Does God Have a Sense of Humor? And More!

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It's time for some fast-paced Q&A! Does God have a sense of humor? Do angels have feelings? Is there a philosophical proof that God is good? Big questions like these have been popping up in the comment boxes of our Aquinas 101 videos since the start of our very first season. In this video series with Fr. Ambrose Little, O.P., we will attempt to provide some answers.
Want to participate? You can submit your big questions to Aquinas 101 using #AskAFriar in the KZbin comments and on social media. And don't forget to like and share with your friends, because it matters what you think!
Does God Have a Sense of Humor? And more! #AskAFriar (Aquinas 101)
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*Scripture quotations are from The Catholic Edition of the Revised Standard Version of the Bible, copyright © 1965, 1966 National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

[@amymargaretabigail]

I have personally experienced God the Father’s sense of humor on a few occasions. I realize this is purely anecdotal but I am convinced He has one. Perhaps it is because He deigned to give me a sense of humor and He lowered Himself to reach me through this avenue. He is capable of all things and He is purely good, so I think He can and does use humor to touch souls.

[@Di_bear]

Yea, I've seen some crazy timing things - like patterns over the course of a week - that made me think He was having a little fun. Once I got it, I'd be like, "Okay, God, I see you!" lol

[@marbonifacde]

In the video, Father said humour arises from combining incompatible concepts. I guess there's something funny about sinners such as ourselves drawing closer to God. But that process involves tears and repentance as well. On the balance of things, it seems that broadly speaking, this life is a time for tears, and the next life is joy. Being aware of both is funny in a way.

[@briantrafford4871]

#askafriar Does the Church teach that Elijah, Moses and Enoch received special graces which allowed them to physically enter Heaven prior to Christ's Resurrection?

[@gabrielbifano4256]

that's not a settled question in church. We know they received "special grace" but, don't know how exactly (if they went to a "middle heaven", or heaven as we have now)

[@simplyregina5364]

He made us in His likeness. So He gave us His sense of humour.

[@dville8103]

Great Q&A. Thank you!

[@Nellyco159]

Bless you !! It’s my fav KZbin channel ever.

[@rickfilmmaker3934]

Thank you Father.

[@myobnvm]

Thank you very much for answering my last question! One that I do have now is... #AskAFriar What does Jesus mean when He says, "The Father is greater than I", if all three Members of the Blessed Trinity are infinite?

[@JimCvit]

Thank you for answering my question #5! I thought ‘no’ but couldn’t early explain it.

[@JuanMPalacio]

I’m kinda confused about the point that what belongs to one nature cannot be predicated on the other. I understand that the Father not having the same emotions or responses as humans. But Jesus is fully human and fully God, and did have human emotions. If a sense of humor is something that only humans are capable of, then I don’t see why Jesus wouldn’t be capable of it?

[@saltoftheearth316]

The flesh.

[@Onlyafool172]

Jesus can do anything we can, he has a human and a divine mind, he can socialize and humor is part of so socialization, so obviously in his humanity Jesus had a sense of Humor, because he wished well he had friends and taken Good care of them he would Joke, like anyone else, remember he had 2 minds a human and a divine one, both touching each other, so when not needed Jesus was Just a man (in theory) without sin, because he wasant using his divine powers at every second

[@andrewferg8737]

"on the present occasion our exercise is to be conducted, as we best may, in the style of a disputation rather than of strict definition... [for] how things will be is known with certainty to God alone” (Origen, De Principiis) "But refuse foolish and ignorant speculations, knowing that they produce quarrels" (1 Timothy 2)

[@Montresor64]

I don’t need a bell to know you have finished. I know when you say “the second question is this.”

[@HighKingTurgon]

New question: is the priestly blessing effective through the medium of KZbin? xD

[@Wolffur]

No. That's why there's no virtual confessionals. One must receive blessings in person.

