Here’s a good op-ed from USA Today by Anna Williams, talking about how young Catholics are more traditional than the last two generations. The author then notes that this is part of a broader patter: Protestants, Jews, and Muslims are also experiencing a generation of young and religiously-conservative believers compared with both our parents’ and grandparents’… Continue reading Why Are Young Believers More Religiously-Conservative?
Tag: Church
Is the “Rock” Peter, or His Faith?
HocCogitat asked, in response to Part V of my series on the role of St .Peter in Scripture: But even Augustine holds that Christ was referring to Peter’s confession as the rock, not his person. And this is obviously the only reasonable interpretation because Christ calls Peter Satan later in the same chapter. Obviously, what… Continue reading Is the “Rock” Peter, or His Faith?
The Funniest Religious Joke of All Time? Or a Painful Truth?
This is an old joke by Emo Philips, once ranked as the funniest religious joke of all time: Once I saw this guy on a bridge about to jump. I said, “Don’t do it!” He said, “Nobody loves me.” I said, “God loves you. Do you believe in God?” He said, “Yes.” I said, “Are… Continue reading The Funniest Religious Joke of All Time? Or a Painful Truth?
Answering Orthodox Objections About the Robber Council
Last week, I wrote a post explaining that the only principle upon which any of us (Catholic, Orthodox, or Protestant) can say that the Second Council of Ephesus was a Robber Council, while the other Councils were valid Ecumenical Councils is on the basis of papal approval. This is true simply as a matter of history —… Continue reading Answering Orthodox Objections About the Robber Council
Total Apostasy: the Big Issue Dividing Mormons and Catholics
I’ve been meaning for days to write a comprehensive response to all of the comments raised in last week’s two–part series on Mormonism, but find myself getting further and further behind. As it stands, there are over a hundred comments between the two posts, and a couple dozen people, including Catholics, Mormons, and Protestants, have… Continue reading Total Apostasy: the Big Issue Dividing Mormons and Catholics
Mormons at Your Door: Evangelizing the Missionaries
Yesterday, I talked about some of the basics for what to expect when Mormon missionaries come to the door. Today, I’m going to take some examples from a real life encounter with Mormon missionaries to show how you can use it as an opportunity to Evangelize them. On Wednesday, my friends Cary and Meg had invited me… Continue reading Mormons at Your Door: Evangelizing the Missionaries
Mormons at Your Door: What to Expect
Yesterday, my friends Cary and Meg invited me to join them at dinner with a couple of Mormon (LDS)* missionaries. They were both in their young twenties (and I suddenly felt old, at 26, for the first time). I thought I’d share my experiences, for two reasons: to help prepare Catholics for Mormons who come knocking,… Continue reading Mormons at Your Door: What to Expect
Answering Lutheran Objections to Church Structure and Authority
Yesterday, I described a class lecture given by a Lutheran pastor, Mark Anderson, on the canon of Scripture and the authority of the early Church. Pastor Anderson showed how rejecting the authority of the early episcopacy would leave you without a Bible and without any reliable way of distinguishing orthodoxy and heresy, admitted that Protestantism… Continue reading Answering Lutheran Objections to Church Structure and Authority
Warning Others of the Disease of Sin, or the Dangers of False Charity
If you had a friend who was oblivious to the fact that he was dying of an easily-treatable disease, would you warn him? Would you, perhaps, do even better than that, and tell him how to get treatment? Certainly, I’d hope so. Otherwise, what sort of friend are you? And ideally, you could even bring… Continue reading Warning Others of the Disease of Sin, or the Dangers of False Charity
How the “Robber Council” Establishes the Papacy
At least three groups of Christians – Eastern Orthodox, traditional Protestants, and liberal Catholics – assail the papacy by arguing that the Church Councils should be our highest authority, an idea called “concilarism.” It’s a good argument – after all, Councils can be infallible, they’re part of the Magisterium, and so forth, so don’t Catholics go… Continue reading How the “Robber Council” Establishes the Papacy