tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14658466876070308562024-03-05T14:34:49.480-08:00The World PerceivedA. J. MacDonald, JrA. J. MacDonald, Jrhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02606590381956913426noreply@blogger.comBlogger219125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1465846687607030856.post-28974767289803313252023-06-28T09:21:00.001-07:002023-06-28T09:21:21.788-07:00The Church is suffering: she is trampled on, and her enemies are within. Let us not abandon her. <p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTyaFhfhzlSN474hHM4UUat5568Zpuztmv2DRR70n8CZ-ueB5ZwByQhmwdMDYao1qqKqbFJGqJfLlrcSm8W05ndHMRwbXoPNwBMJEllj0mfM-ZRjGYZB9DCqqaMMH5X4IwDSzsBy-b4MASmayD0hiuh5g8MixJB4JFd5LbvHT86gbsRjTXROnJADU6mX4/s740/woman-praying-in-church-featured-w740x493.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="493" data-original-width="740" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTyaFhfhzlSN474hHM4UUat5568Zpuztmv2DRR70n8CZ-ueB5ZwByQhmwdMDYao1qqKqbFJGqJfLlrcSm8W05ndHMRwbXoPNwBMJEllj0mfM-ZRjGYZB9DCqqaMMH5X4IwDSzsBy-b4MASmayD0hiuh5g8MixJB4JFd5LbvHT86gbsRjTXROnJADU6mX4/w400-h266/woman-praying-in-church-featured-w740x493.jpg" width="400" /></a></div> <p></p><p>The mystery of Judas, the mystery of betrayal, is a subtle poison. The devil seeks to make us doubt the Church. He wants us to regard her as a human organization in crisis. However, she is so much more than that: she is the continuation of Christ. The devil drives us to division and schism. He wants us to believe that the Church has betrayed us. But the Church does not betray. The Church, full of sinners, is herself without sin! There will always be enough light in her for those who seek God. Do not be tempted by hatred, division, manipulation. It is not a matter of believing a party, of rising up against each other: “The Master warned us against these dangers to the point of reassuring the people, even with regard to the bad shepherds: one must not abandon the Church, that seat of truth, because of them . . . . Therefore let us not become lost in the evil of division because of those who are wicked”, Saint Augustine (Letter 105).<br /><br />The Church is suffering: she is trampled on, and her enemies are within. Let us not abandon her. All pastors are sinful men, but they bear within themselves the mystery of Christ.<br /><br />What is to be done, then? It is not a matter of organizing and implementing strategies. How could anyone think that we could improve things by ourselves? That would be to enter again into the illusion of Judas. <br /><br />Given the surge of sins in the ranks of the Church, we are tempted to try to take things into our own hands. We are tempted to try to purify the Church by our own strength. That would be a mistake. What should we do? Form a party? A movement? That is the most serious temptation: the showy disguise of division. Under the pretext of of doing good, people become divided, they criticize each other, they tear each other apart. And the devil snickers. He has succeeded in tempting good people under the appearance of good. We do not reform the Church by division and hatred. We reform the Church when we start changing ourselves! Let us not hesitate, each one, in his place, to denounce sin, starting with our own. <br /><br />I tremble at the thought that Christ’s seamless garment is in danger of being torn again. Jesus suffered agony when he saw in advance the divisions of Christians. Let us not crucify him again! His heart begs us: he thirsts for unity! The devil is afraid of being called by his name. He likes to drape himself in the fog of ambiguity. Let us be clear about one thing: “To call things by the wrong name is to add to the world’s misfortune”, Albert Camus said. <br /><br />Robert Cardinal Sarah, <i>The Day is Now Far Spent</i> (pp. 14-5) <br /></p>A. J. MacDonald, Jrhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02606590381956913426noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1465846687607030856.post-40830974514784451712022-12-22T09:51:00.002-08:002022-12-22T09:51:18.211-08:00"Neither the church nor ministry, Bible or creed, is perfect."<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfRBGQMbnidpB5j0CSOOx1YDdMSzNmSWtDPaiveJ_UTSYkQpy7ukd5G4thJKWqpsIaTdkX1ilzEF23IUmXo5W2-HeqrfrWerZVlUN-9PBYFxb50i2Zzx9_CrIz7IunbWkp_j8ZSq1chXpYYJbKoHnC62UUsLOc9-F6VN4kANkRBo8Dfh3ferq5ApX3/s934/Screen%20Shot%202022-12-22%20at%2012.47.54%20PM.