1995

Culture of Life vs. Culture of Death

“God did not make death, nor does he rejoice in the destruction of the living… It was the wicked who with hands and words invited death.” Wisdom 1:13, 18

“I am the resurrection and the life.” John 11:25

Culture of Death: Origin

Human Questions

Whatis

the meaning

of life?

Rich Young Man Approaches Christ

Christ Reveals Man to Himself

“Keep theCommandments”

“Come,follow me.”

Christian View of Man

Christ Reveals Man

to Himself• Teacher• Reconciler• Obedient Son• Just

judge/Peacemaker• Self-Giver

Modern View of Man

• Pleasure Seeker• Consumer• Individual• Relativist (no moral absolutes)• Skeptic (no knowledge is possible)

The Modern Age

Freedom: Distorted View

Freedom Defines the Human Person

Instinctual Action Free Action

Freedom to Do What is Good

Modern Fixation on the Individual

Christian Community: Love & Sacrifice

“God is love, andwhoever remains in love remains in God, and God in him.”

I John 4:16

Christian Generosity vs. Modern Materialism

Modern Skepticism: All Opinions are EqualPilate said to Him, “What is Truth?” (John 19:38)

Christ: Splendor of Truth

“I amthe Waythe Truthand the Life.”

Moral Relativism

Inalienable Rights

“We holdtheseTruths tobe self-evident…

…Life,Liberty,and thepursuit ofHappiness.”

Moral Absolutes

Reason Revelation

ValuesModern View

• “Freedom;” Doing what I want, when I want

• Individualism

• Materialism

• Skepticism

• Moral Relativism

Christian View

• “Freedom;” Being free from sin and doing what is good

• Community

• Generosity

• Truth

• Moral Absolutes

Unlimited Choices?

The Heart of Liberty?

“At the heart of libertyis the right to define one’s own

concept of existence, ofmeaning, of the universe,

and the mysteryof human life.”

Planned Parenthood v. Casey (1992)

A Connection

Griswold vs. the State of Connecticut (1965):legalizes sale of contraceptives

Roe vs. Wade (1973): legalizes abortion

Compassion in Dying vs. the State of Washington (1996): legalizes assisted suicide

Lawrence v. Texas (2003): legalized sodomy

Crimes Against Life: New Rights

A Progression

Further Differences

Modern Values• Man is sovereign

over all• Suffering is

useless• There is no life

after death

Christian Truth• God is sovereign

over all• Suffering has redemptive value

• Man has an eternal destiny with God

The Modern Tragedy: Godlessness

“In seeking the deepest roots of the struggle between the ‘culture of life’ and the ‘culture of death,’ we cannot restrict ourselves to the perverse notion of freedom….We have to go to the heart of the tragedy being experienced by modern man: the ‘eclipse of the sense of God and of man.’”

Evangelium Vitae 21

Man: A Highly Developed Animal

Man: An Immortal Creature

“You Will Be with Me in Paradise”

“I am the resurrection and

the life; he who believes in me, though he die,

yet shall he live,

and whoever lives and believes in me shall never die.”John 11:25-26