Vigano / Pope “Investigation”: Opinions Round-Up #2

[see Round-Up #1 for 15 “pro-Francis” and 15 “pro-Vigano” articles (August 25-29, 2018) ] ***** In the spirit of “hearing all sides, so as to best ascertain the truth,” I shall now offer readers another  chance to do just that, by listing / linking and categorizing important and informative [mostly] Catholic articles on this entire […]

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Impressions: State of the Vigano / Francis Controversy

I still have to do much more reading on both “sides,” but my bare impression at the moment (and it is no more than that), from collecting articles “pro” and “con” for my readers in another “Round-Up” (see my first one), is as follows:   1) The “pro-Vigano” folks seem to mainly be collecting positive appraisals […]

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http://www.patheos.com/blogs/davearmstrong/2018/08/impressions-state-of-the-vigano-francis-controversy.html

Poetry Friday: Your Face Has Always Been Peppered With Moles

Charleston’s poem is a piece of contrasts: youth and age, sugar and spice, consumption and generosity. Rife with gustatory description, the poem gathers crumbs of what it means to be home. Our speaker avoids establishing a setting directly. As we read, we discover location through a person and through food. “The pink lip of the […]

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Orthodox, Protestant, & Jewish Clergy & Sexual Abuse

See my previous related paper, Scandalous Sexual Misconduct Committed by Protestant Clergy. It provides access to 838 detailed Protestant clergy abuse reports. My only point in documenting these horrors is to document the facts that they don’t only occur in Catholic circles (since that is all we hear about in the media). It’s just not true.  I utterly condemn […]

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Leaving the Church for Insufficient Reasons (Damon Linker)

Damon Linker is a well-known writer, who used to be the editor at First Things and has also been an editor at Newsweek and The New Republic.  He now writes for The Week. He just announced that he is leaving the Church because of the sex scandals. I understand this on a purely emotional / […]

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Cathedrals of Consumption

Many years ago now, not long after I had been received into the Orthodox Church, I had a dream that has remained vivid: The Divine Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom, our chief celebration of the Eucharist and main Sunday service, is being celebrated right next to the escalators in a Neiman Marcus store. In the […]

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Vigano, Pope Francis, McCarrick and the Glamour of Evil

Many Catholics will be familiar with the question, “Do you reject the glamour of evil?”  It was part of the older form of the renewal of baptismal promises.  The “glamour of evil” is a curious expression that I think speaks to the reaction many Catholics are having in the face of the ongoing clerical scandals […]

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http://www.patheos.com/blogs/faithonthecouch/2018/08/vigano-pope-francis-mccarrick-and-the-glamour-of-evil/

Seidensticker Folly #13: God Hasta PROVE He Exists!

Atheist and anti-theist Bob Seidensticker runs the influential Cross Examined blog. He asked me there, on 8-11-18: “I’ve got 1000+ posts here attacking your worldview. You just going to let that stand? Or could you present a helpful new perspective that I’ve ignored on one or two of those posts?” He also made a general statement on 6-22-17: “In this blog, I’ve responded to […]

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Vigano / Pope “Investigation”: Opinions Round-Up

Most Catholics seem to agree (and we need all the agreement we can get!) that — at a minimum –, a serious investigation has to take place. I like what my friend, radio host and author Al Kresta has stated: It is the opportune time to begin treating our bishops and priests like fellow Christians […]

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Caves of Wonder

To reach the mouth of Mammoth Cave’s historic entrance, we made a short descent into a wooded ravine along a paved path. It was a humid day, but cold air poured out of the cave, creating a ring of mist that circled the dark portal like a gate. The further in we traveled, the colder […]

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Catholics’ Underemphasis on Justification by Faith

It’s true that Catholics have heard this message of justification by faith relatively less than Protestants (a lot less, in fact). I think this is because of the natural human tendency (which I’ve often noted) of dichotomizing things and going to extremes in overreaction to opponents. Why this happened in history is obvious: 1) Protestants went too […]

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Romans 1:26-27 Condemns Homosexual Sex

Sorry to be so untrendy and unfashionable. I happen to believe in God’s inspired revelation; and I don’t “hate” anyone. I love all people, as a disciple of Jesus Christ. I hate sin and how it destroys lives and cultures and makes human beings miserable and despairing and without meaning in their lives. Folks may […]

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Athlete: That’s Me!

