I was severely disabled for the better part of a decade. I United that suffering to Christ and grew exponentially in love and grace. ❤

After 11 years as a lung and pancreatic cancer survivor I recently suffered two strokes. As a faithful "Old Catholic" I know God will make me count them! (Old golf joke.) The strokes left me with only 60% of my hearing in one ear and total loss of hearing in the other. Also my balance is way off but I can slowly and very carefully get around with a walker. As I have done since I've become of age in the Church's eyes, I prayed for Our Father's unfailing help and strength through the intercession of Our Lady, Saint Joseph, Saint Brother Andre Bessett , Saint Padre Pio, and Saint Joseph Charbel. Also to anyone else out there interested in my cause. I really prayed humbly and fervently, and in a very vivid dream Saint Joseph appeared to me and said that if I wanted God's help the first thing I should do is put myself in the care of an an audiologist and a physical therapist. The dream was so real I would not talk about it for weeks. This is a very true story, and if you knew me, a Half Century Club PGA Golf Professional, you wouldn't be skeptical of it. Prayer works. I am working hard on my balance in VRT and Neural Elasticity exercises and making some process. Thank you, JMJ.

@mi-ka-eltheguardian3837

4 жыл бұрын

God bless you for your beautiful witness

As a convert from Atheist to Practicing Catholic, I found this video to be incredibly useful and profound. May God bless you Father!

@letters_from_paradise

6 жыл бұрын

henman09 What caused you to change?

@naturalismforever3469

6 жыл бұрын

My goodness henman! Did you have a lobotomy?

@adastra123

4 жыл бұрын

Thank you , for sharing your journey too. God bless you.

@vesogry

4 жыл бұрын

@@naturalismforever3469 Why do you say that? Because atheists are absolutely close-minded otherwise?

@borneandayak6725

4 жыл бұрын

Me too, once atheist, now Catholic...atheism is nonsense and stupid faith.

I'm a Christian (protestant) and I have muscular dystrophy and am confined to a motorized wheelchair, but I consider both to be somewhat of a blessing. Having this disease gives me a better understanding of people who have hardships and obviously I wouldn't go anywhere without my chair.

@scotte4765

4 жыл бұрын

That's great that you have made something positive out of a very difficult condition. That doesn't change the fact that if both your condition and other people's hardships were prevented, such compassion and empathy wouldn't ever be needed. Which is better, for you to be able to understand and assist other wheelchair-bound people, or for none of you to have been confined to wheelchairs in the first place?

@scotte4765

4 жыл бұрын

KLJF I did pay attention to it in fact, and responded to it in detail in my own comment which you should be able to find easily after sorting by newest comments. Maybe you could state exactly what you disagree with in my comment here instead of just being vaguely insulting.

@andreijaremy5379

4 жыл бұрын

I am a believer as well. Born protestant and now Catholic. I too have muscular dystrophy and I can sympathize with you. I am not in a chair yet, more than likely that's going to come. But most importantly this disease has completely changed the framework of my life for the better. I don't love having it not at all. But I recognize the significance of suffering. I've been set free from the petty vanity of my own ego. Fr Barron is very correct here to remind us we are intelligently designed and apart of a much great story we cannot completely understand. And just very recently maths have proved Darwin wrong and we are indeed intelligently designed. Look it up google HOOVER INSTITUTE MATH DARWIN. Anyhow there are those that are blind to the truth and in God's time they will see. Until then those of us that can see should continue to shine HIS light so others get drawn towards the light. This life is not our total and complete existence there is so much more ahead. The best example I can share is how becoming a parent changes you. Before being a parent you are blind to certain things, then suddenly you aren't. Leave room for that. Most people that are angry with God are so because they so deeply need and desire exactly God however they wrongly embraced sin somewhere along the way and don't want to admit they got tricked. Again I say the blind do not see, and no matter how much you help they can't until God is ready to open their eyes. God Bless us all.

@andreijaremy5379

4 жыл бұрын

@@scotte4765 what is better to know. To know or not to know? What is better a sun dial or a swiss watch? A sun dial is quick and easy and relatively unreliable. A swiss watch is an instrument by which you can derive very specific information. What is better crude? Or sophistication? What does your life choices say to the answer? Do you live in a hit in the forest or do you participate in the modern world. Obviously you are commenting on KZread so you are a hypocrite if you state otherwise. You and I and everyone else have no right to suggest we deserve anything other than what we experience. If you want that right, well than create something from nothing and go live there alone and be a god in your own universe if that is even possible.

@reichmise

4 жыл бұрын

Go you!

Thanks. actually my ex husband and ny children were fighting the whole day. and I was suffering with this terrible situation. I was seeking comfort and guide from God. Then i opened this video. I have got the answer.Their father never knows how to love. there should be a reason. May Lord be praised. I put my trust in him. God help. I can sleep now. Dear bishop you will never know how your words can be fruitful for a seeking soul . God love you.

Ivan karamazov- "all the wisdom in the world isn't worth the tears of a single child, I hold this to be true even if I'm wrong"

@polarisnorth4875

2 жыл бұрын

Exactly! There IS NO justification. A weak answer from the Bishop

@RosyMischief

3 ай бұрын

Yeah, Ivan’s wrong-I agree with that. 😂

@bun197

2 ай бұрын

a christian wrote this and explicitly refutes the thinking in the book. read the whole thing instead of one chapter

@anthonyodonnell6105

Күн бұрын

@@polarisnorth4875 It's not weak. I think the Book of Job asks a fundamental question about reconciliation with the universe. Whether you're an atheist or a theist, you have to ask whether you accept that it is good. Buddhism seems to make a negative answer, but it still seeks to create the possibility of reconciliation within the sufferings that are inevitable in human life.

St Therese of Lisieux, "I have have reached the point where I can no longer suffer, all suffering is sweet to me"

Bishop Barron, I know exactly how Job felt when he lost everything. In June last year, I lost my primary health care doctor to the Corona Virus 🦠 pandemic 😷. It was emotionally devastating towards his family and I. Despite the loss, his family and I never gave up on God.

I love the analogy of a ripped page of Tolkien and our notion of space and time!

@wesleythompson3917

2 жыл бұрын

Except for the fact that it doesn't make sense. In Tolkien's books. The success of the fellowships mission is not contingent on the fact that they suffer along the way, simply an unfortunate consequence in a godless world.

I pray with all my heart that Mr Fry and unbelievers will have their eyes opened to Gods truth, it really breaks my heart when I hear them speak this way.

@pertelote4526

4 жыл бұрын

Rachel Harvey If it breaks your heart, simply do not listen to what they say. They do not do it to give you grief, so do not take it personally ;-)

@ztrinx1

4 жыл бұрын

It breaks my heart that people like you exist. That you honestly don't see how condescending and bullying you sound. Religious people truly cannot rest before everyone thinks the way they do. Which is obviously correct. And people who don't think that way might even be punished after death if they don't open their eyes. Jesus Christ, the nerve.

@sarahjohns5277

4 жыл бұрын

pertelote 45 I care about everybodies soul.

@diamondjoe100

4 жыл бұрын

Gods truth. What is the truth can you tell me. I mean the real truth. Christianity & Catholicism is filled with lies throuhout history so why should he or anyone else believe in it.

@diamondjoe100

4 жыл бұрын

@@chrissonofpear1384 Mind the gap.

I'm impressed! Today I heard a person contesting exactly that! I wanted to know what to say to these people, and suddenly I come across this blessed video! Sign of God in my life! Thank you so much my God for enlightening this wonderful priest!

@boybiker6309

4 жыл бұрын

The interesting point here is, someone did the thinking for her.

@bronsonvance1344

2 жыл бұрын

Instablaster...

@scopilio13

11 ай бұрын

it won't work because atheists try to rationalize God from a human perspective when in fact we cannot rationalize God because he is to far from our own logical sense.

“Life is pain, highness. Anyone who says differently is selling something.” - Dread Pirate Roberts

Great video Father Barron. I have found your videos to be very informative and a real comfort in my journey to the Catholic Faith. When I started listening to you I was an Episcopalian and now I am in RCIA and will be coming fully into the Catholic Church this Easter Vigil. Thank you for doing the great work you do.

@kathleenirish

4 жыл бұрын

🙏❤❤❤

his sweater looks very comfy

While I am still Atheist and think Stephen Fry's comment is a powerful one; I like the one page in a whole book analogy and it is an argument I would certainly use if I was religious. I like these videos hearing from a Catholic's perspective.

