Category: Catholic
-
Church and State Part Three: Popes and Kings
This is the third installation in a series of articles in which I present my view of church history with a focus on the relationship between church and state. In my last article, I covered the caesaropapism. Today I cover the middle ages, the Holy Roman Empire, and the papacy. In my next and last…
-
A Manual for Catholics on How to Dialogue with Orthodox Christians
I thought I would write a fun article that, while it contains some pearls of truth, is largely meant to tease Catholics, Orthodox, and Protestant Christians. Enjoy! Many a Catholic has gone through their entire lives without knowing what the Orthodox Christian is. For some, the word “Orthodox” often should be followed with the category…
-
Church and State Part One: The Early Church
This is the first installation in a series of articles in which I present my view of church history with a focus on the relationship between church and state. Today I cover the history of the early church. In the next installation, I will cover Constantine and caesaropapism. Struggles between state and religion, papacy and…
-
Does the Truth Change (Part I)
Does the truth change? Does the eternal truth of Christ change? On one hand believers of all creeds will find the notion of truth changing to be anathema! How can the words of scripture, those spoken by Christ, provide foundation for theological doctrines that change over time? Many scholars will point out good evidence that…
-
The Meaning of the Word “Is”
God is LOVE. . . . . . GOD is Love. . . . . . God IS Love. The first letter of John states that “God is Love” multiple times. Much has been said of agape, the sacrificial love which describes God’s love for us and how we are to love God and one…
-
What Is the Deal with Mary?
About a year ago, a friend asked me to write about Mary and why Apostolics (Catholics and Orthodox) have such a unique affinity for the Mother of God (Theotokos). So I am now acting upon that request! This article is not meant to seek to prove why one (or any) devotion to the Blessed Mother…
-
Quo Vadis Thomistice?
After considerable reflection I must agree that, despite the wisdom of certain finer points of St. Bonaventure, St. Thomas truly represents the highest point of philosophy and theology and is, in this capacity, the most effective response to modern challenges. I found out that St. Thomas held positions on faith and philosophy which I thought…
-
Salvation and Free Will
This post is inspired by the previous post Camille wrote talking about how and why it is so important to understand that man is utterly dependent on God for his salvation. While I know we have our disagreements, I found myself nodding along to most everything throughout Camille’s post. I agree that no one can…
-
Doctor Seraphicus
Ever since the great Thomist revival of the 19th century many Catholics have forgotten about St. Bonaventure and honored only St. Thomas. Before investigating the merits of St. Bonaventure I will say nonetheless that, as the tradition of the Church demonstrates ever since his death, St. Thomas is a truly marvelous expositor of Christian philosophy…
-
Sorrowful Even unto Death
When listening to Biblical passages from any given Sunday Gospel, the basic theme of doing good deeds and avoiding evil ones can more or less be understood on a rudimentary level. But every now and then, I personally come across a line from Scripture that forces me to scratch my head. Case in point, I…