When I bought the shirt, I didn’t think much of it. It was for workouts, something practical and utilitarian. That, of course, is a lie. I am smitten by all sorts of athleisure–have been ever since I saw my first pair of Air Jordan’s decades ago. I could never afford them (or any of the […]

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Abp. Vigano / Pope Francis Crisis: Three Current Reactions

1. “The pope is more plausibly and likely guilty than innocent, and I strongly believe he is guilty.” 2. “The pope is more plausibly and likely innocent than guilty, and I strongly believe he is innocent.” 3. The charges are worthy of serious consideration. Wait till a full and impartial investigation is made to make a […]

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Jesus in Disguise

My memory of last summer is filled with Jesus. Jesus in many guises behind the glowing muslin scrim in the crypt confessionals: the varied inflections of his voice, the smell of his sweat or soap in the airless wooden cell. Sometimes I could tell he had eaten something spicy for lunch. Sometimes, by the source […]

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Does the Bible Condemn Homosexual Sex?

This is an “outtake” from my book, The One-Minute Apologist. I have expanded it, adding commentary on Jude 7. ***** MARRIAGE AND FAMILY The Catholic Church is wrong to condemn homosexuality, because it is natural No Church has any right to tell people what to do with their own bodiesInitial reply  The Bible clearly condemns […]

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Novelist Anne Rice’s Deconversion: Straw Men & “Baby / Bathwater”

[see Anne Rice’s website and Wikipedia entry]. According to the latter: “On April 14, 2013, Rice stated in a Facebook post that she was a secular humanist. On July 28, 2014, Rice stated in a Facebook post that Christ is still central to her life, but not in the way he is presented by organized religion.” So we’re not talking about atheism, but […]

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Is the Catholic Church “Against” Gay Priests?

First of all, before I cite Church documents, I’d like to clarify as to what is meant and (especially) not meant by every respectable Catholic commentator I have seen who has noted that homosexuality is a statistically significant factor in the current sexual abuse scandals that are wreaking havoc in the Church. In our day and […]

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Poetry Friday: A Quick Interpretation of the Sixth Seal

End times? Friends in the evangelical world talk seriously about the Rapture. Our world is in turmoil, and the social and political structures we have trusted seem to be coming undone. This is not the first time I have experienced so unsettling a change in the fabric of my universe. In my childhood, I lived […]

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Dialogue with Atheist Dr. Jim Arvo, on Deconversion

This exchange took place on the ExChristian.Net site, in response to my critique of the webmaster Dave Van Allen’s “anti-testimony.” Dr. Arvo’s words will be in blue. My older cited words will be in green. Dave Van Allen’s words will be in brown. * * * * * Thanks for your thoughtful reply. You start by responding to Dave’s comment “None of this […]

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Critiquing Atheist Deconversions = “Spiritual Predator”?

If one dares to critique an atheist’s “deconversion” from Christianity to atheism one will prove oneself (in the eyes of some – dunno how many) atheists, to be evil incarnate, the scum of the earth, and a most unsavory personage. “RubySera Martin”, a former Christian herself, leaves no stone unturned in savaging my person for […]

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Atheist Joe E. Holman’s Deconversion Story Critiqued

Joe E. Holman used to be a preacher in the fundamentalist Church of Christ denomination. He wrote about the reasons why he rejected Christianity and became an atheist in his story: “From Gospel Preacher to Good Atheist”. [the link is now defunct; see several references to Joe on the Debunking Christianity website]. I want to […]

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Ecclesiological Certainty (?) & the “Infallibility Regress”

