Christianity & Judaism, Messianic Jews, & Jewish Converts

[These thoughts came about as a result of interacting with a messianic Jew (a Jew who accepts Jesus as Messiah) on the Coming Home Network forum.] * * * * * It’s good to know the Old Testament and the fathers, and it is also good to know, in addition, as much of the prior […]

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MUST Catholics Pray to Saints or be Excommunicated?

[the following is derived from an exchange in the lively combox for my National Catholic Register article, “50 Reasons Why Martin Luther Was Excommunicated”. Since others may be confused about what he brings up, I thought it would be good to share my reply; greatly expanded presently, to strengthen the Catholic argument] *** Peter Cohen: “But […]

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Monasticism in Lockdown America: Part 3, Exercises

I recognized the Orthodox monks’ prostrations I’d learned in the monastery in the “burpees” the guys showed me after they were home from prison—exercising alongside them in their driveways and garages, my heart thumping in my throat and a sweat in my shirt sooner than I expected. The homies in their tight tank tops and […]

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Does Church Infallibility Require Infallible Catholics?

This occurred in a combox on the Reformed Protestant-dominated Green Baggins website, starting at comment #323. I responded at #330. * * * * * Why would anyone think in the first place that one has to be infallible to recognize and accept a source that is infallible, or any particular truth? The Bible presupposes […]

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On Roseanne & Outrageous, Slanderous Language

What Roseanne Barr said about Obama adviser Valerie Jarrett (“muslim brotherhood & planet of the apes had a baby=vj”) was outrageous and despicable and inexcusable, and she arguably should pay the price she has paid (her show being canceled). If I were a sponsor, I certainly wouldn’t support a show starring a woman who said […]

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The Odyssey as Liturgy

I happened to be in the midst of re-reading Homer’s Odyssey when the current issue of Image (#96) came in the mail. At the end of the issue are the rich reflections, by various poets, on poetry and worship. After sinking into them (even being drawn into deep prayer by Emmett Price’s powerful reflection on […]

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Mother’s House

Mother’s house is not a house. Mother’s house is not a cave. Mother’s house is not a sacred text. Mother’s house is not an oven. Mother’s house is not a medicine cabinet. Mother’s house is not a song. Mother’s house is not a tree. Mother’s house is not an ocean. Mother’s house is not a […]

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Holy Trinity: Some Analogies to Help Us Comprehend

C. S. Lewis made a famous analogy of “flatland,” squares, and cubes in his Mere Christianity. He said that the flatlanders couldn’t imagine a two dimensional plane, and that those in that world without a third dimension could not imagine the third. Yet all three exist, and a cube has a “oneness” just as a plane […]

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I Am Not a Mother: I’m a Human Being

“You’re not a good mom!” My ten-year-old daughter shouted as she stomped up to her room. “Good moms don’t throw paper plates at their children!” Of course, this declamation can be proven false. A good mother would construct a Chinese kite out of a paper plate, toss it toward her daughter at the perfect moment […]

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Biblical Interpretation & Clarity: Dialogue w an Atheist

This exchange occurred in one of my blog comboxes. “gusbovona” appears to be an atheist. His (her?) words will be in blue. *** The thing I don’t get is why there should be so much interpretation necessary to correctly understand the Bible. The logical thing would be, for a book that would be the most […]

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Richard Dawkins’ “The God Delusion”: General Critique

This is one of four critiques of the book, The God Delusion (New York / Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 2006), by perhaps the world’s best-known (and most influential?) atheist, the biologist Richard Dawkins (born in 1941). His words will be in blue. Links to the four critiques follow: Richard Dawkins’ The God Delusion: General Critique Richard Dawkins’ “Bible Whoppers” Are […]

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Poetry Friday: “Post-Miracle”

Ashley Wong’s poem “Post-Miracle” begins with empathy for the hard-hearted: “I understand now how the disciples could touch thousands / of pieces of bread with their hands and still not get it…” Without sentimentality, Wong describes the transience of a miracle and places us within this specific moment, the space after a miracle. The speaker […]

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Between Death and Resurrection

And should you glimpse my wandering form out on the borderline Between death and resurrection and the council of the pines Do not worry for my comfort, do not sorrow for me so All your diamond tears will rise up and adorn the sky beside me when I go —“When I go,” lyrics by Dave […]

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Stay-At-Home Moms and Depression: 4 Things You Need To Know

