common to hear both from the pulpit and in popular culture the merits of unconditional love. From the one, we hear that God loves us unconditionally, that heaven is a free gift, that a last-minute prayer can save us from the flames of hell. From the other, we hear that we are only truly loved when those who love us do so without any direction, without any judgment, without any purpose or aim other than our fulfilling our own desires. In both cases, the greatest love is considered to be that which maximizes our own egos, our own complete control over our destinies. Both God and mortal lovers must stand second to my ambition, my freedom, my desires, and my sense of self-fulfillment.

Should I Follow My Heart?

Jeffrey Tiel — Mon, 20 Jun 2022 09:15:00 -0400

Much is made today of the dictum, “follow your heart.” Usually, it is a popular appeal to the relativistic sentimentalism that has replaced traditional rational morality. But there’s an odd twist on this imperative that can infect Christian ethics, for it is sometimes thought that one’s inner life—one’s emotions and desires—must be put in order prior to any expectation that one’s outer life—one’s behavior—can be properly arranged. Of course, Jesus urges us toward the cleansing of the inside of the cup, toward liturgical prayer that is thought about, toward confession of sin and purity within the heart. All very true. But all very much beside the point. For the question is this: how is one to develop such inner purity? Which comes first, the chicken or the egg?

Why Did Adam Fall?

Jeffrey Tiel — Fri, 17 Jun 2022 13:30:00 -0400

Why did Adam fall? It’s an intriguing question, because we are told by the old texts that Eve fell through the seduction of a deceiver, the serpent, who tricked her into misunderstanding the aim of the divine prohibition.

Why is the American Church Shrinking?

Jeffrey Tiel — Thu, 17 Feb 2022 10:25:00 -0400

American Catholics are becoming increasingly alarmed as once-overflowing

parishes find their pews emptying, their pulpits shared with other churches,

and their college-aged kids abandoning the faith in unprecedented numbers. Why is this happening? And what can we do about it?

Are Humans Like Butterflies?

Jeffrey Tiel — Tue, 07 Dec 2021 10:45:00 -0400

The

caterpillar lives a fairly simple existence, slinking along, dodging the

ravenous appetites of birds, all the while devouring as much food as

possible. At some point he finds a

choice spot and forms a cocoon around himself and begins one of the most

astonishing transformations within nature: he turns into a butterfly. During this metamorphosis he sheds all his

caterpillar “fur” (his setae), his caterpillar legs, and even his caterpillar

antennae. His slender body, too, gives

way to the chrysalitic soup, as his own digestive juices consume him. Not even his head survives intact, but

dissolves until all that he was liquifies into the ingredients necessary to

form his butterfly “self.” I put “self”

in quotes because it’s not clear whether anything of the caterpillar actually

survives the transformation. There is

evidence of at least some memory being carried through the change, though how

this occurs remains a mystery. Nonetheless,

nearly all that is caterpillar is gone.

What emerges is an entirely new and beautifully winged creature.

How can God Love us as Spouse?

Jeffrey Tiel — Tue, 02 Nov 2021 11:00:00 -0400

Idealizations of human love run deeply within the human

imagination. While contemporary

romantics search longingly for their soulmates, the ancient Greeks spoke of

seeking their other half. If human

beings were made for intimate love, then it seems that human lovers must be two

halves of one whole. Neither is fulfilled

in themselves, but each needs the other for completeness. If we represent this model as an image, we

might think of a circle (the whole) bisected right down the center creating the

two lovers (the halves) united in love. But

this image would suggest that any man and any woman are equally compatible

marital choices to any other, because any two half circles of the same diameter

could create a whole. Our experience

with love, however, tells us otherwise.

Why are we Drawn to Vampires?

Jeffrey Tiel — Fri, 01 Oct 2021 12:40:00 -0400

Science fiction tends both to illuminate and obscure many issues related

to human nature and its relationship to the animals below it and the spiritual

natures above it. Our science fiction

literature and film are filled with creatures with supernatural qualities as

well as hybrid human qualities, not all that different from the ancient myths’

depiction of a universe bursting with gods, demi-gods, and human-animal hybrid

monsters. Early in the creation of

modern science fiction, the vampire was created (or perhaps borrowed from medieval

mythology), an immortal monster who preys on human blood and is possessed with

the magnetism and predatorial instincts necessary to succeed both in the hunt

and in disguising its reality. Since

those early 19^th century depictions of vampires, a steady evolution

of what vampires “are” has occurred, to the point where some of the more recent

vampire story arcs such as The Twilight Saga render the vampire heroic

and attractive, leading to our question for today: why are we drawn to

vampires?