The so-called “infallibility regress” argument breaks down insofar its tacit assumption that no one can determine (not with finality or “authority”) what the Church is. It is essentially a proposal of radical skepticism or rationalism at the expense (to a degree) of supernatural faith and revelation: it amounts (when closely scrutinized) to a belief that […]

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The Vision Will Not Disappoint

It is a miracle that we do not love; love is the watermark in the parchment of our existence. It is to love’s melody that our limbs respond. Whoever loves is obeying the impulse of life in time; whoever refuses to love is struggling (uselessly) against the current. —Hans Urs von Balthasar, Heart of the […]

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Catholic Charismatic Renewal: Opinions of Recent Popes

Pope St. John XXIII Prayer to the Holy Spirit (1961): Divine Spirit, renew your wonders in our time, as though for a new Pentecost, and grant that the holy church, preserving unanimous and continuous prayer, together with Mary the Mother of Jesus, and also under the guidance of St. Peter, may increase the reign of […]

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Conciliarism: “Orthodox” Option in Medieval Catholicism?

TABLE OF CONTENTS I. Introduction II. Pope Gregory VII’s (Hildebrand’s) Papacy (1073-1085): Radical Novelty or Development? OVERVIEW CALVIN’S JAUNDICED VIEW OF GREGORY VII VS. LATER ESTIMATIONS SHOULD THE GREGORIAN REFORM BE DESCRIBED AS A “REVOLUTION”? STATE VS. CHURCH AND CAESARO-PAPISM AS THE CULTURAL BACKDROP LEO THE GREAT, GREGORY THE GREAT AND OTHER EARLY POPES PREFIGURE GREGORY VII III. The […]

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The Modern Predicament

You might stumble into a lengthy life through no particular fault of your own. You might, as well, find yourself in a situation of relative comfort and ease without ever exactly earning it. And who could blame you for it? Such things happen to people now and again. But what if it isn’t that important […]

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“Hate the Sin, Love the Sinner”: Biblical & Christlike?

According to a lot of people, it’s not. One Christian observer (in a very popular article) claimed that it’s “really just hate” and asked rhetorically: “Where did that phrase come from? The Bible? Nope. Jesus? Nope. But many Christians sure do spout it like it is God-inspired scripture . . .” Another Christian, writing on the […]

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Was Medieval Ecclesiology “Fallibilist Conciliarism”?

Conciliar infallibility is just as firmly entrenched in Christian and “Roman” (also Orthodox) Tradition as papal infallibility. Thus, the Second Council of Constantinople (553) anathematized and condemned those who dissented from the definitions of the first four ecumenical councils, which “we follow and accept through all things and in all things” (Denzinger, 212). The Lateran […]

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Seidensticker Folly #12: God Likes Child Sacrifice? Huh?!

Atheist and anti-theist Bob Seidensticker runs the influential Cross Examined blog. He asked me there, on 8-11-18: “I’ve got 1000+ posts here attacking your worldview. You just going to let that stand? Or could you present a helpful new perspective that I’ve ignored on one or two of those posts?” He also made a general statement on 6-22-17: “In this blog, I’ve responded to […]

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Meditations of a Library Assistant in the BS Aisle

As I shuffle through the stacks pushing my cart of books along, awkwardly favoring one side so as not to sever a loose wheel, I make note of the classifications within the Library of Congress system. Literature is in the P’s. DVD’s that have something to do with Shakespeare are in the Audiovisual PR’s. Photography: […]

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Seidensticker Folly #11: Slavery & the New Testament

Atheist and anti-theist Bob Seidensticker runs the influential Cross Examined blog. He asked me there, on 8-11-18: “I’ve got 1000+ posts here attacking your worldview. You just going to let that stand? Or could you present a helpful new perspective that I’ve ignored on one or two of those posts?” He also made a general statement on 6-22-17: “In this blog, I’ve responded to […]

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Seidensticker Folly #10: Slavery in the Old Testament

