8 05, 2019

World Religions Part II: The Exclusive, All-Embracing Cross

By |2019-05-07T22:09:56+00:00May 8th, 2019|Theology|

Because this blog post will inevitably raise the question "Who can be saved?" I would like to give the two bookends within which all Catholic orthodox answers must fall. One the one end, Pope Pius IX wrote, "By Faith it is to be firmly held that outside the Apostolic Roman Church none can achieve salvation. This is the only ark of salvation. He who does not enter into it, will perish in the flood. Nevertheless equally certainly it is to be held that those who suffer from invincible ignorance of the true religion, are not, for this reason, guilty in the eyes of the Lord." (Denzinger 1647, Ott 312.) Invincible [...]

12 03, 2019

Salvation Podcast 1

By |2019-04-04T19:21:54+00:00March 12th, 2019|Podcasts, Sermons, Talks|

Who was Pelagius and what is Pelagianism? How did Pelgianism in the 5th century lead to ecumenism in the 20th century? Has ecumenism led the Vatican to begin an approach to the UN’s Agenda 2030? What is "one world religion”? Is salvation a free-gift or must we work hard for it? What is that 18th century heresy of Quietism? How does free-will come into salvation? What importance does faith, grace and works make in our lives? "For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. For [...]

4 03, 2019

The Simple Gospel

By |2019-03-05T05:50:25+00:00March 4th, 2019|Theology|

Our Patristics professor in seminary said something that I will never forget. He said: “Don’t read the Scriptures with a higher IQ than who it was written for.” I’m going to keep coming back to this line, “Don’t read the Scriptures with a higher IQ than who it was written for,” so I need to explain first what it does not mean. My professor was a very intellectual man, so he was not saying that the Gospel of Jesus Christ was created to trick peasant-doofuses into becoming Christians or later that Catholicism would become the opium of the illiterate-masses. Nor did he mean that the Deposit of the Faith was [...]

3 08, 2018

What Catholics Are Missing in the Death Penalty Debate

By |2018-08-07T14:22:08+00:00August 3rd, 2018|Theology|

WAIT. WAIT. WAIT.  Before skimming this article to see if you like my conclusion on the death penalty, please realize that this blog post is a work on systematic theology, not moral theology. Systematic theology is a consideration of the levels dogma in the Catholic Church. Indeed, the question of By What Authority must precede visceral reactions to difficult issues that divide Catholics today like the death penalty or gay "marriage."   Against the better judgment of half-my-mind, I’m going to give you (here in the first paragraph) the dogmatic conclusion of this blog post that will be proved below: The Catechism of the Catholic Church is not infallible. The [...]

29 04, 2018

Heresy Podcast: 4th century Arians vs. St. Athanasius

By |2019-04-04T20:37:17+00:00April 29th, 2018|Podcasts, Sermons, Talks|

This podcast considers the heresy of Arius and how St. Athanasius (featured image on blog, feast day 2 May) promoted the faith that is One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic. That Christ is homoousian (of one substance or one in being) with the Father is the true and orthodox view.  Heterodox or heretical views include homoiousian (that the Son is of a similar substance to the Father but not the same) and homoian (that the Son is similar to the Father, in all things, without speaking of substance) and heteroousian (that the Son is of a different substance from the Father, that is, created, as Arius wrongly taught.)  But again, the orthodox teaching [...]

26 03, 2018

Heresy Podcast 3: The Third Century

By |2019-04-05T04:19:53+00:00March 26th, 2018|Podcasts, Sermons, Talks|

This podclass tackles the heresies of the third century including Sabellius (founder of Modalism), Paul of Samosata (forerunner of the Adoptionist heresy), Manes (founder of Manichaeism that temporarily ensnared St. Augustine early on in his conversion) and  finally we consider two semi-heretics, Tertullian and Origin.   On the blog that has photos, you can see Tertullian above.  Below is Man-E-Faces, a good symbol of the Sabellian or Modalist heresy.  The third century heresies as outline by St. Alphonsus Liguori in the 18th century can be found on this link.

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