Feb

25

The BIG BAD Catholic Church, or Dealing with the “Argument from Corruption”

February 25, 2010 | Leave a Comment

Whenever Catholics and non-Catholics find themselves discussing religion — an all too rare occurrence — one of the commonest objections voiced by the non-Catholic has something to do with the “horribly corrupt” history of the Catholic Church. What this article sets out to do is to show — if the objector [...]

Feb

18

Apologizing for the Rosary

February 18, 2010 | 1 Comment

Defenses against two common objections to the Holy Rosary, written, we hope, with a little humor.

“Vain Repetition” — The Big Canard
This is probably the objection Protestants have to the Rosary, that “vain repetition” is condemned by God.

Feb

12

The Bible Only?

February 12, 2010 | Leave a Comment

This is an apologetics article intended to refute the Protestant doctrine of sola scriptura . I will use the Bible as my principal source to refute sola scriptura.

Dec

17

The Latin Mass and the Orthodox

December 17, 2009 | Leave a Comment

Under the headline “Russian Orthodox prelate welcomes return of Latin Mass,” Catholic World News ran a report on Patriarch Alexei II’s positive reception on Pope Benedict’s motu proprio giving more freedom to the ceremonies of the Classical Roman Rite. Summorum Pontificum goes into effect as law on September 14, the Feast of the Exaltation of [...]

Dec

3

What’s the Filioque?

December 3, 2009 | 4 Comments

One of the doctrinal controversies between the schismatic, so-called Orthodox churches of the East and the Catholic Church is a dogma expressed in one word: Filioque (Fee-lee-OH-kway). But what does this word mean?

Jul

30

Mary Ever Virgin

July 30, 2009 | Leave a Comment

“The friends of Christ do not tolerate hearing that the Mother of God ever ceased to be a virgin.” -St. Basil the Great
Introduction
“The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the most High shall overshadow thee. And therefore also the Holy which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son [...]

Jun

11

A Better Testament

June 11, 2009 | 3 Comments

“But now [Christ] hath obtained a better ministry, by how much also he is a mediator of a better testament which is established on better promises.” (Heb. 8:6)
The terms “supersessionism” and “replacement theology” are used by Jews and heterodox Christians alike to signify the traditional teaching that the Old Covenant is no [...]

Jun

4

They Prove Too Much

June 4, 2009 | 2 Comments

Recently, while researching an article, I had a bizarre experience. The thing shocked me into an interesting realization which, in turn, led me to write another article, namely, this one.

May

28

The Ark of the New Covenant

May 28, 2009 | 1 Comment

In his Epistle to the Hebrews, St. Paul calls Our Lord the “high Priest of the good things to come, by a greater and more perfect tabernacle” (9:11). Greater than the Israelite priests — those who “serve unto the example and shadow of heavenly things” —Christ Our Lord has “obtained a better ministry, by how [...]

May

6

Left Behind

May 6, 2009 | Leave a Comment

Left Behind is a popular series of books written by Tim LaHaye and Jerry B. Jenkins, Evangelical Protestants brilliantly capitalizing on their “pre-trib” version of the “rapture theory.” This article is not about those books, but about the Catholic custom of venerating relics.
“Then why name the article that way?” you may ask. There are [...]

May

6

The Epistle of Straw

May 6, 2009 | Leave a Comment

“St. James’ Epistle is really an epistle of straw, for it has nothing of the nature of the Gospel about it.” — Martin Luther
That Martin Luther called the Epistle of St. James “an epistle of straw” is a well-known fact. Those just learning it should not be surprised when they read it, though. After all, [...]

May

4

The Devil’s Doctrine

May 4, 2009 | 1 Comment

There is a doctrine so diabolical, so sinister and wicked that it deserves, in this author’s opinion, a unique claim to the name “The Devil’s Doctrine.” This teaching is sheer poison to the soul which embraces it. Like a spiritual AIDS, it kills the soul’s built-in immune system, the conscience, and it convicts the sinner [...]

May

4

The Church of History

May 4, 2009 | Leave a Comment

Of all the “churches” calling themselves “Christian,” can any one of them irrefutably claim to be the Church founded by Jesus Christ? Does any conform to the clear, precise terms by which this Church of Christ is described in Holy Scripture: “the house of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar [...]

May

4

In Defense of Christmas

May 4, 2009 | Leave a Comment

Today’s skeptics, who seem to reject something traditional just because it’s traditional, cannot sit still during the holy season of Christmas without mocking the notion that Christ would have been born on December 25th.  If it were just the unbelievers who engaged in this mockery, it would be expected, since unbelievers, by their very nature, [...]

May

4

Praying to Saints

May 4, 2009 | 3 Comments

I’ll never forget sitting at a table outside a café in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, while a Pentecostal street preacher screamed his odd form of Christianity at the passing college students. He had the sort of rhythmic drive that Black Baptist and Pentecostal preachers cultivate, based on repeating one line over again, (e.g., Jesse Jackson’s “I [...]

May

4

The Second Eve

May 4, 2009 | Leave a Comment

“Death by Eve, life by Mary” — Saint Jerome (Epistle 22)
The standard Protestant attacks on Catholic devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary are generally based on the same false premise. The notion is that devotion to the Blessed Mother has nothing to do with Jesus.

May

4

It’s All or Nothing — Dealing with Two Common Objections Against the Faith

May 4, 2009 | Leave a Comment

A Note of Introduction: In its first part, this article employs the use of some fundamental concepts of logic, the art and science of correct reasoning. As an aid to the reader, there is a miniscule glossary of philosophical terms at the end of this article entitled: “A Little Logic.”

Apr

25

Our Patriarch Abraham and the Continuity of Religion

April 25, 2009 | Leave a Comment

Picture this. A conversation is going on at the coffee machine at work. It’s about, of all things, religion. After several people offer their opinions about religion in general, one of the caffeinated interlocutors offers this for his hearers: “There is only one True Religion from the beginning of the world and it’s mine.” The [...]

Jan

16

Trinitarian Processions

January 16, 2008 | 1 Comment

This paper summarizes Catholic teaching on the procession of the Son from the Father, and of the Holy Spirit from the Father and the Son.
Given that the Son and the Holy Ghost are consubstantial with the Father, that is, of the same substance and numerical nature as the First Person, the question arises: “If [...]

Jan

3

Catholics, Protestants, Grace, and the Spiritual Life

January 3, 2008 | 5 Comments

This paper answers the following question: Given what Catholics believe about grace, merit and justification, why is it much more logical for Catholics to have treatises on progress in the practice of the presence of God and growth in mystical prayer than Protestants?
To answer this question, we must first contrast the two positions on grace, [...]

Nov

5

The Council of Nicæa was Catholic

November 5, 2007 | 5 Comments

The headline of this posting may strike readers as comical. It is, of course, a fact. It seems so obvious as to be like asserting that the New England Patriots are a football team. However, there are Protestant polemicists who attempt to detract from Nicæa’s Romishness by the use of various ahistorical machinations.
I was going [...]

Aug

30

Catholics, Non-Catholics, and the Natural Law

August 30, 2007 | 1 Comment

Given the general decline in public morals, and given the fact that, as an institution, the major promoter of the natural law is the Catholic Church, some are led to conclude that the natural law is a “Catholic thing,” or that it only binds Catholics. The natural law is Catholic inasmuch as it is an [...]