Category: Heresies and Errors

“For there must be also heresies: that they also, who are approved, may be made manifest among you” (1 Corinthians 11:19). St. Thomas defines heresy as “a species of infidelity in men who, having professed the faith of Christ, corrupt its dogmas.” God allows His faithful to be exposed to heresy in order to test their Faith, their docility, and obedience to Catholic authority. At Baptism we receive the theological virtue of Faith, which is a supernatural light for our intellect, which enables us to “see” the truths that God has revealed through His Church, or as Father Feeney so simply put it, “to think the thoughts of God.” A person, therefore, bearing within him this infused light, will immediately recognize pernicious doctrine for the darkness that it is.

Religious errors, on the other hand, are not necessarily opposed to the virtue of Faith. A validly baptized person may for a period fall into a material error on account of a misrepresentation of Catholic doctrine, or outright misinformation, and be innocent of the sin of heresy. He made be told, for example, that Catholics worship Mary as God, and then he would be in error about what Catholics believe. The providence of God will be sure to provide this person an opportunity, be it by way of a book or a Catholic acquaintance, to hear the truth. Then, if he cooperates with the light of Faith that is in him, he would be bound to accept the truth and seek out the full teaching of the Church.

If as the saying goes “contrast clarifies the mind,” then by studying the Church’s battles against heresies throughout her history, a Catholic can fortify his own Faith. The articles falling under this category are such. They are part of the library of the Church Militant as guardian of the truth and refuter of all heresies.

The Even Darker World of Scientology

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After losing a lawsuit in France filed by former members, and barely escaping being outlawed there for its extortionist tactics, the strange “religion” of L. Ron Hubbard is now being charged with pressuring inner circle members of its elite “order” … Continue reading →

Exonerating Pope Liberius?

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The traditional Transalpine Redemptorists have built a case that could rewrite the history of Pope Liberius as it has come to us  (they allege) only since the sixteenth century.  I haven’t the time to examine into their cause, but it … Continue reading →

Imagine There’s No Hell

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The doctrine of hell is certainly not one of our faith’s more consoling teachings. Neither is it especially attractive to outsiders (ever hear someone say, “I converted because of your teachings on hell”?). Nor, finally, does it produce the most … Continue reading →

The Root of Evil

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Brought up as we American Catholics are in Protestant traditions, surrounded on every side by Protestant culture, compelled to approve and applaud Protestant values, any attempt on our part to resist being engulfed by this flood-tide will appear insanely anti-social. … Continue reading →

How Do Liberal Catholics Talk

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Since the Reformation, back in the dawn of modern times, the heresies which it ushered into the world have always been fought by the Church. In spite of that, some Catholics have been intoxicated by the political consequences that naturally … Continue reading →

On Christian Wisdom

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Wisdom does not consist in the possession of a great store of knowledge, but rather in the reduction of one’s knowledge to a few underlying principles. Growth in knowledge, through the accumulation of facts, is not necessarily growth in wisdom, … Continue reading →

Pelagius Lives

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(See the From the Housetops editor’s introduction to this article.) The February 1991 issue of the Catholic magazine 30 Days featured a very striking cover designed by Romano Sicillani. Michelangelo’s famous painting from the Sistine Chapel, the Fall and Expulsion … Continue reading →