Atheist and anti-theist Bob Seidensticker runs the influential Cross Examined blog. He asked me there, on 8-11-18: “I’ve got 1000+ posts here attacking your worldview. You just going to let that stand? Or could you present a helpful new perspective that I’ve ignored on one or two of those posts?” He also made a general statement on 6-22-17: “In this blog, I’ve responded to […]

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http://www.patheos.com/blogs/davearmstrong/2018/08/seidensticker-folly-10-slavery-in-the-old-testament.html

Doorways to Death

My house has doors built for death. When my husband and I first bought it a year ago, I won’t say I fell in love with it, but it felt like a place that could become a home. Built in the 1850s, the house has narrow stairways that appear in unexpected places and steps that […]

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Jeremiad on the Disgraceful Sexual Abuse Scandal

I’ve been writing about this in several Facebook posts, but I thought I would “collect” some of those thoughts and get them on the record, on my blog. ***** This thing stinks to high heaven. These sorts of Satan-inspired scandals make my job as an apologist and defender of Holy Mother Church, all the more difficult. I’m […]

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Seidensticker Folly #9: Trinity Unclear in the Bible?

Atheist and anti-theist Bob Seidensticker runs the influential Cross Examined blog. He asked me there, on 8-11-18: “I’ve got 1000+ posts here attacking your worldview. You just going to let that stand? Or could you present a helpful new perspective that I’ve ignored on one or two of those posts?” He also made a general statement on 6-22-17: “In this blog, I’ve responded to […]

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Poetry Friday: Raven

Poet Anya Krugovoy Silver passed away on Monday, August 6, in Macon, Georgia, at forty-nine. Image was honored to print a number of her poems over the years, and we are all grieving this loss. In the words of her friend, the poet Tania Runyan: Anya didn’t want to be a hero or a fighter. […]

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http://www.patheos.com/blogs/goodletters/2018/08/poetry-friday-raven/

Seidensticker Folly #8: Physics Has Disproven Souls?

Atheist and anti-theist Bob Seidensticker runs the influential Cross Examined blog. He wrote on it, directly asking me, on 8-11-18: “I’ve got 1000+ posts here attacking your worldview. You just going to let that stand? Or could you present a helpful new perspective that I’ve ignored on one or two of those posts?” I’m always one to oblige people’s wishes, so I […]

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Seidensticker Folly #7: No Conditional Prayer in Scripture?

Atheist and anti-theist Bob Seidensticker runs the influential Cross Examined blog. He wrote on it, directly asking me, on 8-11-18: “I’ve got 1000+ posts here attacking your worldview. You just going to let that stand? Or could you present a helpful new perspective that I’ve ignored on one or two of those posts?” I’m always one to oblige people’s wishes, so I […]

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A Letter To Stephen Dunn

Dear Steve, I’ve had to look away for most of three decades now—away from your work. “Why.” That’s the title of a poem, a poem in your book Here and Now, I read this morning. “Because you can be sure a part of yourself is always missing,” the poem begins. When I read your poems […]

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Seidensticker Folly #6: God Has “No Problem with Rape”?

Atheist and anti-theist Bob Seidensticker runs the influential Cross Examined blog. He wrote on it, directly asking me, on 8-11-18: “I’ve got 1000+ posts here attacking your worldview. You just going to let that stand? Or could you present a helpful new perspective that I’ve ignored on one or two of those posts?” I’m always one to oblige people’s wishes, so I […]

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Spiritual Trauma and the Catholic Church: How Do We Heal Our Broken Hearts?

Horrifying.  Devastating. Apocalyptic. The sad fact is, none of these words are adequate to describe the events described in the recently released grand jury report on multigenerational clerical abuse in Pennsylvania and the PA bishop’s response (or lack thereof). In light of all that has come out about “Uncle” Ted McCarrick, as well as all the news […]

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Seidensticker Folly #5: Has Archaeology Disproven the Exodus?

