Free Republic

The "let's-destroy-Christianity" project has been underway for more than three centuries now, but it is only in the last half-century that the anti-Christians discovered their most effective weapon. The project began around 1700 with the emergence of Deism as an alternative to Christianity. Deists came in a number of varieties. Some (e.g., Voltaire and Tom Paine) detested Christianity. Others (e.g., Jefferson and Kant) didn't detest Christianity. They just considered it an inferior system of belief, a system that contained not only some fine moral principles but also some pernicious superstitions. Voltaire tried to destroy Christianity (calling for the elimination of...

A higher calling The Bible doesn’t denigrate marriage; it acknowledges marriage can’t compare to the joy of heaven Msgr. Charles Pope 11/4/2015 Question: I cannot escape the conclusion that the Bible denigrates marriage. We are told by Paul by that we should live as though we had no spouse (1 Cor 7:29), and Jesus says that in heaven there will be no marriage. The Church also calls priesthood and religious life “higher callings.” What am I to make of all this negativity?— Joseph Harris, Washington, D.C. Answer: The solution is to understand the statements you reference in their wider context....

     Kontakion 1 To Thee, the champion leader, do we Thy servants dedicate a hymn of victory and thanksgiving, as ones who have been delivered from eternal death by the Grace of Christ our God Who was born of Thee and by Thy maternal mediation before Him. As Thou dost have invincible might, free us from all misfortunes and sorrowful circumstances who cry aloud: Rejoice, O Virgin Theotokos, full of Grace, Joy of all who sorrow! Ikos 1 An archangel was sent from Heaven to declare unto the Theotokos: Rejoice, announcing the divine Incarnation of Christ, Who desired to...

“Idolatry happens when we take good things and make them ultimate things.”  ~Tim Keller The following comparisons are meant to be provocative and evocative. Even if stark statements like these generalize and absolutize a bit too much, one thing I have learned from reading the reformers is that the discipline of "dialectic," as they called it (roughly, the practice of pitting ideas and statements against each other for the sake of disputation and dialogue), yields a lot of helpful clarifications. So, I encourage you to take these in that light.These observations have overflowed from the boiling pot of my own wayward heart and...

Parables Aren’t Just Stories, Many Are Riddles – Here Are Two Msgr. Charles Pope • November 5, 2015 • To most of us, parables are stories told by Jesus to illustrate and clarify what He teaches. We have read the parables in the context of two thousand years of a tradition that interprets them in a certain way. But in their original context, parables are really more like riddles. The apostles noted that while Jesus would speak to the crowds in parables, when He retreated into the house with the apostles He would explain the meaning (cf Mat 13:36). Plain...

The Bible has much to say about the heart. In Scripture, the heart refers not so much to an organ that pumps blood throughout the body as it does to the core of the soul, the deepest seat of human affections. It is out of the heart that the issues of life flow. Jesus saw a close connection between the location of our treasures and the drive of our hearts. Find a man's treasure map and you have found the highway of his heart. In this fallen condition, the heart is seen as the root of our problem. We are...

The sacrifice of the wicked is abomination: how much more, when he bringeth it with a wicked mind?(Proverbs 21:27)The Religious Dimension to What the Godless Left Is doing to the West….For this is the message that ye heard from the beginning, that we should love one another. Not as Cain, who was of that wicked one, and slew his brother. And wherefore slew he him? Because his own works were evil, and his brother’s righteous. Marvel not, my brethren, if the world hate you.( I John 3:11-13)The biblical Cain, turned away from God. He would not come to God through...

"Fear God and keep His commandments" (Ecclesiastes 12:13). Living life apart from God is futile. The Book of Ecclesiastes is greatly misunderstood. It is a difficult book to read simply because it is hard to understand. Everything in it appears wrong and as if it doesn't fit with the rest of Scripture. But it is part of the Old Testament wisdom literature because it is a statement of human wisdom. Ecclesiastes tells us how man perceives his world, God, and the realities of life. Most scholars believe Ecclesiastes was penned by Solomon. They debate whether he wrote it before he...

"By faith we understand that the worlds were prepared by the word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of things which are visible." God's greatest truths are discovered by simple faith. As a man or woman of faith, you have insights into life that unbelievers can't know. You know how the physical universe began, where it is heading, and how it will end. You know Who governs the universe and how you fit into the total scheme of things. You know why you exist and how to invest your life in matters of eternal consequence....

An interview with Matthew Cullinan Hoffman about his new translation of a treatise against sodomy, pederasty, and clerical corruption penned nearly a thousand years ago by a great reformer and Doctor of the ChurchPope Benedict XVI, in his September 9, 2009 general audience, noted that the Benedictine monk, cardinal, and Doctor of the Church, St. Peter Damian (1007-72), was "one of the most significant figures of the 11th century ... a monk, a lover of solitude and at the same time a fearless man of the Church, committed personally to the task of reform, initiated by the Popes of the...

