#11678 Ask Me Anything - Tim Staples

Questions Covered: 03:44 – In the Transformers, there are a team of Constructicons where 5 robots can combine to make one giant robot. According to the official character bio, the giant robot, Devastator, has a unique consciousness that is also a composite of all 5 unique, individual robot personalities. Do you think this is a good illustration of how God works, albeit being a Quintessence as opposed to a Trinity?  08:40 – Chiropractic. Religion? New Age wooow? Scam?  13:15 – Most Christians I know would say “light as a feather, stiff as a board” is demons. Because, you know… If it’s not demons, is there a natural explanation for why it works?  16:50 – What do you think the likelihood is that we will meet beings from other realities that God created when we get to heaven? Or should we expect that this is the only reality, and the sole occupants of heaven will be from this space-time continuum?  18:23 – Why did Jesus ascend into the sky and what happened to His body? Did it disappear or do he go to other planets or outer space?  21:14 – Was it not a good idea for Johnny to take the bet with the devil in the song “Devil went down to Georgia”, given that the Church strongly encourages not conversing with the devil or demons, even though he won the bet?  24:03 – If humans evolved from different humanoid species in the past, at what point did we gain a soul?  29:07 – Why did Peter put on his clothes before jumping in the water?  31:05 – In Tobit, Archangel Raphael states that it only seemed to Tobias that he was eating, but really did not. So did Raphael atomize the food he touched when having meals with Tobias or is there another explanation?  How would someone be able to explain that Jesus really ate with his Apostles when Archangel Raphael only made it seem like it?  36:35 – I wonder is it a sin to be psychic? My grandmother was a very gifted psychic and a devout Catholic. This created some issues when she was criticized by the priest at church. …

Questions Covered: 02:30 – I mean no disrespect with this question…. I noticed a few weeks ago that Jimmy was leaving the “g” off of words like “teachin” or “reasonin” and others. I can only assume that this is the normal dialect in Arkansas? Question. Is this change due to a conscious effort to return to his “roots” or is this an outcome of being immersed back into the Arkansas dialect through local conversations? Love Mysterious World and Cy’s awkward Dad joke sense of humor. 08:17 – In the very first Weird Questions I listened to, Jimmy answered a question asking if a man was teleported back in time to 5 BC, what obligations he would have to do in order to worship God properly. Now, let me ask the reverse of that. Suppose a man from 500BC was in stasis for thousands of years and wakes up when a group of archaeologists discover him. I imagine the option to be baptized and confirmed would be just as open to him as to any other man (provided he knows what the sacraments and the Gospel mean), but if the man were to die after his waking up in the 21st century without having done these things, what would be the state of his soul? 11:31 – We have a ghost where I work….and I wouldn’t have believed it if I hadn’t seen and heard it with my own eyes. A coworker recently got a spirit box and it has picked up some interesting things but I wasn’t there when they were using it. Do those things (spirit boxes} have any legitimacy to them? 16:40 – Just wondering if you can address something that kept coming to my mind while listening to Mysterious World (AA 1025) If so thanks. My question is not directly related but it made me think about Bella Dodd and her impact related to infiltration in the church along with her conversation. I just want to hear your thoughts on this. On a side note I really enjoy your work but I particularly enjoy Mysterious World!!! 19:31 – Are there any conditions that must be met for the devil to possess someone? In Other words, are there any characteristics of a person that would need to be present in order for that person to be possessed by a demon? 28:57 – Did Jesus ever get bitten by mosquitos, ticks! Lice or other blood-feeding pests? And if so what would the implications be of these creatures potentially being the first among creation to receive the precious blood of Christ? I tend to think about this when hiking in deep quiet woods and swarmed by a fog of billions of mosquitos with nothing apparently to eat but me. Perhaps they cannot starve to death and are in a sense immortal? 33:25 – So I read a book about a guy that whenever he dies he is reborn but with all the memories of his previous lives. My question is that if he became a priest in one of his lives would that end at his death, or would he technically still be a priest in every life after that? 35:16 – Who invented smoking? More importantly, how did people discover that inhaling burning fumes from various herbs feels good? 39:27 – Can the belief in djinn be incorporated into the Catholic worldview? And if so, how would this affect the categories of alien and demon by adding a third possible explanation of unexplained phenomenon? 44:35 – What is Baphomet? 48:45 – My son, Jonathan would like like a deep dive on Angelic swords (Genesis 3:24) Did the angels forge them? Are they still around? Did God invent swords? 51:42 – Would it be a stretch or not from a Catholic perspective to say that both Multiple Personality Disorder and Rabies are different ways in which demonic activity can manifest? I.e. The Personalities of those with MPD actually being demons in disguise waiting for the right moment to strike or rabies being a disease that could evolve into a form of demonic possession that can manifest in various animals …

