Wise Words on Wedneday: Speck Inspectors
Seeing something so clearly in others’ lives because you’ve seen it in your own life is what makes sin easy to spot in the lives of others.
– Mark Hall, Lifestories
Month: September 2014
Star Wars: Anti-Christian?
I’ve heard a few times, even from Catholics, that Star Wars is “anti-Christian”. Taylor Marshall accepts that challenge…
Music Monday: Home
I’ve spoken about the theology behind the idea of “home” several times (e.g. Paroikia). One of my favourite acapella bands, The Maccabeats, have now produced a musical version of it…
Well I’m going home,
Back to the place where I belong,
And where your love has always been enough for me.
Chrysostom and Marriage
Yesterday was the feast day of one of my favourite Early Church Fathers, St. John Chrysostom . I’ve said for a while now that I’ve wanted to work to produce something which introduces Pope St. John-Paul II’s “Theology Of The Body” using the writings of St. John Chrysostom, to use this revered eastern father as a gateway for Eastern Catholic and Eastern Orthodox Christians who haven’t really been exposed to the Catholic Church’s former pontiff’s magnum opus.
Below is a short video from the St. Paul Center for Biblical Theology which speaks a little bit about St. John Chrysostom’s beautiful theology surrounding marriage:
How do you honour Mary?
When doing apologetics, I personally find it best to vary the approach I take. Every person is wired differently and a well-crafted explanation which would convince one person may completely fail with someone else.
Often when Catholics and Protestants talk about Mary, they jump straight into the “big” topics: the Immaculate Conception, the Assumption, Intercession, the title “Mother of God” etc. However, I have often found it helpful to rewind the conversation when I see things moving in this direction. Instead of speaking about specific doctrines, I like to talk about Marian devotion at its most a basic level.
So, in today’s post I would like to present a dialogue between a Protestant (“Pete”) and a Catholic (“Catherine”), modeled on some conversations I’ve had where I have used this approach…
Friday Frivolity: Stained Heroes
Jesus Never Existed? Bart Ehrman Responds
Several times over the last few weeks I’ve had conversations where friends have have seriously cast doubt over the very existence of Jesus of Nazareth, claiming that there’s no evidence that He’s even a real, historical figure.
You tend to hear stuff like this a lot on the Internet, but such claims are noticeably absent in respected academic scholarship. When I say “academic scholarship”, I’m not just referring to conservative Christian scholars either. I’m including liberal scholars, atheists, agnostics and those of other faiths. To demonstrate this, here’s an interview with Bart Erhman, who is an agnostic, former Christian, and a well-known figure in the area of Biblical criticism:
(I’ve moved the video start time past the pejorative preamble)
Catholic Answers recently produced an article in response in response to a recent article on Salon.com also on this subject.