[note: many of the links may no longer work; I’m re-posting this at Patheos ten years after it was written] * * * * * Michigan (particularly Detroit, where I grew up — I still live just outside of it and go to church near downtown), is known for its many glorious musical traditions and artists: Motown, Bob Seger, Aretha Franklin, John Lee Hooker, Anita Baker, gospel music; it is even a current world center of electronic music. But I’d... Read more
. . . and the Burning of the Library of Alexandria (Links) Detail of the death portrait of a wealthy woman, painted between 160-170 AD near the modern-day town of Er-Rubayat in the Fayum [public domain / Wikimedia Commons] (1-19-13) * * * * * I just got through watching a documentary on ancient Alexandria (available for instant viewing in the Netflix collection), in which viewers were spoon-fed the same old tired myth of St. Cyril of Alexandria and a supposedly anti-knowledge,... Read more
The Israelites Leaving Egypt (1828-1830), by David Roberts (1796-1864) [public domain / Wikimedia Commons] * * * * * I watched this documentary tonight and last night. It’s available on Instant Netflix. I’ve never seen a finer or more interesting piece of biblical archaeology on film. The crux of the issue at stake, and featured in the piece, is the theory that the Exodus happened around 1450 BC, rather than 160-200 years later. The latter is the standard, accepted view... Read more
. . . and Anti-Catholic James Swan’s Related Vapid Swipes at Catholic Apologists Adoration of the Shepherds (1485), by Domenico Ghirlandaio (1449-1494) [public domain / Wikimedia Commons] *** (5-19-13) * * * * * The Catholic / patristic tradition regarding Mother of God or Theotokos (“God-Bearer”) requires a little bit of thought, but it’s not rocket science. Let’s run through a quick version of the rationale: Luke 1:43 (RSV) And why is this granted me, that the mother of my Lord (kurios) should come to me? John... Read more
St. Paul, by Philippe de Champaigne (1602-1674) [public domain / Wikimedia Commons] * * * (4-8-13) These were exchanges from my Facebook page. my debate opponent’s words will be blue. * * * * * [after blocking three Holocaust deniers and/or RadCathRs] These goofballs have free speech on their own pages. They don’t have the “right” to unlimited preaching on my page. I have quality control. It’s why people are comfortable here. They know we have adult Catholic or otherwise Christian conversation, minus... Read more
Thomas Nast’s drawing, “Merry Old Santa Claus”, from the January 1, 1881 edition of Harper’s Weekly. Nast immortalized Santa Claus’ current look in an 1863 issue of Harper’s Weekly, with his illustration titled “A Christmas Furlough”. The popularity of that image prompted him to create this one. [public domain / Wikimedia Commons] ***** THE MEGABYTE BEFORE CHRISTMAS [all due credit, of course, to Clement Clarke Moore (1779-1863) – a seminary professor of Hebrew and Greek – for his 1822 classic, A Visit from St.... Read more
Looting of the Churches of Lyon by the Calvinists in 1562 (1565), by Antoine Caron (1521-1599) [public domain / Wikimedia Commons] (4-12-08)* * * * * 1) Erasmus (The leading scholar in Europe: 1521) I greatly wonder, my dear Jonas, what god has stirred up the heart of Luther, in so far as he assails with such license of pen the Roman pontiff, all the universities, philosophy, and the mendicant orders . . . Perhaps there were some who out of honest... Read more
Flight of Lot [from Sodom and Gomorrah] (1875), by Gustave Doré (1832-1883) [public domain / Wikimedia Commons] * * * * * This article has been re-uploaded as “Did Jesus Believe That Homosexual Acts Were Immoral?” ***** Read more
Daedalus, Pasiphae and the wooden cow. Roman fresco from the northern wall of the triclinium in the Casa dei Vettii (VI 15,1) in Pompeii. [public domain / Wikimedia Commons] *** This article has been re-uploaded under the title, Is Bestiality a Secular Sex Reductio ad Absurdum? *** Read more
The Raising of Lazarus, by Sebastiano del Piombo (c. 1485-1547) [public domain / Wikimedia Commons] (11-5-12) This exchange occurred on my Facebook page (which is public; therefore I can cite it here). I’ve added a few additional replies that were not in the original “discussion.” I think it is very helpful to illustrate how not to argue any theological point, since my opponent uses many of the classic evasive and obscurantist, obfuscatory techniques of folks who don’t appear to be interested in an open, mutually respectful ... Read more
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