Before his death, atheist Christopher Hitchens wrote a best-selling book attacking religious belief. It had the provocative title God is not Great: How Religion Poisons Everything. Hitchens promoted the book throughout the world by debating with religious believers of many types: Christians, Jews, Moslems, and Hindus. In these debates, he would often challenge his opponent, […]
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The Promise of Salvation
Long ago, the prophet Jeremiah spoke about the salvation that would come to the world through Christ: “I will make a new covenant with the people of Israel,” Jeremiah wrote, “I will put my law in their minds and write it on their hearts.” (Jeremiah 31:31-33) Often when we speak about salvation, we have in […]
Continue readingProtestants Becoming Catholic: Justification by Faith Alone
Martin Luther’s doctrine of “Justification by Faith Alone” is at the heart of the Protestant rejection of Catholicism. He called it “the article on which the Church stands or falls.” Luther once said that if the Pope would only teach justification by faith, he would kiss the Pope’s feet and carry him in his hands. […]
Continue readingDoes the Big Bang Make God Unnecessary?
This week a man asked me, “Does the big bang make God unnecessary?” One could give a simplistic answer: “Of course not! Where do you think the big bang came from?” But there is a better answer, one more complex and more true. At root, this man’s question reveals a profound misunderstanding of the Catholic […]
Continue reading“For us Men and for Our Salvation” What the Creed Teaches us about Salvation in the Ancient Church
Church history made me a Catholic. Specifically, the early Church and its doctrine of salvation made me a Catholic. I grew up an evangelical Protestant in Birmingham, Alabama. I “prayed to receive Jesus” at an early age, trusting Christ, and Christ alone, to get me to Heaven. I understood that faith alone could settle the […]
Continue readingWhy Can’t I Go to Communion?
Last week I spoke to a Protestant woman who wanted to know why she could not receive the sacrament of reconciliation from a Catholic priest. Similarly, I hear sometimes from Protestants who want to know why they cannot receive communion in a Catholic Church. I think these kinds of questions are usually sincere and evidence […]
Continue readingTwo Words Commonly Misunderstood
There are two words in Catholic tradition that are very often misunderstood. These words are mystical and contemplative. They are misunderstood because they are frequently used in common English to mean something different, but only subtly different, from the Catholic sense. The confusion is important because it obscures important Catholic truths. In common English, mystical, […]
Continue readingWhat is Catholicism?
In my apostolate, I have the great blessing of routinely answering questions about the Catholic faith. People call or write me with questions, and I do my best to answer. Usually, I get the same ten or twenty questions over and over again. Sometimes I get a question out of left field. (I got a […]
Continue readingThe Witness of “The Lost Christianities”
Most Americans probably think of Christianity as either Protestant or Latin Rite Roman Catholic. They may have a vague understanding of “Orthodoxy,” which they identify with the Greeks, Russians, or other Eastern Europeans. But, by and large, “Christianity” means the Latin West or, to a lesser extent, the Greek (and Cyrillic) East. As generalizations go, […]
Continue readingDo you know for sure?
When I was growing up Protestant, we learned to do evangelism by asking, “Do you know for sure you’re going to heaven?” If the target answered, “No,” or “I hope so,” or “I try to do my best,” then we pounced. Obviously, this person didn’t know “the real gospel.” We were quick to explain that […]
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