Trial of the Apostle Paul (1875), by Nikolai Kornilievich Bodarevsky (1850-1921) [public domain / Wikimedia Commons] St. Paul showed respect and deference to the Jewish high priest, even after he had him struck on the mouth (Acts 23:5)\ *** [obviously tons of sin going on constantly every day on Facebook and elsewhere online. Pray for those who (willfully and too often, habitually) fall into this, and for me and for yourself] *** 1 Peter 2:17 (RSV) Honor all men. Love... Read more
Desiderius Erasmus (1466/1469-1536); portrait (1523) by Hans Holbein the Younger (1497/1498-1543) [public domain / Wikimedia Commons] (2-6-09) ***** “Luther Meets His Match” (Seven Parts) * Part II: Luther’s Insults of Erasmus in Bondage of the Will & Table-Talk * The Bondage of the Will (1525) * [from the 1823 Edward Thomas Vaughan translation; available online] * First, we observe Luther’s insincere (?) rhetorical flattery: To the Venerable Mister Erasmus. (subtitle) I am quite ready to yield a palm to you myself,... Read more
Desiderius Erasmus (1466/1469-1536); portrait (1523) by Hans Holbein the Younger (1497/1498-1543) [public domain / Wikimedia Commons] (2-6-09) ***** “Luther Meets His Match” (Seven Parts) * Part I: Erasmus-Luther Correspondence: 1517 to 1534 * [ see the index of topics at the end ] [Erasmus’s words are in black, Luther’s in blue; those of others are in green] For a general overview of Erasmus, see the Wikipedia entry. Erasmus: Greek scholar and Christian humanist, is widely regarded as the greatest man of... Read more
Sir Thomas More (1527), by Hans Holbein the Younger (c. 1497 – 1543) [public domain / Wikimedia Commons] St. Thomas More (1478-1535) was one of a long, illustrious line of great Christian humorists / satirists. He once said to his son-in-law, William Roper: “Two years ago you were a loyal Churchman. Now you have fallen in with the Lutherans on account of being persuaded by their logic. I can only hope that when your head stops spinning it is affixed... Read more
St Paul Preaching in Athens (1515), by Raphael (1483-1520) [public domain / Wikimedia Commons] ***** Simcha writes in her article, “So your favorite blogger has gone insane” (1-31-17): More times than I can count, I’ve been told that we’re called to be good evangelists, and that, as such, we have to present our best, brightest, prettiest, perkiest, shiniest, most decorous face at all times, because that is the kind of thing that is attractive to people. Well, it is to some people.... Read more
Reflections on the “Great American Mush God” of Civil Religion and Morality Our Banner in the Sky (1861), by Frederick Edwin Church (1826-1900) [public domain / Wikimedia Commons] *** (1-24-02) *** [Compiled from various papers and dialogues, which might account for the rambling, somewhat incoherent nature of these thoughts. But the overall theme remains the same throughout. I’ve been a distributist for probably 35 years, and didn’t know it till recently, when my friend Rod Bennett convinced me I was one]***... Read more
Meeting between Esau and Jacob, by Giovanni Maria Bottalla (1613-1644) [public domain / Wikimedia Commons] (4-22-10) ***** The Great Calvinist Bible Argument: their favorite by far, and one trumpeted endlessly, is Romans 9. Here is the portion that Calvinists employ to defend their theological system of TULIP: Romans 9:6-24 (RSV) But it is not as though the word of God had failed. For not all who are descended from Israel belong to Israel, [7] and not all are children of Abraham... Read more
The Great Day of His Wrath (c. 1851), by John Martin (1789-1854) [public domain / Wikimedia Commons] *** (4-22-10) *** Hats off to blog regular Maroun for citing a great argument of this sort in an open forum combox, from St. John Chrysostom, who wrote: Of what honor, of what blessedness are these words? And He said not, Take, but, “Inherit,” as one’s own, as your Father’s, as yours, as due to you from the first. For, before you were,... Read more
Photograph by AndreasHolzner (12-21-14) [Pixabay / CC0 public domain] *** The following is an exchange I had with a Baptist friend (2-23-97; his words are in blue), followed by a clarification for some Catholic friends (4-10-97) *** Satan thought he could entice Jesus to sin and diversion from His ministry. We give the devil too much credit. He is an idiot and simpleton as well as a “bad guy.” No, no, you do not give the devil enough credit. There... Read more
It Never Was Definitive Teaching Photograph by “tpsdave” (Nov. 2016) [Pixabay / CC0 public domain] *** (12-28-07) *** Many Catholics seem to be under the impression that the notion of limbo was some sort of formulated doctrine in the Catholic Church. Lots of children in Catholic schools were taught that all unbaptized children would not enter heaven. The fact of the matter is that it has always been left open as an option to be believed, but not required. Nor is... Read more
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