r e g u l a f i d e i

2011-10-30T16:04:00.000-07:00

Most of my internet content will now be posted at aguirrereading.wordpress.com Join us there.

Movie Review, Battle. Los Angeles

2011-03-20T18:49:00.000-07:00

Movie Review, Battle. Los Angeles ½★

Take a movie with a somewhat decent plot, excellent CGI and the occasional good camera work, now add to it obscenely cliche writing and music, virtually no strong acting, a wooden male lead and a predictable ending and you come up with Jonathan Liebesman's Battle. Los Angeles (2011).

Do I recommend it? Well you don't want to take a girl to see this type of movie since it is a classic example of a testosterone-flick. But if you are considering taking your man (or a buddy) to see it and he is one of those types that are easily amused with shiny objects and believes that the US wars on Iraq/Afganistan were completely justifiable well then he will have a smash. But if your date has any sense of critical thinking you are better off saving your money.

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R. E. Aguirre

Book Review, Universal Theory.

2011-03-15T13:11:00.000-07:00

Book Review, Universal Theory, Kermanshahi.

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Universal Theory. A Model for the Theory of Everything by Mohsen Kermanshahi (Universal Publishers, 2007) is an interesting foray into the higher physical theories and Kermanshahi's brave attempt to unify them all (something no one has been able to do thus far). Unfortunately, Kermanshahi (dentist by profession) falls far short. The entire presentation seems muddled and haphazardly thrown together. There are numerous typological errors and even the English syntax is hard to follow at times (as if English is not the author's first language and if the book is a half-hearted attempt at a translation from a source language).

Like many others thinkers lately consciousness is the key to unify the various theories or what Kermanshahi dubs "singularity." But the main thrust of the argument is not fully fleshed out and seems hanging at some parts and too developed and redundant in others. Universal Theory bears the marks of a layman's attempt at the near impossibility even for the specialists. Much better treaties exist from this standpoint.

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R. E. Aguirre

The Most Holy Trinity and Development of Doctrine

2011-03-06T10:09:00.000-08:00

Did the Doctrine of the Trinity Develop?

Alvaro T. Raymundo Th.M.

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It was customary among the more older works of scholastic theology as well as manuals of dogmatic theology (Catholic/Protestant/Orthodox) in conversations on the doctrine of the most Holy Trinity to claim that the complex Nicene formulation of the Trinity was believed already in the New Testament (and some would say in the Old as well). And while the more extreme heterodox groups have always denied this dogma it really was beginning with the advent of the Protestant Reformation (especially the Anabaptists) that this doctrine was called into question occasionally (albeit for different grounds, i.e., a rejection of post Biblical tradition).

The sons of the Reformers, - the radical Lutheran History of Religion critics, also mounted assaults on this doctrine, but again on different grounds, i.e., so-called "dependence" on the Graeco Roman pagan religions on the part of the authors of the New Testament and the early Fathers. The backlash of all this criticism was the conservative stance, which claimed that the Trinity in all its tricky inseminations was found completely in the pages of Scripture. To go beyond this fundamentalistic reasoning was to dangerously flirt with “higher critical liberalism.”

It was left for Pius XII in his Divino Afflante Spiritu which opened up the flood gates for Catholic scholarship to explore the limits of hermeneutics and the literary criticisms, while remaining within the circle of orthodoxy.¹ And while Rahner bemoaned the state of Trinitarian study in his day this complaint no longer has any merit.² Catholic scholars such as Fortman and Brown³ were contending that the New Testament writers had no conception of the Trinity as it was couched in Nicene phraseology but instead they held to an “elemental” Trinitarianism, or the building blocks which later Catholic theologians would use to construct the Trinitarian edifice (guided by the Hand of the Spirit). This is no less than a beautiful example of the "Development of Doctrine" conception as it was classically explained by John Henry Newman.

The earliest post-NT writings seem to support this conclusion.⁴ In First Clement the Father is intelligibly God and the pre-existence of Christ can be deduced from texts such as (22, 1). The closest thing to a Trinitarian frontal statement is in (58, 2), “As God lives, and the Lord Jesus Christ lives, and the Holy Spirit.”⁵ The stress throughout Clement is usually on Christ and the Three are rarely mentioned together. In this matter Clement seems very primitive and similar to the statements of Paul in the NT.

In the Ignatian corpus the Development of Doctrine is already beginning to flower. Christ is directly called God fourteen times,⁶ but as in Clement there is no frontal formulations of the Trinity in Ignatius. As in Clement, Ignatius speaks of the Trinity in its functions rather than in tractarian terms, “Like the stones of a temple, cut for a building of God the Father, you have been lifted up to the top by the crane of Jesus Christ, which is the cross, and the rope of the Holy Spirit (Eph. 9.1). The same things can be said of Hermas, the Didache, the Martyrdom of Polycarp, Barnabas, 2 Clement. All of which speak in Trinitarian language, albeit in a very primitive and rudimentary way.⁷

It is not an affront to orthodoxy at all to state that the dogma of the Trinity as it was codified in Councils such as that of Nicaea was a careful and divinely guided example of the Development of Doctrine. This view holds that the seeds of Trinitarianism are found already in the Scriptures (both Old and New) but it was left for God’s community over the passing of the centuries to slowly unfold this greatest and central mystery of our faith.

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^¹ Catholic scholars such as Chenu, Congar, Jungmann, Rahner, de Lubac, Lagrange, Danielou, Bouyer, etc were pioneers in this expedition.

^² Studies and monographs on the Trinity are an enormous cache now in the beginning of the twenty-first century. In my opinion the best Catholic exposition of the twentieth century was that of Edmund J. Fortman, The Triune God: A Historical Study of the Doctrine of the Trinity (Oregon: Wipf and Stock, 1999). One of the best Orthodox expositions was Sergius Bulgakov, The Comforter(Eerdmans, 2004). The Protestant expositions on the Trinity was a jumbled mess, that is well chronicled by the Anglican scholar Kevin Giles, Jesus and the Father: Modern Evangelicals Reinvent the Doctrine of the Trinity (Zondervan, 2006) and also Millard J. Erickson, Who’s Tampering with the Trinity?: An Assessment of the Subordination Debate (Kregel Academic, 2009).

^³ Fortman, opt cit; R. E. Brown, Biblical Exegesis and Church Doctrine (Paulist, 1985) are just two examples.

^⁴ Let me be clear lest I’m misunderstood. I agree with the overwhelming majority of Patristic scholars that Trinitarian language is clearly found in the early pre-Nicene Fathers (as well as the New and Old Testaments). But what I’m saying is that the later fully developed Nicene formulation of the Trinity was an acceptable development of these rudimentary blocks. It should however not be anachronistically be read back into say Paul or Clement when it is simply not there.

^⁵ The Three are again mentioned in 42, 3; 46, 6.

^⁶ (Eph. 1.1; 7.2; 15.3; 17.2; 18.2; 19.3; Trall. 7.1; Rom. 3.3; 6.3; Smyrn. 1.1; Poly. 8.3).

^⁷ In the later so-called “Apologists” such as Justin Martyr et al, we see a clear unfolding of the development of Trinitarian insight.

Book Review. Quantum Enigma

2011-03-05T09:23:00.000-08:00

Quantum Enigma, Bruce Rosenblum and Fred Kuttner (New York. New York, Oxford University Press, 2008) is a study and introduction to Quantum Physics written for popular audiences (math is kept to a minimum). It is a fascinating trek beyond usual quantum studies however in that Rosenblum & Kuttner not only remain at the superficial level of quantum physics (i.e., if it works go with it don't question the deeper philosophical issues) but they dare delve into the more profound implications of quantum physics (i.e., metaphysical questions) especially in relation to the extremely "hard" question of the relation of consciousness to quantum physics, hence their title Quantum Enigma.

The advanced student of quantum physics will find nothing here that he has not already well understood. Yet this is one of the best introductions to quantum physics for the lay reader out there.

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R. E. Aguirre

Movie Review, Late Spring (Ozu)

2011-03-02T18:45:00.000-08:00

Reviewing A Classic, Ozu's Late Spring.

Late Spring

Yasujiro Ozu (1949)

Calmness, serenity, nature in full blossom. The pace is slow - classic Ozu. The characters are the familiar troupe that Ozu likes to work with, somehow I feel like I'm watching the same previous movie of Ozu. The music seems dated and scratchy, something to be expected of old movies. Acting is subdued. The wife asks me what movie I'm watching, I respond, "Ozu's Late Spring" and she exclaims, "I love Ozu's movies!" That makes me think that Ozu's work seems almost tailored made for women, it is foremost about relationships and pithy back and forth small talk, small escapades, a chance meeting between the daughter and a professor, she needs to buy sewing needles, he agrees to accompany her. Such pleasant fortuities are a trademark of Ozu.

We learn that the daughter is 27 and still living at home with her father, recovering from some disease but still a model child. What is the problem here and why has she not found a man? Just about everyone is trying to hook her up, someone has just the man for her, he's 34 and looks like Gary Cooper, at least from the nose down it is claimed. Noriko (the daughter) finally admits, if she leaves home her father "would be lost" without her. Noriko's friend offers her some cake. She refuses, "This just goes to show you need a man" her friend responds. Noriko storms out of her house. All the while Ozu's gentle touch with the camera pervades the scenes. People leave the shot and re-enter it - yet the camera remains motionless, stoically.

The father apologizes for having kept Noriko for so long. Sweet words from a sweet man from a sweet plot and a sweet director. Everything from Ozu is sweet and delicate, birds chirp away, the camera cuts to various scenes of flowers and nature, the gentle touch of a lover. The father tells her he plans to remarry a woman they saw at a play earlier and Noriko is crushed. Noriko we later learn has agreed to marry Mr. Gary Cooper look alike who at this point we still have not met and never will (what a different approach a western director would have attempted) yet Ozu is not interested. The wedding is not shown. "It was the biggest lie of my life" says Noriko's father as he confesses that he never had an intention to remarry anyone. The lie worked, it got his daughter out of the house and into her own life. A man comes home and the house is alone deserted, he sits down and misses his daughter greatly.

