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Print: $15.95 Download: $3.00 Rather than attempt a systematic "legal" critique primarily from canon law and all the various proclamations of the Church regarding schism and authority, and so forth, rather, I have sought to analyze the premises, presuppositions, logical and ecclesiological "bottom lines" and (in a word), the spirit of a false and divisive "traditionalism" practiced and held by a distinctive sociological sub-group of Catholics.
One might regard such an enterprise as logically and conceptually prior to a formal critique (whether theological or philosophical) of the modes of thought involved. As Pascal sought to examine and "expose" the underlying assumptions of the unbeliever and the skeptic of his time (similar to Socrates' own modus operandi), so I am trying to arrive at the foundational assumptions or "mindset" of the self-proclaimed "traditionalist," under the further assumption that ideas do not develop in a vacuum, and have a history, and a pedigree.
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Print: $16.95 Download: $3.00 Examination and rational comparison of the Christian and postmodernist philosophies, with in-depth treatment of such important topics as the problem of evil, the "problem of good" and meaningfulness in atheism, miracles, the relationship of Christianity to science and scientific method, atheist unproven axioms and premises, and the cosmological and teleological arguments for God's existence.
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Print: $15.95 Download: $3.00 The present work mainly uses reason and Holy Scripture in order to explicate Catholic moral theology, in the areas of sexuality, gender, and the family.
Far from being a merely "moralistic" or "puritanical" or "Victorian" sort of outlook (often perceived by many as a set of unnecessary, stifling, negative rules), Catholic moral theology is based on what God has revealed to us in His inspired Word, the Bible, and is a positive teaching about who man is, and what fulfills him, in accordance with God's purpose for His children, made in His image.
It is my hope and prayer that this book will help Catholics to better understand the rationale behind their own Church's sometimes difficult-to-live-out beliefs concerning personal and institutional morality, and aid non-Catholics in finding common ground with Catholic moral teaching, and to better appreciate it, even where they find themselves in disagreement.
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Print: $16.95 Download: $3.00 C.S. Lewis, the famous Anglican writer, once wrote: "The very possibility of progress demands that there should be an unchanging element . . . the positive historical statements made by Christianity have the power . . . of receiving, without intrinsic change, the increasing complexity of meaning which increasing knowledge puts into them" ("God in the Dock," Eerdmans, Grand Rapids, MI, 1970, 44-47).
Doctrine clearly develops within Scripture ("progressive revelation"). Examples: doctrines of the afterlife, the Trinity, the Messiah (eventually revealed as God the Son), the Holy Spirit (Divine Person in the New Testament), the equality of Jews and Gentiles, bodily resurrection, sacrifice of lambs evolving into the sacrifice of Christ, etc.
This book serves as an introduction to the notion of doctrinal development, written from a popular lay apologetics standpoint.
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Print: $16.95 Download: $3.00 Fifteen dialogues loosely based on encounters of a Catholic apologist with Protestants, over the course of nearly five years of Internet discussions on lists, bulletin boards, and private correspondence. The most important and fundamental issues that divide Protestants and Catholics are dealt with: the relationship of Bible and tradition, the authority of the Church, whether the Church and tradition can be infallible like the Bible, how one is saved, the relationship of faith and works, whether Catholics believe in "salvation by works," grace alone, etc.
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Print: $16.95 Download: $5.00 For Protestants, Scripture alone is the source and rule of the Christian faith. Protestantism takes an "either/or" approach, but Catholicism has a "both/and" perspective. Tradition is the handing on of beliefs and practices by oral as well as written means. The Bible, though uniquely inspired, is part of a Tradition larger than itself, of which it is an encapsulation. Catholics describe Scripture, Tradition, and the Church as a "three-legged stool."
Should the Bible be fully expected to teach sola Scriptura it in its pages; does it necessarily have to do so for sola Scriptura to be true?
Scripture is, we are told, clear enough in its main outlines to be understood by the layman without necessary help from any church body or ecclesiastical communion. Yet despite this claim, many profound inter-Protestant disagreements continue and show no sign of cessation. This difficulty and many others will be examined in this book.
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Print: $16.92 Download: $3.00 The views set forth here are certainly one-sided, and purposely so, in order to form a conscious counter-argument to the accepted Protestant “mythology,” so to speak, of Martin Luther. His many commendable qualities are well covered in any Protestant biography (and some can be rightly classified as virtual “hagiographies”).
The full, multi-faceted, complex truth concerning important historical figures is invariably more fascinating than the usual myths that circulate about. I aim to present Luther as he was: no more, no less: as fairly as I can, but “warts and all,” too.
I do not regard Luther (like many Catholic biographers and critics throughout history) as an essentially “evil” or “bad” man. I don’t deny his good intentions and sincerity at all.
Part Two: the “praise” section of this book, runs 83 pages, or about 34% of all the material from Chapter One to the Bibliography.
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Print: $16.92 Download: $3.00 Protestants and Catholics both claim that the early Church heritage of theology and broad consensus of the Church fathers leans more towards their own view. Protestants, from the beginning of their existence, claimed to be “reformers” of the Catholic Church; that is, they felt themselves to be hearkening back to the more pure doctrines of the early Church and the Church fathers, rather than overturning historic Catholic doctrine.