[@HighKingTurgon]

@@Wolffur That's certainly my instinct, hence my mild surprise at a Dominican offering one at the end of videos. I mean, they are qualitatively different. The priestly blessing a sacramental merely. But as I say, my instinct is that you are correct

[@genuinetuffguy1854]

In the Old Testament Enoch was taken up by God and then many years later Elijah was taken up by a fiery chariot driven by fiery horses to “Heaven”. Were they both actually taken to Limbo, or since God exists out of time did Jesus’ Resurrection in the “future” allow for them both to be truly taken to Heaven? What about when Moses and Elijah appeared to Jesus during the Transfiguration in glorious apparel? Jesus had told His apostles that some of them would see the Kingdom Of God, so are we to interpret that Peter, James and John saw the the Kingdom Of God only by virtue of seeing our Lord in His Glory…and that Moses and Elijah were actually visiting from Limbo? I ask this with as much humility as I can muster, purely interested in gaining Wisdom from those who might provide enlightenment. 🙏🏻❤️

[@gabrielbifano4256]

As far as i know. There is no official answer to that yet

[@berengergranier9797]

As for lucid dreaming, I have tried it in my life and had some dreams were I realized I was dreaming and controlled them, but waking up it was difficult to figure out if I was actually free of my decisions in the dream or if I was in a way still dreaming. So what I would say for catholics, is that it can make your examination of conscience hard if you do sinful things in the dream😅

[@solomonmichael7710]

#askafriar thanks for your explanations and clarifications but I still got something to ask about If Heaven was shut to the faithful departed before the time of Christ, and they were kept at Limbo, what Heaven did Jesus speak of when He was talking about Abraham, Lazarus and the rich man?

[@julianfasotti5753]

#AskAFriar What can the Aristotelian-Thomistic school say about siamese twins? 2 souls 1 body? What happens with resurrection?

[@martinrivera6770]

#askafriar This question is a bit of a mouthful, but I’m not sure how to ask succinctly… It is understood that God’s Will is perfect, and that God doesn’t “change his mind”, right? So that being the case, how can we merit the happenings of a miracle? Especially those we attribute to the intercession of a saint (or would be) saint. Is there’s such thing as having a prayer answered because one had a strong faith devotion, and prayed many novenas, offered masses, and asked for a multitude of prayers from others, vs not praying about it at all, or not praying as “aggressively” with the intent to hope for a miracle? If it was God’s Will that a miracle was going to happen regardless and a person would be healed, etc… I guess I’m just trying to understand what power do certain sacramentals and devotions have (like relics and novenas) that gain some sort of favor for those who put their hope and energy into them, vs those who don’t? Would someone’s lukewarm prayers be overlooked or placed in a lesser priority vs those who devotedly (NOT superstitiously) sought these special devotions and offerings? Because canonized saints got there from having miracles associated to their intersession, which is often the result of people’s devotion to them and asking for their prayers, right? So there must be a distinct merit for doing so vs not doing so in terms of obtaining a miracle from God?

[@simonplant]

#AskAFriar I have been struck after listening to someone at Oxford who said that he thought God is a social construct ie we created the idea of God to explain things we didn’t understand-what does St Thomas say about this?

[@mateussachelaride7788]

#AskAFriar What can we tell about the events of the Old Testament? Did they really occur as they are told? Are catholics expected to believe them literally?

[@SevenDeMagnus]

Very interesting. The best Jesus film is the 1977 film- Jesus of Nazareth. God bless.

[@KenofOurLadyAndTheTrinity]

2:43 So what I’m hearing is that God has a perfect sense of humour 🤣🤣

[@deirdrelewis1454]

If God created us, he has a sense of humour!

[@Arckaro]

Thanks father!!! #AskAFriar Did Jesus had in His earthly life a perfect knowledge of lets say, science, or The Americas?

[@KeepCalmCapybara]

Pre-cience: he know all the possibilities. There are no variables unknown for God. We, imperfect as we are, achieve cience with studies and analisys of reality, but God don't need that: everything is clear for him, for there is no shadow in God.

[@thissaintme]

Thank you Father🙏

[@capitaopacoca8454]

#AskAFriar if angels do not have bodies, are they not located in spacetime? Are the actions of my guardian angel restricted by the space and time I am in? Sorry for bad English

[@joaogoncalves-tz2uj]

Aristotle already answered affirmatively to the question: "are there things that are not located in space?"

[@igorlopes7589]

Angels, just like God, have no physical location. In both of them presence doesn't refer to places they are located in, but places and things they are acting upon. God being Omnipresent because He by definition is the only One acting upon all things, while the Angels act upon this or that particular thing.

[@superroydude]

That is right. Incorporeal beings do not occupy space.

