"We are travellers…not yet in our native land" – St. Augustine
In response to some recent conversations regarding infant baptism, last night I updated one of the posts in my series on infant baptism, in an attempt to explain more clearly the implications of the link between Old Covenant circumcision and New Covenant baptism:
Today I want to share a quotation I often refer to on the subject of justification and the Protestant doctrine of Sola Fide. Often non-Catholics will tell us (incorrectly) that we believe in salvation by works. For this reason, I think it’s useful to hear what Pope Benedict has to say on the primacy of faith in salvation, and even the sense in which Luther was right, that we are saved by “faith alone”…
Being “just” simply means being with Christ and in Christ. And this suffices. Further observances are no longer necessary. For this reason Luther’s phrase: “faith alone” is true, if it is not opposed to faith in charity, in love. Faith is looking at Christ, entrusting oneself to Christ, being united to Christ, conformed to Christ, to his life. And the form, the life of Christ, is love; hence to believe is to conform to Christ and to enter into his love. So it is that in the Letter to the Galatians in which he primarily developed his teaching on justification St Paul speaks of faith that works through love
– Pope Benedict XVI, Wednesday Audience, 19th November 2008
As a follow-up to my post earlier this week, here’s Soul Device‘s take on “Arguing with Catholics”:
There are some posts to which I regularly refer/hyperlink during apologetic discussions. Many of these kinds of posts are now found in this blog’s sidebar.
I link to such posts because it saves me from repeatedly writing the same explanation, and it also helps limit the highjacking of the discussion thread with side issues. If someone wants to dispute the particular assertion then they have an entire blog post in which to do it where I make my case.
Today’s post is one of those posts which I think I’ll be linking to regularly…
Last week I was dialoguing with a commenter by the name “Sola Fide” and he made the assertion which I’ve heard many times before:
Sharing the glory of Christ with a human is idolatry… You are sharing the glory of Christ with Mary…
– User “Sola Fide”
Although it comes from admirable intentions, statements like this are rather mind-boggling when one considers the Biblical data available. Does the Bible ever speak about God sharing His glory with mere creatures? The short answer is, yes…
I recently had a discussion about the Faith with someone who was a former Catholic. After making several (factually incorrect) assertions about Catholic belief, she said something like this:
“Look, I know what I’m talking about. I was brought up Catholic. I was baptized, received my First Communion and was Confirmed. I went to Mass every Sunday….every Sunday! Not only that, I was in Catholic education for all high school…all of high school. Trust me, I know Catholicism…”
Now, I know my friend thought she was presenting me with some particularly impressive Catholic credentials, but I have to admit that (at least internally) I was smirking a bit as I heard all this…
Last month, Dr. Michael Barber gave a talk at Theology On Tap.
Dr. Barber has spoken at Theology On Tap several times in the past (“Understanding The Mass” and “Spiritual Lessons About Politics”), as has his wife (“Mary, Saints, Angels and More!”).
Attached below is the audio of Dr. Barber’s latest talk, entitled “The Book of Revelation and the Mass”, where he deals with some of the misconceptions concerning this final book of the Bible, as well as its connection to the Sunday celebration of the Eucharist with which we’re all familiar:
Main Talk (Download)
Q&A (Download)
If you like what you hear, I’d thoroughly recommend you purchase his book Coming Soon, which is my favourite commentary on the Book of Revelation.
My good friend Joe Heschmeyer will soon be abandoning the United States in order to complete his final seminary studies at the North American College (NAC) in Rome. Given the recent World Cup defeat of the England at the hands of the Italians, I take this as an extremely personal betrayal.
Fortunately for Joe, I’ve decided to forgive him and post the talk he gave recently on the subject of the Resurrection:
If you’d like to see the rest of the presentation and read his notes, they’re available here.