April 13, 2008
Pope Benedict XVI comes to America
In case you aren't aware, Pope Benedict XVI is headed to the US this week. His visit starts in Washington, DC, then moves to New York City (where he'll speak to the UN). It provides non-Catholics a wonderful opportunity to...
March 23, 2008
An Easter Message of Hope
I was recently emailed this and thought it made a wonderful Easter post: "The Cross had asked the questions; the Resurrection had answered them. The Cross had asked the question: How far can Power go in the world? The Resurrection answered:...
September 13, 2007
The Catholic Church is Perfect (believe it or not!)
This is an excellent article by the man who owns Sophia Press: Not long ago, one of my adult children spent hours pummeling me and the Church. The waves of her anger struck repeatedly, tossing me like a small boat...
August 10, 2007
The Endlessly Schismatic Nature of American Protestantism
I recently finished a research paper on something that has fascinated me for a long time: the countless number of Protestant churches in the United States. I’ve always wondered how all these different churches came about. I knew that Martin...
August 2, 2007
Defending the Council of Trent
The Council of Trent, as is every council, was much needed injection of the Holy Spirit in the life of the Church in 1545. Unfortunately, people who misunderstand the teachings of Vatican II like to dismiss and use Vatican II...
July 19, 2007
Becoming Catholic: Francis Beckwith’s reasons
I just read a fascinating interview in The Catholic World Report about the conversion of Francis Beckwith. Unfortunately the article isn’t online, but I do quote a bit of it below. For those who aren’t aware, Francis Beckwith was the...
July 12, 2007
Did Pope Benedict XVI really reassert that other Christian denominations are not true churches?
Recently, a hot topic for the media has been a certain document issued by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith entitled RESPONSES TO SOME QUESTIONS REGARDING CERTAIN ASPECTS OF THE DOCTRINE ON THE CHURCH. It's classic to me...
November 25, 2006
Infallibility versus Inspiration: Is there a difference?
In my earlier post What is the Purpose of the Vatican I brought up the difference between infallibility and inspiration. I’m just getting around to posting more about it after a comment on the article. These two concepts are different...
November 14, 2006
What is the purpose of the Vatican?
I’ve been asked this before by non-Catholics who don’t completely understand the point of a worldwide central authority for the Church. The question confuses the Vatican and the Holy See a bit, but I’ll explain the difference and the rationale...
November 11, 2006
Why Am I Catholic?
There's a great new video on YouTube: Why I Am Catholic. It's just a couple of minutes and uses images, quotes, and music to explain why Catholics are proud to be Catholics. Worth a minute - especially if you wonder...
October 15, 2006
Is it a Sin to miss Church on Sunday?
I grew up in protestant churches – mainly Baptist – and when I converted one of the interesting differences was in worship and the attitudes taken by the different congregations. In my protestant background pastors often taught that church was...
August 7, 2006
Was Jesus just a Historical Event?
From the great Archbishop Fulton Sheen: [People] have heard preachers without end preaching, "Go to Christ!" But what does that mean? Go back two thousand years? If so, then have they not a right to doubt the divinity of Him...
July 29, 2006
Why Can’t We Confess our Sins Directly to Jesus?
I recently was asked this in an email exchange and thought I would elaborate on my answer in a post. Generally speaking, we can confess our sins directly to God. However in doing so we miss out on some of...
July 17, 2006
Understanding the Priesthood
To many in the world today the idea of the Catholic priesthood is foreign. Many mistakenly believe that the priesthood is some elite society within the Catholic Church that rules the Church in a tyrannical way or for personal gain....
May 25, 2006
Ecumenism, Apologetics, and Unitatis Redintegratio
"If I speak in human and angelic tongues, but do not have love, I am a resounding gong or clashing cymbal. And if I have the gift of prophecy, and comprehend all mysteries and all knowledge; if I have all...
May 11, 2006
What In The World Is Holy Water?!
It's Sunday morning....you wake up, get dressed, and head to church. For those of you that are Catholic, you walk through the front (or side) door, dip your fingers in the holy water, make the sign of the Cross, and...
January 31, 2006
Pope Benedict XVI's First Encyclical Letter
Pope Benedict XVI just released his first Encyclical letter called Deus Caritas Est or God is Love. The Encyclical is available online to read here. Protestants (or all non-Catholics) probably are wondering what exactly an Encyclical is. An encyclical letter...
December 8, 2005
Can Women become Church Pastors?
More and more we’re seeing protestant churches ordain women as pastors of their church. A local church near me has a husband and wife as “co-pastors” of the church. And yet the Catholic Church has infallibly decided that women cannot...
