I received a letter in email from a former Catholic with Baptist-type beliefs, in response to my paper, Infant Baptism: A Fictional Dialogue. It got into some other typical Catholic-Protestant controversies as well. His words will be in blue. ***** Thanks for taking the time to write a well-laid out letter. I’d like to respond to most of it. I provide links to many of my relevant papers. In your fictional dialogue, you called the character Zeke, a Jesus Freak.... Read more
Does either the Bible or Catholicism require the serpent in Genesis to be taken absolutely literally? Joslyn Renfrey’s words will be in blue. ***** Well, on the science part, you do believe in Adam and Eve being the first two humans despite the impossibility of fitting the genetic diversity of our species into two people and additionally, that at least one snake at the time was able to speak, despite all snakes (both fossilized and modern) not having any indications... Read more
This is a follow-up to my post, “Where Did Cain Get His Wife?” I responded to comments underneath that paper. Words of “kingmcdee” will be in blue. Those of “alwayspuzzled” (I hope s/he isn’t after my reply!) will be in green, and words of fritzpatrick in purple. Words of Matt Kososki will be in brown. ***** I know you approvingly cited Feser, Flynn, et al in defense of a literal Adam and Eve a few years ago, so I suppose that... Read more
John Cavanaugh-O’Keefe (well-known non-conservative pro-life and social justice advocate), in a dialogue we were engaged in, asked me: “My question: in Matthew 25:35, Jesus talks about welcoming strangers. Are immigrants “strangers” in the meaning of that text?” Here it is (RSV): “for I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me,” If Jesus was an open borders and illegal immigrant advocate, the verse would have... Read more
This post of mine initially appeared on Facebook, dated 9-5-17 (that’s over nine months ago). There was some good discussion underneath the initial posting, so I’ll retain the older link too. Wikipedia stated about DACA: Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) is an American immigration policy that allows some individuals who were brought to the United States illegally as children to receive a renewable two-year period of deferred action from deportation and become eligible for a work permit in the U.S. Unlike the proposed DREAM Act, DACA does not provide a... Read more
This was an exchange (presently expanded) with a critic of my article at National Catholic Register: “Priestly Celibacy: Ancient, Biblical and Pauline” (9-18-17). ***** “Paul & Timothy” posted: Celibacy is a beautiful gift, and properly exhorted by St. Paul. However, there is 1 Timothy 3, 2-5 also pertaining to holy orders that makes me question the requirement that only those who make a promise of celibacy can be ordained to the priesthood and episcopacy: A bishop must be… married only... Read more
This is one of the classic, garden-variety “skeptical” questions, usually designed to ridicule the Bible and/or the alleged gullibility and incredulity of Christians. The prominent Protestant apologist, Josh McDowell (who was, incidentally, crucial in sparking my own initial interest in historical apologetics back in 1981), dealt with this question: Genesis 5:4 tells us that Adam had sons and daughters. At first, sons and daughters of Adam and Eve had to marry each other to populate the earth. Cain probably married... Read more
Good discussion on how “merit” is defined and understood by the Catholic Church. Many misconceptions are cleared up. *** This exchange was originally from the Pontifications blog. Chris Jones’ words will be in green; Nathan’s in blue. * * * * * To distinguish is not to separate, and Sola Fide does not separate justification and sanctification. It does distinguish them, precisely in order to clarify that it is the work of Christ that is the sole ground of our salvation – not any of our... Read more
I used to love David Brinkley, Ted Koppel (Nightline), MacNeil-Lehrer NewsHour, and above all, Tim Russert. I also liked Jeff Greenfield a lot. That’s how [the 90% or more who are] liberal journalists used to be: calling it straight: not being deliberate agents of propaganda for the Democrat Party and far left ideology. In other words, they were engaged in classical journalism, the way it was in the past: seeking the facts, being fair-minded and accurate. They could be... Read more
The Problem of Evil is NOT a Disproof of God’s Existence, Goodness, or Omnipotence Alvin Plantinga (who was born in 1932 in Ann Arbor, Michigan, and started his teaching career at my alma mater, Wayne State University) is considered — by his Christian or theist admirers and atheists alike — to be the greatest living Christian philosopher and philosopher of religion. He wrote a very influential book in 1974, called God, Freedom, and Evil (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans / New York: Harper & Row),... Read more
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