How do we Know that Israel Really Escaped from Ancient Egypt?

Jeffrey Tiel — Mon, 06 Sep 2021 09:00:00 -0400

The dramatic story of the Israelite escape from slavery in ancient Egypt

makes riveting reading from the book of Exodus, but when we look into Egyptian

history for some record of the event, we find next to nothing. So, is there any reason to really think that

those events occurred, or does it all just amount to Israelite myth?

If I Enjoy Doing Good, am I Less Good?

Jeffrey Tiel — Thu, 29 Jul 2021 11:15:00 -0400

A very famous philosopher named Immanuel Kant flipped traditional ethics

on its head when he suggested that the commitment to moral goodness is only

truly noble and “pure” when it is fully detached from any reward, from any

happiness, from any other purpose whatsoever.

Kant was worried about the problem of ulterior motives that, he thought,

could water down the noble purpose of the truly good choice. His separation of goodness from human

happiness has led to what is now the most widespread ethical theory in the

West, namely the opposition of egoism vs. altruism. Egoism is thought to be acting for the ego,

the self, the “I,” while altruism is thought to be acting for the other. Kant’s philosophy pits these two motivations

for action against one another fundamentally, so that on Kant’s account, one

could not act both for the other and for the self. Hence, any action done for one’s own sake

immediately becomes morally problematic, becomes selfish, because it seems to

deprive the other of your duty.

What is the Meaning of Life?

Jeffrey Tiel — Mon, 28 Jun 2021 08:15:00 -0400

While most people consider the question of the meaning of life to be the

biggest mystery of all, in fact it’s one of the easiest questions we’ve

confronted together in Questions from the Unsettled Mind. Why? Because

we already know the answer! What is less

clear, perhaps, is why it is the answer, but even more importantly for human

destiny, why we ignore it.

How Can I Overcome Grief?

Jeffrey Tiel — Tue, 15 Jun 2021 05:00:00 -0400

Sometimes religious people have this idea that religion allows you to shortcut the normal human processes of agony, misery, decay, and death. I mean, if God is with you, why shouldn’t he enable you to be happy? But that’s not how it works. In fact, with respect to grief, St. Paul himself warned that we Christians do grieve, just not as others grieve—without hope. So, in every other way, Christians are as crushed by grief as anyone else. We differ only in the confidence that we will one day see our loved ones again, a confidence that does little to overcome the loss, loneliness, and crushing emptiness that we experience now. “Filling your life with God” won’t help you here, because God himself became a man, and he too was “acquainted with grief” as “a man of sorrows.” When God makes the saint, he does not unmake the man. There is no way to shortcut normal human processes through some secret powers built into religion. That’s not what religion is for.

Does Tradition Matter?

Jeffrey Tiel — Wed, 02 Jun 2021 09:42:00 -0400

There has been a trend in modern historical methodology to pretty systematically ignore tradition. The irony with this approach is that it is fully anachronistic, imposing contemporary categories onto the past, since all ancient cultures embedded their history in tradition, in practices that could be handed down to future generations. Many cultures lacked written languages, while those that developed the written word saw minimal literacy rates. As such, memory rather than the tablet, was the primary form of preservation and transmission. To aid in memory, ancient cultures used a handful of mimetic tricks that are well-known to us: rhyme, song, and ritual. Many of us remember learning to say “i-am-bic-pen-tam-eter” when we were first introduced to Homer. Meter and rhyme contributed handsomely to the ancient Mycenean’s preservation of their historical defeat of the Trojans, a war that helped to define what we now think of as classical Greek culture. Thus, tradition—ritualized and poetic practices—rather than anything like modern historical textbooks provided the Greeks with their identity. Why? Because tradition is lived practice, formalized or ritualized in some way to enhance memory, mark significance, and transmit ideas to future generations. The rituals, festivals, songs, poems, and sayings of the ancient peoples preserved and handed down to future generations what fragile scrolls rarely survived to save. Tradition requires the survival of a people, yes, but a people can rarely endure without it, because their identity and meaning are defined by it.

What is Esoteric Knowledge?