Being a stay-at-home parent is hard, but does it cause depression? A recent discussion at Peanut Butter and Grace raised this important issue. It turns out that there is more to this question than meets the eye. Survey Says… A 2012 Gallup poll found that 28% of stay-at-home moms (SAHMs) had been diagnosed with depression […]

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Monasticism in Lockdown America: Part 2, Prostration

Earlier this year during Lent, I visited a Russian Orthodox monastery on an evergreen island out across the water from Seattle. I’d never been there before, but this local pilgrimage felt somehow familiar. After the ferry ride across the chilly waters with seagulls in the air, the drive through the woodsy, misty island on winding […]

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Dialogue w Atheist: Jesus, Thor, & “Evidence” for God

+ How Far Must Christians Go Down Atheist Rabbit Trails or Pursue Any Given Atheist Analogy? (Endless Skepticism) This was a discussion in one of my blog comboxes. Words of atheist “Grimlock” will be in blue. The words of atheist Bob Seidensticker will be in green. *** What would convince you that God has revealed […]

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Recently Soft Hearts and Thin Skin

I found myself engaged in another maddening conversation with my four-year old daughter. We were discussing the aquarium we were going to visit the next day. She wrinkled her nose and pronounced that she wouldn’t go. “Why?” I asked, more than a little impatient. “What if there are sharks? What if there are eels?” I […]

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Reply to Atheist Seidensticker on Demands for “Evidence”

These exchanges occurred in a blog combox of mine. Bob Seidensticker runs the large and influential blog, Cross Examined. See the related dialogues / critiques involving him: Why Do We Worship God? Dialogue with an Atheist, and Seidensticker: Christians R Intellectually Dishonest Idiots. Bob’s words will be in blue. ***** God is not an unjust Judge because […]

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The Incredible Hulk Meets Queen Divine Justice: A Fable

When Hulk stops in Africa for a drink of water, he happens to be within Wakanda’s borders, and soon a small fleet of highly advanced aircraft are dropping their payload on him—and trying not to get their wings ripped off. Amidst all the explosions, a scrawny young woman on a motorcycle rides up and sweet-talks […]

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Poetry Friday: “Salt Wife”

Lot’s wife, or what’s left of her, stands in the barren wilderness outside Sodom waiting to trip up any who would skip merrily through the Old Testament, seeing God only as creator, provider, and oh-so-merciful father. It’s no wonder that so many poets—with their obnoxious preference for the prophetic—have invited her into their lines to […]

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Monasticism in Lockdown America: Part 1, Cloister

The gentlemen I’ve been visiting in my local jail for the past decade live a daily existence, I’ve often considered, not unlike monks in the monastery I’ve also visited. They don’t have their wives or girlfriends with them. They all wear the same plain garment—not black robes, but old red scrubs. Their hair often grows […]

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The Life-Changing Magic of Picking Nits

I was at work last Thursday when I received the call from the school that every parent dreads: My eight-year-old daughter had been discovered with nits in her hair. Actually, she was not alone. A bunch of children in the class had lice, and the school had pressed administrative staffers into corralling children for impromptu […]

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Notes on Heresy

I haven’t any major gripes with the Roman Catholic Church. On the whole, I feel gratitude. The church took me in when I needed some in-taking. Living in Detroit, however, I have found myself worshipping at Saint Anthony over on the East Side. The Mass at Saint Anthony is presided over by Bishop Karl Rodig, […]

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Lynching, Racial Terror, and Black Liberation Theology

The Reverend Dr. James H. Cone, known as the originator of black liberation theology, died of cancer on April 28 at the age of seventy-nine, just two days after the grand opening of The National Memorial for Peace and Justice and The Legacy Museum: From Enslavement to Mass Incarceration in Montgomery, Alabama on April 26. […]

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Seidensticker: Christians R Intellectually Dishonest Idiots

He Also Projects Onto Me These Bigoted Ideas, as if I Hold the Same About Atheists Bob Seidensticker runs the large and popular atheist blog, Cross Examined. We recently had a lengthy dialogue about worship of God and several other rabbit trails. His words will be in blue. *** This exchange was from our recent […]

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Exchange: Atheists & Beating “Christianity” Straw Men

Do Atheists Habitually Equate Fringe Portions of Christianity with the Whole, & with Biblical Teaching? This was an exchange with atheist Michael Neville on my blog. His words will be in blue. *** [Michael cited my words in a recent debate] “. . . and infinitely smarter than Christians, whose beliefs they invariably distort and […]

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Atheist: What Evidence is Required to Change Religions?