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="934" data-original-width="684" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfRBGQMbnidpB5j0CSOOx1YDdMSzNmSWtDPaiveJ_UTSYkQpy7ukd5G4thJKWqpsIaTdkX1ilzEF23IUmXo5W2-HeqrfrWerZVlUN-9PBYFxb50i2Zzx9_CrIz7IunbWkp_j8ZSq1chXpYYJbKoHnC62UUsLOc9-F6VN4kANkRBo8Dfh3ferq5ApX3/s320/Screen%20Shot%202022-12-22%20at%2012.47.54%20PM.png" width="234" /></a></div>While holding a high view of Biblical authority, [Augustus] Strong’s starting point was that the truth was not doctrinal or propositional, but rather “the truth is a personal Being, and that Christ himself is the Truth.” Strong attributed the intellectual difficulties in the church to a view of truth that was too abstract and literal. People mistakenly supposed the perfection attributed to the deity could be attributed equally to statements about Christ made by the church, the ministry, the Bible, or a creed. “A large part of the unbelief of the present day,” he said, “has been caused by the unwarranted identification of these symbols and manifestations with Christ himself. Neither the church nor ministry, Bible or creed, is perfect. To discover imperfections in them is to prove that they are not in themselves divine.”<br /><br />George M. Marsden, <i>Fundamentalism and American Culture</i> (p. 107) <br /><p></p>A. J. MacDonald, Jrhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02606590381956913426noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1465846687607030856.post-67927719980458939412022-10-27T10:17:00.005-07:002022-10-27T18:16:33.420-07:00 "And hope to the end; rather, perfectly, with a full, unwavering, constant hope."<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEie8OsTp9pR4FjQ4PkhrCVqgMvIJ0QZX10HhsEdw0oZv0MuU_vy4RjIyAZIW8KUPzjkjyZdM-7Iv23l_74ebbcp0HME48Bl-dNmH2tZXNCxhHCh2LntXaombRHKHOsLsaYV14c_a0jYaJQlsw-9SdcB5Tl2LtM6KQrT21oF6hnWVx0YaEvGQ6lJSn4j/s600/hope.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="360" data-original-width="600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEie8OsTp9pR4FjQ4PkhrCVqgMvIJ0QZX10HhsEdw0oZv0MuU_vy4RjIyAZIW8KUPzjkjyZdM-7Iv23l_74ebbcp0HME48Bl-dNmH2tZXNCxhHCh2LntXaombRHKHOsLsaYV14c_a0jYaJQlsw-9SdcB5Tl2LtM6KQrT21oF6hnWVx0YaEvGQ6lJSn4j/w400-h240/hope.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p><br />“Wherefore having the loins of your mind girt up, being sober, trust perfectly in the grace which is offered you in the revelation of Jesus Christ” ( 1 Peter 1:13, Douay-Rheims).<br /><br />Propter quod succincti lumbos mentis vestrae, sobrii, perfecte sperate in eam, quae offertur vobis, gratiam, in revelationem Jesu Christi (1 Peter 1:13, Clementine Vulgate).<br /><br />“Wherefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and hope to the end for the grace that is to be brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ” (1 Peter 1:13, King James).<br /><br />Διὸ ἀναζωσάμενοι τὰς ὀσφύας τῆς διανοίας ὑμῶν νήφοντες τελείως ἐλπίσατε ἐπὶ τὴν φερομένην ὑμῖν χάριν ἐν ἀποκαλύψει Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ (1 Peter 1:13, Stephanus 1550).<br /><br />"And hope to the end; rather, perfectly, with a full, unwavering, constant hope. It is better to take the adverb τελείως with the verb 'hope' than with νήφοντες, 'be perfectly sober.' For the grace that is to be brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ. The Christian's hope must be directed to, set towards (ἐπί with accusative), the continual growth in grace ('He giveth more grace,' James 4:6). That grace is being brought now, being borne in upon the soul in the present revelation of Jesus Christ. 'It pleased God,' says St. Paul (Galatians 1:16), 'to reveal his Son in me.' So now the Lord manifests himself to those who walk in the path of loving obedience. Each gift of grace kindles the hope of a nearer manifestation, a fuller revelation; grace is continually brought, till at length the full unspeakable gift of grace is realized at the glorious revelation of Jesus Christ at his second advent. This seems better than to give the present participle φερομένην a future sense, and to understand the revelation of Jesus Christ only of his final coming in glory (Pulpit Commentary)."<br /><br />See: Bible Hub: 1 Peter 1:13 - <a href="https://biblehub.com/1_peter/1-13.htm">https://biblehub.com/1_peter/1-13.htm</a> <br /><br /></p>A. J. MacDonald, Jrhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02606590381956913426noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1465846687607030856.post-51579291877198711202022-04-28T15:51:00.001-07:002022-04-28T15:55:32.533-07:00"...for the brief course of this life will soon be ended"<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHgctYZP8NLFwDaJmILkFFtOvM5F8hSbM3aADl7idFnC8wA7DcOEXnJThVjtW9LsLz41iM965TwyV-tAqV6o7YSny97kXWMQfA3WIGhq72xlIFG9SY_rIDY3rzIU1doqAJ2C9fEEq0kWFzbWYfKvBXRlPqZJOWZNqgtvOo3Srqj1U6rw8L8DadJhuq/s1280/forest-7141417_1280.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="853" data-original-width="1280" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHgctYZP8NLFwDaJmILkFFtOvM5F8hSbM3aADl7idFnC8wA7DcOEXnJThVjtW9LsLz41iM965TwyV-tAqV6o7YSny97kXWMQfA3WIGhq72xlIFG9SY_rIDY3rzIU1doqAJ2C9fEEq0kWFzbWYfKvBXRlPqZJOWZNqgtvOo3Srqj1U6rw8L8DadJhuq/w400-h266/forest-7141417_1280.