Jeffrey Tiel — Thu, 20 May 2021 16:34:00 -0400

Esoteric knowledge is one of those things that sounds very cool—that word, “esoteric”—but for most of us lacks a clear definition. It conjures up the mists of the East, ancient riddles, dark secrets, and the promise of ultimate power—all things that entice many contemporary human beings, because, whatever esoteric knowledge is, it seems that an exciting offer is on the table. As with most offers, however, what is really on the table is a transaction. So, to assess esoteric knowledge, we need to know not only what we are allegedly getting, but what we are trading away!

Why Does God Need a Mother?

Jeffrey Tiel — Mon, 10 May 2021 13:49:00 -0400

While various Protestant sects have their go-to complaints with what Catholics believe about salvation apart from grace (Catholics don’t believe that), worshiping saints (Catholics don’t do that), or even that the pope is the anti-Christ (he isn’t), there’s probably no one issue that galvanizes them more than the Marian doctrines, that Mary is elevated to the level of a deity. When Protestants hear her called “the mother of God,” they feel that their case is made, that Catholics are indeed pagan idolaters in “Christian clothing.” The real Mary, they think, would be horrified that she has been elevated to the status of a goddess by the Roman Church, since she was probably just a worship team leader in her local congregation. Okay, maybe they wouldn’t go that far, but still, Mary as the mother of God? It certainly sounds suspicious!

Is Reincarnation Real?

Jeffrey Tiel — Thu, 06 May 2021 09:30:00 -0400

Of course, it is! Re-incarnation strictly means that the human soul-spirit is reconnected to the body after being separated from it. We have enormous evidence of this happening in near death experiences (NDEs). During an NDE, a person experiences separation from the body and its associated processes (especially pain, but also all sensory links to the body), and usually initially finds himself floating above his body. At the conclusion of the NDE, the person is drawn back to his body and finds himself reconnected as usual. Thus, separation from and reinsertion back into one’s own body occurs.

What is Spiritual Warfare?

Jeffrey Tiel — Fri, 23 Apr 2021 13:22:00 -0400

When faced with an enemy assault, it is critical to identify the strategic objectives of your enemy, for once these are known, you can create effective counters to his aggressive moves. However, as we know from metaphysics, evil is not a positive objective but instead is classified as a privation by philosophers, meaning that it merely negates what God is positively trying to achieve. Thus, in order to confront our spiritual enemy effectively, we must begin with the divine plan that he opposes: what is God up to?

How can I Think of God as Father When He Fails to Treat Me Like a Father Should?

Jeffrey Tiel — Thu, 15 Apr 2021 14:17:00 -0400

We often pray to God as our Father for things that we think would very much improve our lives, yet we usually find ourselves empty-handed afterward. We are told to pray harder, so we try that, but the results are the same. Church leaders might suggest that we give more, and though we rightly smell a rat, we very marginally increase our giving just to test this hypothesis, but again find that nothing changes. So, how can God be our Father if he doesn’t give us what we want?

Why Does God Let Kids Die?

Jeffrey Tiel — Fri, 09 Apr 2021 15:36:00 -0400

The problem of evil—that great suffering is permitted by God in this world—haunts many people. It seems that if God really loved us, then he would do something to assist us. So, if he does nothing, it appears that he doesn’t really love us, in which case he isn’t all that good. But if he isn’t good, then he isn’t God. As such, it seems that God cannot exist, because great suffering does occur in the world.

Why Bother Being Good if you Could Get Away with Being Bad? (Part 2)

Jeffrey Tiel — Wed, 17 Mar 2021 11:30:00 -0400

In a previous podcast, we examined Plato’s famous “Myth of the Ring of Gyges” story. In that story where, as usual, Socrates is Plato’s primary dialogical character, we faced the ultimate moral challenge: what would we do if we were put into a situation (the invisibility ring) in which all of the rewards for justice were replaced by all of its penalties in this life and in the next, in which the reputation for justice were replaced by its opposite in the view of both gods and men? Is justice—is a just soul—still worth it? And wouldn’t it be more profitable to choose injustice if we attached to it all of the rewards usually associated with justice, all of the praise of gods and men, in this life and in the next? And if so, then perhaps the real reason we choose justice is that it happens to work. In reality, however, we value power over goodness, might over right, for justice is merely a means to an end, but, because we happen to be too weak to secure our own futures through power, we pretend to love justice.

