I consider myself a very Traditional and Catholic Lutheran. I love the Roman Catholic Church, and I hope and pray for the day when the Lutheran Gospel of salvation by grace alone will be sounded in its Cathedrals, and the Church reunited. In any case, in my sojourning outside the Roman Communion, I still enjoy getting glimpses of it and feel a need to keep learning about the … [Read more...]
Modern Man and Original Sin
It's remarkable how often one sees the nature of original sin questioned. It is implicitly questioned every time someone asks why the tragedy in Colorado happened? How could a 'normal' (white, American, bourgeoise, grad student) person do such a thing? Without knowing it, the world seems to be dancing to Aristotle and Rousseau's tune without even realizing it. The great, … [Read more...]
Reforming Advent: 'Kris Kringle'
For students of history a fundamental law of the discipline seems to be that history is simply doomed to repeat itself. As we've looked at Advent traditions throughout the previous posts we've gone through most of the disciplines, prayers, and celebrations we think of when we imagine Christmas and all its symbolism and practice. Trees, Wreaths, the Date/Calendar, and Saint … [Read more...]
Ratzinger, Luther, and Vatican II: An Episode in the History of Augustinianism
I was reading an old review from the Tablet today and it made me smile. It was discussing Cardinal Ratzinger before he was elected as Pope and made some interesting assertions that are rarely discussed any more, but were accepted at the time: "It is certainly strange that the 'enforcer' of Catholic orthodoxy should be a self-confessed anti-Thomist. His dislike of the views of … [Read more...]
Bach Friday
I'll give any regular readers a break this Friday and recommend some relaxing and historic music from a 'golden age' of the Church's history. Jesu Bleibet Meine Freude J.S. Bach was a great Christian composer from the Lutheran Tradition in Leipzig, Germany. This same tradition continued into the Evangelical Church in 1989 when anti-government protestors began prayer meetings … [Read more...]