What is to say about the films of Ozu that has not already been written by countless film scholars and critics? It is definitely a change of pace from the brainless action "flicks" we are so used to in western cinema. It is more like reading a novel. Quite serenity - when you want to get a way from problems and people, put in an Ozu movie and relax and be at peace with one of cinema's greatest masters. While Late Spring is not my favorite Ozu film it is still leagues above most junk being discharged today.

The final scene of Late Spring is of waves rolling in from the sea, quiet yet distressing. Life goes on despite it all. Such a gentle and sweet story would never work in today's Philistine cinema.

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R. E. Aguirre

Thoughts on Viviano, Scripture and Tradition.

2011-02-26T06:38:00.001-08:00

I recently read Tom Viviano’s¹ entry “The Normativity of Scripture and Tradition in Recent Catholic Theology” in Scripture’s Doctrine and Theology’s Bible: How the New Testament Shapes Christian Dogmatics,² and I must admit I came away from it with mixed feelings.

Viviano gives us an excellent historical excursus of the eminent Catholic biblical scholar M. J. Lagrange (1855-1938) and his dealings with the Catholic hierarchy at the time (who viewed him with suspicion). He also gives an able presentation of J. R. Geiselmann on Scripture and Tradition as it relates to Trent, Sola-Scriptura and the battle of “inerrancy” of Scripture. Geiselmann, Viviano reminds us, holds Scripture as sufficient for all things necessary to salvation, with Tradition playing an important role in interpreting Scripture.³ We are then treated to a good discussion over Canon Criticism, Dei Verbum, Vatican II and the role of the Pontifical Biblical Commission on these issues.

My main concern comes in Viviano’s conclusion (pp. 139-40). He states that “One can therefore be a good Roman Catholic and live by a kind of sola scriptura, but with some qualifications.” Now let us not be confused here. We know that Viviano is writing (consciously) to a largely Protestant audience in a Protestant publisher, so he clearly is attempting some eirenic tone. What are then these “qualifications?” First, that Scripture would contain the deuterocanonical (or as Protestants call them, the ‘Apocryphal’ books). Very few Protestants would agree with this claim. His second qualification is that tradition “sometimes provides a dogmatically binding interpretative norm (e.g., the homoousion in the Nicene Creed).” Few Protestants today would hold to this specific formulation and even fewer conservative Catholics⁴. Third, there is a freedom to interpret Scripture in light of the “new knowledges” i.e., Hammurabi’s Code or nuclear warfare. But this is simply a quirk of the higher critical Biblical guilds which most conservative Protestants and Catholics would deny. And fifth, that the faithful Roman Catholic should remain at peace knowing that he exists in a Communion with many others who “indulge in unscriptural beliefs and practices.” This statement is filled with problems however. To simply assert this and not to cite examples or even to tie these supposed erroneous beliefs to the principle of Scripture and Tradition can leave a brutal misrepresentation in the minds of Protestant readers.

Viviano’s entry is a thoughtful exercise in twentieth century Catholic thought over Scripture and Tradition. His peculiar suggestion of a nuanced Catholic sola scriptura however fails on many points. It would have been better for Viviano to collocate the historic Catholic view of Scripture and Tradition with modern Catholic views and trail blaze a way beyond the differences without kowtowing to Protestant sensibilities.

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Craig W. Pointer

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^¹ Thomas Viviano O.P., Professor of New Testament at Fribourg University, Switzerland. Probably best known as a Matthean scholar. He is responsible for the notes on Matthew in theNew Jerome Biblical Commentary (Prentice-Hall, 1990) and also Matthew and His World: The Gospel of the Open Jewish Christians (NTOA 61; Fribourg Academic Press, 2007).

^² Edited by Markus Bockmuehl and Alan J. Torrance, (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Baker Academic, 2008), pp. 125-40.

^³ This is an acceptable Catholic view with representatives such as Yves Congar, Tradition and Traditions: An Historical and a Theological Essay (London: Burns & Oates, 1966). For Catholic critics of this view and for an alternative understanding of Scripture and Tradition consult Karl Rahner,Revelation and Tradition (New York: Herder and Herder, 1966).

^⁴ Most Catholics (are conservative) and would hold on the contrary that tradition is not just “sometimes dogmatically binding” but rather all the time.

Al Jazeera English Live TV.

2011-02-24T16:19:00.000-08:00

Tired of the news from a decidedly western point of view? Check out Al Jazeera English Live. Excellent news resource that gives a more global point of view.

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Liz Espinoza.

Book Alert, Hawking and Quantum Physics.

2011-02-22T19:14:00.000-08:00

I find quantum physics/mechanics absolutely fascinating and mesmerizing. The idea that our senses/brain only capture a certain aspect of the universe but that there is much more going on that we can register is hauntingly beautiful. Stephen Hawking is due to release a collection of the most vital papers on quantum physics and the paradigm shift they created in a single book to be published by Running Press around September.

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R. E. Aguirre

Book Alert. Levering on Predestination

2011-02-20T12:45:00.000-08:00

Professor of Theology at Dayton and Catholic scholar Matthew Levering is scheduled to release a full treatment on Predestination in July later this year to be published by Oxford University Press. Should become mandatory reading for any of you interested in this subject.

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Alex Guiao

The Protestant Monopoly on Commentaries, Issues and Summary.

2011-02-19T05:39:00.000-08:00

The Protestant Monopoly on Commentaries, Issues and Summary

Craig Pointer

I first must start by way of a preface to the title of this short article. To be exact here I am only dealing with New Testament commentaries. Secondly, when I mention "commentary" I mean particularly academic and technical commentaries not "popular" or "lay-friendly" commentaries. This is important to keep in mind.

Now that we have that out of the way we can devise what is being said here now. Let me post a short "top five" list of my personal "favorite" commentaries (academic) of the various books of the NT. This will give a better picture of what we are talking about.

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Matthew

[1]. W. D. Davies and D. C. Allison, A Critical and Exegetical Commentary on the Gospel

According to Saint Matthew (3 vols. ICC; 1988-97). Protestant critical.

[2]. R. T. France, The Gospel of Matthew (NICNT; 2007). Protestant conservative.

[3]. U. Luz, Matthew (3 vols. Hermeneia; 1989-2005). Protestant critical.

[4]. D. L. Turner, Matthew (BECNT; 2008). Protestant conservative.

[5]. D. A. Carson, Matthew (2 vols. EBC). Protestant conservative.

Mark

[1]. R. T. France, The Gospel of Mark (NIGTC; 2002). Protestant conservative.

[2]. F. J. Moloney, The Gospel of Mark: A Commentary (Hendrickson, 2002). Catholic

moderate.

[3]. J. Marcus, Mark (2 vols. AB; 2000, 09). Protestant moderate.

[4]. R. H. Stein, Mark (BECNT; 2008). Protestant conservative.

[5]. A. Y. Collins, Mark: A Commentary (Hermeneia; 2007). Catholic critical.

Luke

[1]. J. A. Fitzmyer, The Gospel According to Luke (2 vols. AB; 1981, 85). Catholic moderate.

[2]. F. Bovon Luke (Multi-vol. 1 vol thus far, Hermeneia, 2002). Protestant critical.

[3]. L. T. Johnson, The Gospel of Luke (Sacra Pagina; 2006). Catholic moderate.

[4]. J. Nolland, Luke (3 vols. WBC; 1989-93). Protestant conservative.

[5]. I. H. Marshall, Gospel of Luke: A Commentary on the Greek Text (NIGTC; 1978).

Protestant moderate.

John

[1]. R. E. Brown, The Gospel According to John (2 vols. AB: 1966, 70). Catholic moderate.

[2]. John McHugh, John (Multi-vol. 1 vol thus far, ICC; 2009). Protestant moderate.

[3]. R. Schnackenburg, John (4 vols. HKNT; 1968-82). Catholic critical.

[4]. U. C. von Wahlde, Gospel of John (Multi-vol. ECC; 2009). Protestant critical.

[5]. F. J. Moloney, The Gospel of John (Sacra Pagina: 1998). Catholic moderate.

Acts

[1]. J. A. Fitzmyer, The Acts of the Apostles (AB; 1999). Catholic moderate.

[2]. C. K. Barrett, Acts (2 vols. ICC; 1994, 99). Protestant moderate.

[3]. R. Pervo, Acts: A Commentary (Hermeneia: 2008). Protestant critical.

[4]. D. G. Peterson, The Acts of the Apostles (PNTC; 2009). Protestant conservative.

[5]. F. F. Bruce, The Book of Acts (NICNT; 1988). Protestant conservative.

Romans

[1]. J. A. Fitzmyer, Romans (AB; 1993). Catholic moderate.

[2]. P. Jewett, Romans: A Commentary (Hermeneia; 2006). Protestant moderate.

[3]. C. E. B. Cranfield, A Critical and Exegetical Commentary on the Epistle to the

Romans (2 vols. ICC; 1975). Protestant moderate.

[4]. E. Kasemann, Commentary on Romans (Eerdmans; 1994). Protestant critical.

[5]. D. J. Moo, The Epistle to the Romans (NICNT; 1996). Protestant conservative.

1 Corinthians

[1]. J. A. Fitzmyer, First Corinthians (AB; 2009). Catholic moderate.

[2]. A. C. Thiselton, The First Epistle to the Corinthians (NIGTC; 2000). Protestant

conservative.

[3]. W. Schrage, First Corinthians (3 vols. EKKNT; 1991, 95, 99). Protestant critical.

[4]. R. F. Collins, First Corinthians (Sacra Pagina; 1999). Catholic moderate.

