Articles on Apologetics
“Wherever the bishop shall appear, there let the multitude of the people also be; even as wherever Jesus Christ is, there is the Catholic Church.” Ignatius of Antioch—Letter to the Smyrnaeans, Ch 8
Who Wrote the Gospels and When?
The other day I indulged in a bit of a rant against the mainstream Bible scholars who have made an industry of de-bunking the gospels and trying to show them to be late compositions [...]
The Bible: History or Mystery?
It was after my talk at a parish mission that one of the women came up looking a bit flustered, “Father, can I ask you a question?” “Sure.” “I was at Mass yesterday and [...]
Assuming Infallibility
There’s a scene in Brideshead Re-Visited in which the worldly, but spiritually ignorant Rex Mottram is receiving instruction in the Catholic faith. Father Mowbray recounts how he was unable to explain the dogma of [...]
Real Religion and Nazi Zombies
What is the difference between real religion and Nazi zombies? It’s the difference between faith and an ideology. Here’s a clue: in The Imitation of Christ Thomas a Kempis wrote, “Why do you wish to change [...]
Mother of God or Mother Goddess?
I can remember my shock, as an Evangelical student, when I heard a German Catholic friend refer to Mary as “GottesMutter”. The phrase means, “Mother of God, but in my ignorance of the German [...]
The Centrality of Sacrifice
Watching Mel Gibson’s movie Apocolypto is not for the fainthearted or squeamish. Set among the Mayans in the sixteenth century, the film portrays their customs of human sacrifice with unsparing realism. Heads roll, blood [...]