A religious once said, “Being a missionary is like taking a pearl of inestimable value into a land where the people don’t want it, even as a gift.” The sad truth is that today, everyday faithful Catholics are called to be missionaries in their own churches. Why? Because our fellow parishioners are often as in need of evangelization […]
Part one of this series dealt with how Jesus, Scripture, and the saints described and identified false teachers. In this installment we examine the example of St. Athanasius. The Arians and Their False Teachers The Arian heresy is named after a priest named Arius (A.D. 250-336) who taught several false doctrines that flowed from a […]
How does one speak about those with hierarchical authority who contradict church teaching, leading the faithful astray? Even if they are priests, bishops, and cardinals? Should one have sensitive dialogue with schismatics and heretics? Compromise for the sake of unity and peace? Avoid stirring the ecclesial pot? Meet them where they are and find common […]
Here at the Bad Evangelist Club, we are trying to do more than just correct some misguided ideas you hear from a lot of apologists and evangelists. In addition to pointing out what not to think, it helps to remember what we should think. When it comes to the topic of Protestants and Ecumenism, it is […]
One common response that Protestants will use to defend or explain away their clear disunity in doctrine is by retreating into the dichotomy dogma, which they call the essentials of the faith, versus non-essentials of the faith. Their defense begins like this, ‘Our unity is found in that all true Christian churches agree on the […]
Ezekiel and I agreed on just about everything, except for theology and football. He was a dogmatic Calvinist and a Pittsburgh Steelers fanatic (which is different than just being a ‘fan’). He was also an awesome debater and very logical – a bit loud and hyperbolic – but his gift was never being able to […]
Resolve to read “By What Authority?” in 2014.
Until relatively recently, atheism just seemed to me like a phase for confused college students—usually nothing to be taken seriously, only something to be outgrown. However, atheism has become more pernicious in recent years. Aside from those who are going through a phase of “amateur atheism” occasioned by trendiness, myopic biology professors, or tough situations […]
After they rejected the hierarchical Catholic Church, one of the early tasks of the protestant reformulators was to redefine what Church is; more precisely, to define the visible nature of the New Covenant community of God’s chosen people. It being clear to them through sacred Scripture that Christ Jesus actually did established a Church; they […]
One of the most hotly-contested passages in Catholic-Protestant dialogues is the “Upon This Rock” passage in Matthew 16:18. After the Apostle Simon confesses faith in Jesus as the Messiah (the Christ), Jesus says to him “And I tell you, you are Peter, [Petros] and on this rock [petra] I will build my church, and the powers of death [Hades] shall not prevail […]
In my previous column, we examined how the words of Pope Francis found echo in Pope Leo XIII. A lot of Catholics were also “scandalized” by another statement from Pope Francis. When an atheist asked if the point of their meeting was to convert him, the Holy Father Stated: Proselytism is solemn nonsense, it makes […]
In dialogues with Non-Catholics, most of the subjects you discuss won’t get you that far. Instead, they will frequently tell you something along these lines. “Jesus Christ didn’t found a religion, he founded a Church. That Church is based upon confessing Christ as your Savior. Catholics add to this and to the Bible with their […]
If they really want to help with these misunderstandings, the first thing they must do is the thing they will be least inclined to do: drop the moniker “radical traditionalist” and “radtrad” entirely. At best the phrase is a relic of a time that is no longer relevant. At worst, the term is creating animosity and perpetuating a growing sense of tribalism within Catholicism, especially in America.
What Catholics typically call “the First Pentecost” was actually a New Pentecost itself.
In this column I have frequently referenced findings about the dismal way in which many Catholics look at the sacraments. I think the problem is more than just the usual ranting and ravings about a liberal church, how horrible things are after Vatican II, true as all these clichés are. Instead the problem stems from […]
One of the greatest obstacles to presenting the Sacrament of Confession is exposing perfectly good Catholics to a worldview they are completely unfamiliar with.
Centuries ago, the Syrian Christian Tatian asked, “Why, men of Greece, do you want to cause society to come to blows with us? If I refuse to take part in some people’s normal activities, why should I be hated as if I were utterly loathsome? The emperor orders me to pay taxes; I am ready […]
This is the second of six articles relating the writer’s journey into the bosom of the one, holy, catholic, and apostolic Church. Having succumbed to spiritual desolation following the rejection of his Adventist heritage, the young seeker investigates various Christian traditions, hoping to discover the Truth. Part I may be found here. “If I was […]
For reasons that are both understandable and regrettable, apologetics, the science of demonstrating the reasonableness of religious doctrine, is not often mentioned in public life these days. In part, this is due to the demands of charity and prudence, to avoid unnecessary and often acrimonious strife among religious denominations in a nation which has benefited […]
For the past couple of hundred years, Catholic apologists, along with other Christians, have found it necessary to oppose a thing that came to be called “modernism.” Many of us cut our apologetic teeth on its associated “isms.” Against humanism we have recalled man to a measure that goes beyond himself. Against scientific positivism we […]