[5]. G. D. Fee, The First Epistle to the Corinthians (NICNT; 1987). Protestant

conservative.

2 Corinthians

[1]. M. J. Harris, The Second Epistle to the Corinthians (NIGTC; 2004). Protestant

moderate.

[2]. M. E. Thrall, Second Epistle to the Corinthians (2 vols. ICC; 1994). Protestant

critical.

[3]. F. J. Matera, II Corinthians (NTL; 2003). Catholic moderate.

[4]. J. Lambrecht, Second Corinthians (Sacra Pagina; 2007). Catholic moderate.

[5]. P. Barnett, The Second Epistle to the Corinthians (NICNT; 1997). Protestant

conservative.

Galatians

[1]. J. L. Martyn, Galatians (AB; 1997). Protestant moderate.

[2]. F. J. Matera, Galatians (Sacra Pagina; 2007). Catholic moderate.

[3]. D. Luhrmann, Galatians (CC: 1992). Protestant critical.

[4]. F. F. Bruce, The Epistle to the Galatians (NIGTC; 1982). Protestant conservative.

[5]. R. Longenecker, Galatians (WBC; 1990). Protestant conservative.

Ephesians

[1]. E. Best, Ephesians (ICC; 1998). Protestant moderate.

[2]. R. Schnackenburg, Ephesians (2001). Catholic critical.

[3]. A. T. Lincoln, Ephesians (WBC; 1990). Protestant moderate.

[4]. M. MacDonald, Ephesians (Sacra Pagina: 2000). Catholic moderate.

[5]. F. F. Bruce, Ephesians (NICNT; 1984). Protestant conservative.

Philippians

[1]. J. Reumann, Philippians (AB; 2008). Protestant moderate.

[2]. P. T. O’Brien, The Epistle to the Philippians (NIGTC; 1991). Protestant

conservative.

[3]. B. Thurston and J. Ryan, Philippians (Sacra Pagina; 2003). Catholic

moderate.

[4]. G. W. Hansen, The Letter to the Philippians (PNTC; 2009). Protestant

conservative.

[5]. G. D. Fee, Paul’s Letter to the Philippians (NICNT; 1995). Protestant

conservative.

Colossians and Philemon

[1]. R. M Wilson, Colossians and Philemon (ICC; 2005). Protestant moderate.

[2]. J. D. G. Dunn, The Epistle to the Colossians and Philemon (NIGTC; 1996).

Protestant moderate.

[3]. M. Y. MacDonald, Colossians and Philemon (Sacra Pagina; 2008). Catholic

moderate.

[4]. F. F. Bruce, The Epistle to the Colossians and Philemon (NICNT; 1984). Protestant

conservative.

[5]. D. J. Moo, The Letter to the Colossians and Philemon (PNTC; 2008). Protestant

conservative.

1 and 2 Thessalonians

[1]. G. D. Fee, The First and Second Letters to the Thessalonians (NICNT; 2009).

Protestant conservative.

[2]. A. J. Malherbe, The Letters to the Thessalonians (AB; 2000).

[3]. E. J. Richard, First and Second Thessalonians (Sacra Pagina: 1995). Catholic

moderate.

[4]. F. F. Bruce, 1 & 2 Thessalonians (WBC; 1982). Protestant conservative.

[5]. C. A. Wanamaker, The Epistle to the Thessalonians (NIGTC; 1990). Protestant

conservative.

Pastoral Epistles

[1]. L. T. Johnson, The First and Second Letters to Timothy (AB; 2001). Catholic

moderate.

[2]. I. H. Marshall, Pastoral Epistles (ICC; 2000). Protestant moderate.

[3]. R. F. Collins, First and Second Timothy and Titus (NTL; 2003). Catholic

moderate.

[4]. W. D. Mounce, Pastoral Epistles (WBC; 2000). Protestant conservative.

[5]. B. Fiore, Pastoral Epistles (Sacra Pagina; 2003). Catholic moderate.

Hebrews

[1]. H. Attridge, Hebrews (Hermeneia; 1989). Catholic critical.

[2]. L. T. Johnson, Hebrews (NTL; 2006). Catholic moderate.

[3]. P. T. O’Brien, The Letter to the Hebrews (PNTC; 2010). Protestant conservative.

[4]. A. Mitchell, Hebrews (Sacra Pagina; 2007). Catholic moderate.

[5]. C. Koester, Hebrews (AB; 2001). Protestant moderate.

James

[1]. L. T. Johnson, James (AB; 1995). Catholic moderate.

[2]. R. P. Martin, James (WBC; 1989). Protestant moderate.

[3]. P. J. Hartin, James (Sacra Pagina; 2003). Catholic moderate.

[4]. D. G. McCartney, James (BECNT; 2009). Protestant conservative.

[5]. P. H. Davids, The Epistle of James (NIGTC; 1982). Protestant conservative.

1 Peter

[1]. J. H. Elliott, 1 Peter (AB; 2001). Protestant moderate.

[2]. P. J. Achtemeier, A Commentary on 1 Peter (Hermeneia; 1996). Protestant

critical.

[3]. R. Michaels, 1 Peter (WBC; 1988). Protestant conservative.

[4]. P. H. Davids, The First Epistle of Peter (NICNT; 1990). Protestant conservative.

[5]. D. P. Senior, 1 Peter (Sacra Pagina; 2002). Catholic moderate.

2 Peter and Jude

[1]. J. Neyrey, 2 Peter, Jude (AB; 1993).

[2]. A. Vogtle, 2 Peter, Jude (EKKNT; 1994).

[3]. R. J. Bauckham, Jude, 2 Peter (WBC; 1983). Protestant moderate.

[4]. G. L. Green, Jude and 2 Peter (BECNT; 2008). Protestant conservative.

[5]. P. H. Davids, The Letters of 2 Peter and Jude (PNTC; 2006). Protestant

conservative.

Johannine Epistles

[1]. R. E. Brown, The Epistles of John (AB; 1982). Catholic moderate.

[2]. G. Strecker, The Johannine Letters (Hermeneia; 1996). Protestant critical.

[3]. J. Painter, 1, 2, and 3 John (Sacra Pagina; 2002). Catholic moderate.

[4]. R. Schnackenburg, The Johannine Epistles (1992). Catholic critical.

[5]. R. W. Yarbrough, 1-3 John (BECNT; 2008). Protestant conservative.

The Apocalypse

[1]. D. E. Aune, Revelation (3 vols. WBC; 1997-98). Protestant moderate.

[2]. G. K. Beale, The Book of Revelation (NIGTC; 1999). Protestant conservative.

[3]. H. Giesen, Die Offenbarung des Johannes (Putset, 1997). Protestant moderate.

[4]. W. J. Harrington, Revelation (Sacra Pagina; 2008). Catholic critical.

[5]. R. H. Mounce, The Book of Revelation (NICNT; 1997). Protestant moderate.

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What are the statistics that we see across the board? That with a few exceptions (and mostly from entries from the excellent Yale Anchor Bible Series, Hermeneia (Collins - Mark), Sacra Pagina) the technical commentaries are dominated by Protestant scholarship. The reason behind this is easy to understand. Protestants devoted to the principle of sola Scriptura give primary emphasis on Scripture and hence it is no surprise that they should dominate the field. Non-Protestants such as Catholics and Orthodox can have their attention's focused elsewhere - such as liturgy and ecclesiastical writings.

In fact, now that I think of it most biblical academics that I can think of happen to be Catholic. People such as, Jerome Neyrey (Notre Dame), R. E. Brown (Union Theological Seminary), J. A. Fitzmyer, Luke Johnson (Emory University), Thomas Tobin (Loyola Chicago), Margaret MacDonald (St. Francis Xavier), Gerald Fogarty (University of Virginia), Robert Daly (Boston College), Aiden Nichols (Cambridge), Ian Ker (Oxford), Boudewijn Dehandschutter (Leuven), Thomas Weinandy (Oxford), Jerome Murphy-O'Connor (Ecole Biblique - Jerusalem), Jeffrey Gros (Memphis Theological Seminary), Thomas Rausch (Loyola), William Harmless (Creighton University), Rudolf Pesch (Bonn), Ceslas Spicq, Frank Matera, Johannes Quasten (Freiburg), Avery Dulles (Fordham), Edmund Fortman (Loyola), Felix Just (Loyola), Francis Beckwith (Baylor), Xavier-Leon Dufour, David Power (Catholic University of America), John Galvin (Catholic University of America), Edward Schillebeeckx (Catholic University - Nijmegen), Donald Senior, Bernard Lonergan (Boston College), Ladislas Orsy (University of Fribourg), Harold Attridge (Yale), John Meier (Notre Dame), John Collins (Yale), Elisabeth Schussler Fiorenza (Harvard), Adela Collins (Yale), Edward Kilmartin (Pontifical Oriental Institute - Rome), Rene Laurentin (Catholic University Angers), are but the tip of the intellectual academic Catholic iceberg. I can go on and on and on. All of this is to say that the Catholic tradition (not even mentioning the many experts in Orthodoxy) definitely more than has the capacity to be cranking out tome after tome of NT technical commentaries.¹

We have discussed already that for the Catholic (and Orthodox) mind biblical commentaries are not first priority. We get our biblical interpretations "given" to us as it were through the various "official" Church bodies. In contrast the Protestant reader has to discover for him/herself through "independent" research (reading other Protestant commentaries) what is biblical interpretation. I believe neither of these two positions alone can be best choice for biblical interpretation. But rather studying the best academic commentaries (from all the theological stances) along with Church traditional reading would equip best the student of Scripture.

We do need the great pool of talent in the Catholic (and Orthodox) tradition to "step it up" a bit and publish more technical commentaries.

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¹ Tongue in cheek I point out this magnificent "monopoly" of the best academic biblical posts throughout the Universities of higher learning by Catholics (throughout the planet). Which Protestant denomination can claim this sheer number of posts?