What Happens if I Miss the Rapture?

Jeffrey Tiel — Thu, 04 Mar 2021 10:00:00 -0400

This is one of those questions that terrifies a great many people around the world, since they have been told that at some point in the future Jesus will secretly arrive in the clouds, yank all of the believers into the air, and then zip back to heaven, “leaving behind” all the wicked unbelievers. Portrayed in the books and films of the “Left Behind” series, this “Rapture Event,” the sudden removal of hundreds of millions of people from the earth, has the sorts of shocking effects one would expect: planes dive into the earth, cars pile up on highways, and a general chaos ensues as people confront the disappearances. So, what happens if you miss the rapture?

When Should We Not Fast?

Jeffrey Tiel — Thu, 18 Feb 2021 09:45:00 -0400

Since posting the blog and podcast on the point of fasting, I’ve run across some very screwed up applications of fasting that is undermining some people. So, I’m going to address these misunderstandings in this follow-up blog on when not to fast. The fast recognizes that we are spiritual/physical hybrid creatures, so that what happens in the body impacts the mind, just as what happens in the mind impacts the body. Fasting is a deliberate tinkering with that relationship by depriving the body of the usual amount and typical kinds of protein and sugar rich foods. As a result, fasting destabilizes our normal mental equilibrium, compelling us to use greater mental and spiritual self-control to hold to our virtuous lives. Too little fasting won’t challenge us enough, while too much fasting can lead to catastrophic moral results. And that is why we must always remember that fasting is for us, not for God. God is not impressed if we fast excessively and so undermine our rational self-control that we destabilize our capacity for charity! We should instead fast thoughtfully and prudently by considering how it will impact our overall constitutions in such a way as to stretch us without breaking us. Except for the three theological virtues which are directed to God without limit, the virtue of moderation applies to everything including fasting.

Why Bother Being Good if you Could Get Away with Being Bad? (Part 1)

Jeffrey Tiel — Mon, 15 Feb 2021 15:50:00 -0400

Are you a good person? Or perhaps that is too strong. Would you like to think of yourself as a good person? Almost everyone answers this question with a resounding “Yes!” There is something about goodness that we human beings find attractive. We want good steaks, good sex, good kids, good government, and we want a good God. But why? What is it about goodness that is so wonderful?

What is the Point of Fasting?

Jeffrey Tiel — Tue, 09 Feb 2021 10:21:00 -0400

Christians and Jews of the ancient world practiced periods of fasting pretty seriously. Jesus did too, including those forty days in the wilderness prior to his temptation. But many Christian communities around the world don’t fast at all. Some Protestants suspect the activity, thinking it confuses genuine spirituality with mere ritual. They believe that the essence of prayer is spiritual, so that, once one has understood and begun to practice prayer, fasting becomes an unnecessary, really, a spiritually immature relic of Jewish practice. This line is taken in other cases too, for they sometimes insist that it’s the faith, not the water of baptism which saves. Similarly, they will tell you that it’s what’s in the heart, not what’s in the grape juice and crackers, that makes their “Lord’s Supper” effectual. The notion that God places any premium on the physical, such that the physical might function as the conduit of divine grace, is viewed merely as all that sacramental nonsense from the Catholics.

Who is Melchizedek?

Jeffrey Tiel — Tue, 26 Jan 2021 18:51:00 -0400

“The ancient Epistle to the Hebrews contains a hitherto unnoticed enigma. It refers to a man without beginning or end – one who lives forever. So, who is he, and where is he?”

These words of enticement draw the reader into my novel on Melchizedek, entitled, The Search for Melchizedek. The text of Hebrews really does describe him as a man who never died, meaning that for all we know, he is still out there somewhere today. For a novelist, that’s a terrific plot opportunity that I couldn’t pass up. You are welcome to explore that story and its sequel, Osiris Rising: (available in print and Kindle editions on Amazon)

How can God Be Love?

Jeffrey Tiel — Mon, 18 Jan 2021 14:00:00 -0400

We tend to distinguish who we are from what we do. So, I am Jeff, and I am always Jeff. I might be skiing or not skiing. I might be fishing or not fishing. What I do can change, but what I am remains the same. In modern times our names don’t tend to tell us very much about who the person is that bears it, but this wasn’t always the case. Take the famous Viking, Ivar the Boneless. Ivar suffered from some kind of deboning ailment in his legs, identified at his birth and contributing to his name. Ivar the Boneless was always the Boneless, whether he was fishing or skiing. (And yes, I imagine that if he skied, he probably did so on a sled, being boneless!) He could stop fishing or start skiing, but either way he always remained boneless. Thus, Ivar’s name tells us something significant about who he was, not just what he did. His name offers us an essential quality of Ivar, one that never changed, one that always identified who he was.

