What’s the proper role of “conscience” in decision-making? What should I do if my conscience doesn’t line up with the Church’s teachings? Those are some of the questions that I explored with Cy Kellett on the latest episode of Catholic Answers Focus. Here is a taste of one of the questions he tried to stump me with:
Tag: Church
Is America the “City on a Hill”?
Last night, Dr. Ben Carson said that “the vision of a shining city up on a hill came from Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount. America is that shining city.” Is that so? And if not, who or what is the “city on a hill” that Jesus actually IS referring to?
Were Early Churches Governed by Individual Bishops, or Groups of Elders? (Bullet Version)
What does Christ want the structure of the Church to look like? And what did the early Church look like? I’ve just written a thorough exploration of that question, but I know that the length (5000 words) is going to be too much for some readers, and that the sheer volume might it hard to… Continue reading Were Early Churches Governed by Individual Bishops, or Groups of Elders? (Bullet Version)
The Logic of Revelation
Epiphany is the feast day celebrating (as the name suggests) Revelation. So how does God’s self-revelation answer the objections of moral relativists, and of Mormons and Protestants who believe in a Great Apostasy?
A Simple Case for the Visibility of Christ’s Church
It’s easy to get overwhelmed with a gazillion Bible verses on particular topics, and the sheer volume can make it hard to remember any of them in the moment. To (hopefully) remedy that, here’s a “basic case for the visiblity of the Church,” meaning that it intentionally relies upon only a handful of (easy-to-remember) Biblical passages.
Most Protestants Are No Longer Protestant
Historically, two doctrines more-or-less defined Protestant theology: sola fide (justification and salvation are “by faith alone”) and sola Scriptura (doctrines are established “by Scripture alone”). But do Protestants today even believe in these doctrines? A fascinating pair of Pew surveys, marking the 500th anniversary of the Reformation, decided to find out by surveying large numbers of Protestants in the U.S. and in eight different Western European countries. The results were fascinating, and we Catholics ought to be paying close attention.
A Helpful Question for Our Protestant Friends
Hint: the critical question is, “Were any of the groups that broke off from the visible Church in the first millennium correct to do so?” Here’s why.
Is it Blasphemy to Speak Against the Saints or the Church?
The Catholic Church claims that it is blasphemous to use the name of the Virgin Mary or the Saints in vain, and Protestants are understandably uneasy about this. So is the Catholic Church right? Or is this claim itself blasphemy?
5 Radical Lessons Christ Reveals About the Kingdom of God
The idea of the “Kingdom of God” is absolutely central to the Christian Gospel. The first words out of the mouth of Jesus in St. Mark’s Gospel are “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent, and believe in the gospel” (Mark 1:15). St. Matthew says that Jesus “went about all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues and preaching the gospel of the kingdom and healing every disease and every infirmity among the people” (Mt. 4:23). And we pray for the coming of this Kingdom every time that we pray the Lord’s Prayer. So what do we mean by the “Kingdom of God,” and how should it impact our approach to the Church, to civil society, and to our own responsibilities?
Did Vatican II Change Church Teaching On the Church?
Chances are, if you’ve done any reading about the Catholic Church’s vision of “the Church,” you’ve probably come across the claim that everything changed at Vatican II. Prior to Vatican II, as the story goes, the Catholic Church thought that only she was “the Church;” after Vatican II, she recognized that the Orthodox and Protestants (and perhaps even non-Christians!) also form part of the Church. But is it true?