(vs. John Cranman) The Virgin of the Lilies (1899) by William-Adolphe Bouguereau (1825-1905) [public domain / Wikimedia Commons] (4-9-15) The following dialogue took place on my Facebook author page. I posted a meme which read: “We never give more honour to Jesus than when we honour his Mother, and we honour her simply and solely to honour him all the more perfectly. We go to her only as a way leading to the goal we seek — Jesus, her Son.” [St. Louis... Read more
Pope St. John Paul II [Flickr / Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license] *** (6-3-09) *** Sometimes Protestant apologists argue to the effect that it is some inherently terrible and inconceivable thing for Catholics to believe as they do vis-a-vis ecclesiology and the papacy, so that ecumenism is scarcely even possible. When one side is forced from the outset to make one of its non-negotiable tenets negotiable, or else be accused of outrageous intolerance and arrogance and hubris (which also occurred... Read more
Oxford caricature of John Henry Newman, 1840 [public domain / Wikimedia Commons] *** (3-19-15) *** The following chronological documentation is drawn from entries in my two books: The Quotable Newman (Manchester, New Hampshire: Sophia Institute Press, 2012) Section: “Conversion (His Own)” Cardinal Newman: Q & A on Theology, Church History, and Conversion (Lulu, 2015) Section: Ch. 6: “Conversion (to Catholicism)” Sometimes different portions of the same letter are in the two different books, which will be noted. I note... Read more
Completed on 24 May 2015 and published at Lulu on the same day. 367 pages. [cover design by Dave Armstrong] — For purchase options scroll to the bottom — Miscellaneous * Cardinal Newman’s Conversion Odyssey, in His Own Words (September 1839 to December 1845) [list compiled from two of my Newman quotations books] [19 March 2015] Excerpts On the “Argument from Longing” [10 May 1828] On the “Rule of Secrecy” (“Disciplina Arcani”) and Development of Doctrine [26 Jan. 1834]... Read more
Caïn venant de tuer son frère Abel, by Henry Vidal (1896) in Tuileries Garden in Paris, France. [Wikimedia Commons / CC BY 2.0] *** (1-30-15) *** I tried, folks. I mightily tried. I summoned (only by God’s grace, believe me) every last fiber and nerve in me of patience, and was willing to be a punching bag for two hours, in order to achieve rational dialogue with Mark. You be the judge. This took place in the wee hours of 1-30-15 and was about 75 minutes in duration. Mark’s words will be in blue. *... Read more
+ Removal of My Post Dealing with Matthew 18:34 “Frustration” (photograph by Peter Alfred Hess, 10-21-08) [Flickr / CC by 2.0 license] (1-26-15) I have removed a blog post of mine (and two related Facebook discussion posts) that deal with Matthew 18:34, as related to the vexed “waterboarding / torture” issue. I have done so because in the present hysterical, fanatical, anti-rational, “us vs. them” climate that prevails online when it comes to discussion of this issue, my reasoning cannot... Read more
Pope Francis in St. Peter’s Square, 27 November 2013 (photo by Gabriel Sozzi) [Wikimedia Commons / Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license] *** (1-23-15) *** This is the latest complaint of Pope Francis’ endless, relentless (and, I’ve found, usually wrongheaded) critics. It’s the second aspect of the infamous “rabbits” controversy that I wrote about two days ago. * * * * * Here are the pope’s related remarks, as recorded in America magazine: This does not mean that the Christian must make... Read more
Caricature of Pope Francis by “DonkeyHotey” [Flickr / CC by 2.0 license] *** Edited by Dave Armstrong on 1-22-15, from Dan Marcum’s manuscript. *** This was originally posted in the Catholic Answers forum on 9 January 2015 and then expanded later on. I modified the title of #11 and deleted one quotation from it (which I felt was off-topic), and shortened many other titles. * * * * * 1. Tradition “We must put ourselves in line with the great... Read more
Photograph by Ervinpospisil [Wikimedia Commons /CC BY-SA 3.0] *** (1-21-15) *** There is nothing whatsoever wrong with what the pope said. In context (and even out of context, for those who understand Catholic teaching on this score), it is altogether sensible, orthodox, and defensible. *** But if people are looking for heterodoxy (or “liberalism”) in the Holy Father’s utterances, assuredly they will “find” them. Folks seem to “see” whatever they want to see. The arts of logic and objective analysis (not... Read more
[Wikipedia /Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 license] *** The following exchange is from the combox of a piece entitled “The Boy Who Cried Waterboard,” by Zippy Catholic, posted on the What’s Wrong With the World website on 29 April 2009. Catholic philosopher Francis Beckwith‘s words will be in regular black; Mark Shea’s in blue. This is (note!) an edited version, to highlight their particular back-and-forth dialogue. To read the whole thing and all the context, follow the link above. * * * *... Read more
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