[see the information page for this book, for full details and all purchase options] (#1; completed in May 1996; self-published: Oct. 2001; Sophia version: June 2003; 297 pages) * * * * * I started writing this in late 1990, right after I became a Catholic. I converted for reasons of moral theology and intense study of Church history, but right after that I felt led to start defending my newfound belief-system and explaining to all my Protestant friends the... Read more
Photograph by “cherylholt” [Pixabay / public domain] * * * * * I’m the first to freely admit that many Christians treat atheists atrociously. I’m not one of them. I condemn all unjust and unfair insults, that anyone makes. Nor does Christian belief require that all atheists automatically go to hell. An atheist can quite possibly be saved, as I have written about. Only God knows who is saved and who isn’t. I don’t think “all” atheists are dishonest or wicked or immoral. I approach every individual... Read more
Image by “Zerig” [Pixabay / public domain] I’m not interested in gloating over anyone who goes to hell (this is what a recent atheist thread claimed many Christians were doing; taunting atheists). I’ve devoted my life (as a Catholic apologist) to help prevent people from going there; so that they will want to, and will be able to go to heaven. I understand that many people (especially atheists and other non-Christians) detest hell. So do I. I don’t want anyone to go... Read more
. . . Where His Views Are Harmonious With Catholic Teaching [public domain / Wikimedia Commons] (3-18-10) All sources with Roman numerals (example: IV, 4:20) are from The Institutes of the Christian Religion (translated by Henry Beveridge for the Calvin Translation Society in 1845, from the 1559 edition in Latin; reprinted by Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co.: Grand Rapids, Michigan, 1995): available online. Note: I don’t intend to imply that Calvin agrees with Catholics in every jot and tittle of all the following categories. What is agreed-upon... Read more
David Hume (1711-1776): portrait (1754) by Allan Ramsay (1713-1784) [public domain / Wikimedia Commons] He was not, according to his own words, or in the opinion of many Hume scholars: The order of the universe proves an omnipotent mind. (Treatise, 633n) Wherever I see order, I infer from experience that there, there hath been Design and Contrivance . . . the same principle obliges me to infer an infinitely perfect Architect from the Infinite Art and Contrivance which is displayed in the whole... Read more
* * * With Extensive Documentation From Luther’s Own Words * * * Statue of Martin Luther [public domain / Pixabay] [originally uploaded on 13 November 2002 and revised on 15 May 2003 and 18 June 2006] All words below are Luther’s except for bibliographical information and sources, or otherwise indicated. All emphases (in the color red) are my own. * * * * * We hear much incessant moaning and groaning amongst Protestant apologists about the excessive, intolerably autocratic authority of... Read more
Girl receiving first Holy Communion, Sicily (photo by Jeanne Boleyn, 24 Dec. 2009) [public domain / Wikimedia Commons] (12-18-13)For previous treatments see my posts about overuse of Extraordinary Ministers of Holy Communion, and a lengthy dialogue on receiving from a priest, with priests. See also the public Facebook thread where I linked to this, with more of my own comments and those of others, and a second Facebook thread with yet more comments. * * * * * Reason #412,574,034 why I am close in spirit (in... Read more
Catholic William F. Buckley (1925-2008) and President Ronald Reagan: two giant figures in modern American political conservatism, at Reagan’s birthday party, 7 February 1986 [public domain / Wikimedia Commons] [originally from Facebook, 4 July 2014] Michael Liccione, a friend who has a doctorate in philosophy, wrote: I will no longer call myself a “conservative” or a “liberal” in either the political or the religious sense. The terms are inherently ideological, and I oppose ideology as distinct from being principled. I... Read more
Alvin Plantinga in 2008 [public domain / Wikimedia Commons] Alvin Plantinga is considered by many to be the greatest living Christian philosopher. He is a Reformed Protestant. I subscribe to much of his epistemology of Christianity. This dialogue consists of agnostic JD Eveland‘s critique of Plantinga’s paper (that I recommended to him), Is Belief in God Properly Basic? Readers may consult the entire article if they wish. I do cite a great deal of it, below. Plantinga’s words will be... Read more
Photograph by Daniel Ventura, 18 June 2007 [Wikimedia Commons / Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license] *** The material formerly here has been re-worked, modified, and edited and is now included only in my book, The Word Set in Stone: How Archaeology, Science, and History Back Up the Bible (Catholic Answers Press: March 15, 2023) Read more
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