Now it all makes sense again. We all have been answered to this very question all along, Jesus suffering is the example and the ultimate answer. Thank you :)

God bless you, bishop! You are a voice of God's truth the wilderness. I so appreciate you reach to the millennial SMS who did not get the Baltimore catechism.

I can state from experience that severe, prolonged suffering is a very good path to humility and surrender. I do not wish my suffering to return, but I am grateful for having endured it.

So beautiful and deeply profound. Thank you, Bishop. We love you.

I have worked supporting severely disabled people in the U.K. for over 15 years. The question of suffering has always bothered me due to this. However, I converted to Catholicism, completed RCIA, and was baptised at the age of 45 because I believe there is a bigger picture. Love, compassion, and unselfishness. I see this on my Catholic community amd hope I pass it on

Stephen Fry is so typical of atheist thought which goes "If I were God, I would not do A-B-C, but there is A-B-C. Therefore, since I am not God there can be no God, because if there were God he would be me!"

@rockanne

9 жыл бұрын

BINGO! Time and time again it is obvious the heart of the matter is "There is no God because the religion I grew up in won't confirm me in my sin. Stomp, stomp, pout, pout."

@justafanofz

9 жыл бұрын

Atheist Lehman As a christian, the question of God being obvious is one that I have considered many times. This is the answer that I discovered, maybe it can help explain why God is not obvious. If God loves us so much that he gave us our freedom and freewill, would he not want us to use it in its fullest capacity? The answer, it seems to me, should be yes, as one would not give a gift to someone if they did not want them to use it. Would revealing himself to people and making it obvious that he exists infringe on that gift of free will? Again, the answer to me seems to be yes. For if he revealed himself so completely, people would have no choice but to accept him. God has stated that he wants us to come to him freely, so he revealed himself in such a way that does not infringe on our free will. That is, through the mouths of his prophets in the old testament and in the form of Jesus in the new testament. As far as the question of suffering is concerned. The point that Fr. Barron tried to make is that God is able to see the entirety of creation at once, as he is the one who created it. Because of this, he can see the big picture, I feel it is also safe to say that he is much more intelligent then any one of us. However, just like a child who doesn't trust his parents and can't see why they would force him to eat broccoli other then they like to see him suffer, we struggle with pain as we can't see the point for it. Stephen Fry assumes that God could not give a reason for it, but what would you do if God could?

@atheistlehman4420

9 жыл бұрын

justafanofz The idea that God cannot reveal himself fully lest he interfere with "free will" is bogus, and very easily debunked. Free will is binary. Either one has it, or one does not have it. Does the devil have free will, and know that God exists? The devil seems to have a will of his own, so the first answer seems to be yes. The devil would also seem to know that God exists, as he interacts with God in the book of Job. Therefore, knowing that God exists does not stop one from having free will. As for the idea that God can see all ends, it's merely an assertion by theists. Even if he could see all ends, you mean to tell me that an all powerful entity must use imperfection to reach some other "perfection", and we just don't see the big picture? What if there is no big picture? What if God is a mindless, blubbering idiot who's no more capable than any of us, but has some other special abilities? To restate Epicurus: _Is God willing to prevent evil, but not able? Then he is not omnipotent._ _Is God able, but not willing? Then he is malevolent._ _Is he both able and willing? Then whence cometh evil?_ _Is he neither able nor willing? Then why call him God?"_ Your answer would seem to indicate that he's able, but not willing, which (to me and many other) makes him evil, just like his character in the old testament.

@justafanofz

9 жыл бұрын

Atheist Lehman You want people to freely accept you in order as a friend, but you just happen to be the president of the united states and you don't want that to be an influence on the people that you are friends with. While its not a perfect analogy, it helps to show how it could be that a God who respects our free will, wants to be friends with us, and does not want the fact that he is God coming in the way. I also was not trying to say that if you knew God you lost all of your free will, but you would not freely choose a relationship with him, if God made himself obvious, you would be forced into a relationship with him. Even if you hated him, it would be a relationship similar to the devil, one of hate. There is one problem with Epicurus, How does one prevent an absence when you allow people to freely take away? It happens, not because he is unwilling or unable, but because he loves our freedom. That argument arises from a misunderstanding of the nature of evil.

@atheistlehman4420

9 жыл бұрын

Catholic_thinker So God loves freedom more than he loves to prevent suffering... I think you've managed to rationalize yourself a dumb excuse. Thanks for your time.

Father Barron it would also be good to point out the statement Padre Pio made when confronted with the same issue. He said " imagine a child watching his mother working on the loom. the child sees from beneath though so what he sees makes no sense, its disorderly and unorganized. However, when he sees his mother doing this he asks her what is she doing because it seems to be such an ugly thing. When his mother is finished though she turns the final product around and the boy sees it in all its beauty. " I would say that with out God all we have is this suffering. The God of the Bible never states this world is perfect. These are also such human arguments, if God is in control of both space and time, and if there really is a life after death, then what is suffering in this life may very well be just a step into a new reality.

@ioioi4785

8 жыл бұрын

+Lion Heart huh?

@benrutherford4487

4 жыл бұрын

@anon for good it is easier to never learn anything- if easy is what we're going for then lets just go home and get on the couch- our faith is never tested - it is tried - in the fire- the way gold is tried by fire- when you pass through the fire of suffering things get burned up-you lose parts of yourself- things that cannot withstand the truth of hardship- childish ideas and foolish notions- what comes out of the furnace is pure gold - you believe what you will- but it would be easier to move heaven and earth than to take away gold tried in the fire from someone who has earned it

@lionheart5078

4 жыл бұрын

@@chrissonofpear1384 what does this question have to do with the original post? People born into other religions or denominations can be saved as the Catholic church already teaches. Though they are saved through Christ even if they don't not realize this.

I first watched this video in March, 2016 and liked it so much I bookmarked it. I'm glad I did, because in August of that year my 9 yr old daughter was diagnosed with stage 4 cancer. I cannot begin to tell you how much this video helped prepare me for and carry me through the suffering we were to endure. Thank you Bishop Barron! (Though given a 20-30% chance of surviving 5 years, I'm happy to say she has survived over 7.5 yrs so far and just celebrated her 17th birthday. God is so good!)

@scotte4765

2 ай бұрын

I'm glad your daughter is surviving and hope that she continues to do so. It's just too bad that the encouragement you got from this video had to come at the cost of Bishop Barron denigrating the very real obstacles to belief that many people have as one man's rants and histrionics. Barron didn't bother to link to the video of Stephen Fry's interview, so we can't even check to see if his characterization was correct. Hopefully while you gained comfort in a time of great need you didn't also buy into Barron's casual dismissal of a problem that has plagued religion for millennia and still continues to do so.

Thank God for Bishop Barron. ❤

Thank you to all of you who have posted such fantastic responses, as well as gratitude to Fr Barron. God Blesses You All

@visitorsaliens4842

4 жыл бұрын

Keep believing in ur psychopath god who enjoys the rape and murder of 2 years old and do nothing so that the kid can get the heaven ticket for sure.

This is an excellent response to such a common argument. I particularly liked the Lord of the Rings example. The idea that someone's plight and suffering fit into a much larger greater story provides a much greater framework for productive meaningful discussion than simply declaring that everything is meaningless. Thank you! I really appreciate your videos and insights. I was browsing through the local library a few days ago and stumbled across Thomas Aquinas's book, Light of Faith. I am now reading it. Your videos have provided a great introduction to Aquinas for me.

@SuperSupermanX1999

9 жыл бұрын

erock5b My criticism of this "larger story" idea is that God is supposedly omnipotent. That means that he could achieve the desired end in any way he could imagine. This means that the suffering we experience, even if it does eventually lead to something great, is completely unnecessary and therefore wrong.

