Thomas Aquinas’ five ways of proving God exists, called the Quinque Viae (which just means “Five Ways’) serves as some of the finest theology ever penned by man. His original explanation can be found here, and is worth the read. If you’re not familiar with Aquinas’ style in the Summa, he starts by raising the… Continue reading Msgr. Ronald Knox on St. Thomas Aquinas’ Five Ways
Tag: God
Beauty as a Proof for God
The lead blogger behind Catholic Eye Candy has determined that he’s not called to be a priest after all, and has apparently left the seminary. He announced on Thursday that he’s closing the blog, although thankfully, leaving it up. He has determined that he is not, after all, called to the priesthood, although he seems… Continue reading Beauty as a Proof for God
God in the Eternal Present
In my opinion, one of the best proofs for the authenticity of the Biblical accounts is the manner in which God speaks of Himself. He speaks of Himself as existing outside of time. When the pagans thought of the gods, they thought of them as having been around from the beginning. The grasp of the… Continue reading God in the Eternal Present
On the Goodness of Punishing Sin
We live in a culture which has lost sight of the goodness of retributive punishment, and the whole thing seems suspicious. But I think that we’re still aware of this truth in some way, deepy down. There’s a famous law hypothetical: a man robs and rapes a woman. In the week before he’s arrested, a… Continue reading On the Goodness of Punishing Sin
The Gifts of the Magi
Yesterday was Epiphany Sunday. Although the Epiphany – the 12th Day of Christmas, celebrating the wise men’s visiting the infant Jesus – technically falls on Wednesday, we celebrate it on the nearest Sunday. I love the readings from yesterday’s Mass, because they tell a real story when you compare them. Here’s what I mean: I.… Continue reading The Gifts of the Magi
G.K. Chesterton, Sam Harris, and Margaret Downey on American Morals
John Armstrong has a good primer on the great G.K. Chesterton, easily one of the finest Catholic writers of the 20th Century. One of the commenters made reference to an essay Chesterton had written on American morals from 1929. It is called, incidentally, “On American Morals,” and it’s delightful: America is sometimes offered to us,… Continue reading G.K. Chesterton, Sam Harris, and Margaret Downey on American Morals
Moms, Dads, and Mary Karr
I. Atheism and DadPope John Paul II described the connection between original sin, fatherhood, and atheism beautifully in Crossing the Threshold of Hope: Original sin attempts, then, to abolish fatherhood, destroying its rays which permeate the created world, placing in doubt the truth about God who is Love and leaving man only with a sense… Continue reading Moms, Dads, and Mary Karr
Sam Harris on Drugs (so to Speak)
I’ve mentioned before how poorly written and thought out I find Sam Harris’ anti-religious screed The End of Faith. Previously, I showed how his book begins with a premise that he admitted to be false in the endnotes: the idea that most suicide bombings occur because of religion generally, and Islam specifically. In fact, most… Continue reading Sam Harris on Drugs (so to Speak)
Why Would an All-Knowing God Test Us?
Hmyer asks, at the end of my last post, The story of Abraham and Issac is difficult, but not so much ( for me) because God has the right to “kill” Isaac and take him to heaven. The difficulty for me is that God would accomplish this by asking Abraham to do the killing. It’s… Continue reading Why Would an All-Knowing God Test Us?
The Euthyphro Dilemma, Part 1
Is Good “Good” Because God Commands it? Or Does God Command it Because it is Good? That’s the crux of the Euthyphro dilemma, so-named because it derives from Socrates’ question in Plato’s Euthyphro, “Is the pious loved by the gods because it is pious, or is it pious because it is loved by the gods?”… Continue reading The Euthyphro Dilemma, Part 1