“Was Jesus really born in Bethlehem, or did the gospel writers “invent” the story to fit prophecy? Did a Roman census ever force people to travel back to their ancestral towns? And what about Herod’s massacre of the innocents – pure theology, or plausible history? Tom Wright and Mike Bird respond here to challenges raised… Read More N.T. Wright Replies to Historian Tom Holland Regarding N.T. Nativity Accounts
While every age is a mixture of blessings and hardships, good ideas or actions and bad, the Middle Ages were once depicted as especially dark. But modern scholarship has long known that is a very superficial judgment. + 25 myths about the Middle Ages You Likely Thought Were True (YouTube) For example, Farming has always… Read More Those Awful Middle Ages
“Chesterton challenged the common belief that previous generations were foolish.” By Shane Parrish. Chesterton’s Fence is a principle that reminds us to look before we leap. To understand before we act. It’s a cautionary reminder to understand why something is the way it is before meddling in change. The principle comes from a parable by… Read More Chesterton’s Fence: A Lesson in Thinking
“God is Dead; but given the way of men, there may still be caves for thousands of years in which his shadow will be shown. And we – we still have to vanquish his shadow, too. — Frederich Nietzsche, The Gay Science, 109. The Forerunners: 2015: For the Neo-modernist or Progressivist Catholic today, the traditional understanding… Read More Progressivist Theology. What it is.
When a friend called me this morning with the news that Susan Sontag had died at the age 71, just about the first thing I thought was, “well, we’ll have a huge, hagiographical, front-page obituary tomorrow in The New York Times.” Check to see if I am correct. In the meantime, as you prepare yourself… Read More Susan Sontag: a Prediction by Roger Kimball. 2004
by Dr. Tom Snyder, PhD. Joseph Campbell “didn’t have an ideology or a theology,” claims reporter Bill Moyers in his 1988 The Power of Myth television series, frequently broadcast on PBS stations across America. During the six hours of intense interviews with the late mythologist, however, Campbell proves Moyers wrong. The supposedly non-existent theology of Campbell permeates… Read More Myth Perceptions, Joseph Campbell’s Power of Deceit
The events of 1968 had a strong bearing on his shift to a more conservative outlook. Excerpted from “POPE BENEDICT XVI: A Biography of Joseph Ratzinger.” (c) 2000 by John L. Allen, Jr.The Continuum. Joseph Ratzinger arrived at Tübingen [University] in 1966, still enthusiastic about the promise of Vatican II and ready to take his… Read More How the ’60s Changed Ratzinger
Good Fences, Shared Bounty. Can it ever be wise to separate compassion, reasonable limits and common sense? If you have followed the immigration debates in the West in recent decades you will have long ago gotten a glimpse of the fears, greed, fanaticism and wars which, often enough, make many peoples in our post 9/11… Read More Immigration, Birds of a Feather and Trojan Horses
Whatever trouble has been wrought by apostate clergy, or otherwise indifferent power blocks in the Church today, the prophecies concerning the infiltrations of Christ’s Mystical Body, as the climax of history approaches, makes it clear that Catholic Christians are to be vigilant. Macaulay urged us, not to forget that all branches are cut off from… Read More Macaulay on the Catholic Church
By historian William Thomas Walsh “Of the external foes of the Church, Mohammedanism was one of the most dangerous and long enduring. Ideologically it was not external, but one of the great heresies, containing as it did many Christian elements, mingled with some borrowed from Judaism, and much gross and carnal materialism foreign to both;… Read More What the Critics of the Crusades Forget or Ignore
9/9/25. In addition to marking out today’s geopolitical dangers, Ferguson in this Charlie Rose interview also explains why he does not believe January 6 was a coup, and also why he converted from atheism to Christianity. Sir Niall Ferguson, born in Glasgow, Scotland, combined his education in history, politics, and economics at Oxford with his… Read More Historian Niall Ferguson on Where Trump Stands Today
“We’ll get you through your children.” —Allen Ginsberg, 1958 The core of the heresy of the Free Spirit lay in the adept’s attitude towards himself: he believed that he had attained a perfection so absolute that he was incapable of sin. Disclaiming book-learning and theological subtleties, they rejoiced in direct knowledge of God- indeed, they… Read More The Beat Generation… cultural catastrophe. By Roger Kimball
“The word “God” exists. Thus we return to the beginning, to the simple fact that in the universe of words with which we build our world and without which even the so-called facts do not exist for us, the word “God”, too, occurs. Even for the atheists, even for those who say: God is dead,… Read More Karl Rahner* on the Word “God”
Taybeh Ramallah. 1300 Christians still live here: cf. John 11:54 (Eprhaim) CNA 7/1/25 “Father Bashar Fawadleh, parish priest of the Church of Christ the Redeemer in Taybeh, told ACI MENA: “The town, which the Gospel of John (11:54) refers to as ‘Ephraim’ — the place Jesus withdrew to before his passion — is no longer… Read More Priest: Israeli settlers brutally attacking Christians in Jesus’ backyard…
Two Takes. President John F. Kennedy’s interview with NBC anchors Chet Huntley and David Brinkley. They sat down with the President in the White House for an exclusive interview for their program, The Huntley-Brinkley Report. In the interview the President discusses various topics including the nuclear test ban treaty, South Vietnam advisors, tax cuts, and… Read More September 1963. JFK on Tax Cuts, Tariffs, So. Vietnam Advisors, and Civil Rights
“Let no one mourn that he has fallen again and again; for forgiveness has risen from the grave.” Are there any who are devout lovers of God? Let them enjoy this beautiful bright festival! Are there any who are grateful servants? Let them rejoice and enter into the joy of their Lord! Are there any… Read More Let No One Despair! Forgiveness is risen! St. John Chrysostom. St. Francis de Sales.