November 16, 2005
The Correlation of Sacred Scripture with Church Tradition
Joachim has once again graced our lowly site and posted an excellent refute to comments made by a fellow blogger. After reading Joachim's comment I felt it worthy of being a post in and of itself. If you wish to...
October 31, 2005
For Laypersons only...
The laity must wake up to the good news of Vatican II. For the first time in the history of the Church, a whole document is dedicated to us. I think if more lay people knew this more of us...
October 18, 2005
Why Did John Wait?
Why did the apostle John wait and allow Peter to enter the tomb first? I'm looking for a protestant answer to this essentially Catholic passage.
October 14, 2005
Anglicans Seeking Union With Rome!
The following story was reported by the Catholic News Agency. The Traditional Anglican Communion is the Anglican group that has not succumb to the liberal madness of the rest of Anglican Church. They have reject the ordination of women, abortion,...
October 7, 2005
What's A Deacon?: The Role of the Diaconate in the Catholic Church
Deacons likewise must be serious, not double-tongued, not addicted to much wine, not greedy for gain; they must hold the mystery of the faith with a clear conscience. And let them also be tested first; then if they prove...
August 21, 2005
The Keys of the Kingdom of God
Isaiah 22:20-23. In that day I will call my servant Eliakim the son of Hilkiah and I will clothe him with your robe, and will bind your girdle on him, and will commit your authority to his hand; and...
July 26, 2005
Confirmation - have you ridden the jet ski yet? - and other analogies for the sacraments
The Church is like a boat. The boat is the body of Christ. The ramp to board the can be taken when we have two things: 1) Faith that only by Jesus Christ can we enter the boat (He is...
June 4, 2005
The Effects of Relativism on Christianity
In order to approach this topic, it is essential for us to understand what we mean by the term relativism. Relativism is the philosophical position that all points of view are equally valid and that all truth is relative to...
April 20, 2005
Was Pope Benedict XVI (Ratzinger) a "Hitler Youth"?
It's begun. Anyone who takes a moral stance in our times will be attacked in the worst ways. And the London papers have begun. Cardinal Ratzinger, the man who lead the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, has become...
April 12, 2005
Why Can’t Men have Babies? Or Reality
Isn't it discrimination against men that they cannot have children? Or is it just the nature of reality? If so, what other things make men and women different?
April 4, 2005
What the Media Misunderstands about Selecting a new Pope
Just like everyone else, I’ve been watching both the media swoon over the greatness of Pope John Paul II (something they tended not to do while he was alive) and the endless speculation on his successor. I say “everyone else”...
April 1, 2005
What Happens When the Pope Dies?
The Pope's role can be traced back to St. Peter, who was the first Pope appointed by Christ. The first popes were all martyred for their faith, but even so many of the events that occur when a pope dies...
Pope John Paul the Great has died
The perfect choice of the Holy Spirit. May God give us another pope as good. God bless, Jay UPDATE: Not so fast . . . Drudge Report took down the notice and no one else reporting this as true yet....
February 16, 2005
Want to Learn More About Catholicism?
Want to learn more about Catholicism? This article offers resources based on what you're seeking to learn - whether you are a non-Catholic interested in learning more or a Catholic seeking specific knowledge.
October 7, 2004
Where did the Catholic Church get the word “Catholic”?
“Catholic” is actually a Greek term meaning “universal”. The Catholic Church was the one, universal church until the Eastern Orthodox schism in 1054 A.D. (the Protestant schism is relatively young in comparison). So, it was naturally referred to as...
September 23, 2004
Practical Reality: The Church and Faith
Something interesting occurred to me yesterday that applies directly to this blog. We have a number of protestants suggesting that the Church is merely a human institution, which means it can fail or develop unChristian beliefs and dogmas. I’ve often...
July 25, 2004
"ALL MUST STRIVE FOR THE GOAL OF FULL UNITY"
In reflecting on the fact that today is our one year anniversary I thought it would be appropriate to meditate upon Christ's call for unity among believers. I do not pray for these only, but also for those who believe...
July 19, 2004
Is a Physical Church necessary?
I think a common protestant objection to Catholicism involves the need for a physical church. Often protestants view the church in merely spiritual terms, e.g. the “body of believers” around the world. This is a correct way to view the...
July 15, 2004
The Prince of Apostles
We have had numerous comments, both recently and in the past, questioning the position of Peter in the Church. This subject is one of supreme importance in considering the very nature of the Church and how it is to be...
July 11, 2004
REFERENCE: The Primacy of Peter
This is the next in my series of reference guides for the Bible and the Early Church Fathers. Note that I limited this strictly to citations of Peter and his primacy - I've already covered Apostolic Succession, so I did...
