This is one in a series from Bossuet’s Elevations on the Mysteries. The previous post is here. More information on the Bossuet Project is here. Creation of man "You have lowered him slightly below the angel; you crowned him with glory and honor, and you have appointed to him all the works of your hands.” …
The Creation of Men and Angels: Perseverance and bliss of the holy angels
This is one in a series from Bossuet’s Elevations on the Mysteries. The previous post is here. More information on the Bossuet Project is here. "There was a great war in heaven, Michael and his angels against the dragon and his angels: the dragon and his angels fought, and their strength failed them," and they …
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The Creation of Men and Angels: The fall of the angels
Everything can change, but God: "Nothing is changeless (by itself) among its saints, and the heavens are not clean in his presence. Those he had created to serve have not been stable, and he has found impurity and depravity in his angels.” (Job 4:18, 15:15) A friend of Job said this, and it was not …
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The Creation of Men and Angels: The creation of the angels
This is the first in a series from Bossuet’s Elevations on the Mysteries. More information on the Bossuet Project is here. God, who is a pure spirit, wanted to create pure spirits like him, who like him live in intelligence and love, who know and love him as he knows and loves himself, who like …
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How Did We Get From Scanlan to #straightouttairondale?
The death of Fr. Michael Scanlan, the University of Steubenville's long-time leader, has saddened many in the conservative Catholic world, if not refugees from covenant communities. It's an event that may not resonate with the majority of the Christian world, but for those of us with any involvement with the University of Steubenville, it's worth …
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Anger in God
Something to consider, from Philo Judaeus, On the Unchangeableness of God XI: And this is what follows: "I will destroy," says God, " the man whom I have made from off the face of the earth, from man to beast, from creeping things to the fowls of the air, because I have considered and repent …
Mirroring Our Creator
Not too long ago, while grading homework for a course I was teaching, I saw a "better than usual" performance from one of my students. I noted that, if she would consistently concentrate on what she was doing, she was capable of very good work. The response I got to this was as follows: …
A Little Lesson in Subsidiarity
One of pot shots that Hillary Clinton and her operatives made at conservative Catholics is that they used terms like “subsidiarity” that no one understood. Since they may be right about that, I think an illustration is in order. Many of you know that I teach Civil Engineering. Six years ago, my department head (who …
When Catholic Academia Bails on Philosophy, We're All in Trouble
Which is what some of it, at least, has done: A similar crisis has shaken the philosophical estate within the church. Before 1970 philosophy enjoyed an enviable prominence in the curriculum of Catholic colleges. This Neo-Scholastic philosophy was certainly structured around the perennial questions—Does God exist? What is virtue?—but it was an odd, manual Thomism …
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"Garbage In Garbage Out" Works for the Soul, Too
From Bossuet's Elevations on the Mysteries, IV, 8: To correct the abuse and distraction of our wandering and dissipated imagination, it is necessary to fill it with holy images. When our memory fills up, it will only take us to those religious ideas. The water wheel pushed by the flow of a river always goes, …
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Positive Infinity 