Tag: Church

An Evangelical Disproves Evangelicalism

Yesterday, I talked about Scot McKnight’s essay From Wheaton to Rome: Why Evangelicals become Roman Catholic, in which he explores reasons people leave Evangelicalism for Catholicism.  It’s written from the perspective of a Protestant (McKnight’s an Anabaptist), but one more interested in finding out the real reasons people become Catholic, than on belittling those reasons.  Because… Continue reading An Evangelical Disproves Evangelicalism

Milk and Meat: What We Can Learn from Evangelicalism (and Vice Versa)

You can learn a lot from comparing Catholic converts to Protestantism with Protestant converts to Catholicism. Catholics tend to leave because their basic needs aren’t being met. Protestants tend to leave because only their basic needs are being met.  I think that the best evidence shows that Catholics need to be better at presenting and living… Continue reading Milk and Meat: What We Can Learn from Evangelicalism (and Vice Versa)

Why the Puritans Have Funny Names

In Friday’s post on how Puritanism devolved into Unitarianism over a short span of time, I focused on the lives of four generations of the same prominent family, noting: One of the Puritans to cross over to the New World in the Great Migration was the famous Puritan minister Richard Mather, the father of Increase, grandfather… Continue reading Why the Puritans Have Funny Names

The Charismatic Movement and the Catholic Church

One of the points of disagreement within Christianity is between “Cessationists” (who believe that some of the extraordinary gifts of the Holy Spirit, like tongues and prophesy, died out with the Apostles) and the “Continuationists” (who say that those gifts never died out). I’m not looking to settle that dispute today.  Rather, I wanted to point out something… Continue reading The Charismatic Movement and the Catholic Church

The Catholic Answer to Rigorism

Tomorrow’s the feast day for St. Optatus of Milevis.  A while back, I gave something of a 20,000 foot view outlining his views on the sacraments, the Real Presence, the Sacrifice of the Mass, the papacy, and schismatics. Short answer: he was incredibly Catholic. Well, Bryan Cross at Called to Communion has a fantastic post on him… Continue reading The Catholic Answer to Rigorism

St. John and St. Peter: Love and the Church

At Men’s Group on Wednesday, Fr. Kelly talked briefly about the roles played by John and by Peter in the early Church. Peter is the “Ecclesiastical Disciple,” the one on whom Christ entrusts authority of the Church, who He generally leaves in charge. It’s Peter that Christ builds His Church upon, calls to be the… Continue reading St. John and St. Peter: Love and the Church

Adam’s Rib and the Side of Christ

I originally posted this yesterday, but I think it got lost between the post on bin Laden and the LDS post I put up right after it:I heard something this past weekend I’d never noticed before, about how the wound on Christ’s side ties in with the rib taken from Adam. To put it into some context, yesterday was… Continue reading Adam’s Rib and the Side of Christ

Cardinal George Suspends Renegade Father Michael Pfleger

Cardinal Francis George has done the right thing and suspended Fr. Michael Pfleger again.  It’s regrettable, but long overdue.  Father Pfleger is the archetypal out-of-control priest. You’ve got all the elements: He’s self-obsessed and self-promoting; promotes heretical views; focuses on power and politics, rather than self-sacrifice or Christianity; promotes a heavily political strand of “social justice” theology,… Continue reading Cardinal George Suspends Renegade Father Michael Pfleger

Why Trust the Apostles over Muhammad or Joseph Smith?

In response to Monday’s post, Jon Anthony wroted: If you take the Apostles’ experiences of a Risen Christ as the starting point, then, I admit, the case for the Resurrection is very, very strong. But I’m not so sure Ludemann’s confidence is well founded at all. I mean, its based off the idea that the Apostles… Continue reading Why Trust the Apostles over Muhammad or Joseph Smith?