Where is the Holy Grail?

Jeffrey Tiel — Mon, 11 Jan 2021 11:37:00 -0400

The search for the Holy Grail, like the longing to find the Ark of the Covenant, figures prominently within the myths and legends associated with the Christian tradition. That Jesus took a cup at the inauguration of the Eucharist and used it for the first transubstantiation is indisputable. What happened to that cup thereafter is the mystery. The traditional story has Joseph of Arimathea collecting the cup and eventually migrating with it all the way north to Roman Britannia. The Grail accordingly plays an important role in the legends surrounding King Arthur.

Like anyone, you probably would like to know where the Grail is. I have no idea, but I am likewise curious about its whereabouts. It would function as an important touchstone to the reality and significance of the Incarnation, just as the other relics figuring in the passion do: the nails, the true cross fragments, and the crown of thorns. While I do not quite agree with Indiana Jones that “they belong in a museum,” I do think that they belong in a sacred museum or church. The reason I wouldn’t go further than this is because I find the rest of the mysticism surrounding the grail a serious confusion of the differences between magic, miracle, and sacrament.

How Can I Choose Between All the Religions?

Jeffrey Tiel — Mon, 04 Jan 2021 11:58:00 -0400

Many people are overwhelmed by the sheer volume of religious options in the world today. Sometimes that plethora of choices is even offered as a challenge to God’s existence, because, it is said, a God who doesn’t make it easy can’t expect much of us. Though I don’t find an appeal to our desire to be lazy particularly compelling, and I do grant that there are an awful lot of religious options out there, I think nevertheless that by means of a few carefully thought through questions, we can narrow things down quite a bit.

What Happens if I Choose the Wrong Religion?

Jeffrey Tiel — Tue, 29 Dec 2020 10:31:00 -0400

Many people who are drawn to religious experience find the task of choosing between so many religious options daunting. Why should I choose to become a Hindu rather than a Muslim? Why isn’t Scientology just as good as becoming a Presbyterian? Why is Catholicism the “true” way as opposed to just worshipping nature? What if we make a mistake and choose the wrong religion? Will God toss us into hell for that? The answer very simply is no. How do I know that? Because of who God is, what God is up to, and what he has explicitly told us about how he judges people.

Is Christmas Pagan?

Jeffrey Tiel — Mon, 21 Dec 2020 10:00:00 -0400

In the weeks leading up to Christmas you will often find magazine articles and television specials referencing the alleged pagan origins of Christmas. The Christmas tree is part of the Roman Saturnalia festival, we are told, or the Christmas feast is actually the Norse Yule feast devoted to Odin. The suggestion being made is that since Christianity is really just repackaged paganism, it offers nothing novel to the world, or that because Christianity just copied pagan rituals, its claim to unique divine origins is suspect, or that the Roman Catholic Church’s claim to apostolic authority is merely the last gasp of imperial Rome dressed up in religious garb, or, finally, that since it is obvious that Christianity is pagan, it cannot be the Jewish messianic fulfillment and that Jesus, accordingly, cannot be God incarnate. One way or another these whispers as to origins arise every December, maligning the Faith and challenging its credibility.

Is Purgatory Real?

Jeffrey Tiel — Tue, 15 Dec 2020 12:21:00 -0400

It’s hard to find a topic more controversial to Protestants than this notion that between heaven and hell there lies this third thing called Purgatory. I mean, seriously, if one’s sins are forgiven by the blood of Christ, why create a hellish experience for believers? To what end? And if we look at the medieval literary and artistic record, the portrayal of purgatory is something right out of the worst of the medieval torture dungeons. So, how does this make any sense?

How do you Forgive Someone who Refuses to Change?

Jeffrey Tiel — Thu, 10 Dec 2020 14:47:00 -0400

When we hear the old saying, “an eye for an eye,” we tend to think of primitive or barbaric justice. But this saying actually captures the force of both modern and ancient justice. Aristotle explained that justice requires a recompense for what was lost; accordingly, he called it “retributive,” re-paying justice. Justice corrects for wrongs deliberately enacted, but limits the correction by a principle of proportionality. Were we to strike back for wrongs based solely on our feelings, our actions would turn from justice to revenge, as our retaliation would far exceed the actual injury.