Atheist and anti-theist Bob Seidensticker runs the influential Cross Examined blog. He wrote on it, directly asking me, on 8-11-18: “I’ve got 1000+ posts here attacking your worldview. You just going to let that stand? Or could you present a helpful new perspective that I’ve ignored on one or two of those posts?” I’m always one to oblige people’s wishes, so I […]

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Maya Angelou’s Caged Bird and Me

But a plea, that upward to Heaven he flings —Paul Lawrence Dunbar, “Sympathy”   I first read Maya Angelou’s I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings when I was thirteen. I discovered the book through an interview with Fiona Apple, one of the many female singer-songwriters whose mournful lyrics poured through my boom box speakers […]

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Seidensticker Folly #4: Jesus Never Existed, Huh?

Atheist and anti-theist Bob Seidensticker runs the influential Cross Examined blog. He wrote on it, directly asking me, on 8-11-18: “I’ve got 1000+ posts here attacking your worldview. You just going to let that stand? Or could you present a helpful new perspective that I’ve ignored on one or two of those posts?” I’m always one to oblige people’s wishes, so I […]

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Seidensticker Folly #3: Falsehoods About God & Free Will

Atheist and anti-theist Bob Seidensticker runs the influential Cross Examined blog. He wrote on it, directly asking me, on 8-11-18: “I’ve got 1000+ posts here attacking your worldview. You just going to let that stand? Or could you present a helpful new perspective that I’ve ignored on one or two of those posts?” I’m always one to oblige people’s wishes, so I […]

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Biblical Evidence: Formal Prayer Isn’t “Vain Repetition”

From my 2009 book, Bible Proofs for Catholic Truths, except the verses are in RSV below (not KJV). ***** Psalm 136:1-5 [1] O give thanks to the LORD, for he is good, for his steadfast love endures for ever. [2] O give thanks to the God of gods, for his steadfast love endures for ever. […]

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Prayer Power – A New Study Reveals The True Meaning Of “The family That Prays Together, Stays Together.”

We’ve often heard the phrase “The family that prays together, stays together.” While this adage—originally coined by the Venerable Fr. Patrick Peyton—has rapidly grown in popularity, the Journal of Family Psychology recently conducted a study to evaluate the true effects of couple and family prayer. The researchers conducted a national study evaluating 198 diverse families […]

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Marital Anger and Icelandic Rock Spirits

The first time I threw something in a pathetic fit of anger, my husband and I were walking a gravel road in Saskatchewan. We’d been living in a cabin. No internet, phones, etc., and this was before we were parents. Most days would unravel into a fight about something or another.  It would feel irreconcilable. […]

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Seidensticker Folly #2: Atheist vs. Christian Mental Health

Atheist and anti-theist Bob Seidensticker runs the influential Cross Examined blog. He wrote on it, directly asking me, on 8-11-18: “I’ve got 1000+ posts here attacking your worldview. You just going to let that stand? Or could you present a helpful new perspective that I’ve ignored on one or two of those posts?” I’m always one to oblige people’s wishes, so I […]

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Brief Answers to 11 Atheist’s Questions About Christianity

Taneli Huuskonen asked these on my blog. His words will be in blue. ***** [M]y own deconversion essentially consisted of finally being able to take seriously the possibility that Christianity was entirely false. Once I stopped mentally recoiling from that idea, I could see how much sense it made. At that point, I didn’t need to […]

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Response to the Deconversion Story of “Anthrotheist”

Words of Anthrotheist: a friendly regular contributor on my blog (he wrote this in a combox there), will be in blue. ***** I remember some time ago having a conversation with Dave, the author of this blog, and he expressed interest in my ‘deconversion’ story. So here goes. I don’t remember there ever being any […]

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A Conversation with Welcome Wagon’s Vito Aiuto, Part 3

The Welcome Wagon’s Vito and Monique Aiuto released their first album, Welcome to the Welcome Wagon in 2008. The homespun effort was produced by Sufjan Stevens and was lauded by outlets as diverse as Pitchfork Magazine (the ultimate indie bible) and Christianity Today. Known for their endearing, lush, and earnest combination of indie-folk hymns, low-fi […]

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Seidensticker Folly #1: Atheist vs. Christian Generosity

Atheist and anti-theist Bob Seidensticker runs the influential Cross Examined blog. He wrote on it, directly asking me, on 8-11-18: “You got nothing thoughtful to say? I’ve got 1000+ posts here attacking your worldview. You just going to let that stand? Or could you present a helpful new perspective that I’ve ignored on one or […]

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Rebuttal of Seidensticker’s Anti-Christian Science “History”

For a completely warped, cynical, jaded, ignorant, one-sided alt-version of the history of early science, see anti-Christian atheist Bob Seidensticker’s post, “When Christianity Was in Charge, This Is What We Got” (8-10-18). In this disgraceful, outlandish piece, he wrote:   When Christianity was in charge, the world was populated by mystical creatures, we had little besides […]

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http://www.patheos.com/blogs/davearmstrong/2018/08/rebuttal-of-seidenstickers-anti-christian-science-history.html

Reply to the “Deconversion Story” of a Pastor’s Wife

A “deconversion” is a sort of “anti-testimony” story of the odyssey from Christian faith to atheism or skepticism or agnosticism (the loss of faith in some sense). I have written papers analyzing many of these. Atheists, for their part, constantly run down Christianity and Christians. Surely they can’t object if we (especially apologist types such […]

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Hysterical Frenzy vs. Me on Atheist Seidensticker’s Blog

I dared to ban atheist icon / sacred cow Bob Seidensticker, for reasons carefully explained in these two papers: Seidensticker: Christians R Intellectually Dishonest Idiots * Why I Blocked Anti-Theist Atheist Bob Seidensticker * That set off (utterly predictably) a “feeding frenzy” on his blog: a no-holds-barred / anything goes insult-fest against yours truly. I […]

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Documentary Theory of Biblical Authorship (JEPD): Dialogue

My dialogue opponent (on my blog) is a self-described “liberal” Catholic. His words will be in blue. * * * * *Then there is the whole sacrifice of Isaac scene. What is being portrayed in Genesis is not a God who issues eternal decrees conveying rational and consistent laws. Rather, we have a God who acts quite […]

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Biblical Inspiration & Cultural Influences: Contradictory?

Elzbieta Kraszewski, an agnostic who was raised Catholic, wrote in one of my comboxes (words in blue henceforth): The Bible is much more understandable (and actually more relevant) if we view it in light of the authors’ time and culture. Of course they didn’t denounce slavery because, like every known ancient civilization, slavery was a […]

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Am I the Christian Equivalent of the “Angry Atheist”?

The following came from a critique from Grimlock: a frequent atheist contributor to my blog (I’ve engaged in several lengthy debates with him). He is objecting to my recent blog post, “Why I Blocked Anti-Theist Atheist Bob Seidensticker” (8-8-18), in its combox. It was similar to an earlier paper, called, “Seidensticker: Christians R Intellectually Dishonest […]

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Science: “only discipline that tells us new things about reality” [???]

Scientism or Near-Scientism as a Very Common Shortcoming of Atheist Epistemology   This dialogue came about as a result of atheist “JustAnotherAtheist2” [“JAA2”] critiquing one sentence I wrote in response to another from well-known online atheist Bob Seidensticker: Bob: “Science is the only discipline that tells us new things about reality.” [link] Me: “Like many atheists, he takes the […]

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A Conversation with Welcome Wagon’s Vito Aiuto, Part 2

The Welcome Wagon’s Vito and Monique Auito are known for their endearing, lush, and earnest combination of indie-folk hymns, low-fi pop covers, and often revealing original songs. They sing of the glorious ruins of humanity and the cleansing blood of Jesus, treating both with beauty, grace, and inescapable authenticity. I met with Vito Aiuto—poet, musician […]

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Atheist Argument From Non-Belief (vs. Dr. Ted Drange)

Dr. Ted Drange is an atheist philosopher, renowned in atheist circles for his arguments against Christianity. Back around 2001, he started vigorously challenging me. At first I had no idea that he was a philosophy professor (which was a bit unfair, and should have been disclosed, but anyway . . .).  This particular argument was […]

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Why I Blocked Anti-Theist Atheist Bob Seidensticker

His words will be in blue. I had already established beyond all doubt from his own words — three months ago — that Seidensticker (who runs the popular Cross Examined blog at Patheos) is one of the distressingly common condescending atheists, who thinks Christians are (on the whole or generalizing) dishonest, hateful, infantile, anti-evidential (“Christians […]

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Overcoming The Resentment Overload

We all know the feeling of resentment. It can grow slowly and then quickly feel overwhelming, or it can hit us all at once. No matter how resentment sneaks up on us, it can be extremely difficult to let go of. We often feel guilty about resentment and, of course, resentment isn’t something we want […]

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A Conversation with Welcome Wagon’s Vito Auito, Part 1

After years of holding intimate hymn-singing gatherings in their living room, Reverend Vito and Monique Aiuto released Welcome to the Welcome Wagon in 2008; the homespun album was produced by Sufjan Stevens and put out by Stevens’s own Asthmatic Kitty records. The Aiutos, accompanied by Stevens and other friends, called themselves The Welcome Wagon—and their […]

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“Catholic Christian” Implies a Non-Catholic Ecclesiology?

Background: the claim was made in a previous discussion on the validity of the apostolate of Scott Hahn that the use of the descriptive phrase Catholic Christian is improper. I vigorously denied this, arguing that it is a matter of the English language and category distinctions, and a way to linguistically counter the common anti-Catholic assumption that Catholics […]

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Objections to the Reactionary Epithet “Neo-Catholic”

The following thoughts were stimulated by a discussion on fellow Catholic Michael Liccione’s excellent blog, Sacramentum Vitae. He wrote: So far, I’ve adopted the term ‘neo-Cath’ to describe myself and like-minded Catholics. Thus: Before I get to the substance of the matter at issue, allow me to explain the term ‘neoCath’. Och is also unlike Catholic bloggers […]

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Here Is Where We Wait

This summer, I climbed the rotting steps to the hayloft of my family’s barn to look for a plaque honoring the use of emergent DNA technology in solving the Brown’s Chicken Massacre case. The floor was soft, dipping a little as I walked, and I looked in slow motion through my great-aunt’s things: frosted glassware, […]

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Dialogue w a Baptist on Required Clerical Celibacy

Ken Temple’s words will be in blue. When he cites my words, they will be in green. * * * * * Paul is trying to guard against “making a rule” that one has to be single and celibate by “command force”, but rather is up to the free will and choice of the individual and that […]

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Not Burning Heretics was a Far More “Controversial” Change

Pondering the Analogy of Not Burning “Murderers of Souls” to Recent Popes’ Opposition to All Capital Punishment The following came about as a result of a critique from a Catholic of my recent article, “Why Have Popes At All if We Reject Papal Guidance?” It was described as “facile” and lacking “nuance.” Someone else in […]

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Objections to Clerical Celibacy: In-Depth Dialogue

“Grubb” is a friendly Baptist who frequents my blog. His words will be in blue. My older cited words will be in green. * * * * * Now, if an institution simply states that “we want our priests to be drawn almost exclusively from that class of men who are called by God to be single, […]

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Can a Racist Drive a Prius? Stereotypes and the Single Story

I think it’s good for me when my stereotypes of others are challenged. Like this recent experience. I was taking a walk in my neighborhood and approached a parked Jeep from the rear. Covering the spare tire hung on the back was a huge American flag with the words “The Only One.” My instinctive response, […]

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“Catholic” or “Roman Catholic”? (Proper Titles) (w J. Akin)

An Orthodox member of my e-mail discussion list wrote: In my experience, most Christians in communion with the pope of Rome who consider themselves traditional prefer the term Roman Catholic as an indication of their allegiance to Rome. Not me. I prefer Catholic, but I’ve never been able to convince either you or Protestant anti-Catholics to extend to […]

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“Why Are Catholics So Legalistic and Rationalistic?”

