Christians often deny that addictions are “diseases” and that they are “genetic.” But this denial often assumes a materialist view of psychology, as if there are only material causes of disease and only “genetic” forms of inheritance. If we say that even . . . . Continue Reading »
Aidan Nichols gives a neat summary of the Triune unity of the church in his Figuring out the Church: Her Marks, and Her Masters . Following Heribert Muhlen, he particularly emphasizes the role of the Spirit, who is “one Person in many persons” (27). More fully: “The Church’s . . . . Continue Reading »
Ignacio Carbajosa’s Faith, the Fount of Exegesis: The Interpretation of Scripture in the Light of the History of Research on the Old Testament answers John Ratzinger’s twofold call for a “criticism of criticism” and for a renewal of faithful, faith-filled exegesis. With . . . . Continue Reading »
In the foreword to Antonio Lopez’s Gift and the Unity of Being , Milbank says that by giving “gift” a transcendental status, Lopez offers “a rethinking of the Thomistic metaphysics of act and being that renders it a fully Trinitarian metaphysics” (xii). He elaborates, . . . . Continue Reading »
“We need not fear that we have lost our world when we acknowledge the theory-impregnated nature of our understanding,” writes Mark Johnson ( The Body in the Mind: The Bodily Basis of Meaning, Imagination, and Reason , 204). “‘Things’ outside us talk back to us, and . . . . Continue Reading »
John W. Dixon makes an intriguing argument in a 1998 Anglican Theological Review essay on “Trinitarian anthropology.” He offers a fundamental anthropology rooted in physics and evolutionary biology, and suggests “The human mind and its products are a part of the web of relations. . . . . Continue Reading »
Thomas H. McCall offers some helpful analysis of “Moltmann’s Perichoresis” in a chapter of his Which Trinity? Whose Monotheism? Philosophical and Systematic Theologians on the Metaphysics of Trinitarian Theology , especially in drawing a distinction between “trinitarian . . . . Continue Reading »
What’s the appeal of first-person shooter games? I ask that question because I find no appeal in them. I’m a sitting duck, a target, canon fodder, the guy everyone sneaks up to get an easy kill. Some apparently find it appealing, and Maria Konnikova has an explanation : flow. Taking her . . . . Continue Reading »
Maciej Zieba’s PAPAL ECONOMICS: The Catholic Church on Democratic Capitalism, from Rerum Novarum to Caritas in Veritate is a careful, informative study of Catholic social teaching as embodied in papal encyclicals. Though the book does briefly trace the history of Papal statements on democracy . . . . Continue Reading »
I can agree with much of Jerome Creach ( Violence in Scripture: Interpretation: Resources for the Use of Scripture in the Church ) says about the Bible and violence. Violence is an intrusion into a peaceable world, “a disease that breaks out and spoils everything” (38-39). God intends . . . . Continue Reading »
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