Coyne and Dawkins

2011-02-16T19:30:00.001-08:00

Here is a fascinating interview that Richard Dawkins had with the Jesuit George Coyne who is an accomplished astronomer and former head of the Vatican Observatory.¹ Although I do not agree with everything Father Coyne expresses in this interview it is an admirable (short) defense of Theism in general and Catholic Christianity in particular from a very sophisticated intellectual within modern Catholicism.

Dawkins seems impressed and thankful for this opportunity to interview Coyne something which is exceedingly rare for him when compared to the other similar type's of interviews with Theistic thinkers (e.g., McGrath etc).

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¹ Father Coyne's contributions in Physics Philosophy and Theology. A Common Quest For Understanding (University of Notre Dame, 1997) is absolutely mandatory reading for all sides regarding these issues.

Pandora Radio...Wow.

2011-02-13T08:18:00.001-08:00

Pandora Radio

I usually don't give cheap plugs for internet services but this is a great exception. Many of you know by now of Pandora Radio but for those who don't here it is. It is a free music service that queries by musical genre and constantly plays different bands of that type of music.

For example, create a "new station" and type in desired group (for example Bach) and it will start off with a song from Bach then follow it up with a different composer/band from that same type of musical type. This is a great way to discover new groups you might like from the desired genre. You can make a lot of different "stations" to toggle through different types. Once in a while a commercial will pop-up, hence how Pandora makes their living through potential sales.

Book Review, Deniable Darwin

2011-02-09T18:26:00.000-08:00

Book Review, The Deniable Darwin. David Berlinski

The Deniable Darwin & Other Essays by David Berlinski (Discovery Institute Press, 2009) is a fascinating collection of essays and papers by Berlinski mostly published in Commentary but also in other writings. Berlinski by this point is one of the world's best known agnostics (made infamous in his appearance in Ben Stein's Expelled documentary).

What we get in these collections is what one expects from Berlinski, namely sharp and clear reasoning (often overly loquacious) albeit to frustratingly opaque conclusions. The following statement sums up rather well Berlinski's epistemological method, "The plain truth - no trivial thing - of course - is that no one knows" (p. 546). Intelligent Design while possible is far from being proven. Darwinian Evolution is even farther away from being proven. Do we get alternative solutions perhaps? No, none is forthcoming.

The best part of this book (and much to Berlinski's credit) were the various responses from professional critics concerning some of his papers which cast doubt on Darwinian Evolution (and in turn his response to the criticisms). Highlight's for this reader were the fascinating account and interaction between Einstein and Godel (Einstein And Godel. Friendship Between Equals), a summary of the question of irreducible complexity and Darwinian Evolution (Has Darwin Met His Match?), on the problem of human intelligence in light of evolution (On the Origins Of The Mind), human language and evolution (Our Silent Partners), and most impressive of all was the unlikelihood of chance as being the principle starter for life (On The Origins of Life).

All in all a great read and highly recommended for the Christian and non-Christian alike.

The Tree of Life Trailer 2011 HD

2011-02-06T00:09:00.000-08:00

The Tree of Life, Malik and a Bit of Fun.

I recently seen this trailer of Terrence Malick's new film The Tree of Life that is scheduled to come out sometime during May of this year. The cinematography and music look beautiful from the short clip but something struck me to the core when seeing this trailer. According to the Wikipedia on Malick he is said to not only been born in Waco Texas but was ardently mixed up in the existential philosophy of Martin Heidegger (apparently Malick taught philosophy at one point in his life at Massachusetts Institute of Technology) and Malick's Heideggerian influences throughout many of his films has been long pointed out.

The main character in the film is a young boy (apparently growing up in Waco - very little information has been released of the film's story) who grows up wrestling with his existential angst on the meaning (and origins) of life. Autobiographical I dear say? To those of us familiar with philosophy the connections are clear. Can this movie be about the larger question on evolution / creation and a boy's/man's coming to terms with a choice between these two great worldviews? We all know the teaching of Heidegger and his lifelong commitment to the Nazi party sometimes even called the 'philosophical force behind Hitler.'¹

Wherever Malick has chosen to take this film it looks to be interesting but the walkway of this narrow bridge is a slippery and dangerous one if not treaded on carefully.

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¹ E.g., Jean-Francois Lyotard, Heidegger and the Jews (University of Minnesota Press, 1990), Victor Farias, Heidegger and Nazism (Temple University Press, 1991), Alan Milchman ed., Martin Heidegger and the Holocaust (Lynx House Press, 1997), Tom Rockmore, On Heidegger's Nazism and Philosophy (University of California Press, 1997), Karl Lowith, Martin Heidegger and European Nihilism (Columbia University Press, 1998), Julian Young, Heidegger, Philosophy, Nazism (Cambridge University Press, 1998), Emmanuel Faye, Heidegger. The Introduction of Nazism into Philosophy in Light of the Unpublished Seminars of 1933-35 (Yale University Press, 2009) are a few examples.

Nessun Dorma (Pavarotti, NY 1980)

2011-02-05T08:47:00.000-08:00

Passione or Contenuto?

I have always wrestled with the question over what is more important in the arts, passion (passione) or content (contenuto)? Above I have linked a short video of the great Luciano Pavarotti singing the ageless Dorma which is worth seeing. Pavarotti seems to be passione embodied in physical flesh.

The question is of course a flight into fancy and perhaps an artificial one in that we are seeing divisions where they should not exist. But just as I am saying this I'm reminded of the work of the modern artist David Lynch (popularly known for his directorship in films). Here is a man that is devoted entirely it seems to the form and the aesthetic and little to content or semblance of intellectual continuity. Lynch is a classic example of utter passion with little content. But what of the reverse? Content with no passion seems dry, verbose and lukewarm. Was the Jesus of the Apocalypse far of the mark when he chastised that certain congregation for being "lukewarm" and threatening to spit them from his mouth because they could not in the long run make a decision for this way or that? Alas I digress.

Book Review, The Greatest Show On Earth.

2011-02-01T19:00:00.000-08:00

Book Review, The Greatest Show On Earth, Dawkins

This is a short review of Richard Dawkins, The Greatest Show on Earth. The Evidence for Evolution published by Free Press (Paperback edition 2010). What we have here is vintage Dawkins, unrelenting in cold logic, full of humor and a passion for his craft (you can always tell an author's passion by the loving detail and anecdotes even down to the footnote). It is written in a popular level but has a respectable bibliography for further research down the more academic route.

In the opinion of this reviewer Dawkins more than satisfies what he sets out to accomplish, namely build a case for evolution based on different lines of evidence. What I found most convincing is the proof of his propositions based on the molecular scale and DNA/RNA. There is at this point in the game no reasonable doubt for evolution based on the best of the scientific peer-reviewed secondary literature from diverse fields and disciplines from around the world.

Many people have fleeced Dawkins for his "bullying tactics" and overall critical attacks on religion in general and Christianity in particular. But I respond - are we not the same when we are pressing our particular point of view over on someone? This is simply the case of a man filled with passion and completely convinced of the correctness of his view. Our sensibilities are offended because he attempts to mount an attack on our intellectual "sacred cows" as it were. Is our faith so weak that it cannot stand the best intellectual criticism that the best minds have to offer? I declare that it is not and it can withstand under close microscopic scrutiny.

My main quarrel with Greatest Show is that it offers no real alternative to Intelligent Design (and to Dawkin's merit as a clear and sober analytical thinker he admits that he has no concrete response to this at the moment - and that RNA World Theory seems the most plausible explanation for the origin of life at this point). In other words granting the probability of evolution (the how) the big question of (why) it started in the first place remains unanswered in Greatest Show. Is there a purpose in the endless replication of gene informational transfer? Dawkins answers, "We are surrounded by endless forms, most beautiful and most wonderful, and it is no accident, but the direct consequence of evolution by non-random natural selection - the only game in town, the greatest show on earth" (p. 426). Yes, yes, yes, granted but this is the how and not the why.

Ultimately non-theistic evolution has no answer for this timeless question. On the other hand as many equally great thinkers have been responding to Dawkins et al from diverse fields (biology, mathematics, philosophical and theological) the proposition that evolution is a mighty tool used by an Intelligent Designer breaks no laws of formal logic and best compounds for the evidence that we see from nature and from the innate yearnings that we have in our deepest psyche.

I heartily recommend this book when read in the company of the best of "evolutionary theistic" works.

________________

R. E. Aguirre

Progress on Commentary.

2011-01-28T09:23:00.000-08:00

This is just a short notice giving an update on my forthcoming full scale commentary on John's Apocalypse. It is going to be directed primarily for scholars (heavy Greek) but will also be profitable for teachers and students. It will be written from a Catholic yet historical-grammatical critical viewpoint. I believe this work should add to the many discussions surrounding the text of the Apocalypse since in many places I take a unique perspective.

As of today I have about 100 pages on the original manuscript done (mainly the spade work of the text) and I estimate I have a lot of work to do (about 20% complete of the final manuscript). The work is slow since I cannot devote as much time as I would like on this project but I am devoting 100% of my "free-time" on this book alone. I have not yet chosen a publisher (since that is far from my mind at the moment).

I have enclosed my Amazon Wishlist which lists many works that will aid me to be up to date on the secondary literature on the Apocalypse. People that help me acquire these books in my "wishlist" will have the option of getting mentioned (and a website of your choice) in the "special thanks" section in the book.

Might Makes Right? Troubling Aspects of the Apocalypse.

2011-01-25T19:12:00.000-08:00

Might Makes Right? Troubling Aspects of the Apocalypse of John.

