The freedom that we so easily demand is a freedom without reason, a freedom that does not need to give reasons since it always has a "right" or a "value" at its disposal; so marvelous are these claims that they are established just by being … [Read more...]
On a Small Point of Doctrine
April 15, 2015 by Fr. James V. Schall, SJ
He (Sir Thomas More) gave up life itself, deliberately; he accepted violent death as of a criminal, not even for the Faith as a whole, but on one particular, small point of doctrine—to wit, the supremacy of the See of Peter. (Hilaire B … [Read more...]
Breaking Free of Our Metaphysical Winter
On Why Christians Must Study Philosophy
January 12, 2015 by Brian Jones
In diagnosing the philosophical mentality of modernity, the Catholic novelist-physician-philosopher, Walker Percy, once wrote the following: The distinction which must be kept in mind is that between science and what can only be called … [Read more...]
On “Whose God Is God?”
December 12, 2013 by Fr. James V. Schall, SJ
The problem is not with God. The problem is already located in the classical Garden in Genesis, the question of man preferring his own world to that more noble world that God has destined him for, and in which, being the kind of being he … [Read more...]
The Latest Book Reviews
September 23, 2013 by David Vincent Meconi
Early Fall Reading For September 2013 Reviews for the following books: SPOUSAL PRAYER: A Way to Marital Happiness. by Deacon Jim Keating, Ph.D., (Institute for Priestly Formation,Omaha, NE ) 54 pp. PB $6.95; and THE PARISH AS A SCHOOL O … [Read more...]
Dietrich von Hildebrand on the Natural Ends of Religion
August 11, 2013 by Dr. Lance Byron Richey
The ultimate aim of all authentic religious practice, von Hildebrand always insists, is the creation of a truly supernatural life in the soul of the believer, in order to bring him to a final end with God that fallen nature can never hope … [Read more...]
On Thinking the Actual World Out of Existence
July 20, 2013 by Fr. James V. Schall, SJ
The scanty conceptions to which we can attain of celestial things give us, from their excellence, more pleasure than all the knowledge of the world in which we live; just as a half-glimpse of persons that we love is more delightful than a … [Read more...]
“Read Your Thomas”: The Advice We Should Heed
July 4, 2013 by Brian Jones
Aquinas was the model philosopher for Ralph McInerny, and following the likes of 20th century Thomists such as Maritain, Gilson, Fabro, and DeKonick, he wanted the world (and the Church) to see the necessity of this man and his … [Read more...]
The Septuagint in the Theology of Joseph Ratzinger / Pope Benedict XVI
April 10, 2013 by Dawn Eden
In ascribing to the Septuagint a theological relevance reaching above and beyond the literal content of its Hebrew source, making it an “independent textual witness,” Benedict is drawing upon the theology of revelation that he began to dev … [Read more...]
Christian Life and Education: The Christian Belief in God
February 8, 2013 by Fr. John Navone, SJ
The sacramental vision of an authentically Christian education enjoys the sense of the holy in all things, and imparts a kind of sanctity to the study of all disciplines, seeing in each an avenue to the Creator Logos ... (it) is an aspect … [Read more...]
Archbishop Gerhard Ludwig Müller and the Virgin Birth
December 13, 2012 by Michael J. Miller, MA
In treating the Virgin birth, Gerhard Ludwig Müller carefully identifies what the Catholic Church actually does teach, and cautions the reader that the exact physiological details, thereof, are not an article of faith. Nativity by M … [Read more...]
Challenging Islam
March 27, 2012 by Rev. Michael P. Orsi
Today, we face a political/religious challenge, Islam, in which, avoiding hard truths, exposes us to a real and present danger. I am not disposed toward the soothingly facile idea embodied in the popular expression, “Let’s agree to disa … [Read more...]
On the Promises of God to Mankind
January 1, 2012 by Fr. James V. Schall, SJ
“People of faith tend to have children; those who are persuaded of the randomness of existence tend not to.” — David Goldman, It’s Not the End of the World; It’s Just the End of You, 2011.[1. David Goldman, It’s Not the End of the World; It … [Read more...]
Pope Benedict XVI: Theologian of the Bible
The Pastores Dabo Vobis Award in Honor of Fr. Kenneth Baker, S.J. (learn more)
September 1, 2011 by Fr. Joseph T. Lienhard, SJ
The twentieth century was a tumultuous time in the Catholic Church for all concerned with the interpretation of the Bible. For the past few decades, this topic has been a principal concern of one prominent theologian. His interest in the … [Read more...]
The ambiguity of Islam
November 1, 2009 by Fr. James V. Schall, SJ
“When some fanatics kill children, women, and men in the name of pure and authentic Islam, or in the name of the Qur’an or of the Muslim tradition, nobody can tell them: ‘You are not true and authentic Muslims.’ All they can say is: ‘Your re … [Read more...]
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