This week, we’ve looked at how certain diseased elements within the Catholic Church: looking specifically at parts of the American Catholic Church and at the Jesuits. What’s most striking about this latter example is that the Jesuits, the religious order most openly in dissent from Rome, is also the religious order which takes a special… Continue reading The Road to Recovery
Tag: papacy
Papal Lineage
Catholic Eye Candy, a blog which aims to depict the beauty of all things Catholic, had a very nice post on papal lineage, consisting of a series of popes meeting with their successors (e.g., Pope Paul VI meets with the future Pope John Paul I, JPI meets with the future JPII, JPII meets with the… Continue reading Papal Lineage
Back-Handed Compliments from CRI Founder Dr. Walter Martin
I was reading criticisms of Catholicism by Dr. Walter R. Martin, founder of the Christian Research Institute. If you’re not familiar, CRI is the group that Hank “Bible Answer Man” Hanegraaff took over upon Martin’s death. Anyways, here’s what Martin has to say (these quotes, including emphasis and brackets, are from here; all I’ve done… Continue reading Back-Handed Compliments from CRI Founder Dr. Walter Martin
The Jews, the Papacy, and the Antichrist: Like a Bad Joke Waiting to Happen
More from Reese (use the Reese Currie tag to catch up if you need to). He’s in red, I’m the rest. Little bit of back story needed for #8 here. Reese had argued (as others, like Keith Mathison have, as well) that the Church doesn’t have the authority to set the Old Testament Canon, because… Continue reading The Jews, the Papacy, and the Antichrist: Like a Bad Joke Waiting to Happen
AP: SSPX Ordinations Are “Valid But Illicit.”
I can’t believe it. An AP story on MSNBC nailed a thoroughly confusing issue regarding the canonical status of the 4 bishops whose excommunications were lifted by Pope Benedict XVI. Check it out: The church considers the society’s ordinations are “valid but illicit.”They are valid because Lefebvre was a validly ordained bishop in the CatholicChurch,… Continue reading AP: SSPX Ordinations Are “Valid But Illicit.”
Mea Maxima Culpa
A few apologies I felt were in order: Mea Culpa: I managed to write about papal infallibility with hardly a reference to the Early Church Fathers. The ECFs are probably the strongest support for the papacy, and papal infallibility. For example, St. Irenaeus, in his book Against Heresies (Book 3, Chapter 3, section 2) written… Continue reading Mea Maxima Culpa
Il Papa! Papal Infallibility, pt. 4: Q & A
This is the last in a four-part series I wrote, upon request, about the papacy and papal infallibility. Part 1 examined what papal infallibility, and is not; Part 2 briefly explains how papal infallibility flows from the idea of a papacy, before examining Matthew 16:17-19, the foundational text for the papacy, in depth; Part 3… Continue reading Il Papa! Papal Infallibility, pt. 4: Q & A
Il Papa! Papal Infallibility, pt. 3: The Good Shepherd Calls a Shepherd
This is part three of an exploration of the origins of the papacy and the idea of papal infallibility. Yesterday, we looked at how papal infallibility is the natural result of a Holy Spirit protected Church lead on Earth by one man. This raised the obvious question: did Christ establish a Church to be lead… Continue reading Il Papa! Papal Infallibility, pt. 3: The Good Shepherd Calls a Shepherd
Il Papa! Papal Infallibility, pt. 2: Jesus Establishes His Church (and Pope).
Now that we’ve established what papal infallibility is, and more importantly, isn’t, let’s look at the merits of infallibility. Papal infallibility is the protection of Church teachings by the Holy Spirit. This infallibility isn’t really a power of the pope’s, at all: it’s a power of the Holy Spirit, used to prevent the pope from… Continue reading Il Papa! Papal Infallibility, pt. 2: Jesus Establishes His Church (and Pope).
Il Papa! Papal Infallibility, part 1: What it is and isn’t.
I think the role of the papacy and more specifically, the idea of papal infallibility, serves as one of the bigger barriers between Catholics and non-Catholic Christians, and I think it’s been the subject of a lot of misunderstanding and even misinformation. One Protestant I spoke to recently said, “I just have issues with the… Continue reading Il Papa! Papal Infallibility, part 1: What it is and isn’t.