The heart is commonly reached, not through the reason, but through the imagination, by means of direct impressions, by the testimony of facts and events, by history, by description. Persons influence us, voices melt us, looks subdue us, deeds inflame us. Many a man will live and die upon a dogma: no man will be a martyr for a conclusion. A conclusion is but an opinion; it is not a thing which is, but which we are “certain about;” and... Read more
Here Cardinal Newman refers to the fact that his thought on the role of the laity (which he had been writing about in this year) could not be received during his own lifetime, but might be a hundred years later. Sure enough, Vatican II (1962-1965) highly encouraged a greater role for the laity in the functioning of the Church: particularly in outreach. Did I tell you that I have given up [being editor of] the Rambler? . . . The... Read more
It was as well-attested in the early Church as the Canon of Scripture This is getting into “classic” Newman argumentation: of the sort that he massively utilized in his Essay on Development: by which he argued himself into the Church (and me as well!). I love these analogies, and they are rock-solid, “dynamite” arguments to use with Protestants, who want to accept the biblical canon but deny the equally tradition-based prayers for the dead. ***** As to the evidence, I... Read more
The following excerpts are from: The Collected Letters of C. S. Lewis, Vol. II: Books, Broadcasts, and the War, 1931-1949, edited by Walter Hooper, HarperSanFrancisco, 2004: [D]on’t count on any remarkable sensations, either at this [her Confirmation] or your first (of fifty first) Communion. God gives these or not as He pleases. Their presence does not prove that things are especially well, nor their absence that things are wrong. The intention, the obedience, is what matters. (To Rhona Bodle, 11 November... Read more
The simple case then, much as I grieve to say it, is this: – about two years and a half ago I began reading the Monophysite controversy, and with great concern and dismay found how much we were in the position of the Monophysites. I am not saying there is anything peculiar in their history, but merely that it put me into a new train of thought. After that I turned my mind to the Donatists, and there the same... Read more
The following excerpts are from: The Collected Letters of C. S. Lewis, Vol. II: Books, Broadcasts, and the War, 1931-1949, edited by Walter Hooper, HarperSanFrancisco, 2004: [H]is [Charles Williams’] death has made my faith ten times stronger than it was a week ago. And I find all that talk about ‘feeling he is closer to us than before’ isn’t just talk. It’s just what it does feel like — I can’t put it into words. (To Mary Neylan, 20 May 1945,... Read more
See Part I for background. This is a continuation of that discussion, after Joe Omundson, who runs the website, Recovering from Religion: Ex-Communications, made a second lengthy counter-reply in the combox. His words will be in blue. ***** Thanks for your additional reply. I’d like especially to clarify a few things where either you misunderstood or I did not express my view clearly enough, and make some other responses. Perhaps that may set us on a course of even more fruitful dialogue... Read more
St. John Henry Newman was canonized by Pope Francis on 13 October 2019 in Rome. ***** * MY ARTICLES * Newman’s Conversion Story in His Own Words (Brief) [1991, at Internet Archive] * How Newman Convinced me to Become a Catholic [1996] * Conscience: the Catholic (and Cardinal Newman’s) View [1998] * Dialogues on Development of Doctrine, Newman, and Anglican vs. Catholic Authority [11-7-98 at Internet Archive] * William Webster’s Misunderstanding of Development of Doctrine [2000] * The Philosophical Premises of Newman’s Views... Read more
I received the following question from a friend, and replied to it: Your “dialogue” vs. James White contained this back-and-forth: WHITE: Now this assertion of a second inspired source of God’s truth has led, I feel, to some tremendously false beliefs. ME: We don’t believe that tradition and Church proclamations are ‘inspired” but rather, infallible and authoritative / binding under certain carefully specified conditions. This is a surprising mistake from White on an elementary matter. Fr. Mitch Pacwa... Read more
In his fictional book, The Great Divorce (New York: Macmillan, 1946, 39), Lewis portrays the damned (including some near-damned, as it were) making a trip to the outskirts of heaven. One of the spirits is told: “You have been in Hell; though if you don’t go back you may call it Purgatory.” This theme was expanded later in the book (p. 67): “If they leave that grey town behind it will not have been Hell. To any that leaves it, it is... Read more
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