Often, we find many of our fellow Christians looking down upon us with disdain due to the fact that we do not follow their expectations of us, expectations which are not based upon basic Christian morality, such as the way of love, but rather due to some obscure preferences they have which they want everyone else to not only embrace, but follow in a legalistic fashion. This often happens in liturgical debate; we find in them that there are many... Read more
Christianity teaches the dignity of every human being. Everyone is made in the image and likeness of God. Historically, this has led Christians to promote the poor, the oppressed, social outcasts, indeed, those whose dignity have been unjustly trampled upon by society. This is why, in the earliest era of Christian history, we can see Christianity promoting a revolutionary understanding of women, one which gave them power and authority that had been denied them by society. Christianity made it clear... Read more
There are many doctrinal and dogmatic statements made by the church which., while true, they are true only when the meaning of those statements are properly understood. If the original intent is ignored, and the words are engaged in a literal fashion, according to other meanings of those words other than originally understood by the authors of such statements, those same statements can lead people to believing something which is false, indeed, heretical. For all dogmatic statements, all doctrinal statements,... Read more
If I had my way, I would find myself staying away from politics and all the intrigue which comes from it, leaving it for someone else. For, by nature, I tend to be semi-hermitic, wanting to stay to mostly myself. I also know I can’t do that. I know that I have a responsibility to the world I live in. I am to help take care of it and preserve it for future generations. I am expected to be a... Read more
What people most often remember about ecumenical councils, if anything, are the dogmatic questions and debates which preceded them, and the authoritative responses the councils gave to those debates. Sadly, many do not know how to read the conciliar responses; they interpret them in a very literalistic fashion, thinking the letter of the text, as they interpret it long after the text was written, exhausts the meaning intended by the text itself, despite the fact that those involved in establishing... Read more
When we pray for God’s will to be done on earth as it is in heaven, we pray for the temporal creation to be united with and penetrated by the kingdom of God so that God will be all in all. It is the goal that God has for creation. As God created the world out of an act of pure love, God has given creation its own freedom, a freedom, to be sure, which is not absolute (as only... Read more
Throughout all my life, I have been drawn to theological pursuits. When I was an adolescent, and a Baptist, that meant reading Scripture, trying to understand what I read, and then taking that understanding and establishing my own systematic presentation of the faith. It was, to be sure, a rather limited and simplistic theological endeavor, and yet at the heart of it was a yearning for the truth. It is that yearning which has led me to pursue a wide... Read more
One of the ways those who set upon a path towards holiness, engaging all kinds of spiritual disciplines in order to attune themselves to God and God’s holiness, can be taken off that path is if they let themselves be seduced by the fame which often accompanies those who attain some degree of extraordinary spiritual attainment. Even if they do not seek fame for themselves, they might look for those who are famous and attach themselves to them, thinking that... Read more
The Christian faith is not faith in a book; it certainly is not a faith in mere men and women, and what they have to say. Yes, Scripture is invaluable, as it gives us a form of God’s revelation to humanity, and the Holy Spirit helped inspire the way it was written and collected together so that if it is engaged properly, it can point us to the transcendent truth. Yes, tradition is important, as it helps guide us in... Read more
Love is humble, not proud, which is why it should not surprise us that God’s greatness is best revealed to us in the incarnation and not by coming to us in a form or activity which lies beyond our comprehension. That is, God humbly embraces human nature as the normative means by which the divine glory would be revealed to us, showing us, as St. Stephen of Muret suggests, that there is a place for us with God in heaven,... Read more
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