5 American Good Shepherds of the Catholic Church

Last updated on: March 26, 2023 at 1:53 pm By Dennis Knapp

Considering some major disappointments among Church hierarchy of late concerning fidelity, I decided to highlight some faithful bishops. Highlight a few good shepherds. The primary role of a bishop is to shepherd the souls of God’s people. God’s people—not theirs. Failure in this task, this solemn vocation, bears eternal consequences, consequences some shepherds seem less and less concerned about. Thankfully, many bishops do take their vocation seriously. This article I dedicate to them. Samuel J. Aquila Archbishop of Denver Named... Read more

What is the Only Unforgiven Sin?

Last updated on: March 21, 2023 at 6:10 pm By Dennis Knapp

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Then Jesus said, “I came into this world for judgment, so that those who do not see might see, and those who do see might become blind.” Some of the Pharisees who were with him heard this and said to him, “Surely we are not also blind, are we?” Jesus said to them, “If you were blind, you would have no sin; but now you are saying, ‘We see,’ so your sin remains. John 9:39-41 The above verses come from... Read more

The German Synodal Way Rejects Human Teleology and Blesses Sin

Last updated on: March 12, 2023 at 9:36 pm By Dennis Knapp

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On March 10th 2023, the German Synodal Way (GSW) approved a five-page document allowing for the blessing of same sex couples. In doing so, the GSW rejected, in short order, divine revelation (the Bible), Natural Law, and official Church teaching on human sexuality (human teleology). Furthermore, the GSW voted to overrule God on sin and allowed for mere men within the Church (mere men for now, anyway) to bless sin in the name of “love.” In this article, I examine... Read more

How Do Protestants Escape Theological Errors?

Last updated on: March 10, 2023 at 5:30 pm By Dennis Knapp

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Recently, Catholic apologist Trent Horn debated Protestant pastor and YouTuber, Dr. Gavin Ortlund, on whether or not sola scriptura is true. I highly recommend the debate, as those involved acted respectfully, charitably, and knowledgably. One particular subject of interest for this article occurred during the question-and-answer segment of the debate. An audience member asked Dr. Ortlund to critique three points and a conclusion. He states: No church can avoid schism without a Supreme Court. A Supreme Court has to be... Read more

An Appeal to Pope Francis on the 10th Anniversary of His Pontificate

Last updated on: March 7, 2023 at 5:48 pm By Dennis Knapp

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Obey your leaders and submit to them, for they are keeping watch over your souls, as those who will have to give an account. Let them do this with joy and not with groaning, for that would be of no advantage to you. –Hebrews 13:17 March 13th marks the 10th anniversary of Pope Francis’ election to the pontificate. As head of the Catholic Church, Pope Francis watches over the souls of a billion and a half Catholics. The pope’s primary... Read more

Which God Exists? Guest Writer – Douglas Beaumont

Last updated on: March 6, 2023 at 11:04 am By Dennis Knapp

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In discussions over the existence of God, many atheists seem to assume that anything that can be labeled “god” counts toward what informed Christians mean by the term. I’ve seen more than one atheist in a debate say that with the thousands of gods on offer from the world’s religions, atheists only disbelieve in one more of them than Christians do – and if Christians were consistent, they’d be atheists about their god too. This is a dim-witted argument on... Read more

When is Empathy Unhealthy? A Critique of Unfettered Empathy

Last updated on: March 2, 2023 at 6:29 pm By Dennis Knapp

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Do you care about the feelings of others? Do you, like Bill Clinton in 1992, “feel others’ pain”? Is there any situation where concern for others’ feelings or empathy causes harm? How does compassion differ from empathy, specifically holy compassion? In this article, I examine the differences between unfettered empathy and holy compassion. For this, I turn to Joe Rigney’s 2019 essay, The Enticing Sin of Empathy and the insights of Catholic moral theologian Fr. Thomas Berg, taken from a... Read more

The Best Atheist Explanation: Origin of the Universe

Last updated on: February 24, 2023 at 9:18 am By Dennis Knapp

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In the past year or so, I’ve engaged different atheists in my comments section. To see those exchanges, please click on the below articles. Answers for Atheists Part 1: Reason and Consistency Answers for Atheists Part 2: Objective Truth and No Evidence for God The Appeal of Atheism Are Atheists Closer to Heaven Than Christians Who Could Not Care Less? In all my exchanges, a topic keeps coming up and leaves me dissatisfied: the atheistic explanation for the origin of... Read more

A Lenten Call for Prayer Requests

Last updated on: February 20, 2023 at 2:22 pm By Dennis Knapp

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Many who observe Lent do so by abstaining and fasting. I too will honor this practice during Lent. But my heart called out for something more. As I thought and prayed about what to add to my Lent, God placed upon my heart to dedicate intentional prayer time for my readers. I often engage my readers in dialogue, whether we agree or not. For Lent, I’ll continue to do this, but I also want to pray for them, too. So,... Read more

Beware This Type of Nuanced Thinking

Last updated on: February 17, 2023 at 9:18 pm By Dennis Knapp

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During my time writing on Patheos, many of my readers on the more politically and culturally liberal side claim that my writing lacks “nuance” and tends towards binary thinking. They claim that more “mature” and “sophisticated” thinkers comprehend the complexities of morality and theology, especially when one factors in the supremacy of individual conscience. Moreover, they also claim black and white thinking, or thinking that seeks objective truth, shows an unhealthy psychological dependency on certainty, or in the case of... Read more