This is adapted from a final I turned in yesterday which examined the difference between obeying the letter and spirit of the law in a number of contexts. The term “telos” means “purpose or end,” so when I refer to the “teleological role of the law,” I’m referring to the function which the law has.… Continue reading What We Can Learn from the Sacrifice of Isaac
Tag: faith
Pet Care for “Left Behind” Animals After the Rapture
You can’t make this stuff up. Fundamentalist Dispensationalists are teaming up with athiests to take care of their pets after the Rapture leaves the pets (and the atheists) behind (h/t Bloomberg Businessweek): Many people in the U.S.—perhaps 20 million to 40 million—believe there will be a Second Coming in their lifetimes, followed by the Rapture.*… Continue reading Pet Care for “Left Behind” Animals After the Rapture
Happy Mother’s Day, Mary!
Three quick notes for this Mother’s Day: Happy Mother’s Day for all the mothers out there, especially the new mothers. A friend of mine and his wife are celebrating their first Mother’s Day together (she’s due in August), so special prayers for them today. Heard about an interesting tradition: buying flowers, and laying them in… Continue reading Happy Mother’s Day, Mary!
Cardinal Pell: Mandatory Ad Orientem
This is old news (March 2009), but given that Cardinal Pell looks like a serious contender for the top spot at Congregation for Bishops, I thought I’d mention that in an interview last year, Pell was asked if he favored making ad orientem posture mandatory. He replied: “Yes. Now there’s nothing like a consensus in… Continue reading Cardinal Pell: Mandatory Ad Orientem
Ah, But What About the Eastern Orthodox?
On one of my older posts, Chris Donato, who is senior associate editor for Tabletalk magazine (put out by R.C. Sproul’s Ligonier Ministries), asked: Briefly, even if one does accept the infallibility of the ecumenical creeds, the “fact” that no ecumencial creed has been formulated since the Great Schism leaves us in kind of a… Continue reading Ah, But What About the Eastern Orthodox?
A Dark New Era Has Begun
You know those paranoid Christians who talk about how the government is going to start rounding people up for preaching the Gospel? Well…. it, uh, turns out that they’re not so crazy. A couple days ago, a British street preacher was arrested for preaching that homosexuality was a sin. And what’s even more shocking about… Continue reading A Dark New Era Has Begun
Unwritten Tradition, Birth Control & Abortion
I’ve got a final tomorrow, so this post will be short and sweet. Actually, it’s a modified version of a comment I left on Roderick’s blog. He was skeptical about what we Catholics call “unwritten Tradition,” so I tried to respond with a concrete example of why the (admittedly confusing) term means: The short answer… Continue reading Unwritten Tradition, Birth Control & Abortion
Did Irenaeus Believe in Sola Scriptura?
I. Background Last Monday, I wrote a post explaining as succinctly as I know how to the two types of sola Scriptura. Long story short, Tradition 0 (associated typically with Evangelicals like Independent Baptists and other “low-church” people) gives virtually no weight to the Early Church Fathers, and is sometimes rather hostile to them, while… Continue reading Did Irenaeus Believe in Sola Scriptura?
Answering a Smart Defense of Sola Scriptura
This is from a comment which I left at Nick’s Catholic Blog. I think my response makes it pretty clear what the original argument had been. If not, check out JoeyHenry’s comment here. Joey, Very well-written and thoughtful reply. As I understand it, there are three possible ways of defending sola Scriptura: (A)The Bible says… Continue reading Answering a Smart Defense of Sola Scriptura
Top Five Books on All Things Catholic
So on Nick’s blog, I was asked for “5 essential, academically oriented works on all things Catholic” from a classist interested in the Catholic Church. It was a thought-provoking question. Here are the Five I came up with: The first two are obvious choices: the Catechism, and the Summa Theologica. The Catechism is written more… Continue reading Top Five Books on All Things Catholic