Sailing the Last Voyage with Newton and Pascal
Christianity Today's piece on C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien on marriage is making the rounds, especially in the wake on SCOTUS's boffo performance on same-sex civil marriage. CT's take is that Lewis was wrong and Tolkien was right, but unfortunately things aren't that simple. CT's analysis (coming as it does from an Evangelical publication) reminds …
Continue reading "Why Both Lewis and Tolkien Were Both Wrong on Marriage"
Since the ACNA is dickering with the Creed re the "filioque" clause, it's informative to look at Thomas Aquinas' analysis of the problem. I reproduce same below, but the upshot of his argument is that, if the Holy Spirit does not proceed through the Son from the Father, it would be impossible to differentiate the …
Every now and then I will do a series about a theological topic or work. One of those series was on the Catechetical Lectures of St. Cyril of Jerusalem. It turned into an interesting exploration of Patristic doctrine and practice as opposed to what we have today in all parts of Christianity. Following are the …
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George Conger defends the relevance of 1960's paedophilia advocate Daniel Cohn-Bendit in a religion blog: What makes this a Get Religion story is the context of the European press environment. I am not defending or excusing the Catholic Church. I am however pointing out inconsistencies and double standards in media coverage. The attack, of course, …
Continue reading "Going Around and Coming Around on Paedophilia"
In Palm Beach, where else? In its unanimous approval of the repair project, the board also gave Smith permission to replace wood transom windows above the front doors with bronze windows in a style that would closely match the door pattern. Smith plans to replace the church’s announcement sign with a slightly smaller bronze-framed case …
Continue reading "When the Government Has To Approve Repairs to Your Church"
From the Stromata (Miscellanies) II, 4: Should one say that Knowledge is founded on demonstration by a process of reasoning, let him hear that first principles are incapable of demonstration; for they are known neither by art nor sagacity. For the latter is conversant about objects that are susceptible of change, while the former is …
Continue reading "Clement of Alexandria on Knowlege and Reason"
...even the Federal government boots the likes of Michael Pfleger off the program: Michael Pfleger, the controversial Catholic priest who made racial remarks about Hillary Clinton and defended Louis Farrakhan, has been removed as a keynote speaker at a diversity day event sponsored by a federal government agency. A spokesperson for the Broadcasting Board of …
Continue reading "They Used to Know Christians By Their Love. But Now…"
With the central event of the Christian calendar coming up, I'd like to link to some of my past pieces for the occasion. If you're looking for something different for this, I can recommend the following: Good Friday They Tell Us What To Do and We Do It Every King is Proclaimed by Soldiers Cross …
SM 30 423 (1970?) This French contribution to the "Jesus Music" era is different in many ways. Given its reference to the liturgy on the back cover, it's probably Roman Catholic in at least its target audience. As opposed to the "garage band" origin and feel of much of the work of the era, or …
Amidst all the adulation surrounding the elevation of Jorge Bergoglio to become Pope Francis I, there is one thing that many overlook: that he started out his academic career as a chemist. New Atheists would have us believe that scientific education will make us like them. But this is only true when we make science …
Positive Infinity 