A Little Bit of Nothing -

Awaken, O Sleeper!

April 19, 2018 By Henry Karlson

Saint Babylas of Antioch died during the Decian persecution. Legend has it that Babylas forbade his emperor from entering his church until the emperor did penance for killing his predecessor; for this, he was sent into prison, tortured, and died while before he could be officially executed. Preaching on the martyrdom of St. Babylas, St. John Chrysostom explained his boldness in the face of persecution: For he was instructed by the divine teaching that all worldly activities are a shadow,… Read more

St. Athanasius?

April 17, 2018 By Henry Karlson

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Arians questioned the divinity of Jesus Christ. They said that the Son, by being begotten, was a created being, and that there was a time in which the Son was not. In debate after debate with Arius and the Arians, St. Athanasius emphasized the divinity of Jesus Christ; discussions of the incarnation, and how to portray it, was not entirely worked out. At the time of Athanasius, there was no talk about Jesus as being “two natures in one person.”… Read more

Mystical Theology of Dionysius: Transcendental God-Talk. Chapter Two. Part Three.

April 16, 2018 By Henry Karlson

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As we seek after the truth, we normally try to explain it to ourselves in forms which we can comprehend, such as when we set out and create definitions which we use to establish the parameters of the truth. While the truth can be represented in this fashion, we must keep in mind what we establish is not the truth as it is in its absolute form, but a conventional expression of the truth which approximates the truth according to… Read more

Tolkien, Pluralism and the Church

April 12, 2018 By Henry Karlson

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In The Lord of the Rings, Tolkien, with his mythopoetic style, created a world filled with different races and cultures which had histories of their own, pitting them in conflict with each other. Each race, each nation, each culture could list valid grievances against each other; the Elves and the Dwarves certainly had a long history of distrust and dislike which would otherwise seem unsurmountable. And yet, when Sauron was revealed once again active in Middle Earth, they were able… Read more

Pope Francis Tells Us Christ’s Answer

April 10, 2018 By Henry Karlson

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In the fifteenth century, the great theologian Cardinal Nicholas of Cusa dealt with many great ecclesiastical debates with grace and wisdom. He understood the way the Holy Spirit directed the church was not the same at every time and in every place; the Holy Spirit directed as needed, explaining how and why there were many changes in the way the church handled things throughout time. Trying to hold down and follow one way of being the church above all others… Read more

Mystical Theology of Dionysius: Transcendental God-Talk. Chapter Two. Part Two

April 9, 2018 By Henry Karlson

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For this is veritably to see and to know and to celebrate super-essentially the Superessential, through the abstraction of all existing things, just as those who make a lifelike statue, by extracting all the encumbrances which have been placed upon the clear view of the concealed, and by bringing to light, by the mere cutting away, the genuine beauty concealed in it. We are called to see in a sight beyond sight, to know beyond all our knowledge, the beautiful… Read more

Trump’s Reckless Policies Threaten The Common Good

April 5, 2018 By Henry Karlson

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For as the love of money is the root of all evil (cf. 1Tim. 6:10), so Salvian understood that virtues fall away and lead to great vice once avarice is embraced; for coming out of avarice we not only find plunder as a means of attaining great wealth, but likewise, sister vices which either encourage further avarice (such as envy) or encourage someone to use their wealth for the sake of inordinate pleasures (such as lust): Because today instead of… Read more

Painting the Truth of God

April 4, 2018 By Henry Karlson

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Three painters come together to paint a beautiful landscape. Each of them paints with a different style. The first tries to be photo-realistic, reproducing as much as possible what they see with their eyes, putting in all the details which would show up in a photograph. The second is an impressionist, drawing from what they see, they paint with a looser brushstroke, emphasizing the mix between light and darkness, as well as the colors, giving an impression of what they… Read more

Mystical Theology of Dionysius: Transcendental God-Talk. Chapter Two. Part One.

April 2, 2018 By Henry Karlson

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CAPUT II. How we ought both to be united and render praise to the Cause of all and above all. WE pray to enter within the super-bright gloom, and through not seeing and not knowing, to see and to know that the not to see nor to know is itself the above sight and knowledge. For this is veritably to see and to know and to celebrate super-essentially the Superessential, through the abstraction of all existing things, just as those… Read more

Jesus Springs Forth From The Dead

April 1, 2018 By Henry Karlson

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Christ is Risen! Today we celebrate this truth: death reigns no more; the final enemy has been overcome by its own stratagems. The enemy has been fooled by the wisdom of God. God came into his own; he became man and let the rest of humanity do with him as they will on the cross. The darkness of sin covered the whole of humanity. It turned them against their creator. He bore the blunt of their aggression as the nihilistic… Read more