The Catholic bulletin. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1911-1995, 1916-08-26

and millions OF years old, but ! ooht
understand how this can be.
1t is sometimes stated that 1000
years elapsed between Adam and our
Saviour, and this, together with the
1900 since Christ's time, would make
man approximately 5000 years old.
But this compilation is no longer adj
MISSILE, and there is nothing in the
announcements of the Church to the
effect that the Bible places the age
of the human race at any definite num-
Der of years. 1t is true that the Bible
does give the names and ages of the
successive patriarchs of the Old Law,
and one might think it simple prob
lem of arithmetic. But scholars view
the problem as an intricate one. First
of all, there are grave reasons for
thinking that there are many gaps
in the genealogies of the Bible.
Some lists were repeated, others alb
breviated or developed; not infre-
quently the words son" and "beget"
do not refer to the immediate off
spring or ancestor, but to a more re-
mote generation; and, further, it was
not the intention of the inspired
writer to furnish us with an exact
chronology. Moreover, all we possess
is translation of these genealogies.
A mistake by the transcriber might
cause an addition or diminution of
hundreds, or even thousands, of years.
Some want to believe that man is
millions and millions of years old
This is more or less of a dream, an
uncontrolled play of fancy. This
theory is either proposed by evolu-
tionists who assume without a particle
of proof that man gradually evolved
from the monkey, or by those who
argue from geology and paleontology,
from the strata of the earth or scat
tered bones of animals. In conclu-
sion, we do not know how old man
IS 1t is mistake to say he is but
few thousand years old; it is a wild
exaggeration to place his age at hun
dredS of thousands, or millions, of
years. Science, as we'll as the Bible,
establishes the fact that man is the
most recent of creatures; there are
gaps in the genealogical lists of the
Bible, and, no doubt, mistakes were
made in transcribing those lists
Many reliable scientists see no reason
to advance the age of the human race
beyond 10000 years.
Will knAM &nso H.
tiVes when we meet on the other side;
can we assist those who are gone be-
fore?
The essential happiness of heaven is
in the vision of God. There will be a.
secondary or accidental happiness in
the company of those whom we loved
While on earth. God teaches us to
nave love for one another The sacri-
fees that one makes for another give
an additional reason for this love- God
would not wish us to violate this law
IN His own presence. On the contrary,
this love will be stronger in heaven
and will continue during all eternity.
Ihe love that exists naturally between
@S@~~SA' NJ vi lAlCiuO Sdl I'll Is
ing to God and it will be frightened
and quickened in Gods presence. This
mutual love for one another makes
life on earth happier and will add
something even to the happiness of
heaven. Because God will wish us to
be perfectly happy, He will be pleased
to see us rejoice in the company OF
one another. Indeed, it is He Him.
self who will make this union among
friends source of happiness, for it is
His own glory that we will see in the
virtues of one another.
We can assist those who are gone
before us, and we should do so by ou1
prayers, almsgiving and other good
works. This is a truth of Catholic
faith. The love that God teaches us
to have for one another is shown by
the help that we give to our neighbor
Those who are gone before are united
to the same Head to which we are
united, by faith, hope and charity
that is, to Jesus Christ. AS fellow
members of the one body we should
are suffering. Especially since these
suffering members are helpless in
their own cause, while we are rich in
the assistance that we easily can give
them. God will hear our prayers fol
the suffering souls and apply to them
the merits of our prayers. He will
even reward us for saying such pray
ers. For we thereby hasten the work
that He came on earth to do, namely
to bring souls to heaven. He ever
depends upon us for these prayers
and good works. The law of mercy
He can no longer apply to the souls in
Purgatory. This law is still withir
our reach. BY it the sentence Of
punishment, pronounced by the law o.
justice, will be mitigated, changed tt
mercy and pardon We will have
fastened the souls entrance into
heaven and rejoiced God in the posses
sion of those souls for whom He died
olf a mans wife dies and he marie,
again, how will he treat these TIVE
wives In the hereafter?
The happiness of the blessed il
heaven is in the sight of God. TIL,
beauty, glory, wisdom, goodness ant
all the other qualities of God fill tht
soul with a happiness that it haC
never known before. This Happiness,
is never ending and as deep as thu
ranqCity 0f thn cOl11 Eyon apoor,