What can I do after answering a question repeatedly in many ways, yet am told over and over that I haven’t answered at all? The words of MR, an atheist, will be in blue. Words of fellow atheist Bob Seidensticker will be in green. MR was commenting on a discussion thread that became my paper, “Why […]

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Why Do We Worship God? Dialogue with an Atheist

Bob Seidensticker is an atheist and webmaster of the popular Patheos blog, Cross Examined. His words will be in blue. The initial discussions took place in a combox for another paper. They are in a very different form there because here I edited (in my usual fashion) to make it have a back-and-forth “Platonic / […]

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Poetry Friday: “are you my god”

It has been years since I read the Narnia books, but the phrase I remember from them is “Aslan is not a tame lion.” Aslan, the books’ figure of Christ, can be tender and merciful; but the children learn that he can be wildly powerful as well. I recalled this while reading Richard Chess’s poem […]

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Why “Bible Difficulties” Should be Fully Expected

An atheist mentioned Gleason Archer’s Encyclopedia of Bible Difficulties and commented, “How could God’s word have ‘difficulties?’ What on earth was difficult about God’s revelation to mankind [?]. I mean, he’s God, right?” ***** This is shallow, unreflective thinking. I can think of a number of sound, logical reasons why such a book would exist: 1. […]

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Is God an Unjust Judge? Dialogue with an Atheist

This occurred underneath my post, “Does God Ever Judge People by Sending Disease?” Raymond is some sort of non-theist or atheist. His words will be in blue. *** Is there going to be a Part Two to this post? You paint a particularly repulsive picture of God here. I have material about God’s love and […]

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In the Presence of My Enemies

I eat a pretzel in the presence of my enemies. (They have assembled in Charlottesville.) To be a man of men, I sip my whiskey neat in the presence of my enemies. (They march on the nightly news.) I present my failed masterpiece in the presence of my enemies. (The other painters in the juried […]

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Dialogue with an Atheist on Miracles & First Premises

“DagoodS” is a former Christian with whom I have dialogued several times. Recently I met him. He did a presentation on evidences (or lack thereof, from his standpoint) for the Resurrection of Jesus Christ. I wrote an account of my opinion of the meeting: 16 Atheists / Agnostics & Me (At a Meeting). Since that time […]

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Empiricism: Only Valid & Objective Knowledge? Two Atheists “Reply”

“ButILikeCaves” was hyper-insulting and asserted that all Christians are fundamentally dishonest. He was banned as a result, but before he was escorted to the door, he refused to defend his basic axioms. Here is that discussion, with his childish insults omitted, as much as possible, with his words in blue: ***** Mythology is cool, and […]

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Replace STEM with STAR

STEM stands for science, technology, engineering, and math—hyped now as the crucial core of an educational curriculum. I don’t have anything against science, technology, engineering, or math. They’re useful for some things. Just not for the things that really matter. President Obama was more positive than I am about how much STEM matters. In 2015 […]

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50 Atheists vs. Me and the 101 Topics Routine

Predictably, as I critiqued a few atheist deconversion stories, I was made the sole subject of now two threads on an atheist site (the first now has 270 comments in three days: with 54 atheists, and the second is up to 92 in the space of one day). 50 atheists and little ol’ me! I’m […]

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What REALLY Moves and Persuades Atheists

An atheist wrote on my blog: “I left the Catholic faith in stages. . . . [many atheist reasons given] Sell me on coming back to Mass, Dave. Give me the best you’ve got.” *** I don’t think someone like you can be persuaded with rational arguments. You have accepted all these ideas that I […]

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Halted by Haiku

The last thing the world needs is another post about “living in the moment,” but I just spent a month failing at haiku and can’t help but speak about what I have seen and heard. I’ve been engaging with form this year, so far writing a whole slew of sestinas, villanelles, and most recently, haiku—by […]

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Hell: Dialogue with a Philosophy Graduate Student

God is not an unjust Judge because He doesn’t give rebellious man an infinite amount of time to repent or because some refuse to accept His gracious pardon or to give Him due honor and worship and end up in hell. The following is a response to a person who is sincerely seeking to understand Catholic teaching […]

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“Novelties” of Vatican II (Religious Liberty & Ecumenism)?

I disagree that Vatican II taught novelties. I think they are developments; rather striking, but still developments. They were certainly not more radical developments than the Jerusalem Council suddenly making circumcision optional for Gentile converts, or even Vatican I proclaiming papal infallibility as a de fide dogma in 1870. I just put up a post […]

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How Much Can Catholics Disagree with the Church?