What is a Sacrament?

Jeffrey Tiel — Sun, 29 Nov 2020 11:16:00 -0400

Imagery lies at the heart of human significance. Birthdays just wouldn’t be the same without candles and cakes, weddings without dresses and rings, the Fourth of July without fireworks, or Christmas without trees and presents. What are all of these things: the cake, the dress, the candles, the trees, and the fireworks? In and of themselves trees are trees. But a Christmas tree is both a tree and something more. Similarly, dresses are dresses, but a wedding dress isn’t just another dress; it’s something more. What is that extra thing, that “something more”? The wedding dress by its design and color suggests or bespeaks something else, namely pageantry, solemnity, grandeur, and purity. Thus, the wedding dress is an image of the significant qualities of the bride at her wedding. All imagery works like this, the natural object ordinary and meaningful in itself, but used as an image, suggesting something far more significant.

Are UFO's Real?

Jeffrey Tiel — Mon, 23 Nov 2020 14:06:00 -0400

There’s little question that our skies, worldwide, have been entered into by phenomena that appear to be extremely advanced craft. For an accessible and journalistically responsible review of why that conclusion is so well justified, take a look at Leslie Kean’s UFOs: Generals, Pilots, and Government Officials Go on the Record. So, they are here. That is a fact. But what that means and what we can or should do about it are the real issues. Let’s start with the possibilities of what they might be.

What Do All Those Strange Angelic Titles Mean?

Jeffrey Tiel — Mon, 16 Nov 2020 12:39:00 -0400

We hear a lot of references to different kinds of angels in the Judaic and Christian traditions, and, if you’re like me, you’ve probably been curious about what to make of them. There are nine such kinds listed in the Christian tradition: Seraphim, Cherubim, Thrones, Dominions, Virtues, Powers, Principalities, Archangels, and Angels. To understand what they mean, we have to get a better understanding of how angels relate to one another, so let’s start there.

Are Demons Real?

Jeffrey Tiel — Mon, 09 Nov 2020 14:52:00 -0400

With all the crazy stories about witches in the past as well as their depiction in children’s fantasy, together with the Hollywood portrayals of the demonic as common fare for the horror junkies, it might seem that we have already solved the question of demons and demonic possession. Add to these contributions of popular culture the extensive psychiatric work showing how people with schizophrenia or various personality disorders could be and probably once were confused for demonically injured people, and it could appear that the demonic is myth. Then, too, we also probably feel that human evil is quite adequately explained by human choice. Why go looking for a spiritual boogie man to explain it? And finally, let’s just admit the potent demotivator here: we really don’t like the idea that we are not at the top of the food chain. The notion that we face powerful and invisible spiritual enemies is unsettling. However, none of these arguments addresses the question of whether demons are real. They either assume they are unreal or hope desperately that they are fiction. Wishful thinking does not confer unreality on things, so the only way we are really going to know how to answer this question is to go and look for ourselves.

What is the Gift of Tongues?

Jeffrey Tiel — Tue, 03 Nov 2020 11:03:00 -0400

Fifty days after Jesus rose from the dead, his followers were grouped together in Jerusalem when something truly unprecedented occurred. A loud rushing noise filled the hall where they were gathered, sounding like a hurricane. Then, “tongues” of something like fire appeared in their midst, split apart, and landed atop each person’s head. At that moment those gathered were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in different “tongues.” They then left the room and began to preach as the Spirit enabled them.

How Does Being Made in God's Image Indicate Ultimate Divine Purpose?

Jeffrey Tiel — Fri, 30 Oct 2020 06:45:00 -0400

The book of Genesis launches with the apparent highlight of divine creation, the formation of Man. After having created the animals, God says, “Let us make man in our image” and in the image of God, God created us. So, to get a handle on the significance of being created in the image of God, we should begin with figuring out what the image of God in human nature really is.

Does God's Foreknowledge Fate Human Choice?

