Magis Parish Edition - Facilitator's Guide Sample
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PARISH EDITION<br />
The<br />
Catholic Faith<br />
AND Science<br />
----------------------------------- FACILITATOR’S GUIDE -----------------------------------<br />
ROBERT SPITZER S.J., PH.D.
Contents<br />
Acknowledgements .................................................................................iii<br />
Facilitating a Session ................................................................................. 1<br />
Episode 1: Medical Evidence of Our Transphysical Soul .................................................2<br />
Episode 2: Evidence of the Soul from Our Transcendental Desires .....................................10<br />
Episode 3: Scientific Evidence of an Intelligent Creator ................................................18<br />
Episode 4: Philosophical Proofs of an Intelligent Creator ............................................. 26<br />
Episode 5: What Questions Are Raised by God’s Existence? .......................................... 34<br />
Episode 6: From an Intelligent Creator to Jesus ...................................................... 42<br />
Episode 7: Evidence for Jesus’ Divinity .............................................................50<br />
Episode 8: The Historicity of Jesus’ Miracles ........................................................60<br />
Episode 9: Science and the Shroud of Turin ......................................................... 68<br />
Episode 10: Jesus Is with Us: Mary, the Saints, and the Eucharist ......................................80<br />
Episode 11: The Uniqueness of Jesus’ Revelation of God ............................................. 88<br />
Episode 12: Jesus Reveals God as Unconditional Love ...............................................96<br />
Episode 13: Jesus’ Unconditional Self-Offering ..................................................... 104<br />
Episode 14: Why Believe in the Catholic Church? ..................................................... 112<br />
Episode 15: The Purpose and Benefit of the Church ..................................................120<br />
Episode 16: The Four Kinds of Desire and Happiness .................................................128<br />
Episode 17: Moving to Level Three and Four Happiness ..............................................136<br />
Episode 18: The Christian Understanding of Suffering ................................................144<br />
Episode 19: Why Would an All-Loving God Allow Suffering ............................................152<br />
Episode 20: Transforming Suffering through Faith and Prayer ....................................... 160<br />
© Sophia Institute for Teachers Contents<br />
i
EPISODE 1<br />
Medical Evidence of Our<br />
Transphysical Soul<br />
Introduction<br />
The question of God’s existence is not merely<br />
an academic puzzle or an interesting thought<br />
experiment — it is intimately and urgently bound<br />
up with our own personal destiny. Everything<br />
around us — houses, cars, flower beds, coffee<br />
cups, phones, highways, hurricanes, the Grand<br />
Canyon, the sun — is going to crumble to nothing<br />
sometime between now and the heat death of<br />
the Universe, but we are not, because we are destined<br />
for a transcendent and eternal existence.<br />
The details of this destiny — that God has<br />
called us to live forever with Him in our true<br />
home — are things we know because God came<br />
to earth in Jesus Christ to tell us. However, there<br />
is a lot we can learn about our immortal soul<br />
before we take these revelations into account.<br />
There is a wide range of natural evidence to look<br />
at — from the insights of classical philosophy to<br />
the discoveries of modern science. In this series<br />
we will look at some of this evidence.<br />
2 © <strong>Magis</strong> Center
Episode at a Glance<br />
Key Take-Aways<br />
In this Episode, participants will understand that…<br />
■ We can learn about our eternal destiny from revelation as well as<br />
natural science.<br />
■ Our consciousness cannot be reduced to the brain, and has a<br />
transphysical component.<br />
Connections to<br />
the Catechism<br />
■ CCC 1016-1017<br />
■ CCC 1052<br />
■ Scientific studies on near-death experiences (NDEs) and<br />
terminal lucidity provide evidence of survival of human<br />
consciousness after clinical death.<br />
■ Scientific studies complement Church teaching when it comes<br />
to understanding life after death.<br />
Notes<br />
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© Sophia Institute for Teachers Episode 1: Medical Evidence of Our Transphysical Soul<br />
3
Focus and Reflection Questions<br />
1 Had you heard of near-death experiences before watching this Episode? If so, how did the Episode<br />
add to your understanding of them?<br />
Answers will vary.<br />