This is Dr. Starkeys fatal flaw. The nuclear and extended family, contrary to his opinions, was always central and vital in Catholic England, reflecting traditional Catholic doctrine and a unified people. After the Tudors and Luther, however, it was all downhill, accelerating right down to today’s moral tyranny. Dr. Starkey may have personal reasons for… Read More Good David Starkey’s Fatal Flaw
Romano Guardini on “The End of the Modern World“. “This frightful destruction did not drop down from heaven; in truth it rose up out of hell!” —Romano Guardini. Mark Malvasi writes, “…absorbed by technology, [Romano] Guardini anticipated the emergence of a new type of human being that was defined by regimentation and conformity. This “man… Read More Disappearing Into the Collective
Note: Mary Daly died in January 2010. It is good to be tolerant, even of incoherent things, we are told today. The devil himself ought to be given a seat at the table. So the courts have ruled. But that can’t stop us from noticing that Mary Daly represents the meltdown of the dissident transgressive… Read More Mary Daly: The Witch of Boston College
Malcolm Muggeridge. “The coming of Jesus into the world is the most stupendous event in human history. . . . As it is, belonging to a civilization which began with the birth of Jesus some two thousand years ago, and reaching the conclusion—to me inescapable—that whatever is truly admirable in the achievements of the succeeding… Read More Fiat Lux. Into History Comes the Light
How Israel and Palestine Became Enemies According to Scripture *|* What’s next for Syria’s Christians After Assad’s Fall? (Opinion) “The complex and tumultuous history behind one of the world’s most enduring conflicts… How some Protestant-Evangelical [and some Catholics] see the roots of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, exploring the key events, ideologies, and interests that have driven… Read More All Eyes on the Israel-Palestine Conflict
There are plenty of good reasons to abandon the teachings of Karl Marx. by Jarrett Stepman.The Daily Signal | July 13, 2020. Karl Marx (1818-1883) was a German philosopher, economist, and sociologist whose writings formed the basis of modern communism. Here’s What You Need to Remember: By the standards of modern “anti-racist” ideologies, Marx, Engels, and the whole… Read More Karl Marx’s Racism
Brad S. Gregory is Dorothy G. Griffin Professor of Early Modern European History at the University of Notre Dame, a world-class historian, and award-winning author of Salvation at Stake: Christian Martyrdom in Early Modern Europe and The Unintended Reformation: How a Religious Revolution Secularized Society. He received his Ph.D. from Princeton University and was a Junior Fellow in the Harvard… Read More The Reformation: Historical Conditions, Unintended Consequences
Updated. “The popular understanding of The Crusades in the West is that they involved barbaric, violent Christians invading the peaceful and enlightened Islamic world. Films like Kingdom of Heaven and Mankind: The Story of Us reinforce this narrative. But the truth is the reality of the Crusades is much, much different. In fact, it’s the… Read More “Why the Crusades Were Awesome, Actually”
“Hegel is the ideological nexus where the Gnostic scientific dictatorships of Nazism and Communism intersect.” — Phillip and Paul Collins, The Ascendancy of the Scientific Dictatorship. “All the worth which the human being possesses – all spiritual reality, he possesses only through the State. … For Truth is the Unity of the universal and subjective… Read More Hegel, the Idolatry of the State, and the Cunning of [his] ‘Reason’.
*|* What’s next for Syria’s Christians After Assad’s Fall? (Opinion) Opinion. The other side of the story: Robert Spencer: The Roots of the Hamas-Israeli War. What the Left doesn’t care to Face. “Robert Spencer was baptized in the Greek Orthodox Church and joined the Melkite Greek Catholic Church in 1984.[21][22] Spencer has stated that, under the reign of President Mustafa Kemal… Read More Israel Has Been Facing Much Backlash from the Western Left. But History is Long & Has Its Warnings.
