Here’s a little something that I shouldn’t spend a lot of time on by way of introduction (I’m presently nearly at the honest-to-goodness final attack of my thesis) — but it is nonetheless an important apologetic topic: Did Catholics change the Ten Commandments? The presentation of the Ten Commandments (or Decalogue) used by Catholics is …
Tag Archives: Christianity
An Exposition of the Real Presence of Christ in the Eucharist in John 6, and a Common Protestant Rejoinder
[The fruit of another discussion somewhere.] The Real Presence of Christ does not appear in Scripture? You must be stretching really hard not to see it. 😉 As I said above, Jesus makes painfully clear his literal intentions in John 6: “I am the bread of life; he who comes to me shall not hunger, …
Mary and the Living Tradition of the Church
[This originated as a response to a comment on my own blog, but I thought it might be worth sharing with everyone.] Well, even the language you are using exhibits that you are misunderstanding the Church’s teachings about Mary. And I can relate, because these are some of the same misunderstandings and objections I had. …
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The Sovereignty of God, or, My Brush with Calvinism, Part 1
The next chapter in my conversion story, a long-promised episode that I think will be of interest to many of my Reformed brethren. In the year or two after my revolution, I began searching for God and for my true spiritual home, more earnestly than ever. Despite all my wanderings and stumblings, I still had …
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Why I am a Catholic: the Short Version
This came out of the blue, off the cuff, just as you read it, when a friend on Facebook asked me to sum up in one point why I converted to Catholicism. This is probably the most succinct account you’ll ever read from me. It’s hard to narrow down to just one. But I’ll give …
St. Ambrose on the Baptism of Desire
Here’s something I just transcribed for the sake of linking to it in a discussion. The Catholic Church has consistently taught that God in His mercy can save those who desired to be baptized but were unable, or who would have desired to be baptized had they been aware of its necessity (CCC 1257–1261). This …
Justified by Faith: Paul and Baptism (Baptism in Depth)
Part of a series on Baptism in Depth. A few days ago, I had a startling realization about St. Paul. I’ve always been frustrated by Paul’s lack of emphasis on Baptism. If Baptism is what saves us (1 Peter 3:21), why does Paul so seldom mention it in conjunction with salvation? Reformed Protestants are quick …
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Believe and Be Baptized (Baptism in Depth)
Part of a series on Baptism in Depth. Get ready, y’all! I have a burst of inspiration, and thoughts coming out my ears — both to finish my thesis and to share on Baptism. The Acts of the Apostles, the continuation of St. Luke’s Gospel narrative recounting the earliest history of the Christian Church, is …
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A Scriptural Defense of the Saints in Heaven
A little something I whipped up last week for somebody — in rejection of the idea that the saints are “dead,” that praying to the saints is “communication with the dead,” and that this is an “occult” practice (one of the more bizarre anti-Catholic claims I have heard). My interlocutor was not receptive, but I …
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Why I am not a “Roman” Catholic
This is something that’s been eating at me for a while, in my conversations with Protestants: I am not a Roman Catholic. I’m not even Roman! To the best of my knowledge, I haven’t a bit of Roman heritage within at least the past millennium. I come from good, British stock — mostly English, Scottish, …