Friday, May 14, 2010

Doctrinal Quiz Show! Play along....

To show my versatility and prowess in blog writing, I am shaking things up a bit. I am introducing a new series that I will revisit periodically: Doctrinal Quiz Show!

Actually that sounds dopey, and I hate it, but I couldn't think of anything else. Maybe "Theological Bloopers"? "Faux Pas of the Faith"? I will take any suggestions.

So, by going with a neat little quiz, I can make it seem like fun when I slam you down for not knowing your Catholic Faith as well as you should, ha ha ha. Just kidding. None of us was raised knowing our Faith very well (see my story for proof), unless you were one of the very, very, very rare and lucky ones.

My goal with the Doctrinal Quiz Show posts is to help clear up misconceptions about the Catholic Faith (or Christianity in general), and to clarify things that even many Catholics are not sure about (or often get wrong). So, feel free to play along! Your prize if you get the right answer? Five milliseconds off of Purgatory! Just kidding again, since I have no ecclesiastical authority to strip any time off of your purgation. :)

One caveat to make it fun and fair: Competitors are not allowed to look up the answers! Put down those Catechisms, people! And, no Dr. (of the Church) Google, either!! This needs to be "off the top of your head" stuff.

My daughter Cecily is not allowed to participate, because she has been schooled by the master. Sorry, Cec! (But remember, I can be bought.)

So here is the question of the day:

Do we become angels when we die?

Feel free to provide your best answers and explanations (don't be shy!), and I will be back in the next post with the official response....

(For next post, and awards, go here!)




24 comments:

  1. I'm really going to show my a$$ here but it makes it no different from any other thing I do!!! ;) hahahaha

    No, we do not become angels when we die. I don't know why and I can't explain, but my answer is no.

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  2. Oh, I know, I know! Angels are created angels and remain angels forever, just like people are created people and remain people forever. If we go to heaven, we become saints! If not, well, I'm not going into that. So no, angels are angels and people are people. Do I win? Are there prizes involved?

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  3. I went to Catholic schools my whole life so don't make fun of me if I get this wrong! :)

    I was also going to say no, we do not become angels. When we die, we go to purgatory, and then heaven (saints go directly to heaven.) I don't ever remember any mention of becoming an angel...I think our souls remain souls in heaven.

    This was a great idea, Leila! Can't wait to hear the answer!

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  4. I'm gonna go with no. I can't really explain my answer other than that angels were always angels...they were never people. Right? ;)

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  5. Short answer: No

    Longer answer: Angels are completely different members of God's creation--they are spirits having an intellect but no body. Angels always have been and always will be angels.

    Man OTOH is created with body, soul and intellect. After death, the body dies and the soul undergoes particular judgement where it is determined where s/he will spend eternity: Heaven or Hell depending on whether we die in the state of grace or not. The soul then immediately goes to it's eternal destination...perhaps with a stop-off at purgatory on the way to Heaven to cleanse us of any remaining attachments to sin.

    The body, incidentally, will eventually rise again and be joined once more with the soul for eternity on the Last Day.

    Or something like that...

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  6. Nope. We don't become angels. Angels are a different 'species'? altogether. We were created in God's imagine and likeness. They are not. That is about as good as I can do. lol
    Sidenote, I knew that but I still bought an angel ornament at Christmas time to remember a miscarried baby. I very nervously called into Catholic radio (jonett.e) on a show on miscarriage to talk about ppvi. I mentioned the ornament as a way to remember our lost ones and was quickly and publically reprimanded by the priest that we do not become angels when we die. I.was.mortified. at the public correction, though in hindsight it was prob just clarification for the audience and I was just hyper sensitive and nervous already btw the radio (live) and the topic.

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  7. Nope. Angels were created as spiritual beings. We were created as body and spirit. Death is the separation of body and spirit. The spirit will then go to one of the three locations (H, H or P). At the second coming of Christ, the resurrections of our bodies will occur (remember this part of the creed) and our spirit and glorified bodies will be united again for all eternity.

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  8. Great idea!
    Nope. Angels are purely created intellectual spirits. Angels by nature are not united to a body. Humans are by nature body and soul and every human soul (even those in hell! Yikes!) will eventually be reunited to his/her body in the Resurrection of the dead.

