Dow Jones vs. Paula Jones & Christian Unity

Last updated on: January 8, 2016 at 2:27 pm By Artur Rosman

Ut Unum Sint? There are plenty of dividing lines among Christians. Overcoming them has led to some brutal unities. Beyond the confessional divides, where are the more fundamental divides between Christians? I do believe my friend Mark Robinson nailed it yesterday when he said the following: General observation that still holds true: (1) Majority culture Christians/churches – quietists regarding society-wide ‘boardroom’ sins but activists regarding personal, ‘bedroom’ sins (i.e. sex, work ethic) (2) Minority Christians/churches – activists regarding ‘boardroom’ or... Read more

The Altar Girl Storm in a Teacup

Last updated on: January 7, 2016 at 4:21 pm By Guest Contributor

I’m a former girl altar server. I served for eight years in my parish and ended up concluding that it wasn’t a necessary experience for me. I’ve written about the experience before and received mixed reactions. On one side, some thought girls serving was the best thing to happen to women in the Roman Catholic Church since Mary was crowned the Queen of Heaven. Suggesting that the practice might be imprudent (as Mother Church allows all pastors to discern) merits... Read more

Edith Stein and the Assassination of God’s Epiphany

Last updated on: January 7, 2016 at 1:58 am By Artur Rosman

I forced myself to reflect upon the importance of getting our pictures of God sorted out in a previous post by briefly engaging what Justice Scalia said about God and state in Louisiana. It would be easy to say Scalia Santo Subito after his showboating in a St. Thomas More hat during the Obama inaugural if, if we didn’t pay attention to his theological language. The theological language neither matches the bombast of the headware, nor the demands of orthodoxy. Scalia... Read more

Do Catholics Worship the Same God as the Americans & Judge Scalia?

Last updated on: January 6, 2016 at 6:05 am By Artur Rosman

I hope Scalia, il Magnifico, lives to be a hundred and ten, and dies on the bench, fighting. These words from a libertarian Eastern Orthodox blogger from the Bayou State greeted me one morning after I fired up my computer. I wasn’t ready for so much hyperbole before my morning coffee. However, I generally force myself to appreciate opportunities to think about things I wouldn’t otherwise dream up. These words fell heavily and copiously like the water from a Russian Orthodox priest’s... Read more

Policing Double Standards: The Burns Militia & Black Lives Matter

Last updated on: January 5, 2016 at 10:54 am By Artur Rosman

The news of a militia standoff in Burns, Oregon is one of those things that are extremely difficult to digest for naturalized American citizens like myself. It is equally difficult to swallow the treatment of African-Americans at the hands of police. I say this as someone who lived in the Detroit projects when my parents and I first arrived in the United States. It was like living in a Western, but without the protection of the TV screen between myself... Read more

Sealed With a Kiss

Last updated on: January 2, 2016 at 5:42 pm By Sam Rocha

I was taking my coffee at a local petrol [gas, –ed] station and inside the brown sugar bin [no idea –ed], I found a pastoral letter that also resembled a call for papers to an unprofessional conference. I bought some glue and cut and pasted it into my notebook for safe keeping. Here it is verbatim: January 2, 1982 Dearly beloved friends, I wrote today in search of a particular group of scallywags and pirate mercenaries to assist me on... Read more

The One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church’s Porn Problem

Last updated on: December 30, 2015 at 6:26 pm By Guest Contributor

It’s kinda not what it sounds like. Today (the day I am writing) is December 29th, the Feast of St. Thomas à Becket, protector of papal interests in the complex and difficult world of medieval English church-state relations (Watt’s article in this volume teases out the tensions and ideological transformations seen by the period). From Hildebrand (see here for a zanier and more controversial take on his “life and times”) and the Investiture Controversy to the lively debates of the... Read more

Priest from Philippines Should’ve Been Suspended for Singing not Hoverboard

Last updated on: December 30, 2015 at 2:47 am By Artur Rosman

The Filipino priest’s liturgical sin had more to do with harmony than locomotion. I mean, if Catholics really wanted hoverboards and lackluster performances, wouldn’t it be more spiritually profitable for them to watch Back to the Future? If you don’t believe me then close your eyes and listen. The experience will be more traumatic for you than doing the same for a Monica Seles match [*grunts*]. Side Note: Seles apparently now writes self-improvement books. At least the hoverboard is not... Read more

The Story of the Virgin Birth Runs with the Grain of Christianity

Last updated on: December 29, 2015 at 12:17 pm By Artur Rosman

Mary Magdalene would not be a saint if, as Giles Fraser would have it, striving towards purity through self-denial is unimportant to the Gospel. Progressing away from sin with the help of grace is essential to Christianity. The Virgin Mary’s immaculate example is fundamental to spiritual progress. Therefore it runs with the grain of Christianity. Christianity without the Madonna is fallow. I’m grateful to Fr. Fraser, because, just like most postconciliar Catholics, Christology tends to overshadow Mariology in my own... Read more

How Is Sarah Silverman Right About Jesus Being Gender Fluid?

Last updated on: December 28, 2015 at 9:57 am By Artur Rosman

Even though Sarah Silverman is not a theologian, her trolling tweet about the gender fluidity of Jesus does give theologians something serious to consider, if they only have ears to hear. Here is the tweet that had everybody up in arms: MERRY CHRISTMAS! Jesus was gender fluid! ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️ — Sarah Silverman (@SarahKSilverman) December 25, 2015 It is not my job to patrol the internet pointing out when someone is theologically wrong. I’ll be frank: I have finite temporal and intellectual... Read more