Difficulties with Adam and Eve

AdamandEve

One of the interesting things about conducing a parish mission is how many people stay behind to ask really probing questions. Last evening here in Indianapolis a man named Frank asked me if it was wrong not to believe certain things the church teaches. He’s a scientist and he said he simply can’t accept the [...]

Pentecost – Wind, Fire and Witness

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Remembering that the New Testament is hidden in the old and the old is made manifest in the New, yesterday’s feast provides three powerful images from the past that converge at Pentecost: Wind, Fire and Witness. The mighty rushing wind connects back to the first day of creation where in the first verses of the [...]

Gospel Stories, Myths and Legends

jesus-paralytic

On the week before Christmas in 1941 my grandfather was walking with his two sons to market in downtown Pottstown, Pennsylvania. It had snowed the night before and the roads were too icy to drive. That’s why they were walking. As they crossed the river bridge a coal truck turned on to the bridge. The [...]

Holy Mary Mother of God and Mother of Me

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I had a Southern Baptist friend who thought it was amusing, when visiting Catholic churches, to wave to the image of Mary and say, “Hi Mary!” When I challenged him on what seemed a mark of disrespect he said cheerily, “Y’all say, ‘Hail Mary’ and ‘Hail’ just means ‘Hi’, so it’s my way of saying [...]

Who is “Q”? The Mythical World of Bible Scholars

"Q" - The Mysterious Gospel Writer

Have you ever noticed that there is a breed of atheists who are also Bible scholars and then there are Bible scholars who seem to be atheists? These non believers are believers in a special sort of way. They do not believe the Bible is the inspired and infallible Word of God, but they do [...]

Who Wrote Mark?

Mark4

One of the things the atheists like to destroy is the New Testament. Without anything positive to offer themselves, they feel obliged to de-construct the authority of the New Testament if they can. A favorite way to do this is to try to show that the New Testament is a much edited, late cut and [...]