July 1, 2004
The Transmission of Divine Revelation: An Excerpt from the Catechism of the Catholic Church
There has been much discussion on this blog about the relationship between Sacred Scripture and Tradition. In all fairness to our readers I felt it necessary to post the Catholic Church's teaching on this matter as found in the Catechism...
June 20, 2004
Why should you consider the Catholic Church?
I thought I would take a different path in this post and just point out why every person should consider looking into the Catholic Church. Some people never examine Catholicism when choosing their faith, but I think it’s important to...
June 13, 2004
The Perfect Man: Is the Pope completely Infallible?
As a starting note, we’ve shown where the Bible teaches that Peter was the first Pope here and in numerous other places, so this is not a discussion on that topic, but rather an overview of papal infallibility and what...
May 21, 2004
The Miracle of the Papacy
For those who don’t believe that Jesus started the Catholic Church, I have a question: how has the Church functioned perfectly for so long? What I mean is, there have been 265 popes in the Church (from Peter to John...
April 27, 2004
REFERENCE: Tradition of the Church
Here's the third in my series of references which covers "Tradition," which is the part of the Word of God that Luther rejected using the doctrine of Sola Scriptura. Biblical references are always listed first (regardless of date) and formatted...
March 7, 2004
The Church as fulfillment of God’s Plan
It’s interesting to watch how changes spread through protestant churches from the point of the protestant revolution until now. At that time, everything was about doctrine: Martin Luther and those with him adhered to the doctrines of Sola Scriptura and...
February 19, 2004
Matthew’s View of “Church”
How did Matthew understand the idea of Christ's church? This is important since Matthew wrote the first Gospel and we all agree that the Holy Spirit directed what is included in it. This article analyzes the passages of Matthew centered on the Church in order to understand his view.
February 18, 2004
The Holy Spirit and The Catholic Church
We often seem to forget that God is made up of three persons: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. There is a lot of talk about Jesus Christ, and, of course, this is natural considering that Jesus is...
February 14, 2004
"Do you understand what you are reading?"
The title of this article is a quote from Acts 8:30. Most of you will recognize it as Philip's question to the Ethiopian who was reading from Isaiah. The Ethiopian's response is rich with meaning: "How can I unless someone...
February 12, 2004
Authority and Dissent in the Church
There have been a number of discussion strings lately dealing with the question of the nature and extent of authority in the Church. I have postulated that a fundamental difference between the Catholic Church and Protestant denominations is that the...
January 27, 2004
Why do we need the Church?
There's a lot of confusion by our protestant friends over why we need the Church. I think this quote sums up the reason for the existence of the Church rather nicely: "The eternal Shepherd and Guardian of our souls, in...
January 7, 2004
The Visible Church and the Bible
On our blog there’s been much discussion about whether the Church Christ founded should be visible or is simply a metaphysical reality. Both Catholics and protestants agree that there is a “mystical” Church or body of Christ that encompasses all...
December 14, 2003
St. Cyprian on the Church
I’ve been reading some of the Early Church Fathers and I periodically post a section one of them has written. This is from St. Cyprian, the Bishop of Carthage, and was written around 250 A.D., before the Bible had been...
December 6, 2003
Dave Armstrong and 50 Proofs for the Papacy
In an excellent book, “A Biblical Defense of Catholicism,” Dave Armstrong sets out fifty proofs of the pre-eminence of St. Peter, the first pope of the Catholic Church. I was so impressed, I have to list them here. I do...
December 5, 2003
Apostolic Tradition: What does it mean?
I would like to begin this article by getting the definition of Apostolic Tradition "straight from the horse's mouth" so to speak. Other bloggers have referred to the dictionary to explain that meaning of "tradition", but an American, English dictionary...
November 30, 2003
The Primacy of Peter: The Biblical and Historical Proofs for the Papacy
Rather than coming up with my own scriptural narrative of the significance of Peter, I have decided to begin this lengthy article with the introductory section of his epistles in the Navarre Bible. The Navarre Bible is excellent, it uses...
August 25, 2003
"Outside the Church there is no salvation"
I would like to add to Danny's comments in his earlier article "Traditionalists Alert", the official Catholic teaching on this matter. "Outside the Church there is no salvation" 846 How are we to understand this affirmation, often repeated by the...
August 7, 2003
Why are we ‘Roman Catholics’ instead of just ‘Catholics’?
We aren't 'Roman' because the Pope the lives there, we're Roman Catholic for a very good reason: Daniel prophesied it. This is an overview of Daniel's prophecies in relation to the future Church that Christ founded.
