Suffering and blessing

If God is all good, all just, and all powerful, then why is there evil in the world?
If there is evil in the world, is that proof of Gods non existence?
What of natural evil vs moral evil?

These questions, these questions theologians have pondered down through the ages, wise men and prophets, priests and teachers, monks and ascetics, all have meditated on these very questions.

The third chapter of the book of the Lamentations of Jeremiah the Prophet, together with the entire book of Job and a reading of the Catholic Catechism on the question of evil are necessary for a proper understanding of this perplexing paradox.

Come now, and let us reason together.

Lamentations III vv. I-XII (quoted from the RSV-Catholic Edition thanks to biblegateway.com)
I am the man who has seen affliction
    under the rod of his wrath;
² he has driven and brought me
    into darkness without any light;
³ surely against me he turns his hand
    again and again the whole day long.

⁴ He has made my flesh and my skin waste away,
    and broken my bones;
⁵ he has besieged and enveloped me
    with bitterness and tribulation;
⁶ he has made me dwell in darkness
    like the dead of long ago.

⁷ He has walled me about so that I cannot escape;
    he has put heavy chains on me;
⁸ though I call and cry for help,
    he shuts out my prayer;
⁹ he has blocked my ways with hewn stones,
    he has made my paths crooked.

¹⁰ He is to me like a bear lying in wait,
    like a lion in hiding;
¹¹ he led me off my way and tore me to pieces;
    he has made me desolate;
¹² he bent his bow and set me
    as a mark for his arrow.

Now, these words seem like the Prophet is accusing God.  But God forbid!  A Prophet of the LORD would never accuse his Master falsely, since we know God is not the author of evil.  So what's going on here?  God is the Master, the Controller, the Sovereign Lord, the Emperor of All, the Maker and Designer, the Creator, Omnipotent, Omniscient, Omnibenevolent, Omnipresent, Truth Itself, Justice Itself, Love Itself, Life Itself, Being Itself, Benevolence Itself, Perfect, Immanent and Immutable, Infallible and Ineffable, Transcendent and Terrific.

So therefore, to form an orthodox exegesis of this passage, this must all be kept in mind or these passages can easily be misinterpreted.  The Prophet is crying in anguish after seeing the Holy City Jerusalem, and even worse, the Holy Temple destroyed, seeing men, women, and children killed, seeing the Holy Things ransacked by barbarian Babylonians beseeching Baal's for blessing.  This was unthinkable to a Jew of the 6th century B.C., it must've seemed like God was truly non existent.  But the point of this third chapter of Lamentations is not to despair, though it certainly reads as though Jeremiah was in despair, but he then goes on to say in verses 21-24 But this I call to mind,
    and therefore I have hope:

²² The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases,^[b]
    his mercies never come to an end;
²³ they are new every morning;
    great is thy faithfulness.
²⁴ “The Lord is my portion,” says my soul,
    “therefore I will hope in him.”

Ah, there's the Prophetic Spirit.  The Prophet may fall into a temporary feeling of despair, but the Prophet shall overcome this despair by the Mighty Power of the Holy One of Israel.  The love of YHWH NEVER ceases!  Our soul CRIES out, "I WILL hope in HIM".  And remember this you Catholics, all you Christians - when you are Baptized, you are baptized into the Body of Christ, each and every member of the Mystical Body is anointed as a Priest, a Prophet, and a King.  You, yes YOU reading this, are a PROPHET of God.  You are a PRIEST.  You are a KING!  Do you not see the inheritance which has been vouchsafed unto you?  Jesus came as THE Prophet, so we could all be prophets, he came as the HIGH Priest so we could all be Priests (don't confuse my words, there is the Priesthood of all believers and also a special Ministerial Priesthood), He came as KING of Kings so that we can all be kings!  What hope this ought to inspire in us!  Can you imagine what our eternal dwelling is going to be like?  No, you can't, because your finite mind cannot contain the infinite Deity who holds an entire universe in existence the way we hold a newborn infant.

So what does it mean to be a Priest, a Prophet and a King as a 21st century American Catholic?  Being a Priest revolves around sacrifice.  So for a layman such as myself, I fulfill my Priestly duty by making sacrifices for the good of my family and others, spiritual sacrifices, almsdeeds, intercessory prayer, etc.  I fulfill my Prophetic role when I speak the word of God in Spirit and Truth - if what I am saying is 100% orthodox, 100% Catholic, and 100% true, than it has to be of God.  If it's 99% true and 1% false, woe unto me for prophesying falsely.  What is prophecy?  It's not fortune telling, although that was an aspect of earlier times when the Office of Prophet was in its pre-Christ stage.  Since all Public Revelation has been given and closed at the end of the 1st century of Our Lord, no new public revelation has come about.  This doesn't mean no body has prophesied since then - indeed, every word of Scripture is written in the Spirit of Prophecy, and the Apostolic Fathers, Nicene Fathers, Doctors of the Church and Supreme Pontiffs, surely each and every one of them was a Prophet in their own right.  Prophecy can be this simple - telling a person Jesus Christ is the Way, the Truth and the Life.  There's no need to go all Latter Day Saints and think you have special secrets or powers that aren't accessible to anyone but the "chosen".  The gift of prophecy is a free gift given by the grace of God, which many Christians simply don't know exists or don't even realize when they are prophesying - any time a person speaks a Scripture out loud, it can be considered prophesying.  Keep in mind as well, even the Old Testament Prophets, were each and all intensely individualistic and totally unique.  For example, Moses the Lawgiving Prophet, Joshua the General of Israel's Armies and Prophet, Samson the Strongman Prophet, Gideon the Warrior Prophet, Ehud the Courageous Prophet, Elijah and Elisha the Forerunning and Wonderworking Prophets, Isaiah the Great Prophet, Ezekiel the Priest-Seer Prophet, Daniel the Wise Prophet, Job the Suffering Prophet, Amos the Prophet to the North, Jonah the Prophet to Nineveh, and on and on and on.

Now last we come to our final office, we are each and all kings by virtue of being heirs and sons of the King of Kings.  First though, a quick bit of awesomeness.

Samson killing a lion with his bare hands.... Samson was the original worlds strongest man!

And... now I am tired and don't feel like writing any more, so I shall end my mindless rant here and now, before I lull you to sleep if you are still with me. 

I love you all so much, and if a single person reads a single sentence of this, then my mission is fulfilled.  So God bless you, and please pray for me as I have gone through a good amount of suffering recently.  Please pray God help relieve my physical pain and emotional exhaustion In His Good Time and Pleasure. 

Holy Mary, refuge of sinners, pray for us

Lord Jesus, friend of sinners, have mercy on us

Holy Guardian Angels, guides of sinners, help us

Lord Jesus Christ please especially bless all hospital workers, nurses, EMT's, paramedics, doctors, LNAs and CMA's, all people who work at preserving precious Life and alleviating suffering on a daily basis, bless them, help them, save them and keep them O God by thy Grace, especially I pray for my friends Oscar, Abby and Sherry, prosper them temporally and eternally, forever and always, amen.

Almighty God especially please be with, bless the work of their hands, and guide with wisdom and knowledge, together with compassion and understanding to heal and mend broken bodies and wounded souls, especially the Catholic Medical Center, Elliot Hospital, VA Hospital, and Dartmouth Hitchcock clinic, and all clinics and hospitals in the Diocese of Manchester.

+Yours in Christ Jesus,

Jason Michael Spyridon Prewara

IC XC NIKA

The Four Rivers of the Garden of Eden

Paradise.  The Garden of Eden.  The four rivers which run through Paradise or the Garden of Eden have long been a subject of debate to Jewish sages and rabbis, and Christian Saints, Popes, Doctors and Theologians.

After study and mediation, my personal opinion can be outlined thus.

First of all, here are the relevant verses from Sacred Scripture (From the RSV-Catholic Edition)

Genesis 2:10-14 "A river flowed out of Eden to water the garden, and there it divided and became four rivers. ¹¹ The name of the first is Pishon; it is the one which flows around the whole land of Hav′ilah, where there is gold; ¹² and the gold of that land is good; bdellium and onyx stone are there. ¹³ The name of the second river is Gihon; it is the one which flows around the whole land of Cush. ¹⁴ And the name of the third river is Tigris, which flows east of Assyria. And the fourth river is the Euphra′tes."