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p>Finally, my beloved child, I intreat you by all that is sacred in heaven and in earth, by your own Baptism, by the breast which Jesus sucked, by the tender Heart with which He loves you, and by the bowels of compassion in which you hope—be stedfast and persevere in this most blessed undertaking to live a devout life. Our days pass away, death is at hand. “The trumpet sounds a recall,” says S. Gregory Nazianzen, “in order that every one may make ready, for Judgment is near.” When S. Symphorian was led to his martyrdom, his mother cried out to him, “My son, my son, remember life eternal, look to Heaven, behold Him Who reigns there; for the brief course of this life will soon be ended.” Even so would I say to you: Look to Heaven, and do not lose it for earth; look at Hell, and do not plunge therein for the sake of this passing life; look at Jesus Christ, and do not deny Him for the world’s sake; even if the devout life sometimes seems hard and dull, join in Saint Francis’ song, <br /><br />“So vast the joys that I await, <br />No earthly travail seemeth great.” <br /><br />Glory be to Jesus, to Whom, with the Father and the Holy Ghost, be honour and glory, now and ever, and to all Eternity. Amen.<br /><br />St. Francis de Sales, <i>Introduction to the Devout Life</i> (Part 5, Chapter 18)<br /><br /></p>A. J. MacDonald, Jrhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02606590381956913426noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1465846687607030856.post-62868830442855878132022-04-22T15:51:00.004-07:002022-04-22T15:51:49.471-07:00Presupposing God for the possibility of intelligent predication<p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfAuyVBy5rY2GAjdvKbw7eT_HgOynWSqrWrS35KRrlY4U7ZyCo-Rd5Djsk9HMFlu_LLbqHGGmpk0vtjyaWCacRQCe7AA9f-2vD4vZTQDr7MrgcjfwVTO4AIiiLM_K4HMYdaWrXoUKoLX3_d6ZxJwoxzU7TYo9QEYpkirsk9hNte7muwrr3jYG3BLmy/s450/VanTil-study.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="326" data-original-width="450" height="290" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfAuyVBy5rY2GAjdvKbw7eT_HgOynWSqrWrS35KRrlY4U7ZyCo-Rd5Djsk9HMFlu_LLbqHGGmpk0vtjyaWCacRQCe7AA9f-2vD4vZTQDr7MrgcjfwVTO4AIiiLM_K4HMYdaWrXoUKoLX3_d6ZxJwoxzU7TYo9QEYpkirsk9hNte7muwrr3jYG3BLmy/w400-h290/VanTil-study.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Cornelius Van Til (1895-1987)<br /></td></tr></tbody></table> </p><p>No sinner reacts properly to God’s revelation. Is this too sweeping a statement? It is simply the doctrine of total depravity. All sinners are covenant breakers. They have an axe to grind. They do not want to keep God in remembrance. They keep under the knowledge of God which is within them. That is they try as best they can to keep under this knowledge for fear they should look into the face of their judge. And since God’s face appears in every fact of the universe they oppose God’s revelation everywhere. They do not want to see the facts of nature for what they are; they do not want to see themselves for what they are. Therefore they assume the non-createdness of themselves and of the facts and the laws of nature round about them. Even though they make great protestations of serving God they yet serve and worship the creature more than the Creator. They try to make themselves believe that God and man are aspects of one universe. They interpret all things immanentistically. Shall we in the interest of a point of contact admit that man can interpret anything correctly if he virtually leaves God out of the picture? Shall we who wish to prove that nothing can be explained without God, first admit that some things at least can be explained without him? On the contrary we shall show that all explanations without God are futile. Only when we do this do we appeal to that knowledge of God within men which they seek to suppress. This is what I mean by presupposing God for the possibility of intelligent predication. <br /> </p><p>Cornelius Van Til, A Christian Theory of Knowledge (p. 294) <br /></p>A. J. MacDonald, Jrhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02606590381956913426noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1465846687607030856.post-69298784099948504122022-04-22T05:51:00.002-07:002022-04-22T05:51:35.598-07:00"While all around is changing, we must seek to remain immoveable..."<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmaXbWzgkHfOBvZAVp4jYzb0m8cYswanWknQ-fba65KyHxyg23QmKaqGnKts1kI-aAI4yYIho3iD2ATP6uvGcuvv6acu6VIL2InBzdB_IERTdrLMq-A2Rmy6Fsnn-GWOBAhOu470zfYpVHW0fNilvxoss6YDfxESqwXdrFcs15QlP3v30V6bYnyF8f/s1280/nature-6816877_1280.