A Protestant asked: “Is my understanding correct that, as long as there is submission and no attempt at sabotaging unity, some disagreement is okay?”   Basically, the “line” is where the Church has established a dogma or solidly established doctrine. Most theological issues have been settled, and Catholics are not really free to disagree. They […]

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In a Religion of Love

In the religion of love to pray is to pass, by a shining word, into the inner chamber of the other. It is to ask the father and mother to return and be forgiven. But in this religion not everyone can pray —Galway Kinnell, “The Man on the Hotel Room Bed” “I believe a strong […]

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Ethics of Hiroshima & Nagasaki: Catholic Reflections

I have produced many popes, bishops, conciliar statements, leading theologians, well-known priests, and apologists who oppose those bombings as inherently contrary to just war tradition, and hence, proper Catholic ethics. Catholic bomb proponents with regard to this issue have not produced a single one that I am aware of. If it is such a respectable […]

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U2: We Choose Legal Abortion Over Christianity

John Lennon (1966): “The Beatles are more popular than Jesus” [which was indeed sadly true for many millions of people: especially in relatively more secularized England] U2 (2018) [in effect]: “killing preborn children and being politically chic and popular [i.e., politically far left, of course] trumps the Christian prohibition of murder, and the sanctity of life […]

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Poetry Friday: “Shortnin’ Bread”

We sang it, too. In 1961, Mr. D taught our fourth grade music class folk songs belonging to our American musical heritage. I still know all the tunes and most lyrics to “Shenandoah,” “Ol’ Dan Tucker,” “Erie Canal,” “Sweet Betsy from Pike,” “Barbara Allen,” “Red River Valley.” And the minstrel song, “Shortnin’ Bread.” Complete with […]

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The Narratives We Need: Part 2

Recently I sang Benjamin Britten’s War Requiem with the Seattle Symphony. In his adaptation of The Requiem, Britten juxtaposes Wilfred Owen’s poetry with the Latin mass. The male soloists sing Owen’s poem “The Parable of the Old Men and the Young,” the story of Abraham and Isaac, right up to the angel and the ram. […]

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Analyzing Luther / Protestant Traditions of Men Inevitable

Catholics & Protestants tend to have very different views of Luther & of the nature & scope of Christian tradition. Words of Steve (Catholic) will be in green. Words of Alexander (Calvinist) will be in blue. ***   This seems to be the summary of the argument between Catholic and Protestant views of Luther: Catholic: […]

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Prayer for the Dead & Retroactive Prayer (Luther & Protestants)

I happened to notice a very interesting piece on the Lutheran blog Here We Stand, from “CPA”, with whom I have had several dialogues. It’s entitled simply “Prayers for the Dead.” CPA opened the article thusly: In what Martin Luther regarded as his final confession of faith in his 1528 work against the Zwinglians, Confession […]

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The Narratives We Need: Part 1

“Tell me a story,” my son has started to say after reading his bedtime books. The first time he made the request, I looked at him as I don’t do often enough, seeing the soft cheeks and hands already changing so fast for his three years, blue eyes looking at me with trust more complete […]

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Protestant Principles of Authority are Self-Defeating

Some Protestants claim to have the “fullness of truth,” just as Catholics do. But how does a Protestant know that? How can he be sure, since he falls back on himself, by virtue of the Protestant notion and rule of faith, of private judgment? No Protestant can know this, consistent with their own system, because they […]

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Catholic Predestination, Molinism, & Thomism in a Nutshell

The Catholic teaching is neither Pelagian (basically, “salvation by works”) nor semi-Pelagian (saved partially by our own self-generated works), though we are constantly falsely accused of this by Calvinists and even in the Lutheran confessions. Calvinists also unfairly accuse Arminian Protestants (including Lutherans) of semi-Pelagianism.  Basically, many Calvinists (with their “either/or” mentality) collapse any position […]

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Sowing the Seeds of Love

My daughter asked me to bring some food to the swim meet when I came. I said, “Maybe.” She rolled her eyes, and grumbled as if I never do anything for her, though I’d just supplied the ride she needed to participate in her event. She was still mad that I had looked through her […]

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Unleash the Spiritual Power of YOUR Marriage and Family!

Do you know how to tap into the incredible spiritual power of your marriage and family life? The truth is, there is a treasure-trove of grace hidden in plain sight, just beneath the surface of all the things we tend to take for granted.  Mundane tasks like raising a family, attending to your marriage, paying […]

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