Q: Hello, I am a Jew living in Israel. Lately, I have been thinking about Christianity and Utopia, and how the two might be connected. Becoming a Christian is relatively easy (in comparison to Judaism), and an essential part of Christianity is convincing other people to be Christians as well (to save them and make sure that they arrive in heaven). Due to that fact, one might argue from a materialistic point of view, i.e., a point of view of a nonbeliever, that the purpose of Christianity as a religion is to create a utopia. Because the more people have in common, the less likely they are to fight or participate in warfare. If the entire world were Christian, fewer people would fight and there would be more peace, a thing that resembles a utopia. Please let me know your thoughts. Thank you very much. — Gilad

Answered by Fr. Edward McIlmail, LC

A: Shalom! It’s good to hear of your interest in Christianity. Christians believe that Jesus fulfilled all the hopes expressed in the Hebrew Scriptures. He is the long-awaited Messiah.

The Catholic Church doesn’t aim for a utopia in this world. The word utopia comes from Greek and means “no place” (a tip-off!). The only perfect place is in heaven, with God.

Catholics do aim, however, to improve the world, for a healthy culture helps people more easily lead upright lives. But we don’t believe in the perfectibility of the world, per se.

Man is damaged by original sin. Adam’s fall in the Garden of Eden had an impact on all his descendants.

The Catechism of the Catholic Church says:

402 All men are implicated in Adam’s sin, as St. Paul affirms: “By one man’s disobedience many (that is, all men) were made sinners”: “sin came into the world through one man and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all men sinned.” The Apostle contrasts the universality of sin and death with the universality of salvation in Christ. “Then as one man’s trespass led to condemnation for all men, so one man’s act of righteousness leads to acquittal and life for all men.”

403 Following St. Paul, the Church has always taught that the overwhelming misery which oppresses men and their inclination towards evil and death cannot be understood apart from their connection with Adam’s sin and the fact that he has transmitted to us a sin with which we are all born afflicted, a sin which is the “death of the soul.” […]

404 How did the sin of Adam become the sin of all his descendants? The whole human race is in Adam “as one body of one man.” By this “unity of the human race” all men are implicated in Adam’s sin, as all are implicated in Christ’s justice. Still, the transmission of original sin is a mystery that we cannot fully understand. […] [end quoted material]

In effect, we inherit a damaged human nature (another name for original sin). We can improve with the grace of God, but life is a battle — and one that we fight till the end.

Unfortunately, Christians haven’t always been the witnesses of Christ’s love that they should be.

History is full of accounts of Christians who did evil and even fought one another. And their treatment of the Jews in the past hasn’t been without fault, either.

If you want to learn more about Catholicism, you might check out the Youth Catechism and the Catechism (a heavy read) or its leaner Compendium.

The Catholic Answers site has lots of helpful resources. And the document Gaudium et Spes gives an overview of the Church’s relation to the modern world.

Above all, the Catholic faith is centered around the person of Jesus Christ. So read the Gospels to get to know him.

I hope some of this helps. Count on my prayers.

 

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