The Catholic bulletin. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1911-1995, 1911-01-21

Why do we always hear and read
that Christ was in the tomb three days
and three nights, when He was buried
Friday evening and rose Sunday morn
ing?
We do not always read that Christ
was in the tomb three days and three
nights. In the gospels reference is
made to His resurrection on "the
third day." Read Matt. xvi, 81; xvii,
%; Xxx, 10. Mark tx, 80; x, "a. Luke
tx, %; xviii 33; xiv, and 46. PLATE
was importuned by the chief priests
and Pharisees to have the sepulcher
guarded until the third day." And
st. Peter, in Acts, X, 40, says: Him
God raised up the third day." The
reference in Matt. xii, 40, can be ex-
planned by the Hebrew method of COM
putting time, in which &C part of a
day is as the whole" An event that
occurred on a given day, lasted
through a second day and extended
into a third day was considered to be
of three days duration Therefore,
Friday, the day of Christ's death, is
counted as one day; Saturday is the
arose from the dead, is the third day.
The chief priests and Pharisees under
stood this method of computing time,
for they besought Plate to command
the sepulcher to be guarded until the
third day" In the Apostles Greed we
recite daily: "The third day He
arose from the dead"
How can an infinitely good, merciful
God condemn the creatures He loves to
everlasting torments?
1t is common with unbelievers to
throw dust in the eyes of the ignorant
by presenting one side of question
and ignoring the other, forgetting that
Christianity is one great harmonious
system of the Revelation of God. One
moment the arguments runs: God is
too good to punish His creatures for
all eternity; the next moment, to
deny His providence, the same man
will argue: "The world is too full of
misery and wretchedness to be the
creation of an all good Creator" God
is too good-or God is too evil; it all
depends on whether the objector would
deny hell or providence. Is this hon
est? We must remember, too, that
it is only the weakness of our intel
lect which makes us separate the at
tributes of God, which by their nature
are one and identical.
Without any knowledge of Christian
principles, it would seem at first sight
that infinite goodness and mercy are
incompatible with eternal punishment.
Granting that after all explanations
the element of mystery must remain
when finite man considers the infinite
counsels of God (''How Incompetent
sible are His judgments, and how I'M
searchable His ways" Rom. XII, 33),
still, reason has an answer.
You have not considered, on the
other hand, that the denial of eternal
punishment cannot be reconciled with
the justice of God.
How can a just God, who is the
Lawgiver and Lord of men, give His
kingdom to one guilty of unrepented
murder, adultry, seduction, avarice, or
drunkenness? Or eternal happiness to
one who has all his life long despised
and set at naught His mercy, and who
has died obstinate in evil?
Man is not a mere machine nor a
mere animal of sense and instinct, nor
an independent, self-ruling being, but
creature created after Gods image
and likeness, with intellect to know
the good and free will to choose it
with sufficient grace always to know
Gods revelation, and to do Gods will.
If such being deliberately abuses
these gifts and graces, refusing to &C
knowledge his dependence on God his
Creator and Lawgiver, freely choosing
mere creatures in place of his God,
and dies insolently refusing to. fulfill
his destiny-can God do aught to
this adorer of himself than to leave
him to his choice for all eternity? A
son has rebelled against a Father; a
friend turned traitor against a Friend :;
a creature against Creator-and yet,
forsooth, Jesus Christ, the God of all
justice, must say to the rebel creature
that still hates Him: Come, We bless
ed of my Father, possess you the king
DOM (Matt. XIV, 34). This is only
thoughtless sentimentality, which, hav-
ing lost altogether the conviction of
the malice of sin, refuses to see Gods
justice in Furnishing the sinner.
Is there difference between the
Nicene Greed and the Apostles Greed +?
Chicago.
The Nicene Greed is found in your
prayer book among the prayers at
Mass and is sung by the choir at High
Mass. The Apostles Greed is the one
your mother taught you and which you
recite in your daily prayers. 1t con-
tains apostolic traditional faith, though
the date of it's composition is uncer-
tain. The former creed was prepared
by the Council of Nice in 325 A. D.,
and remains unchanged, excepting in
so far as two explanatory clauses are
added to it. The difference between
these symbols of faith is necessarily
very small.
Is it a fact that Francisco Ferrer
founder Of the modern schools in
Spain, was tried by court martial at
the nstigation Of Catholics and shot
to death?