Response to Orthodox and Protestant Criticisms From one of the more thoughtful Protestant participants at the Coming Home Network board (in blue) with my replies: * * * * * It’s the “specific and legalized approach” that’s the hardest thing or me to embrace about the RCC. That’s not to say that I don’t see the […]

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Why Have Popes At All if We Reject Papal Guidance?

If people want to oppose the clear expressions of three popes in a row [on the issue of capital punishment], I don’t find that very Catholic” in approach (I’m not saying they’re not Catholics; they’re just not thinking like Catholics ought to, by nature, in this respect). Why even have a pope if we so casually […]

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John Paul II & Benedict XVI: Abolish Death Penalty

Many thanks to Scott Eric Alt for pointing out this documented fact in an excellent article on the matter today, in which he takes on the inanities of reactionary polemicist Peter Kwasniewski. I’ll flesh it out a bit here, with a few more relevant quotations.   If Pope Francis is Vlad the Impaler (as a result […]

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Pro and Con Exchanges on Capital Punishment

[from Catholic philosopher Edward Feser’s blog, but not with him. Three people (different colors below) kept asking me questions, and so I kept answering, as apologists are wont to do. Again, I’m still a green rookie as a total anti-, but here goes: ] ***** I just don’t get where Armstrong is coming from, regarding […]

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Burning Heretics, Frying Murderers, & Slavery (Analogies)

Thomas A Hunt (words in blue) wrote (on a public Facebook page): [N]o Church Father, no church Doctor, no pope and no council has EVER said the death penalty is in opposition to the Gospel. Many a pope has taught it can be a proper punishment. Pope Francis seems to think that doesn’t matter. He […]

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Jesus, the Death Penalty, & the Adulterous Woman

Someone over on pro-death penalty philosopher Dr. Ed Feser’s blog stated: “Christ might have said: ‘while it is morally licit in principle to use the death penalty, I tell you that you must not use it.’ ” Wouldn’t the situation with the woman caught in adultery be that?: John 8:3-11 (RSV) The scribes and the Pharisees […]

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Different Kinds of Tongues: Biblical & Linguistic Defense

It is maintained by many that the gift of tongues (if it still exists at all), is always another known language, as in the Upper Room at Pentecost, or that it can only mean that the hearers miraculously hear their own language. The following research backs up, I think, my contention that there is also a mysterious […]

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Catholic Charismatic Renewal: A Defense

Liberation theology, process theology, radical feminism, Mariolatry, etc. have all been condemned by the Church, but the Catholic charismatic renewal (“CCR”) has been accepted. The charismatic movement in its Catholic “wing” has not been condemned by the Church. I have seen statements by the pope and people such as Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger, in support of it. Many […]

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Abandoning Prayer

If you can keep your faith once you’ve stopped using prayer as an attempt to control the universe, I reckon your faith is real and can be trusted. I was on the plane to California the first time I recognized that my religiosity might be a form of superstition, and in that fashion, also a […]

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Infallibility: Dialogue with a Traditional Anglican

***** “St. Worm” is a friendly guy with whom I’ve interacted off and on through the years. Lately he has started asking some penetrating questions about infallibility. His words will be in blue. *** Hey Brother St. Worm (I feel like St. Francis . . .), I have many affinities to your view of things. Cool. […]

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Conciliar Infallibility: Summary from Church Documents

***** Catechism of the Catholic Church The episcopal college and its head, the Pope 880 When Christ instituted the Twelve, “he constituted [them] in the form of a college or permanent assembly, at the head of which he placed Peter, chosen from among them.”[398] Just as “by the Lord’s institution, St. Peter and the rest […]

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I’ll Be Waiting Right Here

Apparently, running late may be a symptom of optimism, creativity, and literally perceiving time differently. That was cold comfort in the doctor’s waiting room. I had arrived early to be ready right when they called me, but they didn’t call me. Five minutes. Ten minutes. Fifteen. Twenty. That’s when I started really stewing about the […]

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