You’re wrong – because Occam’s Razor says you are wrong! Non sunt multiplicanda entia sine necessitate. Do not multiply entities without necessity. How often is it I find someone saying this, thinking they have made their point and won a debate by it. A common way this principle is used by positivists is to use it to suggest why they believe God does not exist: The world exists, and it seems to be working with its own rules and standards,... Read more
This is the second part of a two-part reflection on the status of Mary and Joseph’s marriage. Click here to read the first part. The promotion of virginity for those who have such a call does not hinder God’s command for humanity to be fruitful and multiply. Virginity and procreation represent two complementary callings, each good in and of themselves. In Mary, in the uniqueness of the virgin birth of Christ, the two come together as one, so that her... Read more
While the theological reasoning behind Mary’s perpetual virginity has been presented, not all questions associated with it have been answered. Many are minor and can be reasoned out without much difficulty, and so do not need thorough investigations of their own, but a significant one remains, and it one which we will deal with here. It is the question which asks what exactly we are to consider about her relationship with Joseph. That is, as Mary remained ever-virgin, then she... Read more
On Pentecost, the promise of Jesus to send the Holy Spirit was fulfilled. Jesus gave to us, his followers, the fruit of the new covenant. In and with the Spirt of Truth, the Spirit of Life, all things are made new. And so, with the coming of the Holy Spirit, it was the dawn of a new age. It was also the beginning of the end. The eschaton is immanent in Christ. As the Holy Spirit is the Spirit of... Read more
“Love cannot bear that. We must pray for all,” St. Silouan of Mount Athos once told a hermit who asked him why he was known to pray for those presumed to be damned.[1] Instead of thinking everyone deserved to be damned so that we should not be concerned if anyone should perish in hell, St. Silouan believed that the Christian response was the response of love, the response of Christ. Love does what it can for the salvation of all.... Read more
The is the conclusion to a series discussing the perpetual virginity of Mary. Click here to read the first part, here to read the second, here to read the third, here to read the fourth, and here to read the fifth. In our current cultural milieu, we find people often question the perpetual virginity of Mary based upon the way society as a whole has changed its understanding of virginity. In earlier eras, there was a greater awareness as to... Read more
“No one has ascended into heaven but he who descended from heaven, the Son of man” (Jn. 3:13 RSV). Forty days after his glorious resurrection, we remember and celebrate Jesus’s ascension into heaven, a mysterious event which signifies the end of his earthly ministry. For at his ascension he completed what was begun with the incarnation, taking that which is of the world and lifting it up with himself in his ascent into heaven. No one but Jesus, no one... Read more
Coming out of Israel, there is a tale of a poor pauper who worked hard, but still needed to beg for food in order to survive.[1] One night, worn out from the hard, pitiless labor, without getting enough money to buy food to eat, he cried out to God, begging for help. Suddenly, a small bag appeared at his feet, and he heard a voice from heaven speak, saying, “When you open the pouch, you will find in it a... Read more
The is the fifth part of a series discussing the perpetual virginity of Mary. Click here to read the first part, here to read the second, here to read the third, and here to read the fourth. While we are free to speculate with some coming out of the Western tradition and think that Joseph remained celibate all his life, a stronger case is to be had with the Eastern view that before his betrothal to Mary, he had been... Read more
The is the fourth part of a series discussing the perpetual virginity of Mary. Click here to read the first, here to read the second, and here to read the third. Probably one of the most common objections brought out against the perpetual virginity of Mary is that Scripture appears to talk about Jesus having brothers and sisters: Is not this the carpenter’s son? Is not his mother called Mary? And are not his brothers James and Joseph and Simon... Read more
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