@rockhound570theist5

9 жыл бұрын

SuperSupermanX1999 If God does not exist and there is nothing such as a fixed moral standard (as all atheists accept moral relativism), define wrong. Wrong is just a concept that humans trot out when they don't like something. I don't like your silly comments. Therefore you are wrong. Funny enough, you have no basis on which to disagree with me. Now, you might say, it is wrong if God exists, but that would only make sense if God exists. From your context, it is utterly ill defined and meaningless. From where do you derive your moral authority to state something is wrong if no absolute definition or standard of wrong exists? Therefore, you must feel that there is such a standard, but that standard is defeated by your own rejection of any absolute standard. And you cannot use, "we inherited it and it is common to our species, so we must abide it" because that is again just relativism. No other species would accept our authority and many members of our own species reject such a definition. So, I ask again...Why is unnecessary suffering wrong if God does not exist? There is plenty of unnecessary suffering in the animal kingdom. Either there is a reason for it and it is justified, or there is not and so, who cares? I never really get why atheists are so morally indignant. There is simply no justification for it. You can construct all the "moral landscapes" you want, but no other human being has to be bound to it if they disagree with it. You throw terms around that you don't even have a logical grounding for!

@SuperSupermanX1999

9 жыл бұрын

***** Ah the classic "atheists have no basis for objective morality so you can't tell anyone that they're wrong" argument. Well first of all I'll tell you that, in my opinion, *evil* is something that causes unnecessary harm. That's my personal basis for declaring that God is evil. As for words such as *right* or *wrong*, well they are merely vocalizations of our emotional reactions to things. They are expressions, nothing more. Secondly I propose that *you* also have no basis for absolute morality. Your morality is as subjective as mine, the only difference being that you follow someone else's subjective morality (Gods) whilst I follow mine. What basis do you have for claiming the fact that God's morality is in any way objective? The fact that people disagree with him is surely conclusive evidence to the contrary. If goodness is defined as that which is consistent with Gods commandments, well why should we do what is good? Because God commanded it? So? Why should I do what God commands? Because of Heaven and Hell? Well that's just an infantile form of morality based upon reward, punishment, and a *might makes right* mentality. It's the sort of thing you would expect to see from a four year old. " And you cannot use, "we inherited it and it is common to our species, so we must abide it" because that is again just relativism." How is that relativism? That is just an explanation of why morality exists. ".Why is unnecessary suffering wrong if God does not exist? " Because I wouldn't like it if it was done to me. The golden rule. Treat others as you like to be treated. I wouldn't like to be forced to suffer unnecessarily, so I won't do that to other people. "There is plenty of unnecessary suffering in the animal kingdom. Either there is a reason for it and it is justified, or there is not and so, who cares?" Do you have a concept of empathy? That is why we care when we see things suffer. As for the natural world, animals kill each other for the purposes of food and passing on their genes rather than those of their rivals. From a survival perspective, these actions are necessary. The only animals that I can think of that kill for enjoyment are chimpanzees, foxes and people.

@rockhound570theist5

9 жыл бұрын

SuperSupermanX1999 Nothing in your reply provides any logical justification for your self referential (and ultimately circular) moral indignation. You provided no rational basis for it other than your "opinions". You are just proving exactly what I am claiming that all atheists do when faced with this question. You prevaricate and retreat into relativism. I'll ask again, more plainly this time. If all we are is matter and energy, how can anything ultimately be ascribed meaning or morality? There is no such thing! It is just an illusion created by your consciousness to help you cope with death. Moral indignation has no ultimate purpose other than to help you reproduce. Therefore, according to your argument, the only real function you should possess is as a vehicle for getting your DNA downstream. If that is the case, why not dispense with anything that gets in the way of that and focus exclusively on doing everything that is within your power to make copies of yourself? That is the only intrinsic meaning that your life could possibly have. Therefore, you should indulge every single behavior that will get your DNA into the widest possible swath of the gene pool. Simply accept that and started living that way. Absolutely nothing should be off limits in this quest. As the only real morality possible is that which would enable such a purpose, why not establish a morality of self that maximizes the copies you make of yourself. Have the courage of your convictions. Start your own sperm bank, get as many women in bed as possible, rape if you have to, whatever it takes to flood the gene pool. Funny how almost no atheists actually live like this. Funny why that is. From your standpoint, morality should serve only one purpose: over running the earth with copies of yourself. Honestly, you should only care enough for others solely in so far as they help your DNA downwash. You should be willing to use people like objects as often as you need to maximize your copies. Explain to me why the morality I have just described does not tally with your philosophy and give me good reasons not to adopt it. Even if we inherited this morality, why, as a conscious being, should you now be bound by it, if it actively interferes with your ultimate purpose. Frankly, I'm surprised that Dawkins does not promulgate this in his next book. It is just the logical offshoot of his reasoning. As far as you not liking what suffering you endure, why should somebody give two whits unless there is something in it for them in spreading their own DNA? You actually invoke the Golden Rule? Why? How does that help you spread your DNA? You should only embrace that if it gets more copies of yourself into the world. But that won't work because others will reject it so they can appropriate your resources, as you should theirs. There really should be no room for defective organisms in this world. Nietszche was correct. Only the strongest have a right to rule. Tell me why that should not be so? Suffering of others is ultimately meaningless in the atheist scheme of things. The fact that you site the golden rule just, again, proves my point. Atheists reject Christianity but they sure don't mind living some of its truths

@MrMelick

4 жыл бұрын

@Narragarra Thunder-Rider Well he based is life on a work of fiction so...

A truly kind, benevolent and powerful God would prevent all evil.

@scotte4765

2 жыл бұрын

Not only that, but we don't even need to argue that this God _would_ do so. We're already told that he's going to, at some indeterminate time in the future. All we need to discuss is why we should believe such a prediction and worship such a god when for two thousand years and more there hasn't been a scrap of evidence for it ever coming true.

@DuskAndHerEmbrace13

2 жыл бұрын

Then we would have no free will. And no option to be good. And there would be no meaning.

Thank you Mgr Robert Barron for your comment about the suffering. I do agree that we have to know the book of Job in the AT. I have always liked it and Job is really a very interesting person who is not concentration on his suffering but on God and at the end he expresses his trust without conditions. For me this situation is a little bit precursor of what later we see with Jesus who also trust HIs Father above allant all the time. I am a priest with MND and for me, my situation does lead me to understand to follow Jesus in His passion until reaching the foot of the cross, like St John did. Why did he do it unlike the other disciples, well because he did love Jesus without any questions and conditions. fortunately I do love Jesus like St John and it gives me peace, joy and courage...

Thank you father, I needed to hear this. God bless you and you who’s ever reading this

This is usually something people will not understand until they go through it. Until they have experienced suffering, and have been fortunate enough to see good come out of it.

@j019jlc

4 жыл бұрын

Thank you Bishop ! Keep teaching. We need you. In the name of the Father Son and Holy Spirit.

Totally avoided the issue of justification for suffering. An all powerful God can’t stop suffering? The shortcoming of an omnipotent God is that he has no accountability. Not sure if you read these comments, Your Grace, but can you clarify more?

Have been watching Bishop Barron much more these last few days because he seems nice enough, is a calm person, and full of true, interesting information - pleasant personality and smart, if you will. I, as a layperson, can and do learn much and pray that my soul will also. I used to watch Bishop Sheen's videos and have gone through them, and much more than once. Nice to have someone carry on. One day I stumbled across Bishop Barron. Not being a 'good Catholic' or even a 'good person', I thought these talks might help. Piqued my interest though, when he mentioned 'Deacon Bill'. At the age of 17, back in 1971, I was working at a parish in Nashville, St. Henry, for Msgr. Rohling. Mr. Steltemeier popped in and out of the office frequently. Seemed like a sweet, kind man, always had a smile on his face, really liked him. Think he may have been on the parish council but am not sure. My dad loved to watch Mother Angelica and was a friend with Bill. He told me years later that Mr. Steltemeier had moved to Alabama and all of that history. Curiously, around the same time, in in the early 70's, a young seminarian residing at St. Henry, David Choby, went on to become the Shepherd of the Nashville Diocese, it's 11th Bishop. He passed away last year. Funny, Bishop Barron reminds me of David in many ways. Never know where those roads will lead, but friends, just try to stay on the right one.

Though I like the approach you are taking to respond to this age-old question, the problem is that this is not what is typically preached in the homilies. Often, we get a washed-down version of God's eternal love for us, that everything is for an ultimate good and to trust in that. It's sort of like CCD. I always found it useless because we rarely cracked open a Bible. Instead, we get pamphlets or workbooks on caring and sharing, etc. You posted a video once speaking about your niece going away to college and the thick textbooks she had for her classes except for her religious class which you said was like a comic book. Well, that is what most of us have been handed for our entire Catholic education. I did get a Baltimore Catechism for children once and that scared the hell out of me. Now I see it also as a silly comic book. It was not until reading writings from C.S. Lewis and St. Thomas Aquinas that my eyes and heart have been opened. My struggle is now to witness to the former Catholics who left because the church failed them. This is most challenging when it comes to family members.