History is full of surprises. One such surprise is the manner in which the secularist cataclysm of the French Revolution prompted a religious revival across the Channel in England. It was indeed ironic that the new spirit of absolute religious intolerance in France following that country’s Revolution of 1789 prompted a new spirit of relative… Read More Joseph Pearce on Secular Revolution & Hope: A History Lesson
Modern de facto Paganism often caves to the passions, but in ancient times it was not always so. Stoic wisdom is not theology, but is often good psychology in harmony with Christian ideals. The Magi also brought their gifts. “Finally, brethren, whatsoever is true, whatsoever is honorable, whatsoever is just, whatsoever is pure, whatsoever is… Read More Stoic Gems: The Porch and the Cross
It is one thing for Artificial Intelligence (AI) to be able to assimilate such a phenomenal amount of information. It’s another thing to be able to parse the information so effortlessly— and instantly? Anybody with a real brain must pay attention. Where is this taking us? To darkness or to mutual respect? That, as I… Read More “God,” Robots (AI), Christianity and Religion in General
Truth does not change with the changes in political parties, current philosophies or trends. ” a thing cannot be and not be at the same time”— St. Thomas (Summa Contra Gentiles, Book 1, chap. 84) “…reason’s first principle is the principle of contradiction. He who denies this principle affirms a self-destructive sentence. To deny this principle… Read More Reginald Garrigou-Lagrange on Reason and The Law of Non-Contradiction.
Sunday Times Bestseller by Nigel Biggar. A new assessment of the West’s colonial record. “In the wake of the dissolution of the Soviet empire in 1989, many believed that we had arrived at the ‘End of History’ – that the global dominance of liberal democracy had been secured forever. Now however, with Russia rattling its… Read More Colonialism: A Moral Reckoning
And he gave as good as he got 🪓 It is bizarre to hear how little the otherwise impressive English historian Tracy Borman seems to know about the Catholic theology of Indulgences, medieval and otherwise. It would have been better to consult the turn of the century Catholic Encyclopedia online or the Catho!ic Answers website… Read More An Axe to Grind. Cromwell’s Cynical Propaganda.
“For more than 50 years, the vast majority of the world’s most prominent archaeologists and historians have proclaimed that there is no hard evidence to support the Exodus story found in the Bible. In fact, they say that the archaeological record is completely opposed to the Bible’s account. This view of extreme skepticism has spread… Read More The Exodus: Patterns of Evidence
Recent discoveries are making Jewish, secular and agnostic scholars reconsider a century’s worth of skepticism towards the New Testament accounts of Jesus. (Pinned Dec. 18, 2022) By Robert Hutchinson, via The Blaze.com. The entrance to the Mary of Nazareth International Center in central Nazareth doesn’t look like much. It’s just a simple doorway off narrow… Read More New Discoveries About Jesus of Nazareth
“The visionary chemist Sidney Gottlieb was the CIA’s master magician and gentlehearted torturer – the agency’s “poisoner in chief.” As head of the MK-ULTRA mind control project, he directed brutal experiments at secret prisons on three continents. He made pills, powders, and potions that could kill or maim without a trace – including some intended… Read More How Evil Thee, Sidney? How Evil We?
Mary gets a fair shakeCustomer Reviewed in the United States on January 22, 2010 One approaches a biography of a famous person with prejudices. You already have an opinion. The book may agree with your assessment or refute it and the success of the book and the characterization of the protagonist depend upon which way… Read More The Myth of ‘Bloody Mary’
“In the first book, O The-oph′ilus, I have dealt with all that Jesus began to do and teach, 2 until the day when he was taken up, after he had given commandment through the Holy Spirit to the apostles whom he had chosen.”— Acts 1, 1-2 “The fortieth day after Easter Sunday, commemorating the Ascension of Christ… Read More The Glorious Feast of the Ascension
David Halberstam’s The Fifties: “Selling The American Way” “The Fifties is a sweeping social, political, economic, and cultural history of the 10 years that Halberstam regards as seminal in determining what our nation is today. Halberstam offers portraits of not only the titans of the age: Eisenhower, Dulles, Oppenheimer, MacArthur, Hoover, and Nixon; but also of… Read More Videodrome. When the Seven Deadly Sins of Excess Morphed Into “Progress”
Leading pro-life groups in the UK are very upset today after MPs voted for censorship zones outside abortion centers that ban people from praying silently outside businesses that kill babies in abortions. MPs were voting on an amendment to a clause introducing buffer zones around abortion clinics, which had been added into the Public Order… Read More British Parliament Passes Law Banning Prayers Outside Abortion Centers
Joseph Pearce and Linda Porter. Canceling Henry VIII. by Joseph Peace.Catholic World Report. “Times change. A century ago, Henry VIII was lionized as an English patriotic icon and as one of the truly great men of history. He was praised for being highly cultured and for his love of music, and was credited with writing… Read More ‘Canceling Henry VIII.’ And ‘The Myth of ‘Bloody Mary’
Catholic Critique 