Those who claim that the Church has nothing to do except resist and condemn are mistaken; but they are less mistaken than those who think we should raise the gates and invite the enemy in. Continue Reading »
The current attempt to elevate what is called pastoralism above what is called doctrinalism is bogus of its nature and disingenuous in its intent. Continue Reading »
On Thursday, the CDF released a letter to the Catholic bishops of the world entitled Placuit Deo. Continue Reading »
Development of doctrine is not itself a doctrine, but a theory, and there are several such theories. Continue Reading »
Pope Francis recently declared that the death penalty is “per se contrary to the Gospel”—but this statement is flatly untraditional according to Church history. Continue Reading »
Fr. Thomas Joseph White’s The Light of Christ is a most unusual combination of literary humility and splendid erudition. Continue Reading »
In reality, Fr. James Martin does not preach directly against the Church’s teachings—but neither will he affirm them as true. Continue Reading »
Though Benedict is still living, Francis is trying to bury him. Continue Reading »
Any sort of “creeping infallibility” that would attach the same level of authority to every papal utterance or document must be avoided. To fail to draw appropriate distinctions—whether between binding and non-binding documents of the ordinary magisterium, or between the development and the evolution of doctrine—is to dim the light of the Petrine ministry and impoverish the faithful. Continue Reading »
Skimming through a stack of books recently, I found myself reading a testimonial of sorts from James D. G. Dunn, the great New Testament scholar who coined the phrase “the new perspective on Paul.” Having logged decades of ministry in various Methodist contexts, Dunn tries to explain what it . . . . Continue Reading »
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