Tag: apologetics

Eucharistic Prayer IV: The Unknown Eucharistic Prayer

Yesterday, my girlfriend went to daily Mass at Blessed Sacrament in Arlington, and came away a bit confused by the Liturgy — she explained to me that it sounded like the Mass, was clearly not being improvised by the priest, and yet was different at almost every point from what she was used to. Turns… Continue reading Eucharistic Prayer IV: The Unknown Eucharistic Prayer

Just Can’t Resist

Rarely is one’s entire belief system dismantled as quickly as Deepak Chopra’s is here: The argument works, of course, against post-modernism, and all forms of truth-claims which claim that “the truth is that there is no truth.” But most of the people peddling that junk don’t walk broadside into their inconsistencies in front of a… Continue reading Just Can’t Resist

Salvation by Faith Working in Love

Picking up where I left off yesterday, I had been talking about how Pope Benedict has argued that “Luther’s phrase, ‘faith alone’ is true, if it is not opposed to faith in charity, in love.” It’s a provocative argument from the Roman Pontiff, but one not dissimilar to Cardinal Newman’s argument that saving faith and… Continue reading Salvation by Faith Working in Love

An Interesting Sermon on Justification and Sola Fide

I think a lot of the disputes on justification are more smoke than fire — Catholics and Protestants use different terms (or worse, use the same terms, but mean different things), but seem to largely agree on the fundamentals, quite frankly. Given this context, I think it’s best if we just set the Catholic and… Continue reading An Interesting Sermon on Justification and Sola Fide

The Mass Done Right

I’ve done my share of kvetching about the Mass done poorly — those Masses with sappy songs about and to us; those homilies which start out bland and end up heretical; all done within the confines of a church which looks like a conference room in wartime. I mention these things for one major reason:… Continue reading The Mass Done Right

A Utilitarian Argument for Catholic Sexual Ethics, Part II

In response to my original post on this subject, Steve makes three arguments:First…. There are several ridiculous arguments here, but Policy consideration #4 is a real clinker: homosexual sex and non-intercourse “come with the costs of emotional bonding and enhanced risk of STD… [and] the benefits for the sexual partners are fleeting.” Wrong. You point… Continue reading A Utilitarian Argument for Catholic Sexual Ethics, Part II

Food for Thought

(1) The stock left-wing claims about the sex abuse scandal are that it was caused by celibacy, and that the cover-up was caused by an all-male priesthood. Given those claims, consider this tidbit: the world’s first Lutheran bishop has resigned, because she covered up sex abuse committed by non-celibate Lutheran pastors. Sort of makes Maureen… Continue reading Food for Thought