Illustration credit: clipart-library.com
Some time ago America magazine interviewed social critic Camille Paglia wherein she discussed her abandonment of Catholicism.
“I asked the nun what still seems to me a perfectly reasonable and intriguing question: if God is all-forgiving, will he ever forgive Satan? The nun’s reaction was stunning: she turned beet red and began screaming at me in front of everyone. That was when I concluded there was no room in the Catholic Church of that time for an inquiring mind.”
Why doesn’t God forgive Satan? According to theologians, even if God did forgive Satan, he wouldn’t come back to God. Angels’ intellects are far superior to those of humans, and once they make a decision – which Satan (i.e. Lucifer) did when he chose to rebel against
Camille Paglia. Photo credit: Fronteiras do Pensamento via Wikimedia Commons.
God – they accept and embrace that decision as final, with full knowledge of the consequences.
Moreover, God did not provide a plan of redemption for the angels (which includes Satan, a fallen angel) as He did for mankind.
It’s silly to leave the Faith because a nun couldn’t adequately answer that question.
One should not leave the Catholic Church based on personal preferences or based on dissatisfaction with a nun, priest, or other representatives of the Faith. One’s criteria for joining or leaving the Faith only should be based on whether the Faith is true – which it is.
By rejecting the Church, Ms. Paglia is taking an extreme risk. Best not to set oneself up for a rude awakening when it’s time to plop down on that judgement seat.
