"We are travellers…not yet in our native land" – St. Augustine
The other day I received an email from a reader who had spoken to a non-Catholic with a rather rare point-of-view, and who asked for helpful suggestions when speaking to him…
During a discussion about the Saints, the Protestant in question made the following statement:
“…no one is in Heaven except Jesus, Enoch, and Elijah.”
This sort of theological position is rarely held by those in mainstream Protestantism, but how might we respond to this?
Yesterday morning I was standing outside of a Planned Parenthood clinic and, as we prayed the rosary, I was reminded of a video I saw a few weeks ago and I made a mental note to share it here today. The video was of Debbie Wasserman Schultz, an American Politician, being interviewed about her children…
Here’s a transcript of the interview with my comments interspersed:
Interviewer: In your opinion, were [your children] human beings before they were born?
This is a simple question. It deserves a simple “Yes” or “No” answer. Of course, the answer is obvious: yes! Of course, they were human beings before they were born, it’s a simple matter of biology. They were living organisms with human DNA – they were therefore human.
Schultz: You know, I believe that every woman has the right to make their own reproductive choices.
Notice how a simple question was completely avoided. Instead of an answer, we were treated to a political slogan.
Interviewer: But what did you believe about your children?
The question is politely repeated…
Schultz: That I had the right to make my own reproductive choices, which I was glad to have and which I was proud to have.
Again the question is avoided. However, her response dresses in very nice language her rather distressing viewpoint, that she had the right to kill her children if she had so desired.
Interviewer: So were they human beings? Just yes or no.
Yet again, the question is politely repeated…
Schultz: They’re human beings today, and I’m glad I had the opportunity to make my own reproductive choices, as — a right that every woman has and should maintain.
So if they’re human beings today, what on earth were they before? Ants? Elephants? Dolphins? What species transitions into humanity? Aren’t we pro-lifers meant to be the ones who are unscientific? Sheesh…
I look back over this interview and marvel. I understand why this politician responds in the way she does – her philosophy demands it…even if it makes her look rather silly. Since she is in favour of “reproductive choices”, she is forced to avoid answering basic biological questions…because to do so honestly would bring her worldview into sharp conflict with reality.
It is often asserted that the Catholic Church was founded by the Constantine, who was Emperor of the Roman Empire from AD 306-337. A couple of weeks ago, a lady named Monica made such an assertion and in earlier post I pointed out some of the problems with such a theory.
However, today I would like to do something a little different… In this post I would like to set forth the positive historical case for the existence of the Catholic Faith in the generations prior to Constantine. I will show how twenty-two different Catholic doctrines were taught long before Constantine rose to power:
I will demonstrate these early Christian belief by looking at primary sources alone and restricting myself to writings produced prior to AD 300.
Read moreAs 2012 draws to a close it’s time to review my resolutions and see how I did. Judgement awaits…
Next week is the anniversary of the death of Brother Roger of Taizé in France. If you have never heard of this man then you have really been missing out…
Although he lived much of his life in France, Brother Roger was originally from Switzerland, the son of a Protestant Pastor. In 1940, after studying Reformed Theology in Strasbourg and Lausanne, Roger felt God calling him to go to Taizé, a small town south of Paris. For two years he lived a life of prayer and helped those fleeing from the Germans into unoccupied France.
After being forced to leave Taizé, Roger returned in 1944 where he began to found a group of men living together in community. This eventually flowered into the ecumenical monastic community which forever after would be associated with the name “Taizé”. The focus of this community is prayer, silence, peace, social justice and reconciliation. Brother Roger wrote many books on these topics.
Monks in the “Church of Reconciliation”
Last week at Theology On tap we had Cy Kellett spoke to us on “Voting Your Conscience” and during the Q&A he mentioned Peter Singer, the Professor of Bioethics at Princeton.
I wonder if some people present thought that Cy was exaggerating when he described some of the opinions held by this chap. Well, thanks to Aggie Catholics, I’d invite you to watch the video below without gasping in horror at some of the things said in his interview with Richard Dawkins…
(Unfortunately, this wasn’t the original video I shared – the one before had Dawkins praising Singer for being “the most moral person I know”)
If you watch the uncut version of the interview, Dawkins begins the interview with the accolade “Peter, I think you must be one of the most moral people in the world…”….wow…kyrie eleison.
The other day I was thinking about things which make me happy. It’s actually quite a difficult exercise – if you don’t believe me, give it a go. What are the things which make you really, truly happy? Where are the places you can always find joy?
After sitting down and writing the list I’ve concluded that I’m actually quite easy to please. Although in many ways I’m extremely demanding of myself and others, it doesn’t actually take a whole lot to make me happy: