Simon Vouet, Father Time Overcome by Love, Hope and Beauty (1627) A lot has been said about the “problem of pain.” Why, if God is both loving and all-powerful, is there still suffering in the world? The question is a challenge for Catholics, as for all theists. As believers, we have some sense of why a loving… Continue reading The Problem of Beauty
Tag: apologetics
Casting Out Demons in the Name of Solomon: Jewish Exorcisms at the Time of Christ
Giotto, Exorcism of the Demons at Arezzo (detail) (1300) Exorcisms have been a part of Catholicism from the very beginning. When Jesus sends out the Twelve Apostles, “they went out and preached that men should repent. And they cast out many demons, and anointed with oil many that were sick and healed them” (Mark 6:12-13). But… Continue reading Casting Out Demons in the Name of Solomon: Jewish Exorcisms at the Time of Christ
Is Baptism Necessary for Salvation?
Masaccio, Baptism of the Neophytes (1425) Do we need to be baptized to be saved? Catholics say yes, while acknowledging that certain cases exist in which water baptism is impossible, and a person is still saved, like the good thief on the cross. In other words, even if it’s possible that someone may be saved without… Continue reading Is Baptism Necessary for Salvation?
The Covenantal Case for Catholicism
One area in which Catholics and many Protestants agree is that covenant is key to Christianity. After all, Judaism and Christianity are frequently referred to as the “Old Covenant” and “New Covenant,” and the terms Old and New Testament are also tied to the covenant. Granted, we often disagree with how the covenants should be… Continue reading The Covenantal Case for Catholicism
The Protestant Fallacy That Threatens to Undermine Christianity
Catholics believe in the infallibility of the Church and of the pope. This serves as both a teacher of, and an important check to, our personal interpretations of Scripture. If I understand a passage of Scripture to be teaching X, and X is a conclusion contrary to the teachings of the Church, I can be… Continue reading The Protestant Fallacy That Threatens to Undermine Christianity
No, the Bible Isn’t the Fullness of Revelation. Jesus is.
The debate over sola Scriptura is often framed as a question of whether the fullness of revelation is Scripture or Scripture plus Tradition. But the Bible points us to the fullness of revelation, and it doesn’t look like this: Vincent Van Gogh, Still Life with Bible (1885) Rather, the fullness of revelation looks more like… Continue reading No, the Bible Isn’t the Fullness of Revelation. Jesus is.
Neil deGrasse Tyson’s (Unwittingly) Ironic Trolling
Neil deGrasse Tyson, host of the popular Cosmos show, spent Christmas morning on Twitter, mocking Christians: On this day long ago, a child was born who, by age 30, would transform the world. Happy Birthday Isaac Newton b. Dec 25, 1642— Neil deGrasse Tyson (@neiltyson) December 25, 2014 Merry Christmas to all. A Pagan holiday (BC)… Continue reading Neil deGrasse Tyson’s (Unwittingly) Ironic Trolling
How the Catholic Church Helped Save Hanukkah
Here’s a piece that I wrote for ChurchPOP on the Catholic connection to Hanukkah. It’s called How the Catholic Church Saved Hanukkah. Here’s how it begins: Tuesday night marked the beginning of Hanukkah. As BuzzFeed recently demonstrated, a lot of Christians are ignorant as to what Hanukkah is. That’s a shame, not least of all… Continue reading How the Catholic Church Helped Save Hanukkah
Reason #10 to Reject the Reformation: The Grand Finale
Today, we arrive at the last of St. Edmund Campion’s Ten Reasons to reject the Reformation, and it’s a doozy. It turns out, he spent many of the prior nine reasons crescendoing towards this last one, and the result is epic: a sort of cosmic vision of the Catholic Church and the Reformation, with (in… Continue reading Reason #10 to Reject the Reformation: The Grand Finale
Pope Victor and the Second-Century Papacy
Pope St. Victor I In October, I wrote about a fascinating conflict in the first-century church of Corinth. When a dispute broke out within their church, they wrote to Rome. Pope Clement wrote back, issued some orders, and resolved the dispute. Under any circumstances, this would be interesting, because it shows the way that papal… Continue reading Pope Victor and the Second-Century Papacy