Last night, the Eastern Orthodox Young Adult group in San Diego had their monthly meeting, led by Fr. John Strickland. The discussion that evening focused on the differences between Catholicism and Orthodoxy. I attended the evening, together with some of my Eastern and Western Catholic friends and I’m very pleased to report that it was a friendly and respectful discussion between brothers and sisters in Christ.
As you might expect, the subject of the Eastern Catholic Churches came up. To make up for whatever was lacking in my explanations, below is a link to an Ancient Faith Radio interview of Father James Babcock, an Eastern Catholic priest in Placentia:
“Let us love one another that with one mind we may confess… the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, the Trinity, one in essence and undivided.” – Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom
This week we concluded our current round of Theology On Tap. At the beginning of this series, Fr. Jacob gave a talk entitled: “The Francis Effect: Living the life of JOY!”. The audio is available below.
I [found myself] a hundred miles away from where I was, and all I remember is a couple of small compromises… Gray is Satan’s favourite color. It’s the breeding ground of compromise.
Over the last week or so, quite a few people have asked me for my reaction to The God Debate which took place between Trent Horn and Dan Barker, entitled “God: Supreme Being or Imaginary Friend?”.
I think it’s a hard to review a debate objectively, but I can definitely say that I enjoyed the experience. It was certainly well-attended, with both the debating chamber and the overflow room being standing room only. Apart from one cheap shot from Dan towards the end, it was a calm and respectful dialogue.
There were a few things as to the debate format that I would have liked to have been different. I’ve listened to a lot of debates on various subjects and I always end up wishing that there could be more time for cross examination, since I think that’s where the real debate actually happens. However, I know a lot of people think the debate is more constructive when the debaters speak in rounds.
The section I would have particularly liked to have structured differently was the Q&A. I thought the time allotted for each section should have been halved, reducing the time to a sixty second answer and thirty second rebuttal. In my opinion, the questioners were given a little too much freedom and probably should have been moderated a little more heavily. There seemed to be a disproportionate number of questions to each debater and those who asked Trent questions were often wildly off topic, raising issues such as contraception and limbo! This was actually something which Dan did during the debate as well, straying from the topic at hand (the existence of God) and instead wandering into areas such as Biblical criticism, the efficacy of prayer etc. On the occasions when Dan spoke about the Bible I was a little horrified by some of his Biblical interpretations, particularly given that he used to be pastor. For example, he asserted that Jesus told people that they should castrate themselves. I really hope he didn’t preach that message when he led a congregation!
With regards to the debaters themselves, both presented themselves well. Dan had the far greater debating experience and I think this came across in his early delivery, whereas Trent took a little more time to warm up coming into his own later, although this might perhaps be due to the fact that arguments for theism first require the laying of a sound philosophical base.
Looking at my notes from the debate, I could say much more, but you don’t have to read my analysis when you could listen to the debate yourself! The MP3 of the debate is now available for $5 from Catholic Answers:
Today’s Music Monday is an artist I haven’t listened to much until recently. The artist is Kari Jobe whose the song is based on the Gospel reading the other week, Matthew 5:14, (as well as Ephesians 5:8) and is entitled “We Are”:
Every secret, every shame Every fear, every pain Live inside the dark But that’s not who we are We are children of the day
So wake up sleeper, lift your head We were meant for more than this Fight the shadows conquer death Make the most of the time we have left
We are the light of the world We are the city on a hill We are the light of the world We gotta, we gotta, we gotta let the light shine x2
We are called to the spread the news Tell the world the simple truth Jesus came to save, there’s freedom in His Name So let it all break through
The Catholic love of Saints is well known, so it is with this in mind that I make my next “Catholic Bucket List” recommendation:
Bucket List Item #7: Read the life of a Saint
In the 2,000 year history of the Church there have been Christians who have lived lives of courageous virtue. These Christians have been both male and female. Some have been well educated, while others have not. They have come from every country, class, race and people. We call them the Saints.
We have had Saints who have been well-known Popes, others have been obscure. Some were monks, priests, monks, nuns, but others have been laity. Some have been mothers, fathers, husbands and wives. Some have lived to a great age and some died during chidlhood. All these people have been united in their love of Jesus Christ and lived lives as a testimony to His grace.
The lives of the Saints are generally not of much interest to many Protestant congregations. During my time attending Protestant congregations I don’t recall any historical figure prior to the 16th Century ever being mentioned. I did briefly attend an Evangelical congregation in London which had a “Heroes of Faith” section in their Sunday service which gave a little biography of some figure from Protestant history.
It is quite surprising, therefore, that I was introduced to the Saints by a Baptist minister. He had a great love for St. Francis of Assisi and made me watch the movie about his life, “Brother Son, Sister Moon”. Afterwards I got a small book about Francis’ life. I was greatly impressed. The question you often here asked in Christian circles is “What would Jesus do?”. As I read the life of St. Francis I regularly found the answer to that question as I found myself thinking “That’s such a Jesus thing to do!”.
So, I’d invite you to see what Jesus did through His Saints by fulfilling this bucket list item. Read the life of a Saint.
Today’s Music Monday is an artist I haven’t listened to much until recently. The artist is Kari Jobe whose the song is based on the Gospel reading the other week, 