Questions Covered: 04:03 – Does the trial of Pope Formosus disprove Papal Infallibility? 10:50 – Does time exist in the Church triumphant and the Church suffering as it does for the Church militant? 17:56 – How can we explain to an animal rights activist that humans have greater value and dignity? 24:36 – What’s the morality of interacting with algorithms that can influence others to encounter questionable material? 31:09 – I want to start defending the faith. How do I defend the words “Praying to” when referring to Mary? 36:42 – What is the Catholic perspective of the orthogonality thesis within general purpose intelligence research? 42:29 – In your recent debate with James White on Sola Scriptura you argued the different ways “Word of God’ was used. What resource did you use to build that argument? 46:33 – My wife and I both grew up Catholic but never got married in the Church. Do we have to get our marriage blessed by the Church? We now live like brother and sister. 51:05 – My son is in college and questioning whether God is real. How do I start a conversation with him without scaring him away? …

Questions Covered: 05:25 – How would you explain to a protestant that the reformation did more harm than good? 11:52 – How would I reply to a friend who says that a Catholic shouldn’t judge a gay relationship? 18:45 – Can I receive communion more than once a day? 20:07 – Our priest seems to rush the Mass. Is it appropriate to approach him and ask him to slow down? 29:52 – Is it good to assume that the people being addressed in Romans 10 were already baptized with great faith? Thus, faith being what was needed for salvation for them? 34:52 – My friend favors the spiritual presence view of the eucharist? How do I explain to him that this view is insufficient? 40:58 – I’m thinking of leaving the Catholic church because they won’t give the precious blood? Why am I being denied a sacrament? 43:56 – I agree with the limiting of microplastics. We need to do what we can to save God’s planet? 49:05 – Are the different Churches in the new testaments akin to what today are modern dioceses? 51:49 – In light of 2 Cor 5:20, what is a good way to evangelize senior citizens whose memory isn’t good? …

Questions Covered:  09:32 – Can you explain why all Judeo-Christian revelations come from the Middle East?  32:58 – How can Catholics believe the Saints are in heaven based on the day of judgment?   50:32 – Can you give advice on how to dialogue when they don’t accept the Sacrament?  …

Questions Covered:  04:53 – How can a Catholic prophecy be wrong about the end of the world?   15:18 – Why does the Divine Mercy chaplet say, “I give you the body and blood”?  30:05 – Why do Catholics need Confession when Jesus paid the price for our sins?  40:56 – Is it possible to affect someone’s ultimate salvation?   51:58 – In what sense is Jesus God?   …

Questions Covered: 01:02 – What do you think about the supposed references to Jesus in the Talmud? 08:10 – Please explain how does the process work when a priest earns the title of Monsignor I’d like to understand how that whole process works. 13:?42 – Can you make a distinction between God’s miracles and what demons are capable of? 18:39 – Who is the “destroyer” / angel of death in Exodus? An actual angel? 20:24 – Do you think the Jewish faith was reinterpreted after Jesus’s death and resurrection 25:10 – Why is the word Holy Ghost said instead of Holy Spirit? 28:25 – Why are there so many people who say that the Catholic Church is evil? The red shoes are evil. The room that looks like a serpent, at the Vatican. And other claims…? 32:43 – I was recently challenged on the papal bulls allowing conquest and enslavement, followed by the bull Sublimis Deus forbidding enslavement, which I take as an abrogation of the prior. The interlocutor asked 1) how can one infallible bull overrule another one; and 2) how was anyone supposed to know when Sublimus Deus doesn’t mention the prior bulls or say they were abrogated? What do you say? 35:24 – Can you explain how the Godhead and the Trinity are not conflicting ideas or doctrines. I get SO MANY people who challenge the Trinity and say that Catholics try to replace the Godhead with the “false doctrine” of the Trinity. 44:50 – Let’s say a person was properly baptized as a child but didn’t remember. They grow up and live a secular life until finding the faith later. They go through RCIA and, not remembering that they had been already baptized, are baptized and confirmed into the church.This person thinks that their recent baptism washes away the sins to that point and so does not go to confession for those sins. Is this person in trouble spiritually? Can they, since they are ignorant of the situation, receive the Eucharist? 48:08 – Jimmy Akin, what’s your most recent and thorough reflection on Numbers 12? 51:57 – Do we have one guardian angel for our whole life? 53:11 – What are your thoughts on the “manna machine”? …