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  9. This is fun! In total agreement with everyone who's already responded. Absolutely not. An angel is pure spirit- simply mind and will- and has one opportunity to choose the Lord or not- such as what happened with Lucifer.

    Man, on the other hand, is matter and spirit. In fact, human souls are the lowest of creatd spirits, while over them are the angels. Angels are able to know and love far more powerfully than we are, because they are not limited by their bodies. And yet, 1 Corinthians 6:3 says we will actually JUDGE angels. Incredible!

    I read once in a Frank Sheed book that angels can nourish the mind as cows can the body- and that the truly amazing thing about man is that we link these two distinct worlds. We are both matter AND spirit. Our bodies are not accidents. We are the hinge that holds the two spheres together!

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  10. No, angels are created by God as purely spiritual and intellectual being and humans are created body and soul. All humans that have died are souls which will reunited with glorified bodies at the resurrection of the dead. Those who died in a state of grace go to heaven (with a possible stop in purgatory if they still have venial sin/attachment to sin to be cleansed of)and become saints. Those who died in mortal sin separated themselves from God and go to the hell of the damned.

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  11. Absolutely not, Angels were created Angels from the beginning and we were created human. Therefore when a priest at a funeral service says the dearly departed is now an angel in heaven, he is wrong.

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  12. Agreeing with everyone else. We actually go over this in 2nd grade on a much more scaled down version.

    At Wheelbarrow's comment: I thought of the same thing when I bought the "angel babies" ornament, but "saint babies" sounded odd. I knew what I meant and what it represented, so I was fine with it, but I would've been mortified, too, to have that happen on radio.

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  13. Nope! But when we get to heaven we will praise God WITH the angels!!

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  14. Nope, because angels are pure spirits. We have souls that will someday be reunited with our bodies. Some mystic (whose name escapes me) said the angels envy the souls of mankind who receive Holy Communion.

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  15. Nope. Angels are created to be angels by God. We are called to become saints but cannot ever become angels.

    Angels can be saints, though.

    :-)

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  16. OK, I promise I didn't look up and I'm not reading other comments.

    My answer is an emphatic NO. And in my very best public school lay person education, here is why:

    Angels are celestial beings- purely spiritual. Humans are body AND spirit. When we die, we are still (to the best of my knowledge) body and spirit, but our body is no longer of this world. I'm not explaining this very well...

    But I do know that it is theologically "incorrect" for people to say that they have "angel babies" when referring to miscarriages. As comforting as it is to think of them that way, angels are created by God to be angels forever, not to start out in the body and later become angels.

    Good question!

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  17. OK, just went and read the comments, wow we have some really smart Catholics!! :)

    And I apologize if my comment about the angel babies offended... when I should have prefaced that with is that I honestly didn't realize humans couldn't "become" angels until someone brought up this argument many years ago concerning miscarriage. That's how I learned it.

    And "glorified" body is the term I was so aimlessly searhing for ;)

    Go Public School!

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  18. Nope. We become Saints, if we get to heaven. ;)

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  19. We do not become angels when we die. Angels and humans are completely separate beings. Angels are pure spirits, while humans are both body and soul. Although, humans lose their body once they die, they will at the Resurrection of the dead be reunited with their physical bodies. Angels have no physicality whatsoever.

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  20. can't add anything new here but agree with everyone, No we dont' become angels......we become saints. angels are a totally different creations of Gods than we are.

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  21. Ok, my first attempt to respond resulted in an error message. So here is the big answer: Nope.

    Angels are a different type of being than humans. It is like apples and oranges: we are all created beautifully but not the same.

    And yes I did not cheat! But I can see a book on my shelf that may be of interest: "The Angels" by Fr. Pascal Parente.

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  22. NO---but we can act like angels. Angels are pure spirit, no body they can help us in our lives, for example our guardian angels---everyone has one. : )

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  23. No. Don't feel like explaining my answer, ha!
    I actually have a pet peeve when people say, oh, you have an angel in Heaven now! I know it is said to be supportive and loving, but it bugs me!

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