This post is part of an ongoing series reflecting on Orthodox-Catholic online dialogue, originally delivered at the “That They May Be One” Conference. Two years ago, Benjamin Cabe, a friend and former classmate, approached me about launching a website. Both us were active academic bloggers and were regularly discouraged by the poor understanding and lackContinue reading “Blogging Ecumenically: Background”
This past Saturday, I attended a conference titled “That They May Be One: The Past, Present, and Future of Orthodox-Catholic Dialogue” hosted by Saint Louis University and the St. Irenaeus Orthodox Theological Institute. In addition to hearing some excellent papers and meeting some quality people, I also had the opportunity to deliver a paper ofContinue reading “Blogging Ecumenically: Introduction”
Biographies are intensely personal affairs, filled with the often mundane details purporting to tell the life story of some person of alleged importance. Occasionally, however, a figure of true influence will come along and change the world. In the American context, such figures have often been religious or political leaders, those two realms of discourseContinue reading “Book Review: Richard John Neuhaus (Boyagoda)”
In Luther, the NFP Teleart and Thrivent Financial for Lutherans’ film starring Joseph Fiennes, the story of German monk Martin Luther’s journey to what is now referred to as the Protestant Reformation is told. The film begins with Luther’s entrance into the realm of late medieval Roman Catholic monasticism, moves to his struggle with faith,Continue reading “The Historicity of ‘Luther’”
One of the perils of being a graduate student is constant busyness. For me, this busyness often distracts me from writing about subjects which are interesting and important but which are (unfortunately) beyond my ability to find time to address. One such subject is the Blessed Virgin Mary. In my searching for answers, Mary hasContinue reading “Reflections on Mary: Historically Informed Theology”
The Second Vatican Council (1962-5) stands apart as one of the single most important events of modern Church history, not only because of the number of Christians that the Church at Rome influences, but also because of the magnitude and depth of the canons of the council. While a thorough examination remains outside the parametersContinue reading “Reflections on Vatican II”
This post is part of our ongoing series of reflections concerning “Conceptions of the Ultimate”, the ways in which various world religions conceive of and interpret the Ultimate Being of the cosmos. Darsan means “seeing the divine”, and Diana L. Eck’s book bearing the same name, she discusses the Hindu practice of seeing and understandingContinue reading “Images and Darsan”
Dorothy Day’s autobiography, The Long Loneliness, offers numerous insights into the life story of one of the 20th century’s greatest American Catholics and the experiences and thinking behind her journalistic and social work. While Day stood outside the traditional bounds of American Catholicism, her commitment to journalistic excellence and learning, social poverty, and a re-thoughtContinue reading “The Long Loneliness”
This post is part of our ongoing series on Luther’s Two Kingdoms Prior to writing Temporal Authority, Luther had rejected the Roman construction of the dichotomous application of the ethical, such as the imperative of the Sermon on the Mount, to commands and counsels,[15] as well as rejecting the view that the Church was theContinue reading “Luther’s Two Kingdoms: Sword and State”
Few people alive today are more popular and polarizing than Pope Francis. No one seems sure quite how to respond to the Bishop of Rome, nor are they sure whose side (if any) he is taking in ongoing theological and cultural debates. Sensational media claims about Francis “revolutionizing” the Catholic faith are overblown, to beContinue reading “Book Review: The Joy of the Gospel (Pope Francis)”
Pursuing Veritas