Questions Covered: 02:17 -If there are conjoined twins who are saints and they have the power of bilocation, would they be able to bilocate separately or should they bilocate together? 07:06 – Will conjoined twins still be joined in their resurrected bodies? 11:11 – In marriage, is the “good of the spouses” supplied by nature, or grace? 13:10 – What is the Church’s stance on the history of St Veronica? 17:52 – Can God “forgive” you your sins or could it be more accurate to say He is the immutable embodiment of forgiveness itself- thus really only we can change by atoning and reorienting ourselves to Him? 19:35 – My son, Joshua wants to ask you if you think the Superman movies could have a Christian allegory to them? 28:42 – How/why did the Jews become monotheists? 32:41 – Where did the prayer come from that w e say at Mass after the Our Father… “For Thine is the Kingdom,,,” 35:35 – Why do you suppose the account of Peter walking on the water only in Matthew? 39:42 – My daughter has a turtle. One day, she was laying on the floor with the turtle. The turtle looks at her, then at a piece of fence about a foot or two tall, and back at her a few times. The turtle then runs to the fence, pushes it over to create a ramp (inclined plane) onto my daughter, then climbs the fence onto my daughter’s back. That would appear to be a lot of thought going on in the turtle’s brain to figure that out. What evidence do we have for the extent of intelligence in animals? Does she just have a really smart turtle? 45:41 – What’s your take on original monotheism? 49:28 – Will we continue learning in heaven? Or will we just instantaneously *know* everything we can know? 51:14 – Did Jesus drink wine, or was it just grape juice? 53:12 – If Jesus submitted his DNA to 23&Me would it prove that Joseph was his Father? …

Questions Covered:  04:00 – Did the people who were resurrected after Jesus’ resurrection in Matthew 27:53 go to heaven?  11:12 – How do I respond to the claim that Jesus was crucified on a Wednesday? See: https://www.catholic.com/magazine/print-edition/crucifixion-wednesday See my article: https://www.catholic.com/magazine/online-edition/the-timing-of-jesus-death  15:38 – It sounds like Catholics disagree with Christ’s teaching of eternal security in John 5:24. Can we still perish even if we believe in Christ? See article: https://www.catholic.com/magazine/online-edition/dont-take-eternal-life-for-granted  19:48 – Why is the Catholic Church always in the defensive position when it comes to apologetics?  24:23 – Why do we have to explain anything out of our faith? Why do we concentrate so much on defending the faith?  30:20 – Can the terms priest and pastor be used interchangeably?  34:28 – I heard a protestant say that Mt 12:32 has nothing to do with purgatory because there’s no forgiveness after we’re dead. How do I respond?   42:24 – Why did Mary say “My God and My Savior” in Luke?   46:49 – Is a crucifix a graven image that the bible condemns?  …

Questions Covered: 04:51 – Why is there only one incarnation? Why not the Father and Holy Spirit too? 15:30 – If Satan had not fallen, would humans have fallen? 17:18 – How do I respond to a 2nd grader who doesn’t understand why women can’t be priests? I gave the typical answer about the apostles but got pushback. What do I do now? 20:41 – Where in the bible does it say that women can’t be priests? 32:27 – In the martyrdom of Perpetua, it says that she had a vision of her brother suffering and then another where he no longer was. Is this an early account for purgatory? Are there other documented accounts of purgatory in the first 300 years of the Church? 42:39 – How do you reconcile papal primacy and the necessity to submit to the Roman pontiff and salvation only coming from the Lord? 46:03 – How do we know Jesus isn’t using a metaphor when he says that He is the Bread in John 6 since Jesus later says in John 10:9 and 15:5 that He is the door and a gate? …