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Newman’s Via Media Between James White and Dale Tuggy on the Trinity
All Christians who profess belief in the doctrine of the Trinity believe that the doctrine of the Trinity is found in divine revelation. Where there is disagreement among Christians is the degree to which the doctrine of the Trinity, especially as it was later formalized, is clearly taught in Scripture and the earliest fathers. The…
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Nocturnal Emissions and The End of Sexual Faculties
Gunther Laird in his book The Unnecessary Science: A Critique of Natural Law Theory has offered a number of criticisms of Edward Feser’s natural law theory. I have responded to some of his poorer arguments on abortion and same sex marriage. One of Laird’s better arguments is his argument that male nocturnal emissions refute the…
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Natural Law Abortion? Another Response to Gunther Laird
Gunther Laird in his book The Unnecessary Science: A Critique of Natural Law Theory offers a number of arguments against Edward Feser’s account of natural law. Laird claims that on a number of issues, including abortion, Feser’s natural law theory fails to actually support Feser’s own position on abortion and can in fact be used…
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Aristotelian Gay Marriage? A Response to Gunther Laird
Gunther Laird recently authored the book The Unnecessary Science: A Critical Analysis of Natural Law Theory which is a critique of Edward Feser’s account of natural law. Throughout the book Laird attempts to show that even if one accepts Feser’s account of natural law, such an account is compatible with various positions which Feser himself…
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Bad Objections to Marian Apparitions
In their book The Cult of the Virgin: Catholic Mariology and the Apparitions of Mary, Elliot Miller and Kenneth Samples investigate the nature of Catholic devotion and in particular various Marian apparitions. The book is divided into two parts, the first looking at Catholic doctrine regarding Mary and the second looking at apparitions. In their…
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“Into His Own”: The Marian Implications of Faith in John’s Gospel
I was struck recently when reading the Greek of John’s Gospel by a verse in chapter 19 when Jesus is on the cross. After telling the beloved disciple John “Behold your Mother”, the Gospel states that “From that time on, the disciple took her into his home”. The Greek phrase for “into his home” is…
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The Bishops are Right: How Horan and Lysaught Fail in Their Objections to the Doctrinal Note
About a month and a half ago, on March 20th, the USCCB Committee on Doctrine issued a fairly straightforward 13 page document entitled “Doctrinal Note on the Moral Limits to Technological Manipulation of the Human Body“. The article outlines some basic Catholic teachings regarding the human body and when it is and is not licit…
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A Protestant’s Catholic take on Adam and Eve.
Did a historical Adam and Eve exist? If so, how does human evolution factor in? How do the teachings of science compare with the teachings of Genesis regarding the origins of mankind? Such questions are not at all new but are ever important and interesting. These questions are of interest to Catholics in particular because…
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Contraception, NFP and Sex: A Refutation of Salzman and Lawler
Recently, Todd Salzman and Michael Lawler published an article over at National Catholic Reporter arguing in favor of abandoning the Church’s traditional teaching on contraception. In their article, Salzman and Lawler note correctly that if the Church were to change her teaching on contraception, “the entire edifice of official Catholic sexual teaching crumbles”. As a…
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Apologetics Isn’t Dead: A Reflection on Cameron Bertuzzi’s Conversion to Catholicism
Earlier today, Cameron Bertuzzi, the man who runs a ministry call Capturing Christianity, announced that he recently entered RCIA at a Catholic Church and will formally enter the Church this Easter. Besides for being an occasion of joy, Bertuzzi’s conversion offers an opportunity to reflect on a somewhat controversial topic: the role of apologetics in…
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Did Paul Rebuke Peter? A Refutation of Peter Dimond
Perhaps nothing distinguishes the Catholic Church from other religions as much as the institution of the papacy. Many people over the course of church history have stood athwart the papacy, some denying the full scope of its authority (Orthodox), some denying it any legitimacy (Protestants) and some, while claiming to revere the institution make an…