The famous English literary critic D. H. Lawrence called John's Apocalypse among other things "...a rather repulsive work."¹ This sentiment is echoing the dominant position among literary (usually secular) theorists and critics over the last book of the New Testament. For how can a book which proclaims to be "God-breathed" be such a source and proponent for violence? Is not John a follower of Jesus who unmistakably claimed that we must love our enemies at all costs even until the point of death? How is this figure to be contrasted with the Lamb in the Apocalypse who is stated to be a witness to countless people in the lake of brimstone writhing in pain and agony?

People seem to be de-humanized in the pages of the Apocalypse, mere figures and playthings for the wrath of an all powerful deity. The supreme principle of the universe seems to be not love as Jesus taught but rather merciless power as John of the Apocalypse teaches. These higher literary critics are unrelenting in their onslaught of this perceived theological contradiction between Jesus and John.

There have been several responses to this challenge such as for example that John's language is an exaggerated subversive political rhetoric not meant to be read literally but rather metaphorically as a call to challenge the political imperialistic antichristian culture. But under all such answers which do not attempt to move the hermeneutical setting of the Apocalypse out of the distinguished main threat, i.e., the Roman Imperialistic Empire of the late first and second centuries the theological critique's of the literary critics stand, they have not been responded to in principle.

In other words if the main enemy of the Apocalypse is a "future world empire" wherein God's adversaries (besides the spiritual ones) are earthly anti-christian forces which will be destroyed and tortured the world over why not start the process now - weeding out and terminating these competitors to Christianity? Why not nip it at the bud? Are we to remain like some masochistic cult watching the "Anti-christ" grow before our very eyes knowing that this "beast" will someday turn on us and persecute our friends and family? Would we not be compliant in such a criminal offense?

These are but a few problems that arise when the Apocalypse is read in a "futuristic" sense. The rejoinder to such a line of attack is to properly set the Apocalypse in its historical and literary setting. The Apocalypse was written by a first century Jew named John to a number of first century early Christian congregations (which were made up of Jews and Gentiles) concerning events that were "soon to happen." In order for these audiences to appropriately understand John of Patmos he wrote to them in a long literary and religious tradition that they would have naturally understood. John (like Jesus) sets himself in the circle of Old Testament prophets, especially (but not limited to) Ezekiel, Daniel, Isaiah and Zechariah. And like these prophets of old John uses the established Jewish prophetic hyperbole to describe events in his contemporary generation with that of his readers. So when for example John speaks of a harlot and harlotry he is not deriding women in general nor even the political machine of an oppressive state but rather John is in line with the prophets of the OT which denounce Israel for their ongoing religious rebellion against Yahweh in their meddling's with foreign gods.

Once it is understood that the Apocalypse was written primarily (but not only) to denounce first century apostate Jews for their rejection of their Messiah and in turn the Messiah's vindication (in high Jewish prophetic hyperbole) the putative objections made by higher literary critics concerning the questionable morals of John the Seer lose force.

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¹ D. H. Lawrence, Apocalypse (New York. Penguin, 1976), 103.

Hitchens vs Berlinski

2011-01-22T10:07:00.000-08:00

Hitchens vs Berlinski Debate

Fascinating debate from two fascinating scholars who are on the forefront of the modern debate on the existence of God and the aspects of religion on society. While I am largely in agreement with Berlinski on philosophical grounds, Hitchens got the better of the exchange this time in my opinion.

This is a five part video series on youtube.

Turning A Blind Eye, Christians and the Rhetoric of Hate.

2011-01-18T09:48:00.000-08:00

Turning A Blind Eye, Christians and the Rhetoric of Hate

It is repeated ad infinitum that Adolf Hitler was a Roman Catholic and that the larger Catholic body of religious leaders were in collusion with the Nazi's in their brutal slaughter of the Jews. This conspiracy theory has been refuted by better scholarship (as far as the Catholic Church's approval of the Holocaust) but the principle remains, namely that Christians sometimes are found supporting ghastly protocols because they have not thought through the issues completely.

This is exactly what is occurring in Arizona concerning the undocumented workers. An atmosphere of hate and racism is being stirred under the guise of patriotic and American ideals. The rhetorical comparisons between Nazi Germany's labeling of the Jews and "Patriotic" American discourse is frightening. The de-humanization of the immigrants with labels such as "Illegal Alien" etc are obvious attempts to distance the spectator (in this case the American populace) from the object, (in this case the immigrant). The farther away the spectator is from the object in terms of linking a bond of fraternal humanity the easier it is to victimize the object. This is also what is seen in the war-games of the American forces oversees, literally playing video games at the cost of human lives. It is easier to kill or victimize a person who is a lot less like yourself than a person you have built connections and relationships with. The Nazi's were masters at this kind of psychological distancing and now the American patriots are not far behind.

You cannot label a human being as "illegal." You can label his actions, words or perhaps even in extreme cases his beliefs as "illegal" but a person cannot be labeled unlawful by the mere fact of his presence. That is to pronounce a human's very identity as illegitimate. From this it is but a short step away for lobbying for the elimination of these unlawful (others). Since they are not white, nor Protestant, nor wealthy, nor Anglo Saxon, nor well educated but are people of color, mostly Catholic, poor, mostly Latin American, un-educated. Surely we are told by white Protestant patriots, these downtrodden people are not one of us but rather belong to the so-called Third World.

How easily we have forgotten that this country was founded by immigrants. When this fact is pointed out the response is "well it was Manifest Destiny," God's design for a "Christian Nation." Was God's design to destroy the American Indian in the process? Were not the native indians also made in God's holy image? In point of fact the New Testament in general and Jesus in particular have much more in common with the poor, the un-educated and the marginalized than the reverse. Jesus would have no part in Corporate Christianity of today. He would have no part in institutionalizing people and families simply because they could not speak a certain dialect correctly or show a certain proof of citizenship. Luckily Egypt at the time did not enforce such draconian immigration laws or poor Joseph and Mary would have been turned away. He would rally against such tendencies for how would He cause harm to His very own Body? Have we forgotten that the war on illegal immigrants is largely a war on poor Catholic Christians?

Of all people Christians (including Protestants) should be the most vocal against racial politics and legislation. I highly recommend Alto Arizona a blog devoted to the struggle against racism in Arizona. Especially apropos is this video (which is found in the medio/video section of the blog) which chronicles a young girls campaign to free her incarcerated mother due to her legal status.

Christ said the Sabbath was made for man not man for the Sabbath.

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Black Swan, A Review.

2011-01-14T21:38:00.000-08:00

Black Swan, A Movie Review

In this age of sex, drugs and licentiousness, it is without doubt that Black Swan starring Natalie Portman is a smash hit with critic and sexually confused teenager alike. It is replete with mind bending visuals, garbled writing and angst. The acting of Natalie Portman is without questioning. And this film is all about Natalie Portman acting in my opinion. The supporting actors is a motley crew that really do not fit. The actual movie plot is predictable from what you would expect from this type of dark genre, the writing as I have mentioned already is dismal and the cinematography well is nothing really to write home about. And then there is the sex scenes. It is a fetish of modern cinema to dip into the depths of perversity in order to transfix the audience (and it is a sad reality that the audience is no doubt spellbound by the contortions of the flesh). There is a time and place for everything, the popular cinema is not the place for soft-core porn.

Portman however steals the show, showing off versatile acting prowess, something that we have experienced already from her metamorphosis - from Star Wars to Strip Clubs (Closer). It is a shame that she has yet to land an intelligent film that can really showcase her method and beauty. My suggestion is to save your money until this comes out on Netflix. Or better yet, use that hard earned money and purchase Milos Foreman's Amadeus (1984) which eclipses Black Swan in its symphonic madness.

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R.E.A.

Ian Ker on Chesterton.

2011-01-11T18:16:00.000-08:00

Ian Ker (Professor of Theology, Oxford University) famous for his specialty on John Newman¹ has announced a full scale (near 700 page) biography on G. K. Chesterton that will be published in June 2011 by Oxford University Press. If this tome resembles any of Ker's earlier works it should be indispensable for any serious future study on Chesterton and perhaps even become the new standard on him.

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¹ For example, John Henry Newman. A Biography (Oxford University Press, 2010), ed., The Cambridge Companion to John Henry Newman (Cambridge University Press, 2009), ed., Newman and Truth (Eerdmans, 2009). A lecture given by Ker on Newman can be seen here.

How Not To Read The Apocalypse

2011-01-08T09:21:00.000-08:00

I was asked recently if from the various hermeneutical approaches to the Apocalypse was there a certain one that I would simply stay away from as being manifestly incorrect. My answer was yes there is, namely Dispensational Futurism. This method of eschatological thinking in general and as a hermeneutic of the Apocalypse in particular has now been largely discredited by New Testament scholarship.¹

What is more disturbing than a faulty approach to the Apocalypse (and in the meantime making a lot of money in the process, i.e., Left Behind Series) is when such a reading has impacts and consequences in the lives of people. This is especially obvious in the political realm. American Protestant Dispensationalists armed with the Bible in one hand and the newspaper in the other have put together a sizable bloc in the US government and attempts to influence US foreign policy (especially in the Middle East) has become their number one priority. Tim Weber has been outspoken against such a failed marriage of bad hermeneutics and politics and a number of academic works chronicle the dismal attempts of these American Dispensationalists.²

The point is hermeneutics have consequences. Far from being a dry academic literary exercise that has little if anything to do with "real life" how you read the Bible counts. Millions of people around the world are still enraptured with Dispensationalism and how it relates to real life decisions.