I shall contend in this book, by means of massive documentation, that the “historical case” for Catholicism becomes stronger as the accumulation of patristic evidence piles up. Catholics need not fear patristic data any more than they need fear the Bible, as both (with all due respect to our esteemed non-Catholic Christian brothers and sisters) firmly support our theology and doctrine.
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Print: $15.92 Download: $3.00 Table of Contents:
I General Observations
II Martin Luther
III Is All Opposition to Catholicism "Anti-Catholicism"?
IV Protestantism is Christian & Catholicism is Not?
V The Gospel & Faith and Works
VI "Debates" & "Dialogues" with Anti-Catholics
VII Does the Term "Anti-Catholic" Involve a Double Standard?
VIII Towards a Psychology of Anti-Catholicism
IX Anti-Sacramentalism
X Heterodox Catholics & Liberal Protestants
XI Nominal, Ignorant, and Sinful Catholics
XII Practical Problems Due to the Modernist Crisis
Appendix 1: Martin Luther's Anti-Catholic Statements
Appendix 2: G.K. Chesterton on Anti-Catholicism
Appendix 3: John Henry Cardinal Newman on Anti-Catholicism
Appendix 4: Use of the Term "Anti-Catholicism" in
Non-Catholic Scholarly Circles
Appendix 5: John Henry Cardinal Newman on
Theological Liberalism
Appendix 6: Catholic Encyclopedia (1913): Modernism
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Print: $15.92 Download: $3.00 Table of Contents:
Dedication
Introduction
I Sola Scriptura: The Bible as Ultimate Authority
II Doctrinal Diversity and the Invisible Church
III The "Pure" Church, Devoid of Sinners
IV Private Judgment
V Church History
VI The Perspicuity (Clearness) of Scripture
VII Predestination, Calvinism, and Arminianism
VIII "Dead" Catholics and Rituals, Etc.
IX Martin Luther and Protestant Origins
X Faith and Works
Appendix 1 John Calvin on Protestant Divisions
Appendix 2 The Agony of Luther, Melanchthon, and
Bucer Over the State of Early Protestantism
Appendix 3 Luther's Assertions of His Own Authority
Appendix 4 Erasmus on Luther and Protestantism, and
Luther on Erasmus
Appendix 5 John Henry Newman on Protestantism
Apostolical Tradition, 1836
On the Abuse of Private Judgment, 1837
Private Judgment, 1841
St. Athanasius' Rule of Faith, 1844
Faith and Private Judgment, 1849
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Print: $16.92 Download: $3.00 Dedication
Introduction
1. The Basic Differences Summarized
2. A Response to Orthodox Critiques of Catholic Ecclesiological Preeminence
3. Theological Opinions on the Papacy Prior to 1054 in Both Eastern and Western Christianity
4. Reflections on the Sack of Constantinople in 1204 and Lesser-Known Byzantine Atrocities
5. The Tendency Towards Caesaropapism in the Byzantine Empire and Eastern Orthodoxy
6. Development of Doctrine in Orthodoxy and Catholicism: Different in Essence?
7. Do St. Anselm, St. Thomas Aquinas, and Other Catholic Thinkers Adopt an Unbiblical Rationalism" Leading to a "Remote" or "Impersonal" God?
8. Orthodoxy, Apologetics, and Ecumenism
9. Is Orthodoxy Immune From Dissent, Modernism, and Scandal?
10. Orthodox Compromise on Divorce
11. Orthodox Sanctioning of Contraception
Appendix 1. St. Leo the Great on the Office of the Papacy
Appendix 2. Orthodox Anti-Catholicism
Appendix 3. The Filioque and the Eastern Church Fathers
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Print: $16.92 Download: $3.00 Basic Christian apologetics, designed for general Christian consumption and Christians of all stripes.
1. Why Believe in Christianity?
2. Why Believe the Bible?: Archaeological, Prophetic, and Manuscript Evidences
3. An Introduction to Bible Interpretation
4. The Biblical Basis for Apologetics, or Defense of the Christian Faith
5. Miracles, Skepticism, and the Historicity and Believability of the Resurrection of Jesus Christ
6. Jesus is God: Biblical Proofs
7. The Holy Trinity: Biblical Proofs
8. God, Morality, Free Will, and Reason
9. The Biblical Evidence for an Eternal Hell
10. Reasons for Suffering and Encouragement and Hope in the Midst of It: A Biblical Compendium
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Print: $15.95 Download: $3.00 My purpose is to accumulate biblical arguments in support of distinctively Catholic doctrinal positions, with Protestant readers particularly in mind. I also touch upon the closely related subjects of sola Scriptura (the Protestant notion of Scripture Alone), the Catholic Church's high regard for Holy Scripture, and critiques from our separated Christian brethren with regard to matters of ecclesiology (Church) and Tradition. Additionally, a fair degree of emphasis has been devoted to certain common and erroneous charges against the Catholic Church and to dialogue (back-and-forth discussion), so that readers can have a sense of interaction with opponents of various Catholic doctrines, and how they might be answered from Scripture, history, and reason. Almost all of these chapters came about as a result of challenges and dialogues undertaken via e-mail and Internet lists and bulletin boards, from mid-1996 through to mid-2000.
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