[@tafazziReadChannelDescription]

If angels do not have feelings, why are demons averse to the holy? Isn't it painful or in some other way uncomfortable for them to affect things and people near holy objects?

[@the_abandoned_monastery7218]

It’s because none of these teachings are infallible, only reasonable. The Holy See has not made clarification of these things ex cathedra; therefore, we can only speculate. Even St. Thomas Aquinas or St. Robert Bellarmine, well learned doctors of the Church, can err with good intentions.

[@tafazziReadChannelDescription]

@@the_abandoned_monastery7218 Sure, but before saying thomism can't answer this question I'd wait and see if some thomist has an answer to this point.

[@DanielleB13]

God created everything and knows everything therefore he understands humour…

[@vincentorlando6767]

God thru out the bible rewards, is pleased with various saints and also punished the fallen angels and other wicked humans, must God have emotions since HE is both pleased and angered?????

[@GranMaese]

I think the difference coms from feelings vs emotions. Feelings are corporeal, while emotions are of the spirit [or mind]. Also, always remember that while the Holy Scriptures are truly inspired by God, they were written by men, this means they were written in a human way [so to speak] so other men could also understand them. This means that God doesn't necessarily has certain emotions as we understand them, just that the closest thing we have to understand His actions is to express them in that particular way. But I'm no expert, though. Just my two cents.

[@tafazziReadChannelDescription]

I'm not sure that the following is completely correct, but my understanding is that God's decisions are a result of His divine, perfect mind, and His divine perfect will. We can't even imagine how an infinite and perfect mind works, in the case of us humans our decisions are always accompanied by our emotional state (which is a biological feeling, not an intellectual decision). When the authors of the Bible report a decision from God, they imagine how would a Just, loving human king would feel when taking a similar decision, and that's why they attribute feelings to God. God being "pleased" with the saints paints in our mind the picture if a king that welcomes saintly behaviour in His court, but actually all the good that God pours on the saints is a result of a free choice from His part, not influenced by the good feeling of satisfaction that a human king recieves when he does something good. That makes God's love even more free and unearned than the love from a human that feels satisfied while helping you.

[@SevenDeMagnus]

#AskAFriar When Jesus said, the one who dips his bread with Jesus' is the one who will betray him and then Judas dipped his bread but if Jesus was talking to them all and when we dine we actually have an idea of what people are grabbing on the table, how come the apostles didn't see Judas dip the bread and chastised him? God bless.

[@Stupidityindex]

"Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, cursed is everyone that hangeth on a tree:" Galatians 3:13

[@KW-mz4pn]

Of course He does He made me 🤣

[@daniels5511]

"I guess...?" is such a cool answer to hear from a theologian

[@hismajesty6272]

I’d say God most definitely does through the person of Christ. Jesus is truly God and truly man, so it stands to reason He would make jokes (of course harmless and non sinful ones) with His friends.

[@smathet7766]

How do you make GOD laugh? Tell him you’re plans!! LOL

[@mashah1085]

So how is God "omnipotent"...if He is incapable of laughing?

[@TheSageSpartan]

If I get to Heaven and there’s no laughing.. is that even Heaven

[@reyreyes6126]

"sense of humor" (risibilis) is proper property of a rational animal (men). But, spirits are not rational animal. Ergo, God and Angels do not possess sense of humor. Sense humor is a property to be surprised by an incongruity perceived by the intellect;however it is in a way discursive that is not proper to God and Angels.

[@tafazziReadChannelDescription]

Laughter and amusement are feelings, so more simple we can just say that since God is impassible He can't feel those in His divine nature. However God would know what is funny to any human person, because He is omniscient, so if He wanted to make us laugh He'd be the best possible comedian. That would count as a "sense of humor" in some way

[@anthonyw2931]

well, how wrong I have been. For sure I thought God sometimes laughs at our absurdity.

[@russellmiles2861]

Sure, if you read Hosea 13:16 you can see Elohim's dry sense of humour

[@donmendoza5150]

Can God have a broken heart?

[@anthonyhulse1248]

God has a sense of humour: he inspired St. Dominic and St. Francis at the same time.

[@476429]

I can answer that with one word: Platypus.

[@brendamyc3173]

Yes he gave you the ability to laugh

[@BayouMaccabee]

The first thought that entered into my head by the question: "Does God have a sense of humor?" was: "Yes, he made the duck-billed platypus, didn't he?" Those things are quite funny to me. 😁

[@JuanMPalacio]

Platypus was the first thing that came to my mind as well.