God bless you Bishop Barron Amen

Bishop - I realise that this is an older video, but even coming across this today has my eyes welled up and is affirming my decision to give my life back to our Lord. I was a paediatric oncology nurse for a few years. The question of "why??" came up so many times (daily). What you are describing here, about the page or paragraph out of a great novel, is as a tiny moment in time compared to the eternal and over arching story of life and creations by the Father. What is painful and can seem completely devastating now, at this moment, will have a small but important connection to all of us and the story of life. I don't think we can know "why", only He does and will.

I used Stephen Fry's 'rant against God' as a introduction to the problem of evil with my philosophy class and they found it easy to find the logical fallacies in his line of reasoning. They did not agree with his line of reasoning and found the Free Will Defence more than adequate philosophically speaking. It was useful as a homework task but that is all.

@robtaylor703

4 жыл бұрын

Defend free will. Please. Good luck.

@EVSmith-by9no

3 жыл бұрын

Defend the idea that free will is impossible. It’s easy just to wave one’s hand at common sense views like ‘I have free will because I experience making a choice to do something I wouldn’t otherwise have done’. But it’s not so easy actually giving good reasons for doing so. Nobody has given a particularly convincing reason why we should just throw out the idea of free will without invoking the Cartesian conception of mind which has been refuted or physical determinism which isn’t actually proven.

@ztrinx1

3 жыл бұрын

*You mean your theology class. Nothing you say indicate that you are an honest actor.

This video helped me so, so much. Five years ago this October I got hit by a serious illness, and soon after lost my career, and 3 years ago yesterday my marriage also ended, so I lost my health, my job, all my savings, and my family, in the space of a few short years, and it has been hard to make sense of, but I think I get it now... I think I am a much better person than I was before all this stuff happened, so it isn't "terrible, period" as Bishop Barron explains, and I feel a sense of meaning behind the losses that has alluded me these past years... thank you!!

@BishopBarron

4 жыл бұрын

God bless you.

@aimformyheadplease

4 жыл бұрын

@@BishopBarron Thank you Your Excellency, I sure appreciate that. EDIT: Not to belabour my thank you, but after all that happened, I lost my faith, wrongly thinking that God had abandoned me. But watching your videos (and your TV show that I got on DVD), as well as those of the late Bishop Sheen here on KZread, by the grace of God, they've brought me back to the Church, and I feel a very personal debt to you that I could never repay. And I see now looking back that even though I went to Mass every Sunday with my family, I never, ever sought Penance, and the more successful I became, the further away I was placing myself away from the things of God in preference to the things of the world, and only by having everything I held dear stripped away was I truly alone with God, even though I didn't recognize or appreciate it for a really long time. Thank God for you and your ministry, for it brought me back to the Church, and with an understanding and appreciation for the Church that I never had before. Even being disabled and mostly bed-ridden, I feel so much less alone and isolated now for I feel the power of the Holy Spirit guiding me... and that silence, solitude, and even suffering have gifts of their own. When I pray the Morning Offering it puts such purpose to whatever I might be going through on a particular day. I don't mean to go on and on, but I just wanted to express how much your videos have taught me, and have really changed my attitude about everything in my life.

Father, I continue to be inspired and edified by these videos. Thank you and God Bless you.

Amen! Thank you Bishop Barron.

This is my favourite video, it can’t be better

In describing God’s speech in the Book of Job, Bishop Barron very nicely articulated the language of the abuser, which is is to make the victim feel pathetic and small, so they will willingly give up their freedom. Also, the Bible is clear on why God inflicted so much suffering on Job: to win a bet with the devil.

Yes, that was awesome Fr Barron.. when we see what Jesus went through for us, Gods plan is a bit clearer, thx4sharing.

@teenherofilms

7 жыл бұрын

What crap. Get real. "God´s plan?" What plan?

@benrutherford4487

4 жыл бұрын

@@teenherofilms the plan of the judgement, salvation and redemption of all creation

@teenherofilms

4 жыл бұрын

@@benrutherford4487 This is just religious hogwash. Mark Twain said it best. "Religion was born when the first con man met the first fool"

@teenherofilms

4 жыл бұрын

@@benrutherford4487 Nobody is listening

@benrutherford4487

4 жыл бұрын

@@teenherofilms 177k views- straight is the gait and narrow is the way that leads to life and there are few who find it

As a someone coming back to my Catholic faith after years of skepticism and spiritual searching Fr. Barron really helps. It's also important to sympathize with people like Stephen Fry. After really wrestling with my issues I found out that my problems with Catholic Christianity were more so psychological and not so much philosophical or intellectual. I grew up in a very protestant, controlling faith. That controlling faith bred a lot of resentment in me towards God and Christ. The wrong targets of my resentment. I blamed them for the controlling and sinful nature of the people, in Christianity that I grew up in (Calvinistic Orthodox Presbyterianism).

@scotte4765

Жыл бұрын

Perhaps you meant some other word, but Stephen Fry and the many other skeptical non-believers who share his view on this don't need your sympathy. Skepticism isn't a disease or hardship. Empathy would certainly aid in communication, as far too many believers fail to recognize how significant the problem of suffering is as an obstacle to belief for many. It gets tiring hearing our objections condescendingly waved away as we're told "oh, you just want to sin" or "you just hate God," or the more subtle yet more patronizing, "you must have had a negative experience with religion." These are questions that need actual compelling answers, not just some emotional release. And that is what Fry and others of us need on this above all: compelling answers and evidence that aren't the transparently fallacious, worn-out, and unconvincing excuses we are always given. If you can't provide that, just admit it and keep the sympathy. There are plenty of suffering people going unhelped by any god who need it much more than we.

one of the best videos on youtube. I've been watching this video for the last 2 years and I take away something different each time. Thank you

Bishop Barron, First I would like to say, I thank God for the amazing gift He has given you and I thank you for choosing to use that gift for God's greater good! Secondly, I've watched your "Catholicism" series which is what introduced you to me, and every video of you that I have seen thereafter has been nothing short of compelling. Like many people, I too love the book of Job. It was the first story of the Bible that my father told me as a child, and it remains as the most profound story that I have ever known. I also like the example you gave in one of your episodes of Catholicism where you talked about a dog in a room full of books and how the dog can see the books along with the words on its pages but could never understand its meaning and purpose in a way that we humans can. Well I can only imagine that's how we are in the least comparison to God's understanding and knowledge. We can only trust in God and be thankful for the experience of the life he has given us - for both the good and the bad. For it is better to have lived and died than to never have lived at all. God bless all!

Thank you for this video fr. Barron

Thank you Bishop Barron. Helped me understand about suffering.

Your Excellency, your point of view is very much helpful. It reminded me of my advise to a dear friend to read the Book of Job in the face of great suffering. He committed suicide and possibly never read the commentary of the text, but it sure helped me to understand suffering. Your views are of startling clarity to me. many thanks for the 'World on Fire'.

Your genius is unmatched in this world. Thank you for shedding such wisdom on a reader-friendly level so that people like Stephan Fry, myself, Christians and humanity alike may make sense of this chaotic world. God bless :)

Thank you, dear Father for giving us this. I have so often been horrified at the arrogance of Stephen Fry, and his diatribes against the Faith. Whenever I have had things to suffer during life, of course I have accepted the suffering as redemptive, but, more than that, we should see that Our Blessed Lord, the Only-Begotten Son, Second Person of the Blessed Trinity - if He suffered to redeem mankind, then suffering is of the very greatest value if used correctly. I feel very sorry for Fry because in his brilliance - and he certainly is brilliant in so much of what he does and says - he is spiritually blind, and - it fills me with horror to say this - but suffering from the same over-weaning pride that sent Lucifer falling from Heaven into the Abyss. On another note: the Arabic peoples have a saying, "All sun makes a desert" - the idea being that we all need the showers, storms and rain-clouds in order to appreciate good times. Look at the misery of celebrities who apparently have wonderful lives but are never truly happy with their catalogue of divorce, remarriage and heaven knows what else. "All sun makes a desert".

