Quietism is a heresy which suggests we purify ourselves, tending our own monsters, by withdrawing from the world and becoming inactive. Quietism is spiritually dangerous because it tells us to ignore the needs of our neighbor as we seek to glorify ourselves. This is exactly one of the dangers Pope Francis was warning us about in his exhortation, Gaudete ex exsultate: It is not healthy to love silence while fleeing interaction with others, to want peace and quiet while avoiding... Read more
CAPUT III. What are the affirmative expressions respecting God, and what the negative. SECTION I. IN the Theological Outlines, then, we celebrated the principal affirmative expressions respecting God—-how the Divine and good Nature is spoken of as One—-how as Threefold—-what is that within it which is spoken of as Paternity and Sonship—-what the Divine name of “the Spirit “is meant to signify,—-how from the immaterial and indivisible Good the Lights dwelling in the heart of Goodness sprang forth, and remained,... Read more
Saint Babylas of Antioch died during the Decian persecution. Legend has it that Babylas forbade his emperor from entering his church until the emperor did penance for killing his predecessor; for this, he was sent into prison, tortured, and died while before he could be officially executed. Preaching on the martyrdom of St. Babylas, St. John Chrysostom explained his boldness in the face of persecution: For he was instructed by the divine teaching that all worldly activities are a shadow,... Read more
Arians questioned the divinity of Jesus Christ. They said that the Son, by being begotten, was a created being, and that there was a time in which the Son was not. In debate after debate with Arius and the Arians, St. Athanasius emphasized the divinity of Jesus Christ; discussions of the incarnation, and how to portray it, was not entirely worked out. At the time of Athanasius, there was no talk about Jesus as being “two natures in one person.”... Read more
As we seek after the truth, we normally try to explain it to ourselves in forms which we can comprehend, such as when we set out and create definitions which we use to establish the parameters of the truth. While the truth can be represented in this fashion, we must keep in mind what we establish is not the truth as it is in its absolute form, but a conventional expression of the truth which approximates the truth according to... Read more
In The Lord of the Rings, Tolkien, with his mythopoetic style, created a world filled with different races and cultures which had histories of their own, pitting them in conflict with each other. Each race, each nation, each culture could list valid grievances against each other; the Elves and the Dwarves certainly had a long history of distrust and dislike which would otherwise seem unsurmountable. And yet, when Sauron was revealed once again active in Middle Earth, they were able... Read more
In the fifteenth century, the great theologian Cardinal Nicholas of Cusa dealt with many great ecclesiastical debates with grace and wisdom. He understood the way the Holy Spirit directed the church was not the same at every time and in every place; the Holy Spirit directed as needed, explaining how and why there were many changes in the way the church handled things throughout time. Trying to hold down and follow one way of being the church above all others... Read more
For this is veritably to see and to know and to celebrate super-essentially the Superessential, through the abstraction of all existing things, just as those who make a lifelike statue, by extracting all the encumbrances which have been placed upon the clear view of the concealed, and by bringing to light, by the mere cutting away, the genuine beauty concealed in it. We are called to see in a sight beyond sight, to know beyond all our knowledge, the beautiful... Read more
For as the love of money is the root of all evil (cf. 1Tim. 6:10), so Salvian understood that virtues fall away and lead to great vice once avarice is embraced; for coming out of avarice we not only find plunder as a means of attaining great wealth, but likewise, sister vices which either encourage further avarice (such as envy) or encourage someone to use their wealth for the sake of inordinate pleasures (such as lust): Because today instead of... Read more
Three painters come together to paint a beautiful landscape. Each of them paints with a different style. The first tries to be photo-realistic, reproducing as much as possible what they see with their eyes, putting in all the details which would show up in a photograph. The second is an impressionist, drawing from what they see, they paint with a looser brushstroke, emphasizing the mix between light and darkness, as well as the colors, giving an impression of what they... Read more
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