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¹ Dispensational reading of the Apocalypse took a major blow in popular Evangelical circles when the "Bible Answer Man" Hank Hanegraaff recently published a work exposing the faulty exegetical underpinnings of this method, The Apocalypse Code. Find Out What the Bible Really Says About the End Times and Why it Matters Today (Nashville. Thomas Nelson, 2007). For more technical works that uncover the hermeneutical weakness of this system see for example, L. Festinger, H. W. Riecken and S. Schachter, When Prophecy Fails. A Social and Psychological Study of a Modern Group that Predicted the Destruction of the World (New York. Harper & Row, 1964), Dwight Wilson, Armageddon Now! The Premillenarian Rresponse to Russia and Israel Since 1917 (Grand Rapids: Baker, 1977), Arthur H. Lewis, The Dark Side of the Millennium: The Problem of Evil in Revelation 20: 1-10 (Grand Rapids: Baker, 1980); Kenneth E. Jones, "An Amillennial Reply to Peters: A Review Article," JETS 24 (1981): 333-341; Paul Boyer, When Time Shall be no More. prophecy Belief in Modern American Culture (Cambridge, Harvard University Press, 1992), Michael R. Cosby, "The Tragedy of Prophecy Enthusiasm," The Covenant Quarterly 51 (1993): 37-45, Richard Abanes, End Time Visions. The Road to Armaggedon (1998), J. R. Stone ed., Expecting Armageddon. Essential Readings in Failed Prophecy (New York. Routledge, 2000), J. R. Hall, Apocalypse Observed. Religious Movements and Violence in North America, Europe, and Japan (London. Routledge, 2000), B. Witherington III, “What the Left Behind Series Left Out,” Bible Review 18 (2002) 10, 52, B. D. Forbes and J. H. Kilde, Rapture, Revelation and the End Times. Exploring the Left Behind Series (Palgrave Macmillan, 2004), A. J. Frykholm, Rapture Culture. Left Behind in Evangelical America (Oxford University Press, 2004), B. R. Rossing, The Rapture Exposed. The Message of Hope in the Book of Revelation (Basic Books, 2005).

² See for example Ernest L. Tuveson, Redeemer Nation. The Idea of America’s Millennial Role (Chicago, University of Chicago Press, 1968), Grace Halsell, Forcing God’s Hand. Why Millions Pray for a Quick Rapture and Destruction of Planet Earth (Amana Publications, 2002), Timothy P. Weber, On the Road to Armageddon. How Evangelicals Became Israel’s Best Friend (Baker Academic, 2004).

What Does Rome Have to Offer?

2011-01-03T20:01:00.000-08:00

So What Does Rome Have To Offer?

Asks an Anglican priest that has recently re-returned to the Anglican Communion from Roman Catholicism. Father Longenecker has a summary of the situation over at his blog including the reasons why this certain father Hart has defected from Rome back to Canterbury. For those of you that are up to date on Roman Catholic vs Protestant/Anglican debates the logic behind Hart's decision are about as worn out and tired as your grandfather's boots. Father John Zuhlsdorf has thoroughly responded to Hart's existential plight in a point by point refutation.

I just wanted to add some thoughts on Hart's implied question, what then does Rome have to offer? Hart's theological questions notwithstanding (they have been answered in full by Zuhlsdorf) why then would a Christian be a Roman Catholic and not say a High Church Anglican or Lutheran for example? The answer is an incredibly simple one, namely because the unity of the Church the very Body of Christ demands it. Although this phrase might sound overly cliche it is cliche only because most of the modern church (of all the branches)¹ has forgotten what this truly entails in the historical sense of the term.

The early Catholics had a metaphysical understanding of the unity of the Church. In other words if you were not in unity with the (universal/world wide) Catholic Church who was led by the Roman Congregation (Roman Bishop) you really were not actually part of Christ's Body. It is a one to one correlation from a strict chain of logic. The One True Church is the One Body of Christ on earth. It is this incarnational understanding that is seen throughout the Fathers. For example Augustine writes,

"Sara said. "Cast out the bondwoman and her son, for the son of a bondwoman shall not be heir with my son Issac." (Gen 21.10) And the Church says. "Cast out heresies and their children, for heretics shall

not be heirs with Catholics." But why shall they not be heirs? Are they not born of Abraham's seed? And have they not the Church's Baptism? They do have Baptism, and it would make the seed of Abraham an heir, if pride did not exclude them from inheritance. By the same word, by the same

Sacrament you were born, but you will not come to the same inheritance of eternal life, unless you return to the Catholic Church."²

Augustine says much here that can be unpacked. He explicitly says that even heretics who were Baptized as Catholics but then depart the faith (and are thus not in communion with Catholicism and have thus broken the metaphysical bond) will be excluded from eternal life. Augustine here attributes such an attitude with pride. Note what Augustine is not saying. He is not saying that the initial Baptism of these heretics is not valid (for he believed that all Catholic Baptism is valid because it is Christ not the minister who Baptizes). What he is saying is that heretics undo their Catholic Baptism because of their prideful schismatic sin. It is only when they come back to full communion that their Baptism's become once again valid. But to believe such a thing demands a certain metaphysical view of the Church. And unity with this Church is paramount. To leave this Church is to leave the Body of Christ and how can a man be saved without Christ?

So important is this communion with the Church Augustine argues, that the prayers and alms of the living Body can aid those of the same Body that have departed,

"But by the prayers of the Holy Church...and by the alms which are given for their spirits, there is no doubt that the dead are aided...For the whole Church observes this practice which was handed down by the Fathers, that it prays for those who have died in the communion of the Body and Blood of Christ."³

This efficaciousness is a two way street and is only valid when if full communion with the Catholic Church. It is efficacious because the living Body intercedes for the dead and it is received to its full effect only by those in full communion with the Catholic Body.

One more example will be brought out to top off our discussion.⁴ Communion with this Body of Christ and the unity with it that is essential started with the example of Peter writes Augustine,

"Among these Apostles almost everywhere Peter alone merited to represent the whole Church. For the sake of his representing the whole Church, which he alone could do, he merited to hear, "I will give you the keys of the kingdom of Heaven." (Matt 16.19) For it was not one man, but the unity of the Church, which received those keys. In that way, therefore, Peter's own excellence is foretold, because he acted the part of the unity and totality of the Church herself."⁵

This is the answer to the probings of modern man when he asks, "Why Rome?" "Because" the Church responds from the halls of history, "It is the very Body of Christ, One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic. Untainted and immutable from the beginning to the end of time. To break from her is to break from Christ and to cause division in the Body. This division is caused by a spirit of pride and a refusal to submit to Christ. Such a refusal will not be without it costs."

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¹ When I say "most" I certainly do not mean "all." There is a large contingent of ecclesiastical scholars who still recognize this historical aspect of the unity of the Church, and it certainly is not a coincidence that most of these scholars are Roman Catholic.

² Sermones. 3.

³ Sermones. 172, 2.

⁴ Both Augustine as well as the rest of the Fathers are united in this metaphysical unity of the Church and the critical importance of being united to it, examples are numerous.

⁵ Sermones. 295, 2.

True Grit, A Review.

2011-01-02T16:15:00.001-08:00

Movie Review, True Grit

I rarely go to the movies nowadays. Not for the usual reasons people complain about (obnoxious crowds, increasingly high admission prices, unhealthy food, etc) but because cinema much like everything else in American culture has been on a downward spiral of intellectual degradation. Cinema is no longer geared for the intelligent viewer who appreciates long uninterrupted scenes (e.g., Ozu) or complicated and witty writing (e.g., Forman) but rather it has deteriorated into the shortest possible scenes (usually only a few seconds long), virtually no dialogue other than terse one or two liners and visual effects, lots and lots of visual effects.

And so I took my wife out last night to see the Coen Bro's remake of the 1969 John Wayne film titled "True Grit." I give the Coen Bro's high marks for at least some interest in the writing of the film (which is sharp and humorous) but other than that the story is rather predictable and a bit banal. As far as modern Western's go I much preferred Eastwood's Unforgiven (1992) or as an early Americana piece, Anderson's There Will Be Blood (2007).

"The only thing free in this world is the grace of God."

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REA

Fee on Revelation and Other Matters.

2011-01-01T10:52:00.000-08:00

Well known New Testament scholar Gordon Fee has recently published a commentary on Revelation in the New Covenantal Commentary Series (Wipf & Stock, 2010). There is also a video of Fee discussing his hermeneutical approach to Revelation. And while I disagree on many points with Fee both in his commentary and the video on several exegetical and hermeneutical issues regarding Revelation overall both are excellent examples of a seasoned scholar coming to terms with the text of this most mysterious book of the NT.

On a related note, someone suggested History Channel's Mysteries of the Bible. Apocalypse. The Puzzle of Revelation (1994). While hesitant at first (I have watched many 'videos' on Revelation and most of them have little to do with a correct hermeneutical starting point to begin with) I was pleasantly surprised at HC's Mysteries. First rate Apocalypse scholars are interviewed such as David Barr, Adela Collins, John Collins, Donald Senior (Aune is unfortunately missing)? What I did not like was the visual presentation with the oft repeated images of physical events such as volcanoes, meteors, flash flooding, nuclear warfare, etc. While there is a certain artistic license coupled with the fact that this is more or less a popular cable TV presentation the physical events imagery should have been greatly toned down.

__________________

REA

Purgatory in the Oxford Handbook

2010-12-29T11:07:00.001-08:00

The Oxford Handbook of Eschatology edited by Jerry Walls (Oxford University Press, 2008) is an excellent interdisciplinary collection of articles on all things related to Eschatology by world class experts in the field. A prime example of this is the entry on "Purgatory" by Paul J. Griffiths.¹ Griffiths treats us with a fair and balanced summary of the historical doctrine known as Purgatory, the pro's and con's, in short, the various issues surrounding this controversial Roman Catholic teaching and a superb bibliography on the subject. Highly recommend it for anyone preparing a paper on this subject.

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¹ I highly recommend Griffiths work on the theology of honesty and dishonesty, Lying. An Augustinian Theology of Duplicity (Brazos, 2004).