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="854" data-original-width="1280" height="268" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmaXbWzgkHfOBvZAVp4jYzb0m8cYswanWknQ-fba65KyHxyg23QmKaqGnKts1kI-aAI4yYIho3iD2ATP6uvGcuvv6acu6VIL2InBzdB_IERTdrLMq-A2Rmy6Fsnn-GWOBAhOu470zfYpVHW0fNilvxoss6YDfxESqwXdrFcs15QlP3v30V6bYnyF8f/w400-h268/nature-6816877_1280.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p>THE order of God’s Providence maintains a perpetual vicissitude in the material being of this world; day is continually turning to night, spring to summer, summer to autumn, autumn to winter, winter to spring; no two days are ever exactly alike. Some are foggy, rainy, some dry or windy; and this endless variety greatly enhances the beauty of the universe. And even so precisely is it with man (who, as ancient writers have said, is a miniature of the world), for he is never long in any one condition, and his life on earth flows by like the mighty waters, heaving and tossing with an endless variety of motion; one while raising him on high with hope, another plunging him low in fear; now turning him to the right with rejoicing, then driving him to the left with sorrows; and no single day, no, not even one hour, is entirely the same as any other of his life <br /><br />All this is a very weighty warning, and teaches us to aim at an abiding and unchangeable evenness of mind amid so great an uncertainty of events; and, while all around is changing, we must seek to remain immoveable, ever looking to, reaching after and desiring our God. Let the ship take what tack you will, let her course be eastward or westward, northern or southern, let any wind whatsoever fill her sails, but meanwhile her compass will never cease to point to its one unchanging lodestar. Let all around us be overthrown, nay more, all within us; I mean let our soul be sad or glad, in bitterness or joy, at peace or troubled, dry and parched, or soft and fruitful, let the sun scorch, or the dew refresh it; but all the while the magnet of our heart and mind, our superior will, which is our moral compass, must continually point to the Love of God our Creator, our Saviour, our only Sovereign Good.<br /><br />St. Francis de Sales, <i>Introduction to the Devout Life</i> (Part 4, Chapter 13)<br /><br /></p>A. J. MacDonald, Jrhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02606590381956913426noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1465846687607030856.post-70988038274470429922022-04-10T13:58:00.002-07:002022-04-10T14:02:18.684-07:00 Such as stand upright do so solely through God’s grace<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSofVifo_snqfWjaxMq2KjKm9Qa84E4uxnjTK5xywdyLVYB06iEO8XSfnY27EtDEEeaTwu8VoqchGd1X6sY5DJT0Aeulu37_U0wvFYiKnWQFhXNBzQ6quP2XUeX_fled7dErPbcv5d5Du9BI-tTlKq1bT4_vc0a5yh9z-T7qhnxOvMNv0kM9VoMOTL/s915/St-Francis-DeSales-44.jpg" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="736" data-original-width="915" height="257" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSofVifo_snqfWjaxMq2KjKm9Qa84E4uxnjTK5xywdyLVYB06iEO8XSfnY27EtDEEeaTwu8VoqchGd1X6sY5DJT0Aeulu37_U0wvFYiKnWQFhXNBzQ6quP2XUeX_fled7dErPbcv5d5Du9BI-tTlKq1bT4_vc0a5yh9z-T7qhnxOvMNv0kM9VoMOTL/s320/St-Francis-DeSales-44.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">St. Francis de Sales (1567-1622)<br /></td></tr></tbody></table>Public, notorious sinners may be spoken of freely, provided always even then that a spirit of charity and compassion prevail, and that you do not speak of them with arrogance or presumption, or as though you took pleasure in the fall of others. To do this is the sure sign of a mean ungenerous mind. And, of course, you must speak freely in condemnation of the professed enemies of God and His Church, heretics and schismatics,—it is true charity to point out the wolf wheresoever he creeps in among the flock. Most people permit themselves absolute latitude in criticizing and censuring rulers, and in calumniating nationalities, according to their own opinions and likings. But you should avoid this fault; it is displeasing to God, and is liable to lead you into disputes and quarrels. When you hear evil of any one, cast any doubt you fairly can upon the accusation; or if that is impossible, make any available excuse for the culprit; and where even that may not be, be yet pitiful and compassionate, and remind those with whom you are speaking that such as stand upright do so solely through God’s Grace. Do your best kindly to check the scandal-bearer, and if you know anything favorable to the person criticized, take pains to mention it.<br /><p><br />St. Francis de Sales, <i>Introduction to the Devout Life</i> (Part 3, Chapter 29)</p>A. J. MacDonald, Jrhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02606590381956913426noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1465846687607030856.post-38380006644054485372022-04-08T13:34:00.001-07:002022-04-08T13:34:43.198-07:00Why are so many people unable to find the truth?