Dominican theologian Thomas Michelet lays bare the ambiguities of the synodal text. Which has not brought unity but has papered over the divisions. The conflict between "hermeneutic of continuity" and "hermeneutic of rupture." The dilemma for Francis ROME, November 4, 2015 - Two weeks after its conclusion, the interpretations of what the synod on the family said still do not match up. For some, this uncertain outcome was intentional. Fr. Adolfo Nicolas Pachon, the superior general of the Jesuits whom Pope Francis included on the commission charged with writing the final "Relatio," openly claimed it as a success just after...

Then he said unto me, Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel: behold, they say, Our bones are dried, and our hope is lost: we are cut off for our parts. Therefore prophesy and say unto them, Thus saith the Lord God; Behold, O my people, I will open your graves, and cause you to come up out of your graves, and bring you into the land of Israel. And ye shall know that I am the Lord, when I have opened your graves, O my people, and brought you up out of your graves,(Ezekiel 37:11-13)Israel...

Sinner, Please Don’t Let This Harvest Pass – God’s Plan to Save Us, as Seen in the Book of Malachi Msgr. Charles Pope • November 4, 2015 • In the posts of the past two days, we’ve looked at the sins of the priests and those of all the people. Clearly, we all have a lot on which to reflect.The prophets do not write merely to denounce, but rather to draw people back to the Lord, who alone can save them. Malachi is no exception.God wants His people to be ready for the Day of Judgment. That day is coming...

"Who among you is wise and understanding? Let him show by his good behavior his deeds in the gentleness of wisdom" (James 3:13). Wisdom teaches us how to handle adversity. In his wonderful commentary on the book of James, Robert Johnstone wrote the following about meekness: That "the meek" should "inherit the earth"-that they bear wrongs, and exemplify the love which "seeketh not her own"-to a world that believes in high-handedness and self-assertion, and pushing the weakest to the wall, a statement like this of the Lord from Heaven cannot but appear an utter paradox. The man of the world...

"By [faith] the men of old gained approval" (Heb. 11:2). God makes His approval known to those who trust in Him. The book Catch-22 tells of a squadron of World War II fliers stationed on the fictitious island of Pianos in the Mediterranean. Before a flier could transfer off the island, he had to complete 25 extremely dangerous missions over southern Europe. One flier, Yosarian, was especially anxious to leave. After completing his twenty-fifth mission, his commanding officer began raising the number of qualifying missions. Insanity became the only justification for a transfer. But the commander decided that whomever feigned...

The hand of the Lord was upon me, and carried me out in the spirit of the Lord, and set me down in the midst of the valley which was full of bones, And caused me to pass by them round about: and, behold, there were very many in the open valley; and, lo, they were very dry. And he said unto me, Son of man, can these bones live? And I answered, O Lord God, thou knowest.(Ezekiel 37:1-2)Ezekiel has seen visions of the restoration of Israel at the end of the World. At the time he was given this...

Martin Luther gave the following analogy: When we are justified, it is as though a doctor has just administered a sure and certain remedy for a fatal disease. Though the patient may still endure a temporary struggle with the residual effects of his illness, the outcome is no longer in doubt. The physician pronounces the patient cured even though a rehabilitation process must still be carried out. So it is with our justification. In Christ, God pronounces us just by the imputation of the merits of His Son. Along with that declaration, God administers something to us; He gives us...

The Sins of God’s People As Stated in the Prophet Malachi Msgr. Charles Pope • November 3, 2015 • In yesterday’s post, we considered the sins of the priests (and they were numerous enough). Today we examine the sins of the people that the Lord sets forth in the Book of Malachi. Here, too, please understand that not everyone is guilty of all of these things. However, they are common human sins and sinful attitudes. So consider this inspired list (for it is from the Lord) and pray for conversion and repentance, for the picture here is all too familiar.I....

"Who among you is wise and understanding? Let him show by his good behavior his deeds in the gentleness of wisdom" (James 3:13). A wise person is a gentle person. A believer will demonstrate that he possesses the wisdom of God not only by his behavior, but also by his attitude. True wisdom is characterized by gentleness and is the opposite of self-promotion and arrogance. Gentleness is the trait that characterized our Lord. In Matthew 11:29 He says, "Take My yoke upon you, and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart." It is also a trait...

"Faith is . . . the conviction of things not seen" (Heb. 11:1). True faith goes beyond assurance to action. When the writer said, "Faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen", he used two parallel and almost identical phrases to define faith. We've seen that faith is the assurance that all God's promises will come to pass in His time. "The conviction of things not seen" takes the same truth a step further by implying a response to what we believe and are assured of. James addressed the issue this way: "Someone may...