In the fifteenth century, Pope Eugene IV faced many similar complaints and criticisms of the Pope that Pope Francis receives today. Nicholas of Cusa was known as the “Heracles of the Eugenists” because of the effort he went to defend Pope Eugene IV from these accusations, working, as he could, to repair any schism that came as a result of the bad faith of Eugene’s critics. Nicholas faced many groups criticizing Catholic practices and doctrines of his day as being... Read more
Great disaster, apocalyptic disaster, threatens the earth. We have done much to change the world around us. Science and technology have given us many great powers, making us capable of doing great wonders. But we have ignored the dark underbelly of our technological achievements. We have long thought we can put off to another day the troubles which we create today. We should have known we could not put them off forever. We should have known that one day the... Read more
Naïve piety and superstition both cause great confusion concerning the eucharist, as we find those who follow one or the other, or both, think they can actually harm the body of Christ. Eucharistic sacrilege, the intentional dishonoring of Christ, does not harm Christ himself, but the person committing the abuse. On the other hand, when something accidental happens to the eucharistic bread, such as when it crumbles and someone steps on the crumbs, what Hugh of St. Victor said applies:... Read more
The second Sunday of Eastertide in the Byzantine tradition is the Sunday of the Myrrh-Bearing Women. On it, this Eastern tradition commemorates the remarkable witness of the women who followed Christ. In many ways, their story shows us something which is proven true throughout history: the women who followed Jesus were braver and more devout than their male counterparts, and yet their voice, their fidelity was often ignored. The myrrh bearing women were the women who followed after Christ, who... Read more
Being a famous scholar or theologian, offering invaluable works that help promote and develop Christian theology, does not make someone free from error. Many great theologians have ended up being schismatic, if not outright heretical. Despite what personal failures which might leady some scholars and theologians to eventually hold erroneous if not outright dangerous views, their works often remain invaluable to the Christian faith, so that Christians can and should learn from them, though with care so as not to... Read more
The Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences, in May 2019, will be having a plenary session on “Nation, State, and Nationhood,” examining the history and problems of nationalism, as their concept note explains: The world is facing today a growing threat of nationalist revival. Exclusivist national ideology leads to mutual rejection and enduring conflicts. Yet humanity has learned from its history that nations can coexist, cooperate and prosper together when they put their potential in common. Right-wing writers, like the disgraced... Read more
Étienne Tempier, in his famous condemnations of 1277, denounced the notion that God could not have made many different worlds other than our own. According to the logic of some, it made sense that there was one God, and that one God would make only one world. And yet, those like Tempier believed such assertion said too much, that it ended up limiting God, making him follow what seems as logically necessary from a limited human perspective. One great theological... Read more
The eighth day. The day after the Sabbath, the seventh day. The eighth day, the day on which Christ rose from the grave. The new and everlasting day. Just as eight follows seven, so the day after the sabbath rest, the day on which Christ rose from the dead, can be said to be the glorious eighth day. It was also the first day of a new week. Until Christ, the end was represented by the Sabbath rest, a rest... Read more
In 19th and early 20th century Russian philosophy, the writings of Nikolai Fedorov offered an interesting, albeit mistaken, idea concerning the resurrection of the dead: he thought God had given the task for humanity to establish the means by which the resurrection of the dead would be established. Jesus represented what was possible for the rest of us, and so we should likewise find the means, through science, to bring back all the dead. It would be a revivification or... Read more
It’s a strange thing. When Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, and others referred to those killed by terrorist bombs in Sri Lanka as “Easter worshipers,” some people became more concerned with the words “Easter worshipers” than they are with the attack itself. They have shown themselves to be more interested in making a political attack against Obama and Clinton than showing sympathy to those who were killed. They act like the term “Easter worshiper” is not only strange, but intended as... Read more
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