"We are travellers…not yet in our native land" – St. Augustine
Hi guys,
I hope you all enjoyed the quotations from the Desert Fathers over the course of last month. Since we’re now in October, I’m going to resume regular blogging.
My time away was much needed as life got extremely busy in September. In fact, this month is also going to be packed, with trips to Seattle and San Francisco planned, as well a Theology On Tap talk and the wedding of a friend of mine. Prayer would be much appreciated!
God bless,
David.
Today’s post might be a little controversial, but I survived the dating series, so I figure I may as well 🙂
I’ve recently been catching up on my Catholic Stuff You Should know backlog. I’ve just finished listening to the podcast episode entitled, Yoga: Is it okay?
A while back I had a competition to win some bumper stickers. I designed them to replicate a bumper sticker described by Fr. Donald Calloway in a talk that he gave here in San Diego. I asked the winners to send in a photo of themselves or a photo of their car, sporting their their new sticker. Here are the winners:
Several times recently I’ve had people speak to me about “the wealth of the Vatican”, either implying it’s wrong for the Church to have money or just openly condemning it. It is declared that it is hypocritical and somehow contrary to the teaching of Jesus. A lot could be said on this subject, but I would just like to briefly make a few points…
This post will be a little longer than usual. Today I will be closing the series by offering some final thoughts on some of the issues I see within the Catholic dating world.
Why is it that there don’t seem to be many Catholic couples dating and, by extension, why is the number of couples receiving the Sacrament of Matrimony plummeting?
As I’ve mentioned before, there are many different, complicated explanations as to why this is so, but today I would like to focus on the subject of analysis paralysis, as well as our attitude towards dating and courtship.
I recently wrote a series of posts (Part 1| Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4) on the doctrine of Sola Scriptura and thought I’d write a quick follow-up post to address one objection I’ve recently heard…
Some Protestants draw a distinction between Sola Scriptura and Solo Scriptura. They assert that there is huge difference between the two. For example, in the book, The Shape of Sola Scriptura, the non-Catholic author Keith Mathison defines Solo Scriptura as the belief that:
“Scripture [is] not merely the only infallible authority but that it [is] the only authority altogether”
The Shape of Sola Scriptura, Keith Mathison
In contrast, he defines Sola Scriptura as the conviction that:
“Scripture [is] the sole source of revelation; that it [is] the final authoritative norm of doctrine and practice; that it [is] to be interpreted in and by the church, and that it [is] to be interpreted according to the regula fidei”
The Shape of Sola Scriptura, Keith Mathison
The difference he tries to assert in his book is that Solo Scriptura says that the Bible is the highest authority, being both inspired and infallible, but that Sola Scriptura does not declare it to be the only authority.
I would suggest that there is no principled difference between the two. I say this because they both pretty much boil down to the same thing: the locus of final interpretive authority ultimately lies with the individual Protestant.
Has the decree of his denomination or a council ever overruled his personal interpretation of Scripture?
His denomination may “suggest”, the creeds of the early Councils may “guide”, but the final interpreter of Scripture is still that individual Protestant. Unfortunately, this produces as many “final authorities” as there are Sola Scriptura Christians.
Or, put another way, if nobody is Pope, everybody is Pope.
I was just speaking to a Seventh Day Adventist about why we celebrate the Eucharist on Sunday. A longer answer could be given, but I thought I’d just post here the quotation I just shared with him from St. Justin Martyr:
We hold our assembly on Sunday because it is the first day [of the week], on which God brought forth the world from darkness and matter. On the same day, Jesus Christ our Saviour rose from the dead. For He was crucified on the day before [Saturday]; and on the day of the Sun [Sunday[ he appeared to His apostles and disciples and taught them these things, which we have submitted to you for your consideration.
– St. Justin Martyr, First Apology (c. AD 150)
If you would like to read a larger extract from St. Justin where he describes Christian worship in Rome during the Second Century, please see the Patristics Section of this website.