2 What did you find most interesting in this Episode? Thinking of the young people in your life what<br />
do you think they would find most interesting?<br />
Answers will vary.<br />
3 Fr. Spitzer mentioned that some hydrocephalic patients exhibit “genius level IQ” despite the fact<br />
that their brains have sustained major damage. What does this suggest about the relationship between<br />
consciousness and the body?<br />
Consciousness seems to originate or be sustained somewhere other other than the physical body.<br />
4 If you were talking to a young person in your life and they had heard of near-death experiences, but<br />
thought they were simply imagined by patients, how could you respond?<br />
Answers could refer to the evidence in the video, and especially the veridical evidence in section 3 of the<br />
reading.<br />
5 In terms of apologetics [the defense of the Catholic faith], what is the significance of the types of<br />
sources reporting on near-death experiences? How can you use what you learned in this episode<br />
with the young people in your life?<br />
The variety of sources, and especially scientific sources, lends credibility to the experience of near-death<br />
experiences. Scientific studies complement Church teaching when it comes to understanding life after death.<br />
© Sophia Institute for Teachers Episode 1: Medical Evidence of Our Transphysical Soul<br />
9
EPISODE 9<br />
Science and the<br />
Shroud of Turin<br />
Introduction<br />
The Shroud of Turin is a simple linen burial cloth<br />
that bears a photographic negative image of a<br />
crucified man complete with accurate bloodstains<br />
— an image that matches perfectly to the<br />
description of the wounds Christ suffered during<br />
His Crucifixion. Modern scientific examination of<br />
the shroud has shown the image to be incredibly<br />
anatomically accurate and, even more, that<br />
it could not have been produced by any kind<br />
of paint, dye, chemical, vapor, or scorching.<br />
Recent tests have dated the shroud to roughly<br />
the time of Christ and have circumstantially<br />
placed its origin near the Sea of Galilee. Faced<br />
with a growing body of evidence, it is difficult to<br />
conclude anything other than that the Shroud<br />
of Turin is the burial cloth of Christ mentioned in<br />
the Gospels, and that it bears a miraculous image<br />
of the moment of Jesus’ Resurrection. This<br />
precious relic is powerful testimony to our faith<br />
in Christ, the historicity of His Resurrection, and<br />
His claims to be divine.<br />
While participants may have a passing familiarity<br />
with the Shroud of Turin, this Episode provides<br />
detailed scientific analysis of the shroud<br />
and the image it contains. For some, such empirical<br />
evidence of Christ and His Crucifixion and<br />
Resurrection can be powerfully convincing and<br />
tip the scales in favor of belief.<br />
68 © <strong>Magis</strong> Center
Episode at a Glance<br />
Key Take-Aways<br />
In this Episode, participants will understand that…<br />
■ The Shroud of Turin contains a miraculous image of a crucified<br />
man that all evidence suggests is Jesus Christ.<br />
■ The scientific investigation of the Shroud of Turin validates the<br />
Gospel narratives’ accounts of Jesus’ Passion.<br />
Connections to<br />
the Catechism<br />
■ CCC 606–630<br />
■ CCC 638–640<br />
■ CCC 651–655<br />
■ The scientific investigation of the Shroud of Turin shows that<br />
the image has a supernatural origin, because it is scientifically<br />
inexplicable.<br />
■ Jesus’ Resurrection was not merely the resuscitation of His<br />
body, but a powerful, glorious, light-filled event.<br />
Notes<br />
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© Sophia Institute for Teachers Episode 9: Science and the Shroud of Turin<br />
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Focus and Reflection Questions<br />
1 What, if anything, had you known about the Shroud before watching this Episode?<br />
Answers will vary.<br />
2 What point(s) about the Shroud of Turin stuck with you the most?<br />
Possible responses cover all subject matter presented in the Episode.<br />
3 How do we know the stains on the Shroud are blood, and furthermore human blood?<br />
The stains contain chemical compounds and proteins only found in human blood, such as human hemoglobin,<br />
immunoglobulins, and whole blood.<br />
4 Think of how you could share what you’ve learned about the Shroud with young people in your life.<br />
How would you explain the particle radiation hypothesis concerning the image on the Shroud, and/<br />
or any other part of the Episode you found compelling?<br />
Answers may vary. The image on the Shroud must be caused by exposure to radiation, since the image is only<br />
impressed on the very top layer of the Shroud’s fibers. The current leading hypothesis is that Jesus’ body<br />
underwent nuclear disintegration as He was resurrected. The flow of protons produced the image on the<br />
Shroud, and the flow of neutrons irradiated the blood, giving it its red color, and reconstituted the carbon<br />
bonds of the Shroud in a way that made it more resilient against age and decay.<br />
5 Why do you think God gave us relics such as the Shroud which provide evidence of supernatural<br />
occurrences?<br />
Answers may vary. God intended for us to use our reason, among other things, to seek after Him.<br />
© Sophia Institute for Teachers Episode 9: Science and the Shroud of Turin<br />
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EPISODE 19<br />
Why Would an All-Loving<br />
God Allow Suffering?<br />
Introduction<br />
While we have learned that Jesus has redeemed<br />
suffering by His Resurrection, we may still wonder<br />
why He did not just eliminate it completely.<br />
with the correct understanding of suffering,<br />
however, we see the beauty and wisdom of<br />
God’s plan unfold: a world that is benevolent and<br />
beautiful, but not perfectly so, and is a setting<br />
where the human spirit can come alive. If God’s<br />
plan is to bring us to eternal life with Him through<br />
our free choices, then He had to create a world<br />
in which these choices could be made. When we<br />
encounter suffering, we can find our inner courage<br />
and resilience in the midst of challenges, and<br />
actualize ourselves — that is, be who God made<br />
us to be — in overcoming them.<br />
As with the last Episode, the suffering your<br />
participants have encountered in their own lives<br />
and the context in which those sufferings were<br />
faced will likely have shaped their understanding.<br />
We can gently guide them towards reshaping<br />
their outlook. Instead of asking, “Why does God<br />
not stop hunger, or war, or any other form of<br />
misery when He has the power to do so?” we can<br />
turn that question around and ask “Why are we<br />
not doing all we can to address those ills?”<br />
152 © <strong>Magis</strong> Center
Episode at a Glance<br />
Key Take-Aways<br />
In this Episode, participants will understand that…<br />
■ The Resurrection of Jesus and the suffering He endured for our<br />
sake perfectly reveals God’s unconditional love for us.<br />
■ Jesus Christ has changed the meaning of suffering – we now<br />
have the ability to offer up our own suffering for the good of<br />
others.<br />
Connections to<br />
the Catechism<br />
■ CCC 301<br />
■ CCC 601<br />
■ CCC 1804<br />
■ CCC 2015<br />
■ There will be no suffering in our own resurrection.<br />
■ Suffering is not only experienced by the unjust and it is not solely<br />
the result of Original Sin.<br />
Notes<br />
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© Sophia Institute for Teachers Episode 19: Why Would an All-Loving God Allow Suffering?<br />
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Focus and Reflection Questions<br />
1 Fr. Spitzer described the chain of reasoning that leads some to conclude that suffering disproves<br />
the existence of an all-powerful and all-loving God. How would you put that reasoning into your<br />
own words?<br />
The reasoning is that suffering exists, and God either can or cannot stop it. If he cannot stop it, then He is<br />
not all-powerful and therefore not truly God. If he can stop it but chooses not to, then He is not all-loving.<br />
2 Father Spitzer called something about this chain of reasoning “dead wrong” – what is the error, and<br />
why is it important for helping others overcome doubt about God’s existence?<br />
The idea that suffering is so completely bad that God must stop it is the idea that is dead wrong. Jesus Christ<br />
has changed the meaning of suffering – we now have the ability to offer up our own suffering for the good<br />
of others. There must be some good in suffering if God allows human beings to cause suffering to other<br />
human beings, and allow the forces of nature to cause suffering.<br />
3 What is the connection between suffering and freedom?<br />
Real love requires a free choice. If we’re free to choose between loving and unloving actions, then suffering<br />
from unloving choices is a necessary consequence. But without a free, self-initiated choice, there is no such<br />
thing as love.<br />
4 Have there been times in your life when difficult circumstances brought out strength and virtue you<br />
did not know you had? How so?<br />
Answers may vary.<br />
5 Fr. Spitzer shared some of the good things that can come from suffering (especially suffering from<br />
a self-destructive path). Thinking back on your own life, are there any parts of your story you can<br />
use to share God’s love with others?<br />
Answers may vary.<br />
© Sophia Institute for Teachers Episode 19: Why Would an All-Loving God Allow Suffering?<br />
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