I’ve been studying and critiquing radical Catholic reactionaries (my own coined term in 2013) for over twenty years, have written not just one, but two books on the topic, and have a very large web page devoted to it. I know who these people are, and how they think. It’s part of my job as a professional Catholic apologist. I was immediately curious as to how much influence this strain of thought had on the recent Filial Correction of Pope Francis... Read more
*** (2-8-06) *** [Melanchthon’s words will be in blue] ***** Philip Melanchthon (1497-1560) was Protestant founder Martin Luther’s right-hand man and successor as the leader of Lutheranism. He had a much milder temperament than Luther (a fact widely noted in biographies and studies of the period), and is properly classified as a “Christian humanist.” Melanchthon wrote Loci Communes Theologici (1521, rev. 1555), the first Protestant systematic theology, and the Augsburg Confession (1530), a relatively conciliatory document which contained what could be considered... Read more
People have questions. There are divisions. He's the shepherd. Read more
*** (5-22-06) *** This little controversy of sorts came up again after I posted my paper, “The Strong Enthusiasm For Astrology of Early Lutheran Leader Philip Melanchthon”. Though I have written about this time and again, every once in a while it is good to reiterate my reasonings and motivation in such papers. A traditional Anglican, “St. Worm” (not an anti-Catholic himself) asked me some questions and I answered in the comments section of my blog. His words will be... Read more
(2-8-06; expanded on 9-26-17) *** Philip Melanchthon’s words will be in blue. ***** Concerning the Diet of Speyer (1529) [called “Spires” below], and Melanchthon’s relationship to it, historian of Germany Johannes Janssen wrote: On April 19, in full assembly of the Diet, the imperial commisionares announced that . . . they now, in their own and the Emperor’s name, accepted the decision of the majority of the notables on the religious question . . . This resolution of the Diet... Read more
Part Four: Apologetics, Abundant Evangelical Blessings, and Protestant Evangelistic Campus Ministry (1983-1989) This is the ten-part story of my complete religious history, from nominal Methodism (1958-1967), to the occult and practical atheism (1968-1976), through evangelical Protestantism, counter-cult, pro-life, evangelistic, and apologetics work (1977-1990), and finally on to the fullness of the Catholic faith in 1991. It is found complete (75 pages) in my 2013 book, Catholic Converts and Conversion. See All Ten Parts: Part One: Nominal Methodism, Occult, and the Seeds of a... Read more
*** (1991) *** Martin Luther In 1522 Luther poured out his ire on the “asinine coarseness of the Thomists,” on “the Thomist hogs and donkeys,” on the “stupid audacity and thickheadedness of the Thomists.” (Grisar, I, 163; WA, X-2, 188-190, 206) In my opinion dialectics can only be harmful to theologians . . . In theology . . . all syllogisms should be set aside. (Janssen, XIV, 123; LL, I, 127; letter to Spalatin, June 29, 1518) St. Thomas Aquinas, according to... Read more
*** (1991) *** Summary Since the middle of the 16th century religious art had come entirely to an end in all the Protestant parts of Germany . . . Nothing but sectarian narrowness could deny that German . . . art stood higher before the Reformation than after it. For nearly two centuries architecture, sculpture, and painting produced nothing more in Germany that could be compared with the creations . . . immediately before . . . the Schism in... Read more
(3-29-04) *** This is an “outtake” from my 2004 book: The Catholic Verses. It was too historical, and the emphasis of the book is biblical (“the editor hath spoken!”). But this is interesting historical information, I think (at least for a history buff / nut like me), so I saved it for “blog consumption”: * * * * * Martin Luther’s eucharistic theology was much closer to Catholic than to Calvinist or Reformed theology (or the purely symbolic conception, which took it... Read more
Is Pope Francis a heretic? Read more
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