[@R.C.425]

🤣🤣🤣

[@edward2448]

Oh my goodness, you took my comment. That's the first thing I thought. Have you seen the Platypus 🤣

[@martinrivera6770]

Although the church doesn’t explicitly define and teach regarding lucid dreaming, what we do know is that lucid dreaming is most often the result of new age practices akin to the occult, which break the 1st commandment and thereby a mortal sin to practice. There may be some cases of lucid dreaming as a result of certain licit medications, traumas, or chemical imbalances in the brain, in which case the argument can be made that consciousness was not wholly involved and thereby not considered a mortal sin… But most people who experience lucid dreaming made an act of the will to achieve that state by doing sinful practices while awake and conscious.

[@eagleswings5693]

I doubt that all the rationality can lead to union with God …..

[@mikecavallaro466]

I'm not sure I understand the distinctions between God not having a sense of humor vs humor begins and ends with God. Is God not conscious and aware of all his creations?

[@rubemartur8239]

Lets say He knows all puns and good jokes, like knowing spoilers from a book/movie He created. We are surprised with the combinations and separations of ideas, He isnt. Like a Father who overreacts from a drawing his kid do (not that he was surprised), he embraces this kid, and share a moment of Joy, congratulates, hug, do funny faces, create a good memory of love... And all kids begun with a simple combination and separation of colours over a simple paper.

[@cthulhupr]

While you have been no doubt exact and precise philosophically and theologically, I would appreciate a bit of more nuance. Dominicans of all people should distinguish the enunciation of faith from the possible ways of interpretation of such enunciation. V.g., "Jesus descended to hell".

[@Stupidityindex]

The King of the Jews says, "render to Caesar" after war with Rome.

[@colinlavery625]

Of course God had a sense of humour. He invented the fart !!!

[@Montresor64]

Is this an android Catholic?

[@11kravitzn]

Obviously God has a sense of humor: just look at Christianity 🤣

[@FranciscoSamour]

Wow, this video technically denies the humanity of Jesus. Blasphemous to say the least

[@kleberbambam5490]

i don't think you understood one word that was said in that part of the video

[@ArtocarpusInteger]

If Jesus is really God, why does Jesus pray? What does 'Jesus prayed' mean? Were the prophecies of the Old Testament prophets about the messiah really fulfilled in Jesus Christ? Yet there are exegetical difficulties in proving this #AskAFriar

[@rubemartur8239]

Lucid dreams are dreams i remember too? Because i used to have lucid dreams with lust and at same time, regreted when remembering," wait, this is me in and i'm conscious? No, no" I confessed, but kind of thinking as venial, i dont know, many times it happens in a year, its not like, i will write the link to the certain site to see porn, its not like that all times, sometimes i remember i get into the action abruptaly and i woke up, because needing to "pee"and the "pee" wasnt it ... I felt weird last year, but accepted it as a physiological process. That kind of nightmare WITHOUT MY CONSENT. I had years of "i want to dream about someone" in sinful manner, nowadays I DONT WANT ANYMORE, but despise my resolution, it happens. Some nightmares i dont remember, sometines i remember something like trying to recognize what happened like deja vu. Sometimes i rememeber and thats disgusting. Its a pain to confess, i only say i had nightmares, certain number (you can estipulate aproximate, if not, "x times per month, week, or during certain period of time), against the nature (i dont specify more, the priest know that's same sex, but i dont want to lack charity with more SINCERE words that would be horrible to hear) also confess "for every sin i forgot in my past life" including those i remembered recently. If God condemn because of forgotten mortal sins, specially forgetting number of times... Well that's not true. Dont be scrupulous, God is merciful, he want sincerity, not despair. The confession is to bring hope back.

[@GIF_CANCEL]

If you don't want something to happen, then your will is not willing it, so it's not a sin. A lucid dream is like your almost awake and you know you're in the dream and you know you're controlling the dream. If you're still not sure then there is uncertainty and if there is uncertainty then you haven't sinned. I went through a tormenting scrupulosity years ago that physically debilitated me and I wouldn't wish it on my worst enemy. You already have a sensitive conscience. Do fun things and don't "contemplate" so much.

[@msgoody2shoes959]

No, but we do.