Revisiting the controversial subject of henotheism is good for spuriously familiar readings of Old Testament Scriptures we think we know so well. Revisiting henotheism in the Bible in this post, folks. This is a subject that causes quite a stir, as in stir up a hornet’s nest. Earlier we covered the subject well enough here and here, but I felt the need to revisit things over the weekend. So here goes. I just want to say right off the bat... Read more
Difficult men are found at the roots of the Church, and nasty disputes between them are on display in Galatians 2. It is much more than “mere speculation” to say that, historically, Paul and Peter were two difficult men did not get along. Nor did Paul hold Peter and other “so-called pillars” like James, the brother of Jesus, and John son of Zebedee, in high regard (Galatians 2:6). Surely, Paul certainly recognized that others in the Jesus groups certainly did... Read more
Apostolic succession is true, but maybe not in the way we often popularly imagine it in our spurious familiarity. As we said before, apostolic succession concerns the fact that episkopoi (in the first century supervisors or managers), and later men called bishops, eventually took over the pastoral tasks of the apostles (God’s authorized change agents). Contrary to popular understanding rampant among my fellow “C” Catholics, apostolic succession does not involve how the early episkopoi, and later bishops, were chosen or... Read more
Fundamentalists claim to be big on truth and why it matters, but their rationalistic obsession with certitude shows their true colors. Fundamentalists must get the first things right! But let’s really look at our Christian foundations. Doing that honestly, fundamentalists would see that they are really worshiping the false god “certitude” rather than the true God. Fundamentalists imagine that the world needs fixing from his or her absolutist framework. And their fellow baptized who disagree with them, or who don’t... Read more
Idols are forbidden by God, but what about statues and other religious art? Idols and idolatry are verboten to Christians! And yet quite often Catholics, Orthodox, and other Christian groups who cherish sacred and religious art, icons and statues, get accused of idolatry. After all, aren’t we violating the commandment and clear prohibition to never make any graven image? Statues are in the zeitgeist these days. They are coming down all over the United States. Some were erected in the... Read more
Succession of the Apostles deals with the fact that bishops later assumed the pastoral responsibilities of the apostles, not how early bishops got selected. Succession of the apostles—from where did bishops originate? Did they take over from the apostles? Were the apostles the first bishops? Did they choose those next in their succession? Hello gang. Just wanted to give you all a quick post on apostolic succession. Today is the Feast of Peter and Paul, apostles. Usually today is filled... Read more
Eucharist, the source and summit of our Christian lives, concerns unity and transformation—but what is being transformed? Eucharist is where everything comes from and goes to in the Cosmos according to Catholicism. What is it? And what does it do? And what is transformed in Eucharist? Who is transformed by it? And what transformation is the more important? Homiletics on Corpus Christi Today is a day drowned in terrible homilies and pooled ignorance. Together with Trinity Sunday, on this solemnity the... Read more
Straw man arguments, in theology and Scripture, don’t become valid if they come from good places and good people. Straw man—someone states their position, and another person substitutes what was argued in a distorted way, then destroys the misrepresented argument. Knocking out a straw man is easy. Unless we are talking about Harold from “Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark,” a straw man doesn’t fight back. The Good, Bad, and Ugly of This Straw Man The straw man fallacy... Read more
Monotheism and the doctrine of the Trinity evolved through an amazing process in many messy social structures. Monotheism! How did our ancestors in the faith ever arrive at that? In our last post, we saw that most (if not all) of the Bible understands and presents God in a henotheistic way. We learned that unlike later monotheism, henotheism is one-god-ism. A henotheist accepts that there exist many, many gods. But henotheism sanctions worship of these other deities in favor of only... Read more
God in the Bible is often presented as the preeminent, rather than exclusive, sky deity. God is one, yes? Amen, we Christians, together with our Jewish and Muslim sisters and brothers, believe that. Catholics proclaim that in our Profession of Faith. Moreover, we believe there can be only one God in existence. But here is where we disagree with our Israelite ancestors in the faith found throughout the Bible. Here is where we have evolved theologically past the New Testament... Read more
Messy Inspirations
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