I have long noted that apologists (including myself) are basically either loved or viewed with contempt and hatred. I think we know (basically) why that is, if we listen to Jesus saying that His disciples would be “hated by all” for His sake. It’s the message that is hated, of course. Since the apologist carries and defends that message (and given that many folks have the hardest time separating persons from opinions and viewpoints), he or she gets the scorn.... Read more
The following photographs and portraits (above the ten asterisks below) are from The National Portrait Gallery, London: which was founded in 1856. Its purpose is ‘to promote through the medium of portraits the appreciation and understanding of the men and women who have made and are making British history and culture, and … to promote the appreciation and understanding of portraiture in all media’. The license for all of these NPG images is Creative Commons: Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0).... Read more
Matthew, almost 23 (photo from April 2019 above) spontaneously wrote this testimony, this morning. I have played editor a bit. ***** Physical Health update for all those who have had me in their thoughts and prayers this past year. For all those who are unaware, my health has been up and down for close to two years, starting with immense food poisoning on a trip to Florida’s Rainforest Cafe in Disney World. It was so bad that it led to... Read more
As to tradition, I should speak thus: – facts of whatever kind are only known (except by miracle) in two ways – by senses and by testimony. Past facts cannot be known by senses and therefore are by testimony. Tradition resolves itself into testimony. A written or printed book is the testimony of a stranger – and believed because others bear witness to its trustworthiness. Tradition is the succession of testimonies, of each age to the next, of which the... Read more
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
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