A person could get lost in the history of St. Paul's Cathedral (London). Just the famous Deans of St Paul's is a venerable list of churchmen. Most readers will know Canon Henry Scott Holland from his "Death is nothing at all" quotation used at countless funerals. As for the building itself and the fire of London, I've seen multi-hour programs just on Christopher Wren and St. … [Read more...]
The Reality of Satan
Today my beloved parish priest who is fairly orthodox excepting occasional slips into Liberalism. As someone who hasn't given anything remotely resembling the dedication and service he has given to our Church, I want to clarify that I'm not attacking him or his ministry, just the idea he deseminated from the pulpit.The reading for today was Matthew 4, the Temptation of Christ … [Read more...]
How Philosophy Changes Our Lives
I was taught as a teenager the Worldview of C.S. Lewis, for which I am grateful, as there are many worse starting points. I think my view of faith and reason as well as the neo-Platonism of Lewis that we learned in philosophy allowed me to fit well into the Catholic faith. Unlike the nominalists (anti-rationalists) Luther and Calvin, Lewis fell more closely to the Angelic … [Read more...]
Cowardice, C.S. Lewis, and the End of Term
Today is the end of term for me, I just wrote my Reformation History exam, which I will probably be penalized for because I included more information than we were taught in class (I wish I was kidding). I received back my essay on Lutheran and Roman Catholic doctrines of Justification and why they mattered, and my TA didn't understand it. A self-proclaimed Catholic, she said … [Read more...]
A Parable For You
Imagine a place called "normal". In this strange village everyone would wake up earlier than they desired, to prepare to journey to places they didn't want to go. For each prospective journey they would all dress in clothes they didn't actually find comfortable or functional, but rather they would select vestments from a spectrum of rigid conformity known as "Fashion". Then … [Read more...]