St. Hilary of Poitiers, a Doctor of the Church, was declared as the “Doctor of the Divinity of Christ” by Pope Pius IX in 1851. This is because he was one of the major defenders of the teaching of Nicea and the divinity of Christ during the 4th century. Indeed, he was one of the first Western (Latin-writing) bishops to focus his attention on the objections of the Arians and write a response to them. Even before he fully knew... Read more
When Jesus sent his followers out to baptize the world in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, the purpose was to unite the world with his baptism in the Jordan. For it is in the Jordan, in his baptism, that the Trinity was revealed, and so every Christian baptism represents this by having everyone baptized in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Thus, the Venerable Bede preached: The Son of God is baptized in... Read more
The United States has acted wrongly in its assassination of Qassim Soleimani. No one has to believe he was a man of upstanding moral character to think it was wrong to assassinate him. Far from it. Believing him to be the leader of Iran’s terrorist forces does not mean it is ethical for the United States, under orders from Trump, to kill him as it did. For, by acting this way, the United States inadvertently justified Soleimani and his actions... Read more
One of the most beloved Russian saints of modern times is St. Seraphim of Sarov. St. John Paul II, in Crossing the Threshold of Hope, connected his holiness to his life of prayer and the state he found himself after his prayer: Man achieves the fullness of prayer not when he expresses himself, but he lets God be most fully present in prayer. The history of mystical prayer in the East and West attests to this: Saint Francis, Saint Teresa... Read more
Paul Knitter, in his dialogue with Masao Abe (a famous Japanese Buddhist professor in religious studies involved with inter-religious dialogue), once raised the question of justice and its relationship to Buddhist meditational practices. To Knitter it seemed that the Buddhist emphasis was on meditation over justice, so that only through sitting down and realizing the true self, the world could be changed, which was the reverse of what he thought was necessary: The second issue I would like to discuss... Read more
When we look to the world today, it is in bad shape. It is burning down, both literally and metaphorically. What we see as a result of the rising temperatures around the world are fulfilling the predictions of climate scientists. From the wildfires in Australia (which is killing countless innocent animals and producing toxic smoke that threatens countless human lives), to the warming ocean (which not only is disrupting weather patterns around the world, but it is also destroying life... Read more
Scripture, when read with an extremely literal hermeneutic, will have its readers baffled with all the logical contradictions which could be deduced from such a reading. Obviously, some of the difficulties which emerge will be able to be explained away, especially if the interpreter suggests that some texts were written for particular circumstances and so could not be easily universalized. Thus, it is possible to say that Scripture shows us the development of God’s relationship with humanity up to the... Read more
Pope Francis, in his 2019 Christmas greetings to the Roman Curia, had many words to say about the developments going on in the world and the need for the church to adapt to them. It is not just that there are many things changing around us all at once, but rather, there is one significant and overwhelming shift going in the world. The church, always inculturating itself, must adapt and deal with the shift: All of this has particular importance... Read more
In the beginning – or rather, in eternity before time, if we understand “before” metaphysically and not temporally, was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God, for the Word was begotten of the Father before all ages. The Word, that is, the Logos, being begotten, and not made, is the only-begotten Son of the Father. Because all things which are made are made through him, and in in, he is himself not anything which... Read more
Since suicide is a sin, and therefore, assisted suicide is a sin, can and should a priest feel free to accompany someone dying of assisted suicide? The simple answer to both questions is yes, because the priests (and Christians in general) should give comfort to the dying. And yet, many would object that by doing so, priests would be seen as sanctioning suicide. Shouldn’t they do everything they can do in order to detour people from committing suicide? When dealing... Read more
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