Mark Driscoll and the Canon of Scripture

Mark Driscoll Popular Protestant pastor Mark Driscoll (of Mars Hill church) thinks we Catholics have too many Books in our Bibles.  That’s no surprise; almost all Protestants think this.  But thankfully, Driscoll takes the time to explain why he thinks this, which makes it easy to show where and how he’s wrong. If you’re not familiar,… Continue reading Mark Driscoll and the Canon of Scripture

Uniting Pro-Life Protestants and Catholics in Christ

Yesterday’s “Conversation on Unity in Christ’s Mission” between Francis Cardinal George and Evangelical author and former pastor John Armstrong was thoroughly enjoyable.  The two men shared an obvious love for one another and for Jesus Christ.  John spoke of being enriched by Catholic writers from long before the Reformation, who sound little like modern Evangelicals; Cardinal… Continue reading Uniting Pro-Life Protestants and Catholics in Christ

Anglicanism, Atheism, and Abitofhell

The Anglican Communion is famous (perhaps notorious) for wanting to prevent internal schism at any seemingly cost — even if that means jettisoning doctrines, or permitting things, like the ordination of women and practicing homosexuals, that they once firmly denounced. Back in 1914, to show the peril of this approach, an Anglican priest by the… Continue reading Anglicanism, Atheism, and Abitofhell

HHS Rally Recap

Yesterday, I went to the HHS Mandate protest outside the offices of the Department of Health and Human Services here in D.C.  It was a great experience: upbeat, generally respectful of those on the other side, prayerful, and resolute.   The scene on my approach to the rally.  There were certainly a lot of women… Continue reading HHS Rally Recap

Marc Barnes, Catholic Blogger Extraordinaire

Here’s a clip of 9-year-old Jonny Mizzone playing banjo with his brothers Robbie (13) on fiddle, and Tommy (14) on guitar: As you can see, he’s so good that it’s a little unsettling. He makes playing amazing music look entirely effortless: he seems to be hardly aware of what he’s doing, the way ordinary humans unconsciously twiddle… Continue reading Marc Barnes, Catholic Blogger Extraordinaire

Catholicism, Protestantism, and Saint Paul’s Vision of the Church

At or near the heart of the Reformation is a debate over Saint Paul, and how we should understand his writings, particularly his statements about justification in his Epistles to the Romans and to the Galatians.  This is an interesting exegetical question, but in my opinion, it overlooks an obvious reality: St. Paul would never… Continue reading Catholicism, Protestantism, and Saint Paul’s Vision of the Church

Women Against the HHS Mandate

The Catholic Information Center has been providing a space for women against the HHS Mandate to make their voices heard.  This particular woman, Gloria Purvis, did a spectacular job of giving voice to all of the things fundamentally wrong with both the HHS Mandate, and the worldview which gave rise to it.  It’s worth watching the… Continue reading Women Against the HHS Mandate

A Lenten Warning from the Saints

In Introduction to the Devout Life, St. Francis De Sales warns of a kind of false religiosity that can convince both others and ourselves that we’re right with God, when we’re not. Specifically, he warned of our tendency to “colour devotion according to our own likings and disposition”: One man sets great value on fasting,… Continue reading A Lenten Warning from the Saints

“Do You WANT The Eucharist to be True?”

This past Sunday, an Evangelical friend joined me for Mass (he’d lost a bet).  Mass was at St. Mary’s in Alexandria, and it was characteristically great: there was a solid homily about the need to take Jesus as Eternal Judge seriously, good music, a palpable reverence during the Liturgy of the Eucharist, and the works.  My friend… Continue reading “Do You WANT The Eucharist to be True?”