<p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2B6gh34Fm4JEJa7ON2ZWyIKjNstF-t4WIvLzLeNSwre838ejvKu2PhahrV-AAB-qv9uqF0MUOqy1OhpwNfqy9WbZwAIwUjJMpwj9KXTqcRPkzeNDH1SkY2GNUfh7FTCIGGxrY0irgjTdzSa_GNudKOz9eottz0zSerzYsUVgMAOIKpUKW9Jo8Zs8S/s200/index-e1536442806286.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="200" data-original-width="200" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2B6gh34Fm4JEJa7ON2ZWyIKjNstF-t4WIvLzLeNSwre838ejvKu2PhahrV-AAB-qv9uqF0MUOqy1OhpwNfqy9WbZwAIwUjJMpwj9KXTqcRPkzeNDH1SkY2GNUfh7FTCIGGxrY0irgjTdzSa_GNudKOz9eottz0zSerzYsUVgMAOIKpUKW9Jo8Zs8S/s1600/index-e1536442806286.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Josef Pieper (1904-1997)<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br />The general public is being reduced to a state where people not only are unable to find out about the truth but also become unable even to <i>search</i> for the truth because they are satisfied with deception and trickery that have determined their convictions, satisfied with a fictitious reality created by design through the abuse of language.<br /><br />Josef Pieper, <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Abuse-Language-Power-Josef-Pieper/dp/089870362X" target="_blank"><i>Abuse of Language, Abuse of Power</i></a> (pp. 34-5)<br /><br /></p>A. J. MacDonald, Jrhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02606590381956913426noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1465846687607030856.post-82993658782745290342022-04-05T18:07:00.000-07:002022-04-05T18:07:13.080-07:00God in his providence has provided for the essentially accurate transmission of the words of the original<p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBZVvMRLmmyQRY_vupnfvNDbSvGESM_XbxVsI74L7sRrcyKyzpicaCAJ46giR410bS6itQALauFEyM0iHgrcc7i9lNJlUK1ZAy9LN05se27jp6ivmC3o6I4x-gJ56UF2LAuLWn_pMDBdJUfFKqD5aeYp0bDKiq51pckY-KgCnHgzK6zTk7JNSiTQoe/s450/VanTil-study.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="326" data-original-width="450" height="232" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBZVvMRLmmyQRY_vupnfvNDbSvGESM_XbxVsI74L7sRrcyKyzpicaCAJ46giR410bS6itQALauFEyM0iHgrcc7i9lNJlUK1ZAy9LN05se27jp6ivmC3o6I4x-gJ56UF2LAuLWn_pMDBdJUfFKqD5aeYp0bDKiq51pckY-KgCnHgzK6zTk7JNSiTQoe/s320/VanTil-study.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Cornelius Van Til (1895-1987)<br /></td></tr></tbody></table> </p><p>That the Bible is the Word of God pertains only to the original autographs. The versions and translations may fairly be said to be faithful reproductions of the autographs. But they cannot be said to be exact replicas of them . . . The doctrine of Scripture as self-attesting presupposes that whatsoever comes to pass in history materializes by virtue of the plan and counsel of the living God. If everything happens by virtue of the plan of God, then all created reality, every aspect of it, is inherently revelational of God and of his plan . . . Such a view of God and of human history is both presupposed by, and in turn presupposes, the idea of the infallible Bible; and if such a God is presupposed then it is not a matter of great worry if the transmissions are not altogether accurate reproductions of the originals. Then the very idea of “substantial accuracy” or “essential reliability” has its foundation in the complete control of history by God. Then it is proper and meaningful to say that God in his providence has provided for the essentially accurate transmission of the words of the original. <br /><br />Cornelius Van Til, <i>A Christian Theory of Knowledge</i> (pp. 27-8)<br /><br /></p>A. J. MacDonald, Jrhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02606590381956913426noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1465846687607030856.post-54271029614353382592022-04-04T13:39:00.001-07:002022-04-04T13:42:34.145-07:00The message of Christianity must ring out clearly in the modern tumult<p> </p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGqYfzeqXUYRApo2w8gsunoOAbZfcdwV1ViZCDB8o3YdUHUMG7IfSV6stdG39MI__1K1wDVY1FsNw7kES9EOkIYPKywIbraEiPTQzPZeOPWFOQVIn0R1bfcyxywpBK9gUWTj4x4UT0jM4mHohUZD1or8pZyhWNYg-x-quNJXK8E0sQTi5NXCMfVM1b/s420/Cornelius%20Van%20Til.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="262" data-original-width="420" height="250" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGqYfzeqXUYRApo2w8gsunoOAbZfcdwV1ViZCDB8o3YdUHUMG7IfSV6stdG39MI__1K1wDVY1FsNw7kES9EOkIYPKywIbraEiPTQzPZeOPWFOQVIn0R1bfcyxywpBK9gUWTj4x4UT0jM4mHohUZD1or8pZyhWNYg-x-quNJXK8E0sQTi5NXCMfVM1b/w400-h250/Cornelius%20Van%20Til.