The Joy of Writing a Commentary

2010-12-19T19:48:00.001-08:00

Composing a commentary on a book of the Bible is no easy task. Especially now so "late in the game" one wonders why even bother? Have not all of the books of Scripture been so well served at this point? Yes, most of the books (especially of the NT) have been well served with mammoth commentaries just spilling out of the corridors of academia. This is principally seen on the influx of entries over the Apocalypse of John. On every level mind you, technical, moderate and popular, there seems no end to the rash of books on this hard to comprehend book of the Bible.

Progress for my own commentary on the Apocalypse is slow but steady. Half of the struggle is keeping up with all of the new monographs and papers and consequently having to deal with these in my own work. The origin of my own writing on the Apocalypse was birthed simply due to notes that I started to compile on the Greek text and textual problems. From this sprang a full obsession to read just about any and all of the secondary literature on the Apocalypse. I was astounded time and again over the hermeneutical pitfalls that many of the commentators would fall in, especially the biggest of all, the sinkhole known as anachronism. Hence, my particular reading of the Apocalypse I believe will be an important contribution due to the careful import I give to the correct hermeneutic on the Apocalypse.

But the sheer joy of writing a commentary far outweigh any of the negative aspects. I highly recommend it to all my readers to concentrate on one aspect of your biblical studies, be it a commentary, theological problem or particular discipline. Let me give an analogy. Imagine you are taking a car trip from LA to New York. As you go you pick up new traveling partners that give you hints and shortcuts, offer extra fuel money and perhaps even suggestions on where to stop for a good bite to eat and some great vino. The more traveling buddies the better. Before you know it you have traded in the car and now are steamrolling in a large motor-home jam packed with friends. So is the experience of writing a commentary. The more you get in depth into your study the more dialogue partners you pick up, great commentators from both the past and present.

And perhaps there is no more exciting and yet perilous road trip than the mysterious highway we call the Apocalypse of John. Highway 66 eat your heart out.

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R. E. Aguirre

Book Review.

2010-12-08T10:14:00.000-08:00

I have posted a short book review of Chris Hedge's American Fascists over at Paradoseis Journal Blog.

Raymundo on Chiliasm at Paradoseis Journal Blog

2010-06-05T10:34:00.000-07:00

Alvaro Raymundo has submitted an interesting article at Paradoseis Journal Blog on the Catholic prerogative of doctrinal codification using Chiliasm as a test case.

Alex Guiao on the Trinity and St. Augustine

2010-05-30T18:22:00.000-07:00

Alex Guiao has posted an article on the Trinity, St. Augustine and epistemology at Paradoseis Journal Blog. Feel free to comment on it here.

Pointer Reviews the New Ignatius Study Bible

2010-05-28T21:08:00.000-07:00

Craig Pointer gives a review of the new Ignatius Catholic Study Bible New Testament over at Paradoseis Journal Blog.

If you would like to comment on Pointer's article do so here.

Pelikan, Tradition and Sola Scriptura

2010-05-22T09:23:00.001-07:00

I have posted a new article over at Paradoseis Journal Blog, "Pelikan, Tradition and Sola Scriptura." If you would like to comment on the article do so here.

Revised NT List

2010-05-14T20:48:00.001-07:00

Craig Pointer has posted the new revised top NT commentaries as held by the contributors

of Paradoseis Journal over at Paradoseis Journal Blog!

New Post at Paradoseis Journal Blog

2010-05-07T21:14:00.000-07:00

I have written an article over at Paradoseis Journal Blog concerning the misuse of the Fathers

by some Protestant scholars.

New Posts as Paradoseis Journal Blog

2010-05-05T18:22:00.000-07:00

Over at Paradoseis Journal Blog Craig Pointer has posted a short article on Viviano's "Scripture and Tradition," and Alvaro Raymundo has posted an article on the doctrine of the Trinity and development of doctrine.

My New Blog

2010-05-01T10:43:00.000-07:00

Due to time constraints (a very busy life) I have decided to end this blog. However, the contributors over at Paradoseis Journal and I have decided to add a blog to that site. So, (along with others) I will be blogging there. The link is here.

New Paper at Paradoseis.

2010-04-03T18:20:00.000-07:00

I have submitted a new paper at Paradoseis Journal, Identifying Theological Preconception in

Translation: (Matthew 1:7, 10) as Test Case

The Hope of Things to Come.

2010-03-31T19:44:00.001-07:00

The Hope of Things to Come: Anglicanism and the Future (Andrew Mowbray Inc) is due to come out in June of this year. Featuring scholars such as Charlotte Methuen, Mark D. Chapman, Andrew Davison, Jospeh P. Cassidy, Martyn Percy and David Stancliffe, it seeks to explore the "recent rise" of the catholic movement within Anglicanism and how this could be seen as a positive development. Should make for an interesting read.

New Protestant Systematic Theology.

2010-03-29T20:30:00.001-07:00

I normally don't give plugs to Protestant systematic theologies.¹ Such presentations by say Wayne Grudem (2002), Norman Geisler (2002), Stanley Horton (1994), Robert Culver (2005), etc are really to be missed, being so separated from the basic foundation of Christian faith (i.e., a historical presentation of doctrine) that they cannot be counted as sure and comprehensive presentations of Christianity at all.²

I noticed that Michael S. Horton is due for a systematic theology in Oct of this year. This should be an interesting read keeping in mind his various interactions / debates with Roman Catholic scholars. One can only hope he attempts a fair presentation. The bar is indeed very high for Protestant systematic theologians. Barth still holds the belt in my opinion.

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[1]. Protestant systematic theologies are about as random and esoteric as anything imaginable. Often times systematic theologies from within the same tradition (i.e., Reformed) such as that of Louis Berkhof and Robert L. Reymond differ strongly on seemingly central tenets of their particular view point. I dare not even add the various entries by Dispensational writers which at times are simply ridiculous.

[2]. I say this knowing full well that there is a disciplinary separation between Systematic Theology and Historical Theology. However, a potent "systemic" presentation of the Christian faith presupposes history, since Christianity is by its very nature historic. Perhaps, the best recent Protestant systematic theologies that take history seriously is for example, the multi-volume entries by Wolfhart Pannenberg; Thomas C. Oden, Classic Christianity: A Systematic Theology (Harper One, 2009) and to a lesser degree Robert Jenson's multi-volumed entry. I am also working on a complete presentation of the Christian faith systemically and historically (not from a Protestant perspective).

Palm Sunday.

2010-03-28T10:38:00.001-07:00

Today in mass we celebrate both our Lord's humble entry into Jerusalem as well as His passion on the cross for us. The homilies that our priest gave were especially apropos for this remembrance in what Christians around the world consider the most holy week of the year.

In respect to the entry of our Lord into Jerusalem our priest reminded us that unlike the Roman military processions which accentuate might, glory and power - our Lord's entry was one of riding a lowly beast of burden. It was also a reversal of the common Jewish perception of how the Messiah would enter Jerusalem, one of victory over the gentiles (Roman occupation). Instead our Lord came humbly and meekly. Our Lord is the suffering servant unto death, even death on the cross. Our Lord went as far as "emptying himself" to become one of us (as our other reading today in Philippians exhorts, 2:6-11).

Despite all this the same crowds which cheered "hosanna" would be those who would be yelling "crucify him." Our priest reminded us not to fall in line with this crowd. We must always be careful in shouting "crucify him" with our lives and the danger of denying Him with hypocrisy and sin. Moreover, we must be careful not to deny our Lord with the way we respond to persecution. Our Lord did not respond in anger or fits of rage or even defenses of Himself. But how often are we short tempered, and snap back both to unbelievers and our Christian friends and family alike?

Tokyo Story, a Review.

2010-03-26T15:43:00.000-07:00

Today I had the chance of visiting an old friend. His name is Yasujiro Ozu. Ozu is of course one of Japan's all time best directors and his film Tokyo Story is one of his best.¹ Ozu's work in general and Tokyo Story in particular is not for everyone, less of all for modern Westerners who are so used to the grit, violence and 2 second scrambled cut scenes of todays cinema. Instead, stepping into the world of Ozu is to be transported into another time, another attitude, another culture and state of mind. It is the mind of the East, where everything has deep meaning and symbolism and where everything moves at glacial speed.

Tokyo Story is a simple story involving simple people, filmed however by a not so simple master director.² It is a story about the trivialities of life in which done by a lesser man (a Western director) would have tanked horribly. Missing from Tokyo Story are exaggerated acting scenes, no dramatic close ups, virtually no action, but simply people lost in thought, conversations, polite chatter. Watching Tokyo Story is like taking a break from Western cinema on the whole which is like a wild roller coaster ride and instead going to the beach, relaxing in the warm rays of the sun, listening to the gentle rumble of the waves.

The scene cuts to a lonely back alley somewhere in Tokyo. The camera films on for a few seconds. In the background some anonymous person scurries across the scene into some lonely doorway while he frantically fans himself and disappears. That is Ozu. That is Tokyo Story.

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[1]. The acclamations for Ozu and his work are world wide and continue up to this day. Critics and cinema scholars praise him continually, see for example, Paul Schrader, Transcendental Style in Film (De Capo Press, 1988); Donald Richie, Ozu: His Life and Films (University of California Press, 1977); David Desser, Ozu's Tokyo Story (Cambridge University, 1997).

[2]. Note the way Ozu holds the camera dead center even after the actors leave the scene for a number of seconds, it is truly haunting. Note his affinity for having some object at the forefront of the camera while people in the far background are seen moving intently. Ozu's originality is that he is not toying with with wild camera angles (Welles) or vivid and exaggerating impressionistic movements (Laughton) but rather simple elegant and graceful pose, steady camera shots and long takes.

The Work of Titian the Artist

2010-03-21T06:28:00.000-07:00

"Titian" or Tiziano Vecellio (1488-1576) has been dubbed the "Prince of Painters" by fans and scholars alike.¹ I have enjoyed the work of this Italian master of the Renaissance and would like to share some of my favorites. (Pictured above, Self Portrait, oil on canvas, 1564).