Jeffrey Tiel — Wed, 21 Oct 2020 10:42:00 -0400

Since God is all knowing, it might seem that God’s knowledge creates an inescapable destiny for every single human person. Classically, this is called Fate, that we are trapped in certain roles, certain habits, and even certain ends with no possibility of escape. The argument favoring Fatalism is that since God’s knowledge is foreknowledge, i.e., he knows before we act, then, since what he knows is true, it follows that what he knows about the truths of our actions are true before and regardless of what we might like to do! Hence, it seems that God’s knowing in advance locks us into having to fulfill what God’s infinite knowledge tells him is going to happen. As such, free will is an illusion and we are wholly subject to Fate.

Do Pets Go to Heaven?

Jeffrey Tiel — Mon, 12 Oct 2020 12:24:00 -0400

Let’s start with a counter-question: why would anyone think that they don’t? Because it seems pretty heartless to tell your bereft child, “That’s it, you will never see Fido again!” But some parents apparently believe this and so “inform” their children, so let’s begin by examining the three top reasons that they do so.

Is it OK to "Just Have Faith"?

Jeffrey Tiel — Mon, 05 Oct 2020 12:43:00 -0400

In an age where we continue to see people led to their deaths by false prophets like Jim Jones, Applewhite, and David Koresh, it behooves us to think very carefully about this problem. Charlatan religious leaders are always going on about “faith” and how we must place our faith in them. Then they kill us or convince us to kill ourselves. And if our deaths don’t interest them, then our wives or daughters, our wealth, our devotion, our opinions, and our independence do! So, it seems prudent to be especially careful about people who tell us to “just have faith.” What is faith, after all? What makes it legitimate vs. deadly?

Can You Believe in Both Science & Religion?

Jeffrey Tiel — Mon, 28 Sep 2020 10:04:00 -0400

There is a widespread belief within the United States that science and religion are incompatible disciplines. The point is not merely that these disciplines study different objects or that they employ different methodologies. But when people say that religion and science are incompatible, this is not what they mean. They mean, instead, that religion and science speak to the same objects and reach incompatible conclusions. For example, some people think that science has shown definitively that God does not exist, something that would be quite contrary to the conclusions of religion.

What is Truth?

Jeffrey Tiel — Tue, 22 Sep 2020 11:55:00 -0400

Curiously, the subjective theory of truth can be found in the Bible, when Pontius Pilate famously sneers at Jesus with the challenge: “What is truth?” Pilate wasn’t offering a serious question, we know, because Jesus didn’t answer him. With objective truth off the table, there simply wasn’t anything further for Jesus to do by way of offering salvation to Pilate. Pilate was going to do what he wanted to do, because he was going to believe what he wanted to believe.

How Can Human Beings be Free if God is All-Powerful?

Jeffrey Tiel — Fri, 11 Sep 2020 12:51:00 -0400

For many people this question is one of the thorniest in their minds, because it seems that no matter which side of the question they land on, they have to give up something of vital importance. So, let’s start there: what’s at stake in this question? Why does it bother us so much?

Let’s start with God. The first worry is that were God to grant human beings the freedom to act independently of himself, then his omnipotence would be compromised. We are told that God is either in control, or he isn’t. If he is, then it seems that human beings cannot be free to do as they will, because God’s will would always trump theirs. Their “freedom” must, at best, be illusory.

How Can I Overcome Powerful Desires?

Jeffrey Tiel — Tue, 01 Sep 2020 12:27:00 -0400

It’s obvious, isn’t it? Pray more, read the Bible more, share your faith more, participate in pilgrimages to holy sites, sing more (especially spiritual songs) . . . in short, treat the Faith like one of those sales meetings where they engage a specialist to whip everybody up into a frenzy of self-confidence! Then, surely, there will be no room for wayward desires. Right? Wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong.

Since you’re reading this question, I have to assume that you’ve already tried all of that and found, to your dismay, that it doesn’t work. Some people have this idea that religion allows them to shortcut the normal human processes of agony, desire, decay, and death. But that’s not how it works. When God makes the saint, he does not unmake the man. There is no way to shortcut normal human processes through some secret powers built into religion. Anyone suggesting that is selling something, something that will severely damage your humanity.

Why Do Priests Wear Weird Clothes?

Jeffrey Tiel — Tue, 01 Sep 2020 12:10:00 -0400

On the topic of weird things in religion, priests and nuns (and other folk) do wear curious outfits. They stand out. If God’s goal for human beings is to transform us into fully human persons, then why would he institute a whole group of people who are seemingly left out of fully human life? That is a terrific question. So, let’s start with the clothes and then move to their lives.