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Cornelius Van Til (1895 - 1987)<br /></td></tr></tbody></table> <p></p><p>If Christianity is to be heard above the din and noise of modern irrationalism and existentialism, it must think in terms of its own basic categories. If it has to import some of its materials from the enemy, it cannot expect effectively to conquer the enemy. It is the Christian Faith that alone has the truth; this should be its claim. It should be made with all modesty; those who have accepted it once were blind. They have been saved by grace. Little would it behoove them to regard themselves as the source of wisdom. But disclaiming themselves as the source of wisdom, they cannot make apology for God and for Christ the Son of God. If men would be saved, if they would save their culture as well as themselves, they must meet the requirements of God. There is no other way to truth. “Hath not God made foolish the wisdom of this world? For after that the world by its wisdom knew not God, it pleased God through the foolishness of preaching to save those that believe” ( 1 Cor. 1:20–21)<br /><br />Cornelius Van Til, <i>A Christian Theory of Knowledge</i> (pp. 23-4) <br /></p>A. J. MacDonald, Jrhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02606590381956913426noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1465846687607030856.post-32673666149846947362022-01-18T12:54:00.002-08:002022-01-18T13:49:05.563-08:00An Encounter with the Virgin at Lourdes<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgyYhOsVoiE0Zpugki4eZqabDpPLfVgMjqOKx2oTP9Cu8pfzKp2jD8eeX8EHkZoxWFvIphvZaeSPiKzEPpmvVvv6FMdaeOUpKoOXOe-YPXHNxgnbvsDo3a5pSLR-93J-GjfqA2IXDN9Ip5u6D166nMw315sx75wd7AGdsb92BKsQWsoEIT1mQW9qKdg=s350" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="271" data-original-width="350" height="248" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgyYhOsVoiE0Zpugki4eZqabDpPLfVgMjqOKx2oTP9Cu8pfzKp2jD8eeX8EHkZoxWFvIphvZaeSPiKzEPpmvVvv6FMdaeOUpKoOXOe-YPXHNxgnbvsDo3a5pSLR-93J-GjfqA2IXDN9Ip5u6D166nMw315sx75wd7AGdsb92BKsQWsoEIT1mQW9qKdg=s320" width="320" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p>Such surrender could bring sufferers close to death. Before her cure, Blanche Meurat said that her body was shivering and cracking until she met the Virgin:<br /><br /></p><blockquote>‘Good Saint Mary, if I am still useful on earth, cure me, since I am your child, and if I am not useful, take me! I am yours.’ Then turning my eyes towards Our Good Mother of Heaven, I saw her smiling and repeating to me, three times, ‘Leave! My child! Do not hesitate, you are indeed cured,’ and, as I still hesitated, an invincible force that I cannot describe pushed me powerfully out of my stretcher from which I stepped.</blockquote><br />It is not clear if she was referring to the statue in the Grotto or to a vision, nor does she say how she interpreted the smile—as forgiveness, reassurance, encouragement or a combination of all these qualities. She none the less emphasized the sense of presence, both close and authoritative, which physically moved her off her stretcher, to the astonishment of those looking on.<br /><br />Meurat’s account of what she saw, heard and felt shows how she tried to give voice to the relationship between her imaginative encounter with the Virgin and the way it was translated into physical action. It provides a perfect example of the way the ‘self’—a totality of imagination, sensation, posture and bodily motion—was reoriented through an existential process that depended entirely on a belief in the presence of the Virgin and the maternal force associated with her. The encounter was so powerful precisely because it contrasted her finite humanity and its bodily limitations with a sense of the infinite and its supernatural possibility. This conception was not Cartesian; it preferred a vision of human wholeness and rejected the restrictions of mentalist preoccupations—<i>cogito ergo sum</i>—that favored mind over body and thought over being, in favour of a unified conception of the self. The process could not be explained by reference to a precise physiological or psychological mechanism; rather the undefined nature of the transformation within the ‘self’ gave it unimagined strength.<br /><br />Ruth Harris, <a href="https://www.google.com/books/edition/Lourdes/06UWAQAAMAAJ?hl=en" target="_blank"><i>Lourdes: Body and Spirit in the Secular Age</i></a> (pp. 310-11) <br /><p></p>A. J. MacDonald, Jrhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02606590381956913426noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1465846687607030856.post-34261074820606890642022-01-01T15:29:00.003-08:002022-01-01T15:29:48.221-08:00How have we gotten here? Mass Formation Psychosis<p><i><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhVn1QsP1iqyEl9SDN-nOX4cZRVWmHylp8qRcdplUfh27oOxgnBfmDKCLbuxrWgBTibYHVcVxZZOwRsRQrUBjRokm_7YnHXXL67Wm0X7OWZvxvZzUJ_WK0KV_Scfz6xkh4Zhvb6OJhHRy3cHS-MJRV3BQFRweD88f1sx0pQJgNGUQNgH3rP7d1WtDpN=s800" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="533" data-original-width="800" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhVn1QsP1iqyEl9SDN-nOX4cZRVWmHylp8qRcdplUfh27oOxgnBfmDKCLbuxrWgBTibYHVcVxZZOwRsRQrUBjRokm_7YnHXXL67Wm0X7OWZvxvZzUJ_WK0KV_Scfz6xkh4Zhvb6OJhHRy3cHS-MJRV3BQFRweD88f1sx0pQJgNGUQNgH3rP7d1WtDpN=s320" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Bridge