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Portrait of Pope Paul III without a cap (oil on canvas, 1543).

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What words can I use to describe such a wonderful piece? The Assumption of the Virgin (oil on wood, 1516-18) took two years to complete. The radiance of heaven is simply beautiful.

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Portrait of a Man (oil on canvas, 1514) is equally admirable. The smooth tones and loving touch of a master is tempered with realism.

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The Portrait of a Venetian Gentleman (oil on canvas, 1510) seems to me very modern and impressionistic. The attitude and general disposition of the man is well captured.

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[1]. Recent works on the life and art of Titian have been for example, Mark Hudson, Titian: The Last Days, (Walker & Co, 2009); Peter Humfrey, Titian, (Phaidon Press, 2007); Norbert Wolf, I Titian, (Prestel Publishing, 2006).

Walker, A Diamond in the Protestant Rough?

2010-03-16T20:32:00.000-07:00

Williston Walker (1860-1922) was the one time Professor of Ecclesiological Studies at Yale at the turn of the last century. His most famous work remains his A History of the Christian Church, (New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1918), a work which I have heard nothing but praise (from both Protestants and Catholics alike). Yet in all honesty, I feared Walker's History would surely be plagued by either liberal Protestant church reconstructions¹ or possibly a polemical Protestant re-reading of ecclesiastical history,² and I simply did not want to waste either my time or top dollar on.

With this in mind I put off Walker until perhaps I would run into this work in the used book section. For surely of "moderate" Protestant church histories there is no end.³ Why would I really need another Protestant retelling of church history?⁴ Well, this weekend I found Walker's work in the used section and today I took a few hours to polish off the beginning of Walker's History, (that of the Church's origins and the early Church). I must say Walker is a pleasant read and is far superior to most Protestant presentations of ecclesiastical history that I have read, if not, the best.

I have always said that a good barometer of a given tabling of Church history by anyone is the handling of the early church in relationship to the transition from the New Testament period to the second century Church. Many are the pitfalls that can quickly expose the commentators presuppositions.⁵ On the other hand Walker deals with most of the controversial nuances of this early transitional period with studious caution and seems to read the evidence as neutral as possible. ⁶

So then, if you have never read a balanced treatment of church history from a Protestant perspective (or if you happen to cross Walker in the used section) by all means pick this up and note the difference between a professional and a polemicist.

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[1]. Such as that for example of Harnack's or Baur's.

[2]. Such as can be found in every Protestant denominational attempt of a "church history," albeit from their particular skewed viewpoint.

[3]. The few that come to mind but of which I deem "moderate" due to the fact that some bias remains clear in the handling of ecclesiastical history (especially of the formation of the earliest church), Henry Chadwick, The Early Church, (Penguin, 1993); Jaroslav Pelikan, multi-volume The Christian Tradition, (University of Chicago Press); Justo Gonzalez, multi-volume The Story of Christianity, (Harper One), etc.

[4]. Walker was a Congregationalist.

[5]. The Protestant agenda is quickly noticeable, either in the tired out mantra - that the "true" Christian church "fell into darkness" in this transition period only to be rescued by "X" - denominational founder, or in the notion (as in the disciples of Harnack) that the early church was infested by "X" outside philosophy (Hellenization, i.e., Harnack) and thus, "true," "Judaic" Christianity was lost. Not only Protestants are guilty of reading into church history. The transitional period is painted in broad negative strokes by many a (liberal) Catholic scholar, such as in the arrangement given in Richard P. McBrien, The Church: The Evolution of Catholicism, (New York: Harper One, 2008), wherein the rise of the mono-episcopal form in the transition period is seen as a power hungry grab for juridical power and the attempt to centralize the church in an outdated hierarchical system.

[6]. This is not to say that I agree with everything Walker says but he has surprised me with his balanced treatment thus far. One fault that comes to mind is Walker's scant interaction with the secondary literature. However, Walker has proven himself well immersed in the common problems in the field of Patristics as it relates to church history.

Margaret Mitchell's New Book Announced

2010-03-13T08:10:00.000-08:00

Margaret M. Mitchell (Professor of New Testament and Early Christian Literature at Chicago University) will be releasing her new book on the Corinthian correspondence and the subtle hermeneutical nuances (Cambridge University Press) sometime around August this year. This should be an interesting forerunner to her upcoming entry on 2 Corinthians in the Hermeneia series.

An Update.

2010-01-06T19:17:00.000-08:00

I thought it appropriate on the eve of a new year to post a short update on what I have been up to. Well chiefly, on focusing on my family and the toughest calling of them all, namely raising two daughters. Secondly, focusing on my declining health and trying to prolong what in hindsight will look downright silly - once in the presence of my Lord. Third, continuing in my blessed private studies, devouring old and new works in a wide field of studies.

Around July of last year my (few) activities on the internet came to a headway when I received a string of personal attacks via e-mail. Petty attempts at drawing me into a blog war and suchlike. That is when it became clear to me that the small time I was devoting on the internet was perhaps being wasted and that I should leave the blog (wars) to the various knuckle-draggers and enthusiasts who delight in sensationalism over sober, constructive, critical and analytical discussion.

For what it's worth, I will try to post the occasional book review or comment on some political / religious current event.

When a Picture is Worth a Thousand Words

2009-06-21T08:19:00.000-07:00

The juxtaposition says it all. The faithful (Catholic priest that was flanked and supported by Baptist ministers) are carted off to jail for defending the unborn, while the treacherous (liberal Catholics) adorn Obama (Disciple of Christ) at Notre Dame (which supports the slaughter of the unborn).

The Lord our God promises us not to fear, for revenge will be His.

Reviewing a Classic.

2009-06-17T20:14:00.000-07:00

(Yves Congar with a young Joseph Ratzinger)

It is always a pleasure reading Yves Congar.¹ One such pleasure was re-reading his classical writing on the meaning of tradition within the Catholic Church.²

Congar is easily one of Catholicism's greatest 20th century (conservative thinkers).³ His mastery of the primary writings and familiarity with the intricacies of the philosophical questions involving the perceived crux between Scripture and the Church's unwritten tradition is unmatched to this very day. His work La Tradition et la vie de l'Eglise, is the most succinct and powerful treatment on the issue of tradition I have ever read.⁴

What Congar is most apt at demonstrating is the philosophical underpinnings of a given subject. So in this work he manages to explain the crucial relationship between Scripture and the unwritten traditions of the Church, or in other words, why Scripture needs the interpretative lens of tradition for a correct hermeneutical reading.

Highly recommended reading.

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¹ Yves Congar was a French Dominican Cardinal, considered by many the greatest Ecclesiologist of all time (Avery Dulles). Was at one time held a P.O.W by Germans for five years as he served the role of Catholic chaplain for the French. He influenced many Catholic thinkers, such as Karol Wojtyla, etc.

² La Tradition et la vie de l'Eglise (Paris: Editions du Cerf, 1964). English edition is, The Meaning of Tradition (San Francisco: Ignatius, 2004).

³ Compare the utter mastery of the primary writings (patrology) and the sane treatment of the origins of the Church in Congar's double volume Ecclesiological magnum opus, La Tradition et les traditions: Essai historique (1960); Essai theologique (1963. Paris: Fayard), with the bleak and critical treatment of much of the same ground in say for example, Richard P. McBrien, The Church: The Evolution of Catholicism (New York: Harper One, 2008), which was done in memory of Congar.

⁴ Nothing in today's American (popular) Catholic scene even comes close. Avery Dulles would be America's closest example, cf. his Magisterium: Teacher and Guardian of the Faith (Naples, Florida: Sapientia Press, 2007).

The Most Holy Trinity

2009-06-07T08:28:00.001-07:00

Today we celebrate the Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity in the Catholic Church. This reality that we call the Triune Godhead is the main pillar which supports orthodox Christianity. It is what separates the heretic from the Catholic (universal) Christian. It is of paramount importance because tied intricately within this conception is a host of related doctrines that are benchmarks for the Christian faith. Doctrines such as the ontological definitions surrounding the Persons of the Trinity, (full deity for the Father, Son and Holy Spirit). Doctrines such as the outworking of the Trinity in redemptive history towards mankind.

The earliest Christians were full fledged Trinitarians (even the pre-Nicene writers). Even non-bishops reflected this understanding beautifully as the following quote from the philosopher Aristides of Athens¹ proves:

...are called Christians...for they acknowledge God, the Creator and Maker of all things, in the only-begotten Son and in the Holy Spirit. Other than Him, no god do they worship. (Απολογια. 15)

Hence it is clear, in which a largely non-clerical writer, in a context of explication of Christian worship, clearly states the Trinitarian belief.² This Trinitarian belief over time was codified and developed in reaction to heretical claims, crystallized in the great early Catholic Councils by the fathers of the East and West.

This is an example of development of doctrine that all branches of Christendom (Catholic/Protestant/Orthodox) hold and defend. I submit to you then if your particular church did not even mention the Trinity in today's "service," you should really question the historicity and validity of this group.

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[1]. This "Apology" for the Christians was written most likely not to Emperor Hadrian but to his successor Antoninus Pius, which had the full name of - Titus Aelius Hadrianus Antoninus Pius, who reigned from 138-161 AD. Hence this Apology is dated around 140 AD, cf. William Jurgens, The Faith of the Early Fathers (Collegeville, Minnesota: Liturgical Press, 1970, Vol. 1), pp. 48-49.

[2]. Earlier Catholic writers are just as clear, Clement of Rome in his Letter to the Corinthians, (which is usually dated to the latter part of the first century) is clear (42:1-5; 58:2), Ignatius of Antioch, (Προς Εφεσιους επιστολη. 9:1-2, 110 AD; Προς Μαγνησιους επιστολη. 11, 110 AD) are some examples.