The names and locations of the third and fourth river, according to both Sacred Scripture and Sacred Tradition, have long been known.  The original Hebrew name and the KJV translation of the third river is Hiddekel - the Hiddekel has long been identified as the Tigris.  The original Hebrew name for the fourth river is Perath, or Prath, and has long been identified as the Euphrates.

So we know both the name and location of the third and fourth Rivers of Paradise - the Tigris and Euphrates.

Here's where my conjecture and opinion will come in, and I will start by posting a picture so you can see what I believe - I believe the Achaemenid Empire of Persia which God raised up and gave to Cyrus the Great stretched from the 1st to the 2nd river of Paradise, and had the 3rd and 4th rivers of Paradise at its heart.

Behold:

As you can see, the Persian Empire was MASSIVE.  And what I believe is that it stretched from the Indus in the East in India - or, if you will, from the Pishon in Havilah.  And that it continued and stretched all the way to the Nile in Egypt in the West - or, the Gihon that flows through the land of Cush.

According to Josephus, he believed the Pishon was either the Ganges or the Indus, and that the land of Havilah corresponds to India.  In support of the Indus being the Pishon is the fact that there is a modern (and ancient) city named Havelian which is located on the upper Indus River, in modern Abbottabad, Pakistan.  Also in support of this idea is the ancient Aramaic Targum Neofiti (Targum TN), which identifies Chawilah (Havilah) as India.  Targum PJ - pseudo-Jonathan, translate Havilah as "Hindike", agreeing with Josephus that Havilah is India.  There is also compelling evidence that St. Jerome and St. Ambrose and others believed Havilah was India, and that the Pishon was either the Indus or the Ganges. 

So my contention that Havilah is India and the Pishon is the Indus is not a new idea.

And last but not least, we have the first river mentioned in the second chapter of Genesis, the Gihon.

I again find myself in agreement with Josephus, that the Gihon is the Nile.  Whether the blue Nile, or the White Nile is irrelevant as both flow into the Upper Nile, and all the Nile is one long river... the fact is and my belief is the Gihon is the Nile and the land of Cush of the land of Africa, the land of Ethiopia and Egypt which the Nile flows through.  Ethiopian tradition has long identified the blue Nile with the Gihon.

So while some ancient Jewish and Christian commentators argued the opposite, that Gihon was in the East possibly in modern day Afghanistan, Pakistan, India, Iraq or Iran somewhere, or that Pishon was in the West and was the Nile....

My current belief is in line with Josephus and others through the ages who believed the Gihon is the Nile which flows through various countries in Africa (Cush) and the Pishon flows through India, a land renowned for its gold (India has the largest amount of gold reserves in the world today - over 550 tons.  Also, bdellium whether it refers to an aromatic gum or pearls, is abundant in India.  And finally, the onyx stone, or "eben" in the Hebrew, which literally just means stone, well... India is well known for having large amounts of all sorts of gemstones. 

Does anyone doubt India could possibly be the land of Havilah?  And if India is possibly Havilah, the best candidates for the River Pishon are either the Indus or the Ganges, and I prefer the Indus for reasons I will get into in a minute.Paradise comes from the ancient Persian or Avestan pairidaeza, and came into the Bible by way of the Greek Paradeisos, and into English by way of Latin paradisum, Old French paradis, and middle English into modern English as Paradise.

In the Hebrew Old Testament, the word Paradise is used three times, in Nehemiah 2:8 "Asaph the keeper of the kings forest", the word forest in Hebrew being pardace, the Hebrew transliteration or loan word of the Persian paradise.  Ecclesiastes 2:5 "I made me gardens and orchards" - the word orchards can be translated also parks, as it is again the Persian loanword Paradise.  And the final time in the Hebrew Bible we find it in Canticles 4:13 "Thy plants are an orchard" - a paradise. 

In fact, the ancient Greek Septuagint translation of Genesis and also our Latin Vulgate actually translate Genesis 2:8 to read that God planted a "Paradise of Pleasure", a pleasure park, taking Eden to mean a Paradise or park or luscious orchard, and Gan / Garden to mean pleasure, lusciousness.  It is my belief this pleasure park, this luscious garden, this paradise of pleasure was a spiritual place which was openly dwelled in on the physical earth by our first parents Adam and Eve. 

Sacred Tradition tells us that Adam and Eve, before their fall, possessed impassibility - freedom from pain.  Immortality - freedom from death.  Integrity - freedom from concupiscence or disordered desires.  Infused Knowledge - freedom from ignorance in matters regarding to happiness.  St. Thomas teaches that our glorified bodies will also have something called Agility - this is where our bodies, acting under the dominion of our souls, will have the ability to go effortlessly wherever we desire them to go.

The Eastern Fathers taught that Adam and Eve were "clothed in light" - could the fact that Adam and Eve were clothed in light mean that Adam and Eve, atop of possessing immortality, integrity, impassibility, also possessed agility?  This would mean they could travel from the Nile to the Indus at the speed of thought....

The Gihon being the Nile also makes sense, because the only description of it from Scripture is that it compasses the land of "Cush", which is traditionally taken to mean Ethiopia.  It also means the land of Ham, and all of Ham, Cush, Ethiopia, Egypt, and Africa is very well familiar with the mighty Nile. 

Some people believe the Gihon and Pishon are no longer identifiable, but I have a hard time believing that if the Tigris and Euphrates are still around and nobody denies they are the third and fourth rivers of Paradise, than I tend to believe that the other two rivers of Paradise must still be in existence.  And I believe they are - I believe they are the Nile and the Indus.

I think I have spoken on this subject enough for now, but please continue to pray for me to be given the Light of Knowledge.

Yours in Christ

Jason Michael Spyridon Prewara

I know nothing

I apologize to all if I have given the impression of being someone who is learned in matters of faith.

The truth is I am noone.  I am a simple layman.  I am a recovering drig addict.  I am an unemployed man with little ambition and a lot of pride.

I think I know more than I do, and I loke to play the teacher as if I know, but the fact is I know 0.000000000000000000000000000000000000001% of all there is to know in this Universe.....  and considering God is infinite, I know much less of him.

All I can tell you folks I know, is that I know nothing.  I know nothing but I am a worm and no man, a speck of dust walking a larger speck of dust in a seemingly marvelously vast cosmos which exists as a grain of sand in the Infinite God.

I know I have less than 90 years left on this Earth before either my body returns to Earth and my soul returns to God, or the Lord Jesus comes again.

I know I need your prayers, and your support.

I know I need God, and I need his mercy and love.

I know I try to love and follow God yet consistently fall short.

So I apologize if I have given anyone the impression of being a wiseguy, a know it all, or a smart alec.  Its one of my character flaws and sins of pride to think my tiny human mind and finite soul, a tiny spark of God, somehow makes me omniscient.

God forgive me for pretending to know what I know not.

God help me never to teach what is false.

Lord Jesus help me to never speak a word which is not 100% True.

God grant me the serenity  to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference, Amen.

Please friends, pray for me to always remember I am dust and ashes.

Pray for me to constantly meditate on these words of the Wise Patriarch St. Job -

Job 42:3,6
"Who is this who obscures counsel with ignorance?  I have spoken but did not understand;  things too marvelous for me, which I did not know.  Therefore I disown what I have said, and repent in dust and ashes."

Lastly friends, help me and pray for me to always remember what St. Thomas Aquinas said to his assistant Reginald of Piperno after he had seen a mystical vision, and Reginald asked him to continue writing his Summa, and St. Thomas replied "Reginald, I cannot, for all I have written is so much straw".

May I always remember even if I wrote a thousand books in this life and gave a thousand orations, they will never be more than straw in the face of the Deity.

Lord have mercy

Yours in Christ
Jason Michael Spyridon Prewara

Authorship of the Pentateuch

The Torah.  The Law.  The Pentateuch.  The Law of Moses.  The Five Books of Moses.

