Tag: apologetics

Are We Living in the Matrix?

If the soul doesn’t exist, then the mind is just matter, a sort of sophisticated computer. If that’s the case, we’d be lead to the absurd possibility (even likelihood) that the universe doesn’t really exist, but is just a computer simulation. Here’s why that argument is surprisingly popular right now (even being debated at the American Museum of Natural History), and three reasons where is – and all materialism – goes wrong.

(Why You Can’t Have) Jesus Without the Church

Head of Saint John the Baptist (17th c.)

Contemporary Christianity is fond of pushing Jesus without the Church. Like its secular counterpart (in which people claim to be “spiritual, but not religious”), it’s an attempt to have the relationship without the rules. If I’m lonely or going through a tragedy, I can pray, but I don’t have to worry about fasting when I don’t want to, or being associated with a bunch of fellow believers that I look down upon.

But Jesus-without-the-Church is a rejection of Jesus.

The Saintly Case for Catholicism

St. Maximilian Kolbe

Then-Cardinal Ratzinger said in 2002, “I have often affirmed my conviction that the true apology of Christian faith, the most convincing demonstration of its truth against every denial, are the saints, and the beauty that the faith has generated. Today, for faith to grow, we must lead ourselves and the persons we meet to encounter the saints and to enter into contact with the Beautiful.”

Here’s an example of how the life and death of St. Maximilian Kolbe helped me to believe the Catholic Church’s teachings about the Virgin Mary.

Seven Answers to the “Pro-Lifers are just Pro-Birth” Argument

One of the most common ad hominem arguments against the pro-life movement is that pro-life people only really care about the unborn, and don’t care what happens after birth (or about the conditions into which the child will be born).

Often, this argument goes hand-in-glove with the argument that is pro-lifers really want to be pro-life, they have to support giving more money to such-and-such a social program, or hand out free condoms, or endorse some other politically-liberal policy. Other times, the argument is that pro-lifers need to personally adopt kids, or else be content to let them get aborted.

Here are seven answers to that argument.

The Worship of Beauty, and the Beauty of Worship

Johann Jakob Zeiller, Saint Benedict in Glory (1748)

A frequent source of in-fighting amongst Christians involves beauty. How beautiful should our churches be? How beautiful should our Liturgies be? And why? In these discussions, there are two points that often go overlooked:
1. We Worship Beauty.
2. Created Beauty Points towards Divine, Uncreated Beauty.
If you want to understand the Mass, and why there’s such an emphasis on beauty (instead of the stripped-down worship services and whitewashed churches of some Protestant denominations), consider these two points, and how they play out in the life of Israel, the Church on earth, and in Heavenly glory.

And Joseph Knew Her Not: A Case for the Perpetual Virginity of Mary

Joys and Sorrows of St. Joseph Palmira Laguéns, The Sorrows and Joys of St. Joseph: The First Sorrow (20th c., Sanctuary of Torreciudad)

The Calvinist theologian Peter Leithart has a fascinating (but incorrect) article on the perpetual virginity over at First Things. There is much to praise about the short piece. First, he’s asking the right question. As the article’s teaser puts it, “why didn’t Joseph have sex with Mary during her pregnancy?” So many Protestants focus on the fact that they believe St. Joseph and the Virgin Mary did have sex after Christmas that they ignore the explicit Biblical evidence that they didn’t have sex before (Matthew 1:25). Second, much of Leithart’s answer is correct, and points to the radical Biblical truth about the Virgin Mary. Finally, even when Leithart’s argument goes off the rails, he shows his work, so it’s easy enough to see how he goes wrong.

Why I Believe in Women Priests (Sort of)

Moritz Calisch, Young Italian Woman Praying (1850)

The push for women’s ordination obscures a more radical reality: that women (all women!) are called by God to be priests…. just as are all men. Here’s what that means (and doesn’t) and the unique way in which ONLY women can live out this priestly consecration.