over the Washougal River in Washington State (Photo: Leslie Butler)<br /></td></tr></tbody></table> </i></p><p><i>Clark County Today</i> Administrator Heidi Wetzler shares clinical psychology professor Mattias Desmet’s theory about the societal conditions under which a population ends up willingly sacrificing their freedom: <br /></p><p>I received the following comment recently from a reader in Africa, on a column I wrote a while back regarding natural immunity. It captures the essence of my daily inner dialogue. <br /><br />“Arguments from privileged countries. We in Africa have little access to vaccines, boosters, etc. The question we should be asking is, how is Africa managing? You people have already caused mayhem over Omicron. Our good doctors from South Africa have told us not to panic, but the rest of the world is in the highest panic mode yet … your countries’ have over 70% vaccinated, boosted etc. You should be at peace … you will die of fear.” <br /></p><p>Continue reading: Opinion: How have we gotten here? Mass Formation Psychosis, explained <a href="https://www.clarkcountytoday.com/opinion/opinion-how-have-we-gotten-here-mass-formation-psychosis-explained/">https://www.clarkcountytoday.com/opinion/opinion-how-have-we-gotten-here-mass-formation-psychosis-explained/</a></p><p>Watch: WHY DO SO MANY STILL BUY INTO THE NARRATIVE? <a href="https://youtu.be/uLDpZ8daIVM">https://youtu.be/uLDpZ8daIVM</a> <br /> <br /></p><p> </p><p> </p><h2><br /></h2>A. J. MacDonald, Jrhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02606590381956913426noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1465846687607030856.post-68479936037504326242021-12-06T13:01:00.000-08:002021-12-06T13:01:21.257-08:00Contingency, modern medicine, and God’s providence <p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-y2Gc62dGUPM/Ya55plNj5RI/AAAAAAAAFh0/5tA0EguahZsJniHyYOTHWqLL6UZEXlYnACNcBGAsYHQ/s275/index.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="183" data-original-width="275" height="183" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-y2Gc62dGUPM/Ya55plNj5RI/AAAAAAAAFh0/5tA0EguahZsJniHyYOTHWqLL6UZEXlYnACNcBGAsYHQ/s0/index.jpg" width="275" /></a></div>There is no apparent limit to medicine’s ambition to control the circumstances of human life and death by bringing them under human control. Billions of dollars are invested each year in research that has as its ultimate aim the elimination of contingency from the biological circumstances of human existence, and few people seem interested in asking whether or to what extent such an aim is appropriate for creatures of a providential God. <br /><br />Joel Shuman and Brian Volck, M.D., <i>Reclaiming the Body: Christians and the Faithful Use of Modern Medicine</i> (p. 35) <br /><p></p>A. J. MacDonald, Jrhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02606590381956913426noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1465846687607030856.post-45182706220338057722021-11-15T13:30:00.008-08:002021-11-15T15:04:47.008-08:00Once we locate an object of our fear, we feel empowered<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-mjfEdj03bzk/YZLRUoIUdrI/AAAAAAAAFhY/WoitEDYBeHM_ftd3AEzX0ViBtCYt4kUuQCPcBGAYYCw/s460/header.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="215" data-original-width="460" height="150" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-mjfEdj03bzk/YZLRUoIUdrI/AAAAAAAAFhY/WoitEDYBeHM_ftd3AEzX0ViBtCYt4kUuQCPcBGAYYCw/s320/header.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />Just as we long for a diagnosis when we are sick, so we long for a way to name and locate our chaotic fears. Once we have a diagnosis, we know how to respond to our illness. We feel that we can <i>do</i> something. Likewise, once we locate an object of our fear, we feel empowered. We can now take tangible steps to make ourselves more safe. Insecurity is no longer the sad reality of a fallen and vulnerable world; it is the result of “those” people who pose a tangible and definable threat to “us” and our way of life. Indeed, we exist as “us” precisely because we oppose what “they” are and what “they” do. The cozy feeling of community coexists with an anxious pugnacity that arises, in most communities, as an inevitable byproduct of a shared identity. <br /><br />Scott Bader-Saye, <i>Following Jesus in a Culture of Fear</i> (p. 105) <br /><p></p><br />A. J. MacDonald, Jrhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02606590381956913426noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1465846687607030856.post-13805248122042557302021-11-07T05:58:00.000-08:002021-11-07T05:58:58.153-08:00Atheistic Naturalism: The Root of Scientific Totalitarianism <p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-nA-aZnUP5CQ/YYfa_9EMHSI/AAAAAAAAFhQ/drpYeFKLGnMBrMjw-J0J3JwbjIb3ng4VACLcBGAsYHQ/s1024/David-Dees-Gov-Vs-Free-1024x801.