Photograph by “klimkin” (7-19-16) [Pixabay / CC0 public domain] *** (6-17-09) *** I was asked: How, then, is the Catholic to interpret Scripture, the basic rules of hermeneutics; exegesis, along with what the Church teaches? I’m still a bit in the dark on this. Excellent question. Basically, first of all, the Catholic needs to learn good basic skills of Bible interpretation. I would recommend a book such as Making Senses Out of Scripture: Reading the Bible As the First Christians... Read more
— See One-Line Descriptions of My Books — All book titles (save the two Bibles and pamphlet) have individual book pages, with Tables of Contents, Introductions, excerpts, large photos of front and back covers, and sometimes reviews. Click on any book icon or written title to access these info-pages. ROCK-BOTTOM PRICING / INCREDIBLE ONGOING 67% SAVINGS ON E-BOOKS I offer you the lowest prices I possibly can (when I control the pricing). Please reciprocate with a purchase! This is my full-time work, and book royalties are... Read more
. . . According to Many Reputable Protestant Scholars Christ and the Good Thief (c. 1566), by Titian (1490-1576) [public domain / Wikimedia Commons] *** (5-25-09) ***** This comes from a good discussion I am involved in, at the CHNI forum. Dan Woodring is a former Lutheran pastor and now a Catholic. His words will be in blue. Words of my fellow moderator David W. Emery will be in green. * * * * * Apart from the obvious issues regarding... Read more
[19 October 2004] * * * * * Was Cardinal Newman a “Rationalist”? Fr. Stanley Jaki disagrees with classifying Newman as a “rationalist”: Then there is the Grammar‘s method that looks very similar to what later took by storm the philosophical and theological scene under the name phenomenology. It stands for a systematic aversion, to use a Pauline phrase again, to reasoned assurance about things that do not appear, that is, are not phenomena. Finally, there is the... Read more
“. . . A Source Book for Apologists and Inquirers“ [completed on 18 April 2009; 445 pages; published on 15 August 2009 by Sophia Institute Press] *** [cover design by Theodore Schluenderfritz] *** — To purchase, go to the bottom of the page — * * * * Now available for FREE online (original RSV version): follow the links for chapters in the Table of Contents * * * * *** [in final version: 2051 Bible Passages entirely written out:... Read more
[Pixabay / CC0 public domain] *** (2-16-09) *** Incense (i.e., a thing that burns and produce smoke and fragrances, which is similar to a candle, complete with the metaphorical smelling of the offering by God), as an image of prayer, is an explicit biblical motif: Genesis 8:20-21 (RSV) Then Noah built an altar to the LORD, and took of every clean animal and of every clean bird, and offered burnt offerings on the altar. And when the LORD smelled... Read more
NASA photograph of the earth from 22,000 miles away (10-17-00) [public domain / Wikimedia Commons] *** (2-5-09) ***** Martin Luther [From Conversations With Luther: Selections From Recently Published Sources of the Table Talk, translated and edited by Preserved Smith and Herbert Percival Gallinger, New York: The Pilgrim Press, 1915 (link to Google Reader)] Then Luther spoke concerning the threefold movement of the heavens: “The first is the primary motion, of great swiftness, which is perhaps caused by an angel; in... Read more
Image from a You Tube presentation on Sola Scriptura and the Five Solas (10-5-14), by Pastor Andrew Coleman of Sheridan Hills Baptist Church [Creative Commons license for reuse] *** This series of replies will respond to a lengthy, multiple-post defense of sola Scriptura, written by C. Michael Patton, on the blog Parchment and Pen. He describes himself as an “historic evangelical.” He is not an anti-Catholic (which is one major reason why I am taking a considerable amount of time... Read more
” . . . The Very Best Quotes, Quips, & Cracks from the Pen of G. K. Chesterton“ (completed on 10 October 2008; published in December 2009 by Saint Benedict Press) *** [cover art by Christopher J. Pelicano] *** — To purchase, go to the bottom of the page — *** TABLE OF CONTENTS Dedication [p. v] Introduction [p. ix] Chesterton Aphorisms (By Alphabetical Topic) [p. 1] Bibliography of Sources By Abbreviations [p. 361] Bibliography of Sources in Chronological Order... Read more
It’s a Binding Catholic Dogma The Adoration of the Shepherds (1622), by Gerard van Honthorst (1590-1656) [public domain / Wikimedia Commons] *** (9-24-08; expanded — after the asterisks — on 9-21-15; very slightly revised with top note added, on 3-9-17) * * * * * [Note of 3-9-17: My friend Ryan Grant has argued that this opinion is properly classified as sententia certa: defined by Dr. Ludwig Ott as follows: “A Teaching Pertaining to Faith, i.e., theologically certain (sententia ad... Read more
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