Here is an intriguing remark from Blessed John Henry Cardinal Newman’s work An Essay in aid of a Grammar of Assent: [I]f it is the duty of the Church to act as “the pillar and ground of the Truth,” she…
In this post my aim is to present a brief biblical defense of the doctrine of ecclesial infallibility. I do not intend to be particularly technical: what I mean for the purposes of this post by “the doctrine of ecclesial…
Perfectionism is a blunder. It assumes that perfection is attainable by us imperfect creatures. Even the perfectionist knows he isn’t perfect. That is part of the pathology. It is what leads the average perfectionist to have a poor opinion of…
It has been a little while since I had anything to say about the fact that we are saved by grace alone. So I will just slip this little post in here to correct that. The Catechism teaches thus: It…
A large hunk (but by no means all) of Protestantism’s appeal comes from its doctrine of the so-called perspicuity of Scripture, according to which (as the Westminster Confession of Faith, for one, puts it) VII. All things in Scripture are…
St. John of the Cross has this to say about the meaning of Scripture: Many things have been spoken by the Holy Ghost, the meaning of which is different from that which men conceive. (Ascent Of Mount Carmel) He enumerates…
My friend Jason is asking some tough questions about some Reformed articles of faith. The Reformed may brush him off, but I do not see how they can pretend his criticisms have no teeth. The very best that they can…
Romans 11:22-23 presents an interesting difficulty for the Reformed Protestant doctrine of perseverance, according to which it is impossible for the Elect to lose their salvation. Consider what St. Paul writes in Romans 11 about the People of God as…
Our priest’s homily for this Sunday did not go according to the script that detractors may have expected. From one perspective this is completely unsurprising because Father extemporizes pretty regularly: he has notes but he rarely reads from them and…
Luke 15 offers us a striking illustration of how mistaken the Reformed doctrine of total depravity is. In verses 4-6 the Lord Jesus tells the parable of the lost sheep, which concludes with this observation about how things are in…
Aquinas, Etc. 