@ztrinx1

4 жыл бұрын

Yeah, you don't sound arrogant at all. No way, right? It is incredible to read all of your comments here. The palpable arrogance and ignorance is something else.

@landzhark3823

4 жыл бұрын

@@ztrinx1 No one asked for an opinion from the Atheist peanut gallery. You're titling at windmills

Beautiful and thoughtful dissertation. God bless you.

that was so deep and worth it to think about. Thanks Bishop Barron!

Ah, this is one of my favorite videos of Bishop Barron; a Modern-Day Apostle after the mold of Paul. His natural ability to make Jesus’ life and teachings relevant to our time, to answer difficult questions that we all wrestle with, his way of making us look deep within and re-examine our own conscience, and even question our own arrogance - that is a Divine present for our generation. And the fact that Bishop Barron uses the predominant cultural medium of our time, KZread, to spread the faith just nails the idea that God provides indeed. This video made me smile, even laugh, at my own retarded questions - about poverty, injustice, addictions, despair. There are many things we cannot fully comprehend. We can only pretend we do. Sort of like a kid on a beach trying to fill his bucket with the ocean. I guess the best posture of the heart is heavenward, to believe and humbly carry our own crosses...in order to share in the mysterious saving power of Jesus, and joyfully hope for the glory of the resurrection. In my life, I’ve seen this is possible.

Thank you Bishop Barron. I especially loved the beautiful imagery of a fragment of a page in series of massive books. Suffering exists. What comes out of suffering, sometimes can be the most beautiful opportunity for us to love more deeply than we thought possible. And that experience expands our hearts and brings us closer to God. A lot of people are wanting some sort of "proof" of God. So to them I say this: the question is there a Creator, is like asking is there life? Further, (and this is breaking it down into its simplest form and most basic "proof") The fact that there is something rather than absolute and total nothingness, is God. God is not an object hiding somewhere in the universe that one day our telescopes might catch a glimpse of, so he can be catalogued by our science. God is existence itself. Even in the moment before the big bang where there was supposedly nothingness there was God--- no matter how far back you go to the beginning of the world, you will run into the problem of a Creator. Two atoms at the very beginning of time collide to create a big bang? Where did the atoms come from? For many of us who have had first hand experience of the supernatural, we are truly blessed. We don't have to grapple with this question or vehemently fight against the notion of a creator, or an afterlife. There are many testimonies from highly educated people who have been transformed from and out of atheism, after encounters with deep suffering, and Grace. Please start reading.

Father. God bless you for being awesome. I look forward to watch every one of your videos.

How many of us here were once fans of the New Atheists and are now practicing Christians? I was, but I am a Catholic now. Glory be to God!!!

@scotte4765

5 ай бұрын

Not here. Former Christian, been an atheist since long before the New Atheists came to prominence. With all due respect to Bishop Barron, who seems an intelligent and moral person, the arguments he made here weren't convincing then when other people made them and they aren't convincing now. Thanks be to real people who actually show up and do helpful things when help is needed!

Amazing as usual, Father B!!

I’m in bone marrow failure. Jesus is my Savior!

@NaYawkr

4 жыл бұрын

Celebrate your suffering, it is the Cross that Jesus told us, "Take Up Your Cross and Follow Me ", my yoke is easy, my burden is light " because the suffering you might have endured after death is infinitely worse, and possibly never ending. When Padre Pio once asked his guardian angel what about man made the fallen angels so envious of men that they rebelled against God and lost paradise forever ? The angel answered, " Because men can suffer for God " . So do not undervalue your suffering, thank God for it and for His Infinite Love and Mercy. I will pray for you that the infinite love of God fill your heart.

@MsFirefly1952

4 жыл бұрын

@@NaYawkr I believe that able bodied people have more to answer if accused than a bodily & mind suffering person, because they would have done away with sin

@zodglubby

4 жыл бұрын

@@MsFirefly1952 so it's better to not be able bodied? In a lot of ways it's a lot harder than being not able bodied

@MsFirefly1952

4 жыл бұрын

@@zodglubby Of course it is hard for able bodied person, the ability to act at one's discreation is a responsability. The human beings can be the authors of their own actions where this is in use responsabilities( good or bad) are in force, if otherwise does not have free will then this person is not responsable of their actions

@zodglubby

4 жыл бұрын

@@MsFirefly1952 agreed

The child is bigger than terminal brain cancer. We are bigger than the enormous suffering we experience. God has an incredibly huge future for us.

Really put suffering into context for me. Thank you, sir!

Fether Barron you explained well, but like our Lord Jesus said that many have ears, but cannot listenm, have eyes but cannot see, have brains but cannot understand and so on. I thank you for your reflections and I look forward for more of your KZread Word on Fire. May God continue to expand your talent to Proclaim His Word, Word on Fire that never burns, like the bush when Moses experienced at Mount Senai. Amen.

This is basically an iteration of “The Lord works in mysterious ways.” We need a better argument for the Atheists. The bone cancer in children is a strong argument and it needs a strong and definitive explanation. Asking people to trust God’s Providence in the face of cruelty leaves them vulnerable to Fry’s arguments.

@jimmy5634

4 жыл бұрын

cicadaa we don’t need anything. Don’t argue with them. When you do, you are falling into Satans entrapment and allowing yourself to be distracted by him. We come to God by faith, That’s it and that’s the only answer you need give to any atheist. Remember, Jesus sai before they hated you they hated me. Was Pilate converted? No, instead he allowed Jesus to be crucified.

@robtaylor703

4 жыл бұрын

@@jimmy5634 Yeah, who needs reasons to believe what they base their life on? Don't be silly.

@jameshogan6142

4 жыл бұрын

In the book of Genesis God asks our first parents not to eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil or there would be deathly consequences for themselves and their children. It would be like God asking Adam not to split the atom or the radioactive fallout would affect humanity for millennia. Sin has the same effect in causing human misery but it is still Adam's fault and not God's.

You're a beautiful person. Thank you for this video. I really liked the way you talked about this subject. You're just a really beautiful person. God Bless!

Thank you Bishop Baron for such wonderful insights

I was waiting for a reply to Stephen Fry and thank you Bishop Barron for that excellent explanation that even he might understand.

Fr. Barron, your arguments are so prescient, so rational, and so thorough that I'm not sure how anyone could NOT believe in God after seeing this clip. I want to add (and I'm a fan of Stephen Fry as "Jeeves") that if and when he comes face to face with his creator, he iis not going to be talking or arguing with him. He will be falling on his knees, overcome by mercy, grace, and love, and all of that previous nonsense will simply be burned away like a scrap of paper in a huge conflagration.

@justafanofz

9 жыл бұрын

What I have hope in, is the fact that he assumes God would not be able to answer his question, but God would be able to answer that question and he will see the majesty and wonder of God.

@SuperSupermanX1999

9 жыл бұрын

justafanofz Well that really depends upon whether or not Gods answer is a satisfactory one.

Amen! Powerful, logical response that gets at the heart of the matter! #Truth

brilliant, your grace!!! many thanks....

When bad things happen to us we either get bitter or better. We refuse to have perspective or go out looking for it. God of course in his plan makes use of any and all suffering to a greater good

@anonymousjohnson976

4 жыл бұрын

FK: You say: "god in his plan makes use of any and all suffering to a greater good?" Then, god is making people suffer because "the end justifies the means" which is saying "a good outcome excuses all wrongs to attain it."

@dreamer2260

3 жыл бұрын

@@anonymousjohnson976 It's even worse than that, because if the Christian God were real,, he would be actively choosing to create and increase suffering in the world when there was absolutely no need for it, as he is omnipotent and omniscient so could have devised a plan to achieve his goals without suffering.

Stephen Fry, despite his privileged background & education always had a superficial grasp on matters. However he is a good communicator and knows how to manipulate the media to maximum effect . He presents issues that require careful thought in how to respond succinctly. To my knowledge he never spoke or wrote about the wrongs and injustices that he could do something about ... poverty and economic inequality ... the system of exploitation that supported his hugely affluent and privileged lifestyle. Bishop Barron articulated the obvious answer to the question posed by Fry far better than I could ever do but I think in addition we need to say 'he who is without sin let him cast the first stone' - What have each individual --- we --- done to alleviate poverty, disease, deprivation and the wretched lives people lead in our country who are forced to live in crime ridden drug infested areas ??

@narrelleweir6383

4 жыл бұрын

@@izdatsumcp I have mental illness problems, however, it doesn't mean I am homosexual.

