The Mystery of the Immaculate Conception is not something on the borderlands of the Christian religion; rather, it stands front and center in the true Faith. This is because the Immaculate Herself is so wrapped up in the divine decree for the redemption of men, that her perpetual sinlessness and fulness of grace form a continuum with what the faith teaches about Jesus (Christology) and His Salvation (Soteriology).

Blessed Pius IX expressed this truth in Ineffabilis Deus, the encyclical wherein he defined the dogma: Read More »

[Originally authored 13 December 2003, the Feast of Sancta Lucia]

At this time of the Christian Feast of the Nativity, when we are also expectantly considering the coming year of 2012 (as was so in 2003) and the pressures of deepening war and religious conflict, we more openly allow ourselves to consider the foundations of things.

Did the Incarnation happen? Or was it an illusion, or even a deception? Did the Humility of God come into history in such a quiet way in Nazareth unto a pure and lovely woman, and then later also consent to be humbly born in Bethlehem? Read More »

The words are not mine, but the Pope’s. In his bull condemning the errors of Martin Luther, Exurge Domine, Pope Leo X described his subject as “one whose faith is notoriously suspect and in fact a true heretic.” Yet Catholics are not ashamed to speak well of this heresiarch who wrought such havoc in Christendom. Those interested in Catholic-Lutheran exchanges can read a little back-and-forth between a Protestant pastor and me that appears at the bottom of my article, The Epistle of Straw. The pastor sought to defend Luther from the things I had said against him.  Read More »

The Philosopher has no dog in the race of Zimbabwean politics. (You can all breathe a sigh of relief now.) Therefore, agreeing with President Robert Mugabe on a religious point need not be taken as an endorsement of a man considered to be dictatorial.

When the Druid who heads the C of E complained to the African strongman about some Anglican-on-Anglican violence associated with a schism in Zimbabwe, Mugabe stated an historical fact. Read More »

The Bible teaches that Christ had ambassadors or agents (His bishops and priests) who represent Him in this world.

2 Cor. 5:20: For Christ therefore we are ambassadors, God as it were exhorting you, be reconciled to God.

1 Cor. 4:1: Let a man so account of us as of the ministers of Christ, and the dispensers of the mysteries of God. Read More »

The Rev. Candace Chellew-Hodge is not among my favorite theologians. No, the author of Bulletproof Faith: A Spiritual Survival Guide for Gay and Lesbian Christians, doesn’t inspire me with her contributions to sacred letters. But her column, Why Gays and Lesbians Should Never Argue Scripture, does have some — doubtless unintended — apologetical value.  Read More »

This video is on the YouTube channel of a gentleman who professes: “I PROMISE TRUE OBEDIENCE TO THE BISHOP OF ROME, THE SUCCESSOR OF PETER, THE PRINCE OF THE APOSTLES, AND THE VICAR OF JESUS CHRIST THE SAVIOR 1 Peter 3:15, ‘Always be prepared to make a defense to any one who calls you to account for the hope that is in you.’”

Catholics have the Truth. Let’s be triumphalistic about it, like this fellow. Read More »

[Questions Asked by Protestants Briefly Answered by Father M. Philipps, Rector of St. Joseph’s Church, Buffalo, NY. Cabinet of Catholic Information, 1903 Imprimatur: Archbishop John Farley]

Praying to the Saints

What do you mean by praying to the saints?

Praying to the saints means to ask the saints to pray for us. It does not mean to adore them as we pray to and adore God. Read More »

[Questions Asked by Protestants on Purgatory, Indulgences, Predestination and Relics briefly answered by Father M. Philipps, Rector of St. Joseph’s Church, Buffalo, NY. Cabinet of Catholic Information, 1903 Imprimatur: Archbishop John Farley]

Purgatory

Does the Bible say that there is a purgatory?

The Bible does not mention the word purgatory, but it says we should pray for the dead: “It is, therefore, a holy and wholesome thought to pray for the dead, that they may be loosed from sins.” 2 Mach. 12. These dead cannot be the dead in heaven, because they do not need our prayers, nor the dead in hell, where there is no redemption, but it means the dead who are still in a purgative state. Read More »

The doctrine of Purgatory, central to Christianity, is brutally attacked by certain non-Catholic polemicists. Their typical view of the Catholic doctrine of Purgatory is that it was either concocted by the Church in the Middle Ages for filthy lucre’s sake, or that, if there are any ancient precedents for it among the Church Fathers, it gradually developed in scope and meaning so as to become something the early Church did not believe it to be. ^{1 Read More »}