Why are Religious People Weird?

Jeffrey Tiel — Thu, 13 Aug 2020 23:00:00 -0400

Too often religious people come off as being complete wackos. They talk weird. They dress weird. They sing weird. They put weird things on their bumper stickers. It’s just plain weird. So, why is that? Is that normal? Should it be that way?

What is Faith?

Jeffrey Tiel — Mon, 10 Aug 2020 19:00:00 -0400

Faith is a very tricky concept to understand, because from the beginning of Christianity, it has meant more than one simple thing. Clearly, there is an intellectual manner of faith, as when we believe the content of what Jesus revealed. However, if you look closely at the Christian tradition as well as the early texts of the New Testament, you will find that the term “faith” is used in a broader way than just intellectual assent. It’s not as clear to English readers sometimes because we tend to distinguish “faith” from “belief.” We sometimes speak of believing that something is true as opposed to having faith in someone. Notice the difference in the prepositions “that” and “in.” When we interpret faith solely as an intellectual act, i.e., as believing that something is true, it appears that we are leaving something out, the “having faith in” sort of faith.

Is Believing in God Enough?

Jeffrey Tiel — Mon, 10 Aug 2020 19:00:00 -0400

This question really is a strange one, not just because we have to ask, “Enough for what?” but because of the deeper motivations that are driving it. On the one hand you have the big Protestant worry that underneath the question is the Catholic quest to slip salvation by works back into the picture. On the other hand and on the opposite side, you have the concern that sheer laziness is driving the question, that the person asking it is just trying to check off the minimum number of boxes to “get into heaven.” Both of these worries assume that the real question is how to get into heaven. So, let’s start there.

How Can I Find a Real Friend?

Jeffrey Tiel — Wed, 05 Aug 2020 15:00:00 -0400

Too many of us have experienced the heart wrenching loss of broken friendships. People we thought we could trust prove capable of the greatest wounding, for only a friend elicits trust sufficient to betray us. That word, “betrayal.” It bites, doesn’t it? And, afterward? Loss of hope, loss of trust, loss of a positive view of the world. Why? Because our creator is a community of persons in infinite love, and insofar as we too are persons like He is, we too must enter into love relationships in order to be fulfilled. So, we have to find true friends to be happy. Which brings us to our topic today: how can we find real friends?

Is it OK to Want Reasons for Believing in God?

Jeffrey Tiel — Wed, 05 Aug 2020 15:00:00 -0400

It’s curious that in most areas of life we are told that we should follow the evidence to know what we should do or what we should believe. Will this vaccine work to stop the virus? Wait for the scientific evidence, we are told. Who should I vote for in the election? Wait until you hear both sides of the debate, so you can make a fully informed decision, it is suggested. In fact, on nearly every issue under the sun, we are told to make decisions based on what is the most reasonable to believe or to do. Except in the area of religion, we are sometimes told. In religion we aren’t supposed to ask questions, we should suppress our doubts, we should just have faith rather than raise all kinds of objections. Really? Well, why is that? Why is religion exempted from the general rules of believing what is reasonable to think is true and from acting on what is good for human beings?

Is Doubt About Faith OK?

Jeffrey Tiel — Wed, 05 Aug 2020 14:00:00 -0400

Many people experience doubt about aspects of their religious lives. They wonder whether their religious texts are true. They wonder if the people claiming to represent God really do. They wonder whether God actually hears their prayers. They struggle to accept that God cares about them given how nasty the world is. Doubt about faith is completely normal.

Does God have a Plan for my Life?

Jeffrey Tiel — Wed, 05 Aug 2020 13:00:00 -0400

Who should I marry? What career should I choose? Is the ministry right for me?

Can I Believe in Neanderthals, Extra-Terrestrials, and God at the Same Time?

Jeffrey Tiel — Tue, 04 Aug 2020 16:00:00 -0400

The possibility that alien life exists and has been visiting our world received a shot of adrenaline when the Pentagon released those videos of Navy pilots engaged in complex maneuvers with UFO’s. Scientists, too, have been making discoveries of late that include pre or partly human species other than the more well-known Neanderthals that are now recognized to have mated with early humans, contributing their DNA to our human genome. But if non-human intelligent life exists, it might make us wonder about the significance of human life. How can God work through human nature alone if other personal species exist?