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Guest Lecturer Addresses Hellish Questions: Dr. Michael Healy's Two-Part Lecture Series on Hell
November 26, 2008
By Jake Carter
Hell and God’s Love—two of the most terrifying and mind-blowing aspects of the Catholic Faith—were two of the topics that guest lecturer, Dr. Michael Healy, Franciscan University of Steubenville Philosophy professor, addressed at Ave Maria, November 7-8. In a lecture series co-sponsored by the Office of the President and the Office of the Dean of Faculty, on November 7th and 8th. Healy took the opportunity to address prevalent and sensitive questions, such as how God could allow a place such as Hell to exist and yet be a kind and loving God.
Healy’s material was mostly derived from his meditation on the writings and works of German Catholic philosopher and theologian, Dietrich von Hildebrand. There was also a last-minute schedule lecture, “Von Hildebrand on Sexuality: Three Ways of Attraction, Three Dangers in Action & Three Reasons for Renunciation.”
Each talk attracted about 35 students/faculty, all eager to hear some intellectually challenging propositions.
Dr. Healy first spoke on “Hell, A Phenomenological Analysis: Eternal Pain and the Love of God.” Healy showed that Hell could exist because Satan and his demons had created it, as a place of ‘refuge’ from God. He reasoned that people end up there, not just because they committed sins, but because they chose to reject God, and have no desire to be with Him. Hell is a place of punishment, he explained, and yet, for those who chose evil, it is preferable to being near God (Who is infinite goodness) which would cause them greater pain and agony.
Over 40 attendees squeezed into local café, The Bean of Ave Maria, on a Saturday morning to hear the answer the more popular question “How Could You Be Happy in Heaven if Someone You Love Ends Up in Hell?” Healy’s answer was complex, but made sense.
One of the professor’s convincing arguments ran like this: If ‘Ray Ruthless’ winds up in Hell, all goodness in him is removed, as nothing good can be in Hell. Since Ray Ruthless has nothing good in him, and only the good can be loved, it’s not even possible to love him.
Of course, it is impossible to do Healy justice in this simplified form. He really does need—and efficiently used—an hour to articulate his theological outlook, but in the end his reasoning seemed to win his audience.
Hell is such a grim topic, one might think that Healy would be forced to water it down, skip the grim details or pepper in corny jokes. Instead, using examples from Star Trek, Star Wars and Dracula, Healy was simultaneously funny and convincing. Allowing his audience to easily understand the talks, Healy left his audience thoughtful and reflective.
Michael Healy himself has quite a history with philosophy. As a professor in the Department of Philosophy at Franciscan University of Steubenville since 1986, he teaches courses on ethics, epistemology, world religions, metaphysics and logic. He also served as Dean of the Faculty from 1986 to 1998.
Healy is a frequent contributor to academic symposiums and conferences around the United States and Europe, often speaking on marriage, family, pro-life issues and the works of Pope John Paul II. He participates in many academic organizations, including the American Catholic Philosophical Association and the Fellowship of Catholic Scholars.
In 1972, Dr. Healy earned his bachelor of arts in Philosophy and Psychology from Loyola University of Los Angeles. He went on to earn both master of arts and PhD degrees in Philosophy from the University of Dallas in 1975 and 1978, respectively.
However, he was not always a staunch defender of the faith, nor did he delve so deeply into the mysteries of philosophy in his early college years.
Healy said that his faith was “somewhat isolated” from himself. He explains, “I didn’t stop believing in it, but I was distanced from it.” The liberalized ‘Catholic’ education he received in the first two years of his college life, coupled with the revolutions of the sixties, only served to pull him further from his faith life.
“I started swallowing pretty much anything I was fed,” Healy said, “and after two years, I started to get sick of all the baloney.” Then, in his junior year, Healy had an opportunity to get rid of the ‘baloney’. He took a Philosophy of Love class, and one of the readings was from Dietrich von Hildebrand’s “Ethics.” Healy was shocked, and hooked. Incredulous, he took it upon himself to challenge von Hildebrand’s worldview. “I was all set to prove him wrong,” Healy said with a smile, “I would come up with an objection to one of his views, and then two pages later, he would answer that objection. I couldn’t believe it.” Healy described sitting in pools of his own sweat as he read Hildebrand’s words. “It shook everything I had believed in.”
After von Hildebrand’s belief-shattering writings, Healy started devouring all the “good philosophy” he could get his hands on—writings and reflections from men like John Cardinal Newman, Søren Kierkegaard and St. Thomas Aquinas. “These men challenged modern philosophy, in ways that no one had mentioned to me before.”
Healy talked about his switch from psychology to a philosophy major. “The education I received at Loyola, was not really the Catholic education I was expecting.” In an article for Crisis Magazine, Healy recounts von Hildebrand’s visit to Loyola, juxtaposing it with that of the Rev. Hans Kung. Click here to see the article.
Professor Healy spoke highly of Ave Maria University. He had worked at Ave Maria in 2002, alongside our own President, Nick Healy, (not related to either of their knowledge). And his listeners reciprocated, manifestly regarding Healy as a man of wisdom and knowledge. †
