A Christian's Road Home to Rome and Journey Onward
The beginning of a series: “How do I know the Catholic Church is the Church Jesus founded?” It is a commonplace of Catholic apologetics that we claim that “the Catholic Church is the Church Jesus founded.” On the other hand, opponents charge that the Catholic Church was in fact founded at some later date, often …
Continue reading “Were the churches of the New Testament independent of one another?”
The next post in my spiritual autobiography, and the conclusion(?) to my account of my struggle with Calvinism. I don’t know; maybe there will be more. I thought I would nudge a couple of Reformed friends in case they might be interested in my thoughts. I grew a lot as a person and as a …
Continue reading “The Sovereignty of God, or, My Brush with Calvinism, Part 2: A Crisis of Faith”
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 …
Continue reading “Justified by Faith: Paul and Baptism (Baptism in Depth)”
Okay, so the plan is to whip up a brief post here and there and maybe even queue up a few at a time. Can I do that? Can I be brief? Waking up this morning [now a couple of days ago] the question nudged at me: What is the earliest evidence we have in …
Hi. I am sorry that I’ve been such an absentee tenant lately, but I’ve been swamped in the mud bog of my thesis. Today has been a new day of positive meetings with my professors and friends, so I hope and pray I can put some step back into it. I am thrilled by the …
Every week when my parents get home from their church and I get home from my Mass, they ask me “how church was.” Growing up Protestant, this was a common way of talking. “Church sure was good.” “That was a good service.” Just yesterday, they came home telling me how “good” their church was. Now, …
[Continuing my thoughts from last night, about the historical reliability of early Christian testimonies, in particular the biblical texts, and the argument that the “orthodoxy” we see today only stemmed from this faction being the victor among many competing early sects. This is Part 2, and it nearly doubled in size from what I started …
[This is a post that ballooned into about three posts when I sat down to write it. So I split it up, rather than giving you far more than anyone wants to read.] Once again, my plans for what I was going to write about today have been disrupted. I had a heated discussion with …
Continue reading ““Rigorously skeptical”: Historical thoughts on the Christian faith”
My wandering had come to running and rebellion. My soul was crying out — I was lost, and could not find my way — but I was hurt, angry, fighting, and unwilling to humble myself before God, to lay down myself and seek in Him the guidance I needed. Thank God for a praying mother …
It occurred to me today, I think, the real reason why Reformed and evangelical Protestants reject the Sacraments and any belief in the idea of sacramentality. St. Paul writes (Ephesians 2:8-10): For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a …
Continue reading “Sacraments and “Works”: Where Protestants get it wrong”