@mariepineda8040

4 жыл бұрын

izdatsumcp oh, is that so?

@mariepineda8040

4 жыл бұрын

That really bugs me. When rich influential people talk about the suffering of others but don’t do anything about it. I hope he went to the hospitals to visit the sick, fed the hungry, donated lots of money to research, to the sick, hire caretakers for those who are alone and sick, shit like that! Flexed whatever muscle he has to help ease the suffering that is around him. If he did, good for him. If not, he is just another basher of Christianity.

@izdatsumcp

4 жыл бұрын

@@narrelleweir6383 Who said it did? A implying B doesn't mean that B implies A. For example, all cars have wheels but not everything that has wheels is a car. God bless.

@izdatsumcp

4 жыл бұрын

@@mariepineda8040 Yup.

Thank you for putting suffering into context.

You are a perfect conduit for this type of belief. May you enjoy it forever.

I guess I still don’t understand because whether the suffering is part of a bigger picture or a paragraph in a book, in a series of books, the person experiencing the unrelenting pain and agony is still the one suffering in this larger part of the story, and to that person their suffering is real. To this day, our daughter is mostly bedridden at the hands of another driver that T-boned her. Excruciating pain, seizures, traumatic brain injury, no ability to work or go to school and loss of all of her friends. Her pain is very real and very lonely disease. How long can a teenager, a person at any age, sustain this meager existence? Yes, I understand that life is holy and a blessing, and God is God and the creator of all, but for the person in such severe agony and desolation, every day for over 2 1/2 years, how can you explain such a thing? When their existence has literally withered to a shadow…

I have thought of this problem more than once. Life is full of this horrible situations. And I have but only one question father. Shouldn't God - as our creator - make this world clear, readable, simple and understandable WITHOUT the need for translators and other specialists like YOU and other "high priests"? I do not talk to my children in ancient Latin and then punish them for not following my commandments

@ncgerstell

2 жыл бұрын

Yes, but YOU do teach your children, your children do not teach themselves. God's revelations include human guidance as per our nature, and they help us to grow in love and community with one another while also safeguarding against our fallen nature.

Lots of clever insights. For me, there is an opportunity here to recognise -with compassion - Mr Fry's deep suffering. His view of the world is pretty bleak and he has to live in his head, with an anti-God outlook and without solace. That is surely a heavy cross to carry. Possibly his grief and suffering will crack him open and he will receive Divine healing, possibly not. But certainly, Stephen deserves our love and compassion. He has a well documented personal history of severe mental illness and personally I wish for him to come to a place of wholeness and healing and to learn the truth about himself and this glorious cosmos.

Thank you father. God bless you!

I love Stephen Fry’s talent despite his atheism

@wolfthequarrelsome504

4 жыл бұрын

Narrow mindedness?

@lancaster643

4 жыл бұрын

I'm disappointed by Fry's lack of capacity to grasp these realities (really shocked by his simple-mindedness actually) despite his otherwise likeable traits. Thank you Bishop Barron.

I M P O R T A N T Pray for one another.

@Oh4Chrissake

5 жыл бұрын

*I M P O R T A N T* ... evidence: www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16023511 www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16569567

@calson814

5 жыл бұрын

@@Oh4Chrissake IMPORTANT : DO SOME RESEARCH

@johnf.kennedy7339

3 жыл бұрын

@@randombobsmith8925 The original poster of that very touching message is not suggesting that there is some kind of Orwellian consequences if one does not offer prayers for one another. But, in my opinion, it would be a good idea to pray for one another in this time of COVID pandemic of the many sick, dying, isolated, and alienated people in this world are now experiencing. It may be that the sins of the world have so outweighed the Lord’s tolerance level, that, in kind, espouses the black imagery you’ve used in your comment, i.e., plague and locusts.

@johnf.kennedy7339

3 жыл бұрын

@@randombobsmith8925 That question is too general for me to attempt to answer that, in that way. I can say, however, that just because a person does not believe in something, does not mean it isn’t true. Far from it. It would help a great deal, however, for a person to believe in God in order for prayer to have any effect. As it would not matter to you if I were able to give some extraneous example, anyway. I am quite sure for praying to be effectual, one must believe in the Holy One. If one does not believe, then one does not pray. And I’m quite sure you wouldn’t see any results, and not be too interested if I could offer up an example, anyway.

@johnf.kennedy7339

3 жыл бұрын

@@randombobsmith8925 This is a new question. It is a different question. Show me then from your original question that is what you said. If you can, I’ll look. If not, than I’ll refer you to my original answer.

As someone who would have previously labelled themselves "atheist" but is now questioning their faith, this was a real clear counter argument to the problem of suffering, thanks Bishop

@scotte4765

Жыл бұрын

How so? Barron's main argument is to presuppose that God exists and has a grand beautiful plan that makes suffering not only worthwhile but necessary. When the Problem of Suffering is a challenge to claims of this God's existence, simply assuming he exists and that the Problem isn't a problem isn't a very good counter to it.

@dafilro

7 ай бұрын

⁠@@scotte4765but to even pose the problem of evil you need to presuppose God’s existence at least provisionally. It is an objection to the internal coherence of God’s existence and therefore must be thought about within that framework.

@scotte4765

7 ай бұрын

@@dafilro If by presuppose provisionally you mean consider it as a claim to be evaluated, sure. That's not what Barron is doing. He is presupposing God's existence and then using that presumption to say that the problem is already solved and the claim is established as true. To put it another way, he is defining into existence a being that possesses the characteristic of "automatically solves all problems, including logical and evidential challenges to its own existence". Barron is in other respects a smart man and a careful thinker and should have seen the obvious circularity of this. At some point you have to show actual evidence that it exists and that it possesses the traits you claim it does.

What a great hand-waving non-answer!

@BishopBarron

7 жыл бұрын

NOBODY NOWHERE I agree: Fry has no real answer.

@nobodynowhere7163

7 жыл бұрын

Actually it is the religious who are supposed to provide an answer, Mr. Barron. You know very well that this is a very old philosophical problem (Problem of Evil, Epicurus, 300 BCE) to which a non-ambiguous and valid solution is that there is no god. The unbelievers are philosophically justified to leave it at that.

@BishopBarron

7 жыл бұрын

Apparently unacquainted with sarcasm...I'm pulling your leg, friend. I'm not sure why the burden of proof necessarily lies with religious people. It can be shown on the basis of the argument from contingency that God exists. Therefore, we all have to be about the business of figuring out how to reconcile this fact with the presence of evil. I do think I provided the outline of an answer, namely, that evil is not, in itself, a mode of existence, but rather of privation. Therefore, it is not caused by God, but only permitted. And it is permitted so as to bring about or make possible some good which wouldn't otherwise exist. The bottom line is that finite minds cannot, even in principle, understand the workings of an infinite mind, charged with the governance of all of space and all of time. That a good deal of this remains mysterious, therefore, really isn't that much of a puzzle.

@nobodynowhere7163

7 жыл бұрын

The Argument from Contingency (a.k.a Cosmological Argument) has been rebutted ever since the church stopped burning people for heresy. David Hume, J.S. Mill, Bertrand Russell, and, recently, Carl Sagan all have explained time and again that stating that a god does not require a cause is at the same level as stating the universe does not require a cause. The extra complication of invoking a god may very well be deemed unnecessary. Now, you may choose some god of theistic nature as first cause, but not without getting embroiled in further contradictions such as claiming to know what a god permits and then, in the next sentence, stating that we cannot understand it and, further, that it is all mysterious anyway. As I said, the Epicurean Problem of Evil has a perfectly good solution by stating that god does not exist. If you figure that there is a god, then it is on you (and exclusively for you and some religious audience) to reconcile it with the real world.

@BishopBarron

7 жыл бұрын

NOBODY NOWHERE Not even close to answering the argument! Show me precisely where the logic fails.

Thank you Father! I like to think of another counter argument, although not as theologically astute as your own. Following on the assumption that God exists and we are creations of God, then we can also assume that God has gifted us with both a mind and a heart. I posit that human beings have the capacity to cure bone cancer in children. However, our mismanagement of resources, our lack of priorities, our greed and a plethora of other mistakes have stunted this capacity. We have built enough nuclear weapons to destroy the earth over and over, yet terminal illnesses in children remain. Is that really God' fault, or do we bear some of that blame?

@labrynianrebel

9 жыл бұрын

That's one of my views, that a lot of suffering is caused by human's free will. And I view giving humanity free will to be worth the price in the long term, choosing good is meaningless if you can't choose evil. Just my two cents.

@seamuskennefick7692

9 жыл бұрын

I do agree. When I looked at Sam Harris' complaint against religious people who say "God loves me, he cured me of my eczema. He makes me feel so good singing in church, and just when it couldn't get any better, he found a great banker to help my grandmother on her mortgage" and called it "morally reprehensible." Why? Because of the suffering of others surrounding you. Hmm, do you really think any rational thinking Christian (and yes, that is the case, there are a vast number of them and it's not a paradox) would ignore the suffering of their fellow man and do nothing about it? In fact, if we help those in need, wouldn't that be a sign that God loves them, too?

@kenkenyon1682

9 жыл бұрын

60 years ago Mr. Fry might have said "What about the children with Polio?" And the people rose up and applied their God given talents and resources and overcame the evil. We are called by Jesus to do the same now against current evils.

@harpersneil

9 жыл бұрын

Ken Kenyon Who's side are you arguing for? Where did the Polio come from...?! Thanks God for giving us the talent to cure a disease you tenderly gifted us with in the first place!!

@kenkenyon1682

9 жыл бұрын

harpersneil The important thing is how we respond to evil.

Thank you, I've been struggling with that video for sometime now...

As health professionals continuously study and discover, there is a reason behind every illness. They just don't know all of the reasons yet. It's not that God gave us sickness, it's that we gave it to ourselves and people who love and serve others will hopefully correct that problem.

Thanks much for this video.

This is very good explanation for someone who is already a Christian but it falls flat on the atheist. Like one commenter below said, "the boil down is that God works in mysterious ways." Not helpful at all to someone who doesn't believe in God. I wish more atheists AND Christians would read Rene Girard's books. The Bible decodes mythology and that is concrete anthropology that even an anti-supernatural atheist can see. Job's friends are delegates from the mob who want to convict Job in his innocence. This is a spectacular revelation in a world of myth where the unknowing mob is always right and the innocent victim is always portrayed as guilty. Atheists too often hear Christians depicting God as the one convicting the innocent, depicting a God from whom violent judgement comes.

@godislove8740

4 жыл бұрын

Thanks. I've recently discovered Gerard and enjoyed him. In fact I've gone all tingly writing this comment. 😍

@godislove8740

4 жыл бұрын

His commentary of peters denial on you tube is wonderful.

I recommend looking up G.K. Chesterton's views on original sin and the evil in the world around us.

This is wonderful!

Father, While I don't really have much of a problem with the problem of evil, I have been having trouble believing in certain aspects of the faith. I would like to list several arguments against/problems with the faith that I would love to see addressed: -Even if there is an uncaused cause, an unmoved mover that we can call God and from which all things proceed, why is it that we attribute many other qualities to him (like, for example, goodness)? -How do we know what is a sin and what isn't? -Why is it that we believe in a life after this one? -Is the reason that I hear that 'God is present in everything' because God is the cause of everything, and therefor is in some way related to every single thing? -What does it mean when people say that 'Jesus died for our sins'? Why was Jesus necessary? -Why do we say that God is perfect? Is it because he is existence itself? -What exactly is prayer? Based on what I've heard of God, he isn't exactly a being.

Great piece Father! I've come to believe that suffering is a call to God. No one escapes suffering, as with death. Suffering makes one reach out beyond themselves, before we die. And the Lord has given us the help we need through prayer, and yes science, to cure and eventually eradicate every affliction known to man. btw.... bone cancer in children is very rare. But a child's suffering is usually not from disease. No, men are the problem, not God! God Bless!

@atheistlehman4420

9 жыл бұрын

Excuse me, but why exactly is it that "men are the problem"? Why is God not responsible for the creation that he would have known about, before he created it (or is he not all knowing?) Anyone who believes in an all knowing, all powerful, God, who allows terrible suffering of those who are innocent, and will plead that God is not the problem, is most likely a slave to their superstitious religious beliefs.

@ronedee

9 жыл бұрын

Atheist Lehman Look around you! How is God the cause of pain, suffering and evil? And why would an Atheist be blaming God? A real atheist would agree that men are their own worst enemy! Joined together in harmony, and peace we humans could have every valuable resource that exists to eradicate most pain, suffering and evil in this world. But, we choose not to! We would rather fight, subjugate and destroy ourselves by every means available... including religion! No sir... man is the problem. Not God. We want the knowledge of God, without the Wisdom of God.

@atheistlehman4420

9 жыл бұрын

rone dee And how much suffering exists that is not caused by humans? I'd wager that only a small portion of all suffering is a direct consequence of human works. How many have died painful from diseases, famines, natural disasters, infections, etc. If God is the creator, he surely created all of those. If God is all knowing, he would have known the consequences. If God is all good, why do they still happen? In short, God doesn't get to be all knowing, and all powerful, without taking the vast majority of the blame. This is probably the main reason I would never worship God, even if I knew he existed.

@ronedee

9 жыл бұрын

Atheist Lehman LOL! You don't know... so why make a blanket statement like: "This is probably the main reason....". That's horseshit! Obviously.... there is a reason. And we just don't know it... yet! There are too many things unexplained in this life for me to say something as nonsensical as your statement. The majority of humans have "good" things instilled in them from birth. Why? Darwin natural selection? We ignore those "good" things, against our true "God given" nature for selfish reasons. The "good" self-evident traits that exist in humans we constantly ignore: Love, Peace and Truth. We would rather embrace: Hate, War and Lies. One leads to Life. The other leads to death! And all we do is complain about God! A handy scapegoat! Really now... do you blame your parents for everything that happens to you in life? No! that would be IDIOTIC! THEY GAVE YOU LIFE! Do you see what I'm getting at here? What more do you want from someone that gave you life? Isa:"Your thoughts are not my thoughts says the Lord. Neither are your ways my ways." Its time to pull your head out of.... the sand! Stop using your ignorance as an excuse, and God as your scapegoat for the bad things that men do!

@atheistlehman4420

9 жыл бұрын

rone dee I'm not blaming God for anything. I'm not accusing God of anything. I don't even believe that your God exists! What I'm pointing out is the obvious contradiction between your God, and reality, namely the horrors that happen in the world despite the existence of your supposedly perfect, all powerful, good God. What I do blame, for many things, *is what people do in Gods name*. How many suicide jihadi's has the world seen in the last 100 years? How many homosexuals have had rights denied because they believe God doesn't like gay. How much sectarian violence have we had over history with countless deaths? How many became slaves because your holy book sanctions slavery? If I'm ignorant about God, it's because God provides no evidence. If God can't be bothered to demonstrate himself to me, I can't be bothered to care about God!

Stephen Fry in that video is simply saying things as he sees them like Bishop Barron is here. I hardly think it's reasonable to call him arrogant

We lived in a perfect world without evil and suffering, but we messed up and that's why we're here.

@scotte4765

3 жыл бұрын

I messed up? Tell me exactly what I did, and when, that causes bone cancer in children.

@BerishaFatian

3 жыл бұрын

This will answer your question.

@Android-ds9ie

3 жыл бұрын

I did not it was Adam and his eve

I agree what on a universal scale, anything that happens to us individually is relatively unremarkable. However, to us, that thing mean everything. If a parent has a child who dies from cancer, to the parent, that pain is unimaginable. We can't possibly have the perspective God has about all of creation, yet he MUST have/know what our perspective is. Why then does God allow such things to happen to us and to the most innocent of us (children)?

People speak too much about the problem of evil. My question is, what about the problem of the good? If the universe is meaningless, why do we encounter beauty or love. No body believes in God because they have all the answers but because they have encountered God. Regardless of how fleeting or rare that encounter might be. Job withdrew his objection to the evil done to him after he had encountered God. The real problem is the fact that we can find God even in a world filled with evil.

@atheistlehman4420

9 жыл бұрын

*If the universe is meaningless, why do we encounter beauty or love."* Because beauty and love are subjective emotions one feels. If one wants to find a cause of subjective emotions, one can look to evolution, which has endowed us with the ability to have these soft emotions, for the betterment of our species. Ultimately, the universe is pittyless, and indifferent to us. Good and evil are subjective terms to describe things we find positive, and negative. *"No body believes in God because they have all the answers, but because they have encountered God."* And I have not encountered God. I have never seen even the slightest hint that any god or gods exists, despite all my efforts. Every argument made for God contains a logical fallacy in it. Every piece of evidence is ambiguous, and non confirming. The supernatural is a hypothesis for which we will never be able to confirm. If God wanted to reveal himself to me, I've got two tests in my mind that (assuming he can read thoughts) will give me enough to become a believer. I have yet to see any attempt at these tests. So my question is, why doesn't God reveal himself to everyone in such a way that we would all know that he exists? Why the mystery? Why doesn't anybody know God's will?

@lilrat489

9 жыл бұрын

Atheist Lehman Yes love is a chemical reaction in the brain, just as ALL of our senses are.and it is a result of evolution. I agree 100%. Going by your logic, we shouldn't trust our sight or any other aspect of experience. In fact your argument actually strengthens mine. grounding beauty and love, etc to brain activity and evolutionary advantage, only makes it that more objective. also, Just because you can "explain" a secondary cause does not rule out a primary cause (if you are familiar with causality). love is real just like the color green is real. because we experience it. Sure, you can become an anti-realist and say that we can't trust our senses, but that is your choice. But I would say that it is a very unhelpful way of viewing experience. Now, you say that good and evil is subjective. well, what do you mean by this? If you mean morality, then I agree with you. Morality is subjective to culture. morality is a matter of behavior. I am not talking about morality, but rather final ends or the fullness of being. I believe that their is such thing as true and honest humanity. This is not a matter of subjectivity given that we are all human beings.I don't know the ultimate meaning of the universe. I only know humanity. And believe it or not, I have experienced or encountered such humanity. not only within myself but even in relationship with others. The love that I have for my family and friends. Yes the love that I have for them is a result of biology and evolution, etc. It is a fact that the love that I have for people in my life, fulfills me. It is real, it is not make believe. Yes the universe by in larges seems chaotic, but if you look first at what is familiar, (yourself and those related to you) it doesn't seem so. remember we are all apart of the the universe. It seems pretty arrogant to say that your judgement rules out that of most of human beings living today. Just because a blind man says that the world is dark and without form, doesn't mean that that is the truth. you say there is no God and that the world is pitiless, I and many many others say that there is a supernatural order to the universe. like the blind man who insists that the world is dark, one can never persuade him. Unless he himself is prepared to trust the judgement of those who say that they do see, he will never be convinced. So, to answer your last question, God has revealed himself. God is being, God is truth, God is existence. God is not some life form that lives in some extra dimension.

@atheistlehman4420

9 жыл бұрын

lilrat489 *"Going by your logic, we shouldn't trust our sight or any other aspect of experience."* This is not my position at all, and I don't know how you came up with that. Our experiences, while we cannot prove they are real, are all that we have. Reality is real, and it's axiomatic to accept that, however, we should be skeptical of our experience because we know our brains are fallible, and we can never be sure our senses are correct. This does not mean that we should disregard them all together. "*Just because you can "explain" a secondary cause does not rule out a primary cause"* And if you want to claim that God, or anything supernatural, is the primary cause, please show me proof of that cause. Show me a way to prove the supernatural. As far as I can tell, the supernatural doesn't seem to exist, or at the very least we have no way to confirm it. *"love is real just like the color green is real. because we experience"* Love is a description for an emotion that we feel, just like green is a description for how our brain interprets a certain wavelength of light. It doesn't make green real. *"Now, you say that good and evil is subjective. well, what do you mean by this?"* I mean that good and evil do not actually exist, but are rather descriptive labels that we use. They are conceptual in nature, and are not a property of anything. What I call good, somebody else may not call good. There is no objective list of all things "good" or "evil", and is entirely subjective to the person examining something to decide whether they call it good or evil. *"It seems pretty arrogant to say that your judgement rules out that of most of human beings living today."* I don't understand what you're trying to say by this. *"Just because a blind man says that the world is dark and without form, doesn't mean that that is the truth. you say there is no God and that the world is pitiless, I and many many others say that there is a supernatural order to the universe. like the blind man who insists that the world is dark, one can never persuade him."* Are you trying to claim that you, as a theist, have some kind of God detection device that allows you to know that God is real? Is it a reliable tool? How have you determined that it's reliable? How do you know that your brains are overreacting and giving you some kind of false positive... How do you prove the supernatural? *"God is being, God is truth, God is existence."* This sounds like some half-baked, new age mumbo-jumbo. We already have good labels for those concepts, and I don't need to throw the nebulous "God" term to muddy the waters. Why do you feel the need to call God something for which we already have an adequate description?

@lilrat489

9 жыл бұрын

Atheist Lehman what I meant by, "it seems pretty arrogant to say that your judgement rules out that of most human beings living today", I am referring to the fact that most of the population believe in the supernatural. I am saying that it is arrogant to think that your lack of belief or ignorance means that billions of people are somehow wrong. "This is not my position at all, and I don't know how you came up with that" you specifically said, love and beauty are subjective interpretations, and a result of an aimless process (saying that the universe is meaningless). which can only mean (given your position)that you think they are merely the result of brain activity. by saying this, you are implying that they have no real objectivity. that we cannot really trust them. you use this claim (that beauty and love are subjective) to say that love and beauty are some how not real and are not reason to believe in God. thus I reply then we don't really have any reason to trust our other senses either. of course this is not your positions, I am simply saying that you are be biased with your logic. also, our belief in the validity of our sense are axiomatic. I never said that they weren't. We trust them because as you said, they are all we got. should we be skeptical? yes, only when given reason to. absolute skepticism get us nowhere. I have no reason to doubt the validity of love as a real experience nor that of beauty. All major theistic traditions claim that God is existence. this is not new age stuff. Just read Thomas Aquinas "God is being in and of itself" God is not a being among other beings. God can even be said to be beyond being, given that God is called the fountainhead of being. I am talking about the absolute or necessity. this exists by necessity. the question is not does God exist but rather what is the nature of existence.

@atheistlehman4420

9 жыл бұрын

lilrat489 *"I am saying that it is arrogant to think that your lack of belief or ignorance means that billions of people are somehow wrong."* You committed the argumentum ad populum fallacy. The popularity of an idea does not, in any way, tell me anything about the correctness of the idea. Truth is indifferent to what people believe! As for love and beauty, they exist as subjective experiences in your brain. Please tell me how I can know what you *actually* experience as love or beauty, or how any of this shows that any gods exist? I don't know if what you experience as green is in any way like what I experience as green, nor can I ever know what love is like for you, only what makes you feel love. As for the nature of God, it's all mumbo-jumbo to me. It's completely meaningless and a vague attempt to try and define something without being specific enough to actually define anything.

Catholicism is pretty simple once you actually think about it.

@robtaylor703

4 жыл бұрын

Once you *don't* think about it.

@ryanbyrne259

4 жыл бұрын

Amen bro

@nickmelville7220

3 жыл бұрын

@@robtaylor703 Nah.

@nickmelville7220

3 жыл бұрын

Very True

@sunray9315

3 жыл бұрын

It needs to be for the audience who follow it.

We are so blessed to have the words and kindness of Stephen Fry

Thank you

Kept thinking about Terrence Malick´s Tree of Life throughout the video.

@sakanablesakanable

2 жыл бұрын

Can you please recommend about this?

This part of the book of Job changed my life decades ago.

Very interesting explanation

…Excellent ending! Good Friday indeed - a total summation of the situation, Bishop! Perhaps this would fly right over the unbeliever’s head - but I think it says everything. It made me think well enough! I prefer to listen to Christ - and believe in Him with all my spirit and soul… I sought total faith - but I did so in hindsight once the penny had dropped and I realized it was all a gift - my life was the gift - and it made me so humble and clean. I am His servant now. One feels sorry for the Frys of this world. I pray he gets the experience of realization of what matters through God. And that is faith - faith way beyond all suffering for the love of life and that means others and all the creation - God’s mighty gift which cannot be praised nearly enough. It’s a childlike situation.

@scotte4765

11 ай бұрын

Whatever faith or belief makes you happy in your private life, go for it. Seriously. But please take your condescending pity for thinking non-believers and keep it to yourself. We don't need it, it helps no one, and it makes you seem like a pompous ass when most of the time you are probably not. If you want to actually respond to questions and objections from non-believers in an intelligent way, that's entirely welcome.