"In an increasingly materialistic world they [Cistercian monks] are non-productive citizens . . . By all the laws of Freud and the psycho-prophets, the monks are depriving themselves of the sensual satisfactions which alone make a whole life possible; they ought to be up the wall and screaming. Actually, . . . it is the children of affluence, not deprived monks, who howl and … [Read more...]
Hilaire Belloc & Ecumenism
"Those of us who boast so stable an endowment make no claim thereby to personal peace; we are not saved thereby alone .... But we are of so glorious a company that we receive support, and have communion. The Mother of God is also our own. Our dead are with us. Even in these our earthly miseries we always hear the distant something of an eternal music, and smell a native air. … [Read more...]
St. Ignatius and Bishops
St. Ignatius of Antioch (50-117AD *at the latest) was a bishop in the VERY early Church, he was the 3rd in line of succession to the apostles themselves as bishop of Antioch meaning that the church there was ruled by St. Peter then Evodius, then Ignatius, he was a friend of Polycarp (a disciple/successor of St. John himself, who lived with and was taught by Christ). All this to … [Read more...]
"In Christ Alone" – Theological Fallacies
Today I was at a Reformed church and we sang a hymn called "In Christ Alone", I used to play that song for worship at my church and at bible school. It is an encouraging and uplifting song, and it is effective in teaching St. Anselm's satisfaction theory of the atonement, however, it is truly theologically inept in my opinion. As is the whole idea of "Solus Christus". It's … [Read more...]
Sin and Reconciliation
A friend of mine who is a Pastor's daughter once said her father was accused of only preaching the same message, and he responded that it was not his choice, but God's, and that God had only told him to speak on that issue.In my own personal religious life, a similar situation has occured. I am unable to overcome a sin, the proverbial thorn in the flesh, and God and/or Satan … [Read more...]