These are just some of the names of the first five books of the Old Testament / Hebrew Bible.

In English we have the Five Books of Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy

In Hebrew we have the Five Books of  בְּרֵאשִׁית‎‎Beresith, שְׁמוֹתShemot,וַיִּקְרָא Wayiqra, בְּמִדְבַּר‎, Bamidbar, and  דְּבָרִים‎ Devarim

In Greek we have the Five Books of γένεσις Genesis, ἔξοδος, Exodos, Λευιτικόν Levitikon,  Ἀριθμοί Arithmoi, and Δευτερονόμιον Deuteronomion

In Latin we have the Five Books of Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numeri, and Deuteronomii

As can clearly be seen from this quick run down of the names of the first Five books in the traditional Biblical Languages (I didn't include Aramaic because it uses the exact same square script as Hebrew, and is very similar to Hebrew, and is the least used Biblical language.  I did include Latin because Latin was a common language spoken in the Western Roman Empire in Jesus' day;  it was one of the languages his "crime" was written in on his titulum, and there is clear usage of Latin loan words transcribed into Greek especially in the Gospel of Mark, to such an extent that some older Catholic divines suggested Mark was possibly originally written in Latin - they reasoned because it had a possible origin of Rome, was written down at the command of St. Peter by his interpreter St. Mark, and the many instances of Latin transcribed in the Greek - but this theory is widely discredited and only very few believe in it to this day.), we get our common English names for them from the Greco-Roman lineage, and not a straight Hebrew-English translation. 

Genesis comes from Greek and means "origins"
Exodus comes from Greek and means "going out"
Leviticus comes from Greek and means "instruction of priests[Levites]"
Numbers comes from Greek and means "numbering"
Deuteronomy  comes from Greek and means "second Law"

If the ancient translators such as St. Jerome or even early modern English translators of the Douay Rheims and KJV decided to translate the Hebrew titles, we would have the five books of:

Beresith - or "In the beginning"
Shemot - or "These are the names"
Wayiqra - or "He [God] called"
Bamidbar - or "In the desert"
Devarim - or "These are the words"

As you can see, the Hebrew titles for the first five Books are simply the first word or two in the Hebrew, and the Aramaic would be similar.  The Greco-Roman and later English assigned titles to the Books instead of simply calling them by their Semitic original names.

I just wanted to start this post with a little background on what we call the Pentateuch (which is a Greek word meaning five books) or Torah (a Hebrew word meaning Law), and to discuss a topic which I have thought, prayed, meditated, and studied about to a great extent.

My personal belief is the belief held by all the Children of Israel and all the Jews, all of the Prophets, Sages, Kings and Saints of the Old Testament believed, what the Priest-Prophet-Saint Ezra and Governor-Prophet-Saint Nehemiah believed.  My belief is what the Maccabees believed, my belief is what St. John the Baptist believed.  My belief is what the Blessed Virgin Mary believed, what the Lord Jesus Christ believed, and what St. Peter believed.  My belief is what St. Paul, who was a most-learned Pharisee named Saul of Tarsus before becoming the most prolific New Testament writer, Apostle to the Gentiles, and great Saint Paul the Apostle believed.  My belief is what St. Ignatius, St. Justin, Origen and Tertullian believed.  My belief is what Pope St Evaristus believed.

My belief is what Pope-Saints Alexander I and Zephyrinus believed in the second century.

My belief is what Pope-Saints Callixtus I, Marcellus I, Gelasius I, and Pope St. Gregory the Great believed in the third, fourth, fifth, and sixth centuries.

My belief about the origin of the Torah, the time and place it was written, who wrote it, where he got it from, and What and Who its true origin and Author were, is the same belief held by Blessed Pope Pius IX and St. Pope Pius X believed in the 19th and 20th centuries.

My belief in the origin of the Pentateuch is the same belief held by the Apostles, Popes, and Doctors of the Church, from the first century with St. Peter, St. James, St. John, all of the Twelve, all of the Seventy Two Apostles, St. Pope Clement I - to the Apostolic Fathers, Church Fathers, Popes, Doctors and Saints of the second, third, fourth, fifth centuries, sixth, and seventh centuries St. Ignatius of Antioch, St. Polycarp of Smyrna, St. Justin Martyr, St. Irenaeus, St. Leonides, St. Plutarch, St. Cyprian of Carthage, St. Athanasius the Great, St. Hilary of Poitiers, St. Gregory the Theologian, St. Gregory of Nyssa, St. Jerome, St Augustine, St. Anselm, St. John Chrysostom, St. Isidore of Seville, St. Pope Leo the Great, St. Ambrose of Milan, St. Basil the Great, St. Bede the Venerable.

My belief is the same as the Prophets, Priests, Kings, Sages and Scribes held before Christ, the same as Our Lord Jesus, Our Blessed Mother Mary, and Holy St. Joseph, all of the 12 Apostles and 72 Disciples, and all of the Popes, Apostles, Apostolic Fathers, Doctors of the Church and Saints held unanimously until the 19th century.

My belief is that of 100% of the Doctors of the Church, from St. Athanasius the Great born at the end of the third century, to St. Therese of Lisieux, born and died just before the dawn of the 20th century.

My belief is what the Pontifical Biblical Commission addressed in a series of questions on June 27th, 1906.

My belief is this - Genesis is an account which Moses wrote at the command and inspiration of God while on Mt. Sinai.  It also contains earlier oral and possibly written traditions which Moses may have had access to.  It was written by Moses and Aaron, either around 1,450-1,400 B.C. (my personal belief and the more traditional belief) or around 1,250-1,200 B.C. (a tenable and orthodox belief, but more modern).  After Moses had substantially authored what we have as the Book of Genesis today, it was passed down through Joshua and his successors, through the Judges and down through the Kings and the Prophets in the Courts of the Kings of Israel and Judah.  It would have originally been written by Moses in either Paleo-Hebrew script (one of two traditional Jewish beliefs - the other and less popular being it was originally written in the Aramaic square script).  I personally believe Moses would have written it in Paleo-Hebrew, but it's also possible he originally wrote it in an Egyptian or some other Canaanite, Sinaitic, or Phoenician script, but I think these are all much less likely.

My belief for the authorship of Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy is the same as my belief in the authorship of Genesis - with a few differences.  Moses would not have used any prior oral or written sources for these four books, as the Revelation contained in them came straight through Moses from God.  The only questionable part, and again this is spoken of in Rabbinic tradition, is the ending of Deuteronomy which records Moses' death - some Rabbis believed Joshua wrote it, some believed God revealed it to Moses and he wrote it.  My personal belief is that Moses wrote it, but to believe either Moses or Joshua wrote it is perfectly traditional, Catholic and Orthodox.

So we've established what 100% of the Doctors of the Church, 100% of the pre-Christian Prophets, 100% of the Apostles, Apostolic Fathers, and Nicene Fathers believed.  We've established what the vast majority of all Popes down to the present day have believed, and most importantly we know what Our Lord and Our Lady believed.  These all believed that the first Five Books, the Torah, were written by Moses.  Whether Moses used previous oral or written sources for Genesis, what Script he wrote in, and whether he wrote the end of Deuteronomy have always been debated - but the fact of Mosaic authorship never was. 

Fast forward to the Year of our Lord 1753.  The place is Paris, France.  The person is a French Priest named Jean Astruc.  In the previous century, atheistic philosophers of cultural Protestant English and Jewish backgrounds - Thomas Hobbes and Baruch Spinoza - had started propagating a radical new theory.  Baruch believed that Moses was not the author of the Torah and instead if was Ezra, and Hobbes believed certain passages must have been added later.  Spinoza and Hobbes planted the seeds which led Fr. Jean Astruc to come up with the theory that there were at least two sources used by Moses, determined whether the Divine Name of Elohim was used or whether the Ineffable Name of YHWH was used.  Fr. Astruc arranged these differences in four columns, and said it was a type of prefiguring the four gospels.  Fr. Astruc I believe was a good, orthodox, holy, Catholic Priest.  But he took ideas from previous people who certainly did not believe in the Revelation to Moses at Sinai, and he laid the framework for something in the middle of the 18th century which was bound to become an unstoppable train in the 19th century.

In the 19th century, with the advent of Charles Darwin, and naturalistic Darwinian scientism in its infancy, a liberal Protestant German Bible scholar named Julius Wellhausen, in the Year of our Lord 1878, published his book Prolegomena zur Geschichte Israels ("Prolegomena to the History of Israel"), in which he proposed his still used "JEDP-R" or "Documentary Hypothesis" of the origin of the Pentateuch.  This JEDP theory is what is taught to seminarians in all Catholic universities as far as I know - except maybe FSSP or SSPX, I am not sure.  In the 20th century, other theories emerged like the "supplementary hypothesis", but none has caught on or replaced JEDP.  What is still being taught is essentially what Wellhausen taught, with some variations.

Some scholars believe J - the "Jahwist", for his/her/their use of the Divine Name YHWH, was either a man, a woman, or a school of priests/prophets/sages - depending on which scholar you ask, you will get a different answer, because these scholars are not proclaiming Gospel Truth - they are proclaiming scholarly conjecture based on educated guesses.  Some believe this Jahwist wrote in the southern Kingdom of Judah sometime between the 10th and 8th centuries, some placing him/her/them in the court of David, some placing them/her in as late as King Hezekiah.

Next up we have E -the "Elohist", for his/her/their usage of the Hebrew word Elohim - the plural word which can be translated either God or gods, depending on context - or sometimes even divine beings or strong/mighty.  The "Elohist" whoever he, she, or they were, supposedly wrote sometime in the middle of the 9th century, although again, some say they could have written as late as the 5th century.

Moving right along, we have D - the "Deuteronomist".  This one is my favorite.  The Deuteronomist, whoever he, she, or they were, supposedly wrote in the 7th, 6th, or 5th century during a period of religious reform, either under Josiah when he supposedly found "the book of the Law" in the temple - although many of these scholars claim Josiah directed his "prophets" to forge a document so he could gain political power - or sometime directly before, during, or after the exile.  Again, you can see how accurate these scholarly theories truly are.

The last two "authors" we have are the Priestly author(s) and the Redactor(s).  The Priestly source was supposedly written by a Priest of the Kohanim while the Jews were in Exile in Babylon in the 6th century - most place the date closer to 500 B.C., though it can range from 600 - 300 B.C., depending on scholar.  Also, depending on the scholar, it can be one Priest, which some have speculated could have been Ezekiel or Ezra, or it could have been a school of Priests.  As far as I know, it has not yet been suggested it was a group of Priestesses of YHWH's "wife" Asherah - although I am certain some "scholars" probably believe this.

And finally, we have the Redactor(s).  This person, or persons, this group of men and/or women or this man/woman, supposedly took all the previous works written between the 10th-8th and the 6th-4th, and sometime in the 4th, 3rd or 2nd century compiled them and circulated them in the form we have them in today.

Now that I have actually explained what these scholars actually believe and teach, and which Saints and Doctors of the Church have believed, what are you more inclined to believe?


Now, the Church, in Her infinite wisdom, beginning with Pope Leo XIII, was aware of these developments in scholarship.  The Church at first vehemently opposed historical-critical scholarship, but Pope Leo XIII was somewhat open to it - though on very reserved terms.  Pope Leo XIII released his encyclical Providentissimus Deus "On the Study of Holy Scripture", on November 18th, A.D. 1893.  This encyclical was very guarded and conservative, and mainly critical of the critics, but also slightly opened the doors a little wider for historical criticism.

Then came Pope St. Pius X, and the Pontifical Biblical Commission, and the Oath against modernism, and it seemed as though JEDP and historical-critical scholarship would be forever stamped out from Catholic scholarship... 

Then came the Venerable Pope Pius XII.  This venerable and holy Pontiff was so sure of the Divinity and Sanctity and Truth of the Sacred Scriptures, that he essentially said "bring it on" to the world.   He issued his groundbreaking encyclical Divino Afflante Spiritu - "Inspired by the Divine Spirit" - on September 30th, A.D. 1943 - on the feast of St. Jerome.  This encyclical opened the doors for scholars of all stripes, from liberal leaning borderline heterodox such as Father Raymond Brown (God rest his soul, and reward him for his labors), to staunchly traditional and conservative scholars such as Lawrence Cardinal Shehan (God rest His Eminence's soul and reward him for his labors), to choose to either use the historical critical method to pick at and, seemingly sometimes, disprove the Scriptures, or some to use the historical-critical method how Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI has used it - to try to understand what may have happened and how the Scriptures may possibly have developed.

The year of Our Lord 1943 and Divino Afflante Spiritu were only the beginnings of a new era in Catholic Biblical scholarship however - Catholic Bibles in America did not start seriously incorporating historical-critical inspired commentary until after the Second Vatican Ecumenical Council and the Infallible Magisterial Document Dei Verbum - the Word of God.

There have been many more developments in the decades since Vatican II, the Pontifical Biblical Commission (PBC) has changed very much from it's early days, with major changes occurring in 1971 and 1988 under the Pontificates of St. Pope Paul VI and St. Pope John Paul the Great.  The Church has fully embraced historical criticism, and I have no problem with the Church, in Her Infinite Wisdom and Absolute Authority, doing so.

My issue with it is this however - when you pick up a Jerusalem Bible, New Jerusalem Bible, New American Bible or New American Bible Revised Edition (NABRE) - you are presented with commentary, introductions and footnotes, which are often presented as though they were gospel truth or the only reasonable thing to believe.  My wish and prayer for the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB), the Catholic Biblical Association (CBA), and the Confraternity of Christian Doctrine (CCD) - the three entities responsible for the translation, editing and authorship of commentary, and copyrights and publishing of the New American Bible - which is the only Bible authorized for use in the Ordinary Form of the Roman Rite in Diocese of America - would be for them to either revise the notes and introductions in the Bibles they release to American Catholics, or to offer two different versions.

Instead of simply saying "Matthew is not the author of the Gospel given his name", and then presenting the Marcan priority and Q-theory, two source hypothesis as though they were gospel truth, they should run a quick outline of what the traditional Catholic theory of authorship is - which is basically the Augustinian hypothesis - then offer up alternative modern theories.

Likewise, they ought to do the same for the Old Testament, specifically the Pentateuch, but also the Prophetical books, especially Isaiah and Daniel.

There have been volumes upon volumes written on this subject, but I hope I have given you at least some food for thought with this blog post.

I will end with posting some links - some are to Protestant websites which can contain some good scholarship and/or apologetics of traditional Catholic belief - some to Catholic websites discussing the history and current state of Catholic Biblical scholarship.

Modern Catholic answer to the question of Mosaic authorship of the Torah

Arguments for Mosaic authorship from a Christian Apologetics website

More arguments and apologetics in support of traditional biblical authorship belief

Article dealing with scholarship of Father Raymond Brown (RIP)

Detailed article on Catholic Biblical Scholarship

I hope this article has been thought provoking and will be a blessing to someone,

God bless us all, and please pray for me,

+Yours in Christ,
Jason Michael Spyridon Prewara+

East-Meets-West

Continuing the East meets West blog series of creating litanies of all the liturgical commemorations of events in the Life of Christ, the Church, the Virgin Mary, and the Saints, I present to you all todays series:

Roman Catholic Christian Commemorations and Saints for January 7th, A.D. 2017 (Gregorian)

Raymond of Penyafort (Optional Memorial) Return from Egypt — Aldric of Le Mans Ambrose Fernandez Anastasius of Sens Brannock of Braunton Candida of Greece Canute Lavard Cedd Clerus of Antioch Crispin I of Pavia Crispin II of Pavia Cronan Beg Emilian of Saujon Engelbert Beets Felix of Heraclea Franciscus Bae Gwan-gyeom Giuse Tuan Januarius of Heraclea Julian of Cagliari Kentigerna Lucian of Antioch Marie-Thérèse Haze Pallada of Greece

Polyeuctus of Melitene Reinhold of Cologne Spolicostus of Greece Theodore of Egypt Tillo of Solignac Valentine of Passau Virginia of Ste-Verge Wittikund of Westphalia — Albert of Siena Anselmo Athanasius of Attalia Cywyllog ferch Caw Cyrus of Constantinople Gaubald of Regensburg Julian of Gozzano Louis of Blois Matthew Guimera of Agrigento Philo Polyanthus Senator of Verona Sigrid of Tonars Valentinian of Chur Vitalis of Savigny Yvoine

All you holy Saints, pray for us!

Eastern Orthodox/Catholic Christian Commemorations and Saints for January 7th, A.D. 2017 (Gregorian) / December 25th, A.D. 2016 (Julian) (Today is actually Christmas for a large amount - hundreds of millions - of Eastern Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, and Oriental Orthodox Catholic Christians around the globe)

The Nativity according to the Flesh of Our Lord, God and Saviour Jesus Christ Troparion, Tone IV Thy nativity, O Christ our God,/ hath shone forth the light of knowledge upon the world;/ for therein those who worship the stars/ have been taught by a star to worship Thee,/ the Sun of righteousness,/ and to know Thee the Orient from on high.// O Lord, glory be to Thee! Kontakion, Tone III idiomelon Today the Virgin giveth birth unto the Transcendent One,/ and the earth offereth a cave to the unapproachable One./ Angels and shepherds give glory,/ the magi journey with the star.// For unto us a Child is born, the preeternal God.

The Nativity according to the Flesh of Our Lord, God and Saviour Jesus Christ. From December 25 till January 5 is a Fast-free period (Sviatki).

The Adoration of the Magi: Melchior, Caspar, and Balthasar.

Commemoration of the shepherds in Bethlehem who were watching their flocks and came to see the Lord. 

 

Holy Saints Melchior, Caspar, and Balthasar, pray for us

Holy Shepherds of Bethlehem, pray for us

O Christ, God-with-Us, glory to thee!

And finally, the Eastern Orthodox/Catholic Christian Commemorations and Saints for January 20th, A.D. 2017 (Gregorian) / January 7th, A.D. 2017 (Julian)

Synaxis of the Holy Glorious Prophet, Forerunner and Baptist, John Troparion, Tone II The memory of the righteous is celebrated with hymns of praise, but the Lord's testimony is sufficient for thee, O forerunner. Thou wast truly shown to be more honorable than the prophets, in that thou wast counted worthy to baptize in the streams Him Whom thou didst proclaim. Wherefore, having suffered, rejoicing, for the truth, even unto those in hades didst thou proclaim God, Who had manifested Himself in the flesh, Who taketh away the sin of the world, and granteth us great mercy. Kontakion of the Forerunner, Tone VI Stricken with awe by Thy coming in the flesh, the Jordan turned back in fear; and John, fulfilling the prophetic ministry, shrank back with trembling. The ranks of the angels were amazed, beholding Thee baptized in the flesh in the streams, and all who were in darkness were enlightened, hymning Thee Who hast appeared and illumined all things.

Afterfeast of the Theophany.

Synaxis of the Holy Glorious Prophet, Forerunner and Baptist, John.

O Lord Jesus Christ, we praise thy glorious Theophany, we praise thy glorious Epiphany.

Today in the Roman Catholic / Gregorian Liturgical Calendar, us Roman Catholics celebrate the Epiphany - a Solemnity marking three events:  the visit of the Three Magi, Sts. Melchior, Caspar, and Balthasar to the Christ Child and the Blessed Virgin in Bethlehem, as well as the Baptism of the Lord Jesus Christ by St. John the Forerunner in the Jordan, as well as the first miracle of Jesus, the Wedding at Cana, the turning of water into wine.  In the Latin West we call this feast day Epiphany - which comes from the Greek "epiphanein" which means to "to reveal" or "to show", and specifically in this context, the revelation of Christ to the Gentiles represented by the Magi, the revelation of Christ to the Jews by the beginning of his ministry at the His Baptism, and the revelation to his Apostles at the Wedding of Cana.

In the Eastern Catholic / Eastern Orthodox Catholic Christian, which tends to go by the Julian Calendar, today is actually Christmas, but Theophany is celebrated according to the Julian Calendar on January 6th, and today is the afterfeast of the Theophany - in the Eastern Orthodox/Catholic/Byzantine tradition, the Theophany - a word coming from two Greek words, "Theos", meaning God, and "phainein" meaning "to show", so we get Theophany, the "showing of God" or "revelation of God".  This feast in the East specifically commemorates the Baptism of Jesus in the Jordan by John, and it is considered a very high ranking feast - even higher than Christmas - being third in rank behind only Pascha (Easter) and Pentecost.   The reason for this is because this is thought of in the East as being only one of two occasions in the history of the world when all Three Persons of the Divine Trinity were revealed to humans simultaneously - God the Father with his booming voice speaking from the heavens, God the Son going down into the Jordan and the waters of Baptism and rising, symbolizing his later death and resurrection and our own baptisms, deaths, and subsequent resurrections to eternal life with him, and God the Spirit descending in the form of a dove.

The other time all Three Persons of the Divine Trinity were revealed simultaneously to man was on Mt. Tabor, when Sts. Peter, James, and John saw God the Son, Our Lord Jesus Christ in all his glory transfigured before them, the Son shining like the Sun, and speaking with Moses and Elijah, while God the Father spoke booming from heaven "this is my son, listen to him", and God the Spirit overshadowed them in a cloud, just as He overshadowed Moses on a Mountain as well, and similarly when Moses came down his face was shining, just as Jesus was shining here. 

God bless all, and may all have a great and happy and merry Christmas, and a blessed feast of Epiphany / Theophany!

St. John the Baptist, pray for us!

Prophet St. Elijah, pray for us!

Queen Mary, pray for us!

St. Joseph, pray for us!

St. Michael the Archangel, pray for us!

Lord Jesus, hear us!

As always and anytime I post this series, I owe a great debt of gratitude, and offer prayers and hope you also offer prayers for the two great websites which are such a wealth of spiritual information:

Catholic Saints .info
Holy Trinity Russian Orthodox Church and their great website with the full liturgical calendar

+Thank you for reading, and God bless,
Yours in Christ,
Jason Michael Spyridon Prewara+

East-meets-West Renewed

Dear friends,

In the spirit my recent blog posts done in the spirit of Ecumenical Dialogue, specifically geared toward Roman Catholic and Eastern Catholic and Eastern Orthodox Catholic Christian Unity and dialogue, I have decided I will try to renew my East meets West litany of Saints.

So, the commemorations and saints for today in the Roman Catholic Church, according to the Gregorian Calendar for January 6th, A.D. 2017

Epiphany of the Lord (Solemnity) André Bessette (Optional Memorial, United States) — Andrew Corsini Antoninus Balthasar Basillisa of Antinoë Caspar Charles of Sezze Demetrius of Philadelphia Diman Dubh of Connor Edeyrn Eigrad Erminold of Prüfening Felix of Nantes Frederick of Saint-Vanne Gertrud of Traunkirchen Gertrude van Oosten Guarinus of Sion Guy of Auxerre Honorius Hywyn of Aberdaron John de Ribera Julian of Antinoë

Julius Luc of Roucy Macarius the Scot Macra of Rheims Melchior Merinus Nilammon of Geris Petran of Landévennec Peter of Canterbury Peter Thomas Pia of Quedlinburg Pompejanus Rafaela Porras y Ayllón Raymond de Blanes Rita Amada de Jesus Schotin Wiltrudis of Bergen — Martyrs in Africa Martyrs of Sirmium – 8 saints Martyrs of Ukraine – 25 beati Seven Holy Deacons Twelve Apostles of Ireland

All you Holy Saints of God, pray for us!

The Commemorations for today according to Eastern Orthodox/Catholic Christian Liturgical calendars for the Gregorian/Julian calendar dates of January 6th, A.D. 2017 / December 24th, A.D. 2016

The Eve of the Nativity of Christ (Rozhdestvenskyi Sochelnik) (Christmas Eve to us Latins) Troparion, Tone IV Once Mary, pregnant with a seedless pregnancy,/ was registered in Bethlehem with the elder Joseph,/ as being of the seed of David./ And while they were there, the days were accomplished that she should be delivered,/ but there was no room for them in the inn./ But the cave showed itself to be a beauteous palace for the Queen,// and Christ is born to raise up the image that fell of old! Kontakion of the Forefeast, Tone III "Today the Virgin" Today the Virgin cometh to give birth ineffably/ to the preeternal Word in the cave./ Dance, O world! And having heard this,/ with the angels and shepherds glorify// the preeternal God, Who is to appear as a little babe.

The Eve of the Nativity of Christ (Rozhdestvenskyi Sochelnik).

Nun-martyr Eugenia of Rome, and with her Martyrs Philip her father, Protus, Hyacinth (Jacinth), Basilla, and Claudia (262).  - pray for us!

New Hieromartyr Innocentius (1928). - pray for us!

New Hieromartyr Sergius priest (1942). - pray for us!

Venerable Nicholas the Monk of Bulgaria (9th c.). = pray for us! 

The Commemorations for today according to the Gregorian/Julian Calendars for January 19th/January 6th, A.D. 2017 is

The Holy Theophany of Our Lord, God, and Saviour Jesus Christ (Baptism of the Lord) Troparion, Tone I When Thou, O Lord, wast baptized in the Jordan,/ the worship of the Trinity was made manifest;/ for, the voice of the Father bare witness unto Thee,/ calling Thee His beloved Son;/ and the Spirit in the form of a dove/ confirmed the certainty of His word./ O Christ our God, Who hast appeared and enlightened the worlds,// glory be to Thee! Kontakion, Tone IV Thou hast appeared today to the whole world,/ and Thy light, O Lord, hath been signed upon us/ who hymn Thee with understanding./ Thou hast come, Thou hast appeared,/ the Light unapproachable.

The Holy Theophany of Our Lord, God, and Saviour Jesus Christ (Baptism of the Lord). 

Lord Jesus Christ, we bless you today and commemorate your Nativity, your Revelation to the Gentiles through the Magi, your Baptism in the Jordan by John, and your first Miracle at the Wedding of Cana.

All you holy Saints of God, pray for us!

Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, through the prayers of the most holy Theotokos, and all of the angels of saints, have mercy on us, forgive us our sins, and keep us o God by thy grace!

Thanks so much and please pray for the great websites I use for my sources for this blog series:

Source for Roman Liturgical Calendar (CatholicSaints.info)
Source for Eastern Liturgical Calendar (Holy Trinity Russian Orthodox Church)

+God bless us all
Yours in Christ,
Jason Michael Spyridon Prewara
IC XC NIKA+

As-salamu alaykum - peace be upon you

When a follower of the One and Only Lord and God greets each other according to Arabic Muslim tradition, they say As-salamu alaykum, which means peace be upon you, and the other believer replies with "wa alaykumu", which means "and upon you, peace".

I have gotten into the habit recently of greeting Muslim men and women when I see them in public with As-salamu alaykum, and when they reply with wa alaykumu, I like to then say something like "Allah has given us a blessed day and God bless you!" or "Allahu Akbar". 

I think this is a great custom for Catholic Christians to show respect and solidarity with our Muslim brothers and sisters who worship the One God. 

To those who may say I am wrong doing this, I say your issue is not with me, but with the infallible teaching of the One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church.

Paragraph III of the Infallible Magisterial Document of the Second Vatican Ecumenical Council reads thus "The Church regards with esteem also the Moslems. They adore the one God, living and subsisting in Himself; merciful and all- powerful, the Creator of heaven and earth,(5) who has spoken to men; they take pains to submit wholeheartedly to even His inscrutable decrees, just as Abraham, with whom the faith of Islam takes pleasure in linking itself, submitted to God. Though they do not acknowledge Jesus as God, they revere Him as a prophet. They also honor Mary, His virgin Mother; at times they even call on her with devotion. In addition, they await the day of judgment when God will render their deserts to all those who have been raised up from the dead. Finally, they value the moral life and worship God especially through prayer, almsgiving and fasting.
Since in the course of centuries not a few quarrels and hostilities have arisen between Christians and Moslems, this sacred synod urges all to forget the past and to work sincerely for mutual understanding and to preserve as well as to promote together for the benefit of all mankind social justice and moral welfare, as well as peace and freedom."

St. Pope John Paul the Great, in a General Audience on 9 September, A.D. 1998, states thus
"
1. In Nostra aetate, the Declaration on the Relation of the Church to Non-Christian Religions, the Second Vatican Council teaches that “the Catholic Church rejects nothing of what is true and holy in these religions. She has a high regard for the manner of life and conduct, the precepts and doctrines which, although differing in many ways from her own teaching, nevertheless often reflect a ray of that truth which enlightens all men” (Nostra aetate, n. 2).

Taking up the Council’s teaching from the first Encyclical Letter of my Pontificate, I have wished to recall the ancient doctrine formulated by the Fathers of the Church, which says that we must recognize “the seeds of the Word” present and active in the various religions (Ad gentes, n. 11; Lumen gentium, n. 17). This doctrine leads us to affirm that, though the routes taken may be different, “there is but a single goal to which is directed the deepest aspiration of the human spirit as expressed in its quest for God and also in its quest, through its tending towards God, for the full dimension of its humanity, or in other words, for the full meaning of human life” (Redemptor hominis, n. 11).

The “seeds of truth” present and active in the various religious traditions are a reflection of the unique Word of God, who “enlightens every man coming into world” (cf. Jn 1:9) and who became flesh in Christ Jesus (cf. Jn 1:14). They are together an “effect of the Spirit of truth operating outside the visible confines of the Mystical Body” and which “blows where it wills” (Jn 3:8; cf. Redemptor hominis, nn. 6, 12)."

So in summary of the infallible teachings of the Pope and Ecumenical Councils and Church Fathers, this is what Catholics need to understand - the Catholic Church, being the guarantor and embodiment of Truth, the Very Word of God, Who is Christ Jesus, teaches infallibly on all matters regarding faith and morals - all the Church teaches in regards to how men and women are to act and believe in regards to morality towards creation and creatures, and in our beliefs about the One God, are the Absolute, Final and Objective Truth.

The Church holds all Truth within herself, though Truth is not limited by the Church - Truth is a Person, Jesus Christ, and Jesus Christ is infinite, so His Church can only contain Him insofar as He has revealed himself to her, in her, and through her.

The Church however, does not have a monopoly on Truth.

Truth can be found in any and all of the great religions and philosophies of the world, spanning all cultures and eras - and wherever Truth is found, there is a reflection of Christ Jesus and His Body, the Church.

So if we think in a statistical way, we could say, the Catholic Church and Her teachings are 100% true.

The Eastern Orthodox Catholic Christian Churches and their teachings are maybe 95% true (basically the only things they believe which are not fully in line with Catholic teaching is some of their members understandings of the place and primacy of Peter and the See of Rome, this is the one and only single issue which truly separates Eastern Orthodox and Roman Catholics - all other things, such as the filioque, the Assumption of Mary, etc., fall to pieces as arguments against communion with Rome if one accepts the Primacy and Office of Peter)

The Oriental Orthodox Catholic Christian Churches and their teachings may be 90% true - they accept only the first three Ecumenical Councils, whereas the Eastern Orthodox accept the first 7 before the great Schism of 1054, and the Catholic Church recognizes 21 Ecumenical Councils, the latest being the Second Vatican Ecumenical Council.  So the Oriental Orthodox will differ more from the Roman Catholic Church because they do not have the infallible teachings of the next 4 councils which the Eastern Orthodox accept.

The Assyrian Catholic Church of the East and the Ancient Assyrian Catholic Christian Churches may be 80% true - they accept only the first two councils of Nicaea and Constantinople, and reject the councils of Ephesus, Chalcedon, and all subsequent councils.  So they differ more from the Church because they accept less of the Churches infallible teachings.

Various Protestant Christian Churches may range in Truth from between maybe 10-20% on the low end of the spectrum - this would be the sects such as Jehovah's Witnesses, Christadelphians, Latter Day Saints / Mormons, Oneness Pentecostals, and the spectrum may continue up to 50% truth with mainline denominations and evangelical Christians like the Congregationalist, Methodists, Pentecostals, Baptists, etc.   And on the high end of the spectrum, you have the Anglo-Catholic and High Church Protestant Christians such as certain Anglicans and Lutherans, who may believe in 75 - 90% Truth. 

Whenever a Christian Church believes in Catholic Church, they are in Communion with the Body of Christ and Truth - when a Pentecostal Proclaims Jesus Christ is LORD, venerates the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, believes in the Hypostatic Union of Jesus Christ, Fully Human and Fully God, Son of Man and Son of God, and they believe in the Divine Trinity, Father, Son, and Spirit, when they believe in being baptized in water for the forgiveness of sins and initiation into the Body of Christ in the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, they are believing in fully Orthodox and Catholic Doctrines.

When they claim the Eucharist, or the Lords Supper is only symbolic, and not the True Body and Blood of Christ, they are 50% correct - the Lords Supper truly is a symbol and memorial of the Passion, Crucifixion, Resurrection and Assumption of Christ.   But it is more than that - it is also the transubstantiation of ordinary bread and wine becoming the Real Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity of Jesus Christ.  So when they celebrate the Lords supper, they are simply celebrating the Lords Supper in part, in a sort of partial communion with the Catholic Church and her Truth. 

When a Protestant claims Mary is the Virgin Mother of Jesus, but refuses to venerate her as the Theotokos, the God bearer, the Mother of God, they are accepting maybe 25% of the 100% truth of Catholic Mariology.

This same concept extends out to the other children of Abraham, namely the Muslims and Jews.

When a Jew venerates the Torah, prays the Shema, and says Baruch HaShem Adonai - Blessed be the Name of the LORD - they are saying a 100% true statement, they are proclaiming Catholic Truth.  But when they reject the Messiah Jesus of Nazareth as a false Messiah, they are rejecting Truth 100%.  If they accept that Jesus was a holy man and wonderworker and Prophet, but can't believe he is the Messiah, then they may believe in say 20% Truth.  They are on the path to Truth, and Truth is fulfilled in Heaven, where we will gaze on the Truth and have 100% understanding of the Truth.

When a Muslim prays to Allah - which is the Arabic word for God - it is etymologically related to the Hebrew word Eloah.  Deuteronomy 32:17 reads "They sacrificed unto devils, not to God, to gods whom they knew not".  In Hebrew, the word used for God is Eloah, a grammatically singular word for God, and gods uses the word Elohim, a grammatically plural word for God or gods, which is used in both ways throughout the Hebrew Bible.  It doesn't take a scholar in Semitic languages to see the connection between the Hebrew Eloah and the Arabic Allah.

Biblical Hebrew's genealogy is as follows:  Afro-Asiatic > Semitic > Central Semitic > Northwest Semitic >Canaanite > Biblical Hebrew

Classical Arabic, also known as Quranic Arabic, has a genealogy thus:  Afro-Asiatic > Semitic > Central Semitic > Arabic > Classical Arabic.

So we can see, the first three generations, with a common ancestor of Noah's son Shem, the Sons of Abraham, the Sons of Ishmael and Sons of Isaac and Sons of Israel - we all have a familial relationship to each other on earth, and are all in various relations with the One God.  The Muslims being Sons of Abraham and Ishmael, the Jews being Sons of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and the Christians being the Sons of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel.

Obviously as a Catholic, I believe the Christians, specifically the Catholic Christians, are the True Sons of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, and the family in full covenant with the God of Israel, the New and Eternal Covenant which was signed, sealed and delivered by the Blood of the Messiah, Jesus Christ.

However, God did not forget the Jews or Muslims, for what did he say?  Genesis 17:20-21 "As for Ish′mael, I have heard you; behold, I will bless him and make him fruitful and multiply him exceedingly; he shall be the father of twelve princes, and I will make him a great nation. ²¹ But I will establish my covenant with Isaac, whom Sarah shall bear to you at this season next year.”

So the Muslims, being Sons of Abraham and Ishmael, have become blessed and multiplied exceedingly according to Gods Eternal Word - Ishmael has grown to a great nation of over 1,600,000,000+ souls and counting.  God has not abandoned the Muslims - far from it, he has blessed and multiplied them according to His Word.

But what did God say?  His covenant was not to be established through Ishmael (Although the Muslims believe this, it is not true according to Catholic Truth), His Covenant was established through Isaac and his son Jacob.

St. Paul in the 4th chapter to the Church at Galatia writes thus:

²¹ Tell me, you who desire to be under law, do you not hear the law? ²² For it is written that Abraham had two sons, one by a slave and one by a free woman. ²³ But the son of the slave was born according to the flesh, the son of the free woman through promise. ²⁴ Now this is an allegory: these women are two covenants. One is from Mount Sinai, bearing children for slavery; she is Hagar. ²⁵ Now Hagar is Mount Sinai in Arabia;^[b] she corresponds to the present Jerusalem, for she is in slavery with her children. ²⁶ But the Jerusalem above is free, and she is our mother. ²⁷ For it is written,

“Rejoice, O barren one that dost not bear;
break forth and shout, thou who art not in travail;
for the desolate hath more children
than she who hath a husband.”

²⁸ Now we,^[c] brethren, like Isaac, are children of promise. ²⁹ But as at that time he who was born according to the flesh persecuted him who was born according to the Spirit, so it is now. ³⁰ But what does the scripture say? “Cast out the slave and her son; for the son of the slave shall not inherit with the son of the free woman.” ³¹ So, brethren, we are not children of the slave but of the free woman.

The Sons of Hagar, the Muslims, are in the same situation as the Jews - they are in slavery to the Law.  Muslims being in slavery to Sharia Law, and Jews being in slavery to Mosaic Law, the Old Covenant which was meant to be a preparation for the Messiah and his New and Eternal Covenant.  But since God does not revoke his promises, and since men have free will, the Sons of Ishmael and Isaac are free to choose slavery to Sharia or slavery to the Old Law - they are free to reject the New Law of Grace and the Messiah Jesus.

But this does not mean God hates them - God hates no one, and wishes all to be saved.  God cares for and guides the Jews and Muslims, because they recognize him as God to the best of their ability, and since they are in possession of various levels of Truth, through the infinite merits of Christ God, it is possible for Jews and Muslims to be saved by the grace of God, so long as they have not either truly known the Catholic Truth and Jesus and truly rejected him and/or been truly wicked men and committed truly wicked deeds -but only God can judge.  I am absolutely sure there will be devout Muslims in hell and devout Jews in Heaven.  I am absolutely sure there will be devout Catholics in Hell, and there will be devout Protestants in Heaven.  I am absolutely sure there will be devout Jews in hell, and devout Eastern Orthodox in Heaven.   God will judge each and every man by their deeds, not only by their beliefs - though belief is intended to produce good deeds which solidify and affirm the Grace which inspires it.

Now we have covered the approximately 4,000,000,000 souls on earth who are the descendants of Abraham.

What of the other approximately 3,500,000,000 souls on earth who belong to various other religious and cultural traditions and philosophies?  What of the approximately 1,000,000,000 Hindus, or the approximately 500,000,000 Buddhists, and the 650,000,000 of other various Eastern and Folk religions like Zoroastrians, Sikhs, Jains, Shintoist's, Taoists and Confucians, traditional African/Native American/South American/Australian/Asian/European religious, cultural, and philosophical traditions?  What of the approximately 1,350,000,000 souls who have no specific religious affiliation, or remain agnostic, or atheist?

Has God left 3.5 billion human souls to be left to their own devices and damned to hell?  God forbid!

When Hindus and Buddhists believe in following the Golden Rule, and believe in a divine realm, when a Zoroastrian believes in One God Ahura Mazda, when an atheist believes in treating people well and altruism, when a Shintoist believes his righteous ancestors are in a heavenly realm, when a Buddhist practices love for creation, when a wise Confucian loves his fellow men, when polytheistic and/or monotheistic and other theistic traditional communities on Africa or South America believe in a Creator, believe in the fall of humanity and a primeval sin which resulted in the death of the soul and loss of communion with the Creator, when they believe in Devas or Angels or demons or various spiritual entities, when they believe in life continuing after physical death - they are all believing, to various degrees, in Catholic Truth.  And since the Law is written on every human heart, and since God is revealed by Nature itself - remember, there is both a Natural Revelation available to every human, and a Supernatural Revelation available to the majority of humans - God will judge each with absolute Justice. 

The violent Indian tribe who practice cannibalism and human sacrifice will be judged how they ought to be - the peaceful pre-Columbian Native Americans have been judged justly - the violent Aztecs have received their just desserts - the Canaanites, Hittites, Jobsites, Perezites and Amorites were judged by God, deemed worthy of death, and only he knows if any of them experienced Sheol in a heavenly manner or a hellish manner, as either a "Bosom of Abraham" experience or a "flames of hades" experience, and whether any of them were released from the temporal prison in the eternal realm when Christ descended to Hades and brought the righteous souls of all the Fathers, from Adam, Noah, Shem, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, Moses, Aaron, Joshua, Gideon, Samson, Samuel, David, Solomon, Josiah, Hezekiah, Habakkuk, Zechariah, Judas Maccabee, the Seven Sons of Maccabees, and all the other righteous dead who died Before Christ into Heaven with him to await the Final and General Resurrection at the Second Coming of Christ and Consummation of the Heavens and Earth and the Renewal and Recreation of the Heavens and Earth. 

And only God knows whether the righteous among the nations who lived before Christ, such as Zarathustra, Gautama Buddha, Socrates, or the wicked among the nations, Nebuchadnezzar, Sennacherib, Pharaoh, Antiochus Epiphanes, etc. - it is for God to decide what happened to their souls at the time of their passing from this earth, whether they were judged to ascend into Heaven with Christ at His Resurrection to await the final and perfect Resurrection or whether they were judged to remain in prison until their final condemnation and the second death; when Hell itself, sin and death itself, the devil and all fallen angels, and all fallen and damned souls will be cast into the lake of fire and cut off from the living for all eternity.  Whereas King Jesus and Queen Mary, together with Prince Michael and Prince St. Peter and all the Church Triumphant will be gathered with the Church Penitent and the Church Militant and all the souls on earth to be judged at the end of time, each to go to his own reward, some to the New Jerusalem in the New Heavens and Earth to live forever with God and his angels and saints in bliss, in glorified and perfected bodies eternally;  some to go the way of the devil, sin and death, and cast into the lake of fire, never to be seen or heard from again in the Land of the Living.

Lord have mercy!

A litany of Eastern and Western Saints

The Catholic Church has a long history of extending olive branches to those who go into schism, heresy, or apostasy from the See of St. Peter.  From Popes Pius XII and Paul VI authorizing veneration of Eastern Orthodox Catholic Christians such as St. Leontius of Rostov, St. Nicetas the Wonderworker of Pereaslavl, St. German of Valaam,  St. Sergius of Valaam, St. Anthony of the Kiev Caves, St. Theodosius of the Kiev Caves, St. Theodore the Black of Yaroslavl, and countless others, and even more so in the 23 Eastern Catholic Churches who are in full communion with Rome.  The Church extended a gigantic olive branch with the Vatican II documents Lumen Gentium, Nostra Aetate, Unitatis Redintegratio, and Orientalium Ecclesiarum, and She has continued to with Holy Pontiffs working tireleslly in their vocation of the Supreme Fisherman such as St. Pope John XXIII, Bl. Pope Paul VI, S.D. Pope John Paul I, and especially St. Pope John Paul the Great, who was absolutely integral to propagating the new Code of Canon Law and Catechism of the Catholic Church, both of which were written by using the Vatican II documents (and of course Sacred Scripture and other Sacred Tradition) as a constant reference point.

Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI and our current Holy Father, Pope Francis, have continued the work of evangelizing the world and seeking to heal division and hatred and replace them with unity and peace.  This is partly why Pope Francis went so far as to name St. Gregory of Narek a Catholic Doctor of the Church - although technically he was in schism from Rome for 1,500 years - he was an Armenian Apostolic Orthodox Catholic Christian having become independent in the 6th century, a part of Oriental Orthodox Catholic Christianity (Orthodox Catholic Christians who only accept the first three Ecumenical Councils of Nicea, Constantinople, and Ephesus - they do not recognize the Council of Chalcedon as legit and it's a big story I don't have time to delve into now, if you ever hear of a "robber council", this is part of this situation.), who had been in "schism" since the 5th century.

So the Catholic Church, in Her maternal care to watch over her flock of 1,300,000,000+ souls and counting, with St. Peter and his Successors the Roman Pontiffs as the visible head of the Body, the Vicar of Christ on Earth and the Servant of the Servants of God, always makes the first move toward reconciliation.  There have been past transgressions by all sides, but by the grace of God we will be One again!

May God bless the One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Christian Church - the Catholic Church with consistent Orthodoxy, Fraternal love, and being a shining star on Mt. Zion for all the world to see and bring into fullness of the Life of Christ within Her who is the very Body of Christ Jesus

May God bless the Eastern Orthodox, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Christian Churches with Oneness, Unity, and Charity in Christ Jesus.

May God bless the Oriental Orthodox, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Christian Churches with Oneness, Unity, and Charity in Christ Jesus.

May God bless the Assyrian, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Christian Churches with Oneness, Unity, and Charity in Christ Jesus.

May God bless all who call themselves Christians and who believe in Christ the Lord, may he grant knowledge, understanding, charity, unity, and love in Christ Jesus to the hundreds of millions of Protestant Christians, the majority of whom share a common and valid baptism, receive grace by feeding on the Word of God, and commit many good acts of Christian Charity!

May God bless all the Sons of Abraham, all the Jews and Muslims, may HaShem our Adonai be blessed forever, and may we all submit to the will of Allah, the Merciful, the Magnificent, the Creator, the One and Only God, the True and Living Allah.

May God bless all the sons of Adam, any who seek peace and love and may God bless the worlds Hindus, Buddhists, Jains, Sikhs, Shintoists, Taoists, Confucianists, Animists, shamanists, pagans, folk religious, atheists, agnostics, skeptics, deists, and may he reveal Himself to them and may he bring them into Heaven through the shed blood of Jesus Christ if it is at all possible.

St. Photius the Great Patriarch of Constantinople, pray for us
St. Ignatius the holy Patriarch of Constantinople, pray for us

St. Gregory Palamas, pray for us
Blessed Pope Benedict XI, pray for us

St. Mark of Ephesus, pray for us
St. Frances of Rome, pray for us

St. Francis of Assisi, pray for us
St. Seraphim of Sarov, pray for us

St. Theophan the Recluse, pray for us
Blessed Pope Pius IX, pray for us

St. John of Kronstadt, pray for us
St. Alphonsus Liguori, pray for us

St. Pope Peter the Apostle, martyr and Patron of the Holy See of Rome, pray for us
St. Pope Mark the Evangelist, martyr, and Patron of Alexandria and all Copts, pray for us
Sts. Peter, Evodius, and Ignatius, holy martyrs and Patriarchs of Antioch, pray for us
St. Patriarch James the Apostle, brother of God, and Patriarch of Jerusalem, pray for us
St. Patriarch Andrew, brother of the proto-Pope and first Bishop of Constantinople, pray for us

Sts. Peter and Paul, please pray for Unity between Eastern and Western Catholic Christians
Sts. Andrew and Thomas, please pray for Unity between the East and West
Sts. Cyril and Methodius, please pray for Moscow and Rome to grow closer in love
St. Peter of Moscow and St. Mar Addai, please pray for Assyrians and Eastern Orthodox to have greater unity
St. Frumentius please pray for Ethiopian and all Oriental Orthodox Catholic Christians to have greater love and unity
St. Thaddeus and Bartholomew, holy Apostles, please pray for the entire Christian world