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="801" data-original-width="1024" height="250" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-nA-aZnUP5CQ/YYfa_9EMHSI/AAAAAAAAFhQ/drpYeFKLGnMBrMjw-J0J3JwbjIb3ng4VACLcBGAsYHQ/s320/David-Dees-Gov-Vs-Free-1024x801.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p>What kind of a case can we make for human rights, if human beings, like other animals, are the accidental products of blind material process? I do not see how a widespread belief in inalienable rights can be long maintained in such a perspective… After all, ancient societies, which had no conception of God-given rights, rewarded the elite and enslaved the rest. The logical thing to do, in an overpopulated world with scarce resources, is to “cull the herd.”<br /><br />Terence L. Nichols, The Sacred Cosmos: Christian Faith and the Challenge of Naturalism (p. 16) <br /><br /><br /></p>A. J. MacDonald, Jrhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02606590381956913426noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1465846687607030856.post-9007575494228156102021-10-18T16:06:00.002-07:002021-10-19T07:30:38.799-07:00What is going on in the world? Fireside chat with Nick Hudson<p></p><p></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-dqgsYDNefMQ/YW39gPD1D_I/AAAAAAAAFhE/NHaGP0W4qm02OwTpBmeS1Dyw1R5EOIgDACLcBGAsYHQ/s1038/Screen%2BShot%2B2021-10-18%2Bat%2B7.04.00%2BPM.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="414" data-original-width="1038" height="128" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-dqgsYDNefMQ/YW39gPD1D_I/AAAAAAAAFhE/NHaGP0W4qm02OwTpBmeS1Dyw1R5EOIgDACLcBGAsYHQ/s320/Screen%2BShot%2B2021-10-18%2Bat%2B7.04.00%2BPM.png" width="320" /></a></div>Join Dan Astin-Gregory on the Pandemic Podcast with his guest Nick Hudson, the founder of Panda, for a fireside discussion about what's going on in the world! <br /><p></p><p><iframe frameborder="0" height="360" src="https://youtube.com/embed/VnMybmgQVOc" width="480"></iframe></p>A. J. MacDonald, Jrhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02606590381956913426noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1465846687607030856.post-82211135818293072862021-10-14T05:39:00.001-07:002021-10-14T05:39:29.242-07:00Rodney Dietert on Microbiome-First Medicine<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-h6PW2L-DEOg/YWgkpUI75eI/AAAAAAAAFg0/MWBy09hbSE4fMw202UdbPWyA1FrESPjcACLcBGAsYHQ/s499/411txxZsKVL._SX331_BO1%252C204%252C203%252C200_.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="499" data-original-width="333" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-h6PW2L-DEOg/YWgkpUI75eI/AAAAAAAAFg0/MWBy09hbSE4fMw202UdbPWyA1FrESPjcACLcBGAsYHQ/s320/411txxZsKVL._SX331_BO1%252C204%252C203%252C200_.jpg" width="214" /></a></div>The origin of asthma, autism, Alzheimer’s, allergies, cancer, heart disease, obesity, and even some kinds of depression is now clear. Award-winning researcher on the microbiome, professor Rodney Dietert presents a new paradigm in human biology that has emerged in the midst of the ongoing global epidemic of noncommunicable diseases. The Human Superorganism makes a sweeping, paradigm-shifting argument. It demolishes two fundamental beliefs that have blinkered all medical thinking until very recently:<br /><br />1) Humans are better off as pure organisms free of foreign microbes. <br /><br />2) the human genome is the key to future medical advances. <br /><br />The microorganisms that we have sought to eliminate have been there for centuries supporting our ancestors. They comprise as much as 90 percent of the cells in and on our bodies—a staggering percentage! More than a thousand species of them live inside us, on our skin, and on our very eyelashes. Yet we have now significantly reduced their power and in doing so have sparked an epidemic of noncommunicable diseases—which now account for 63 percent of all human deaths. Ultimately, this book is not just about microbes; it is about a different way to view humans. The story that Dietert tells of where the new biology comes from, how it works, and the ways in which it affects your life is fascinating, authoritative, and revolutionary. Dietert identifies foods that best serve you, the superorganism; not new fad foods but ancient foods that have made sense for millennia. He explains protective measures against unsafe chemicals and drugs. He offers an empowering self-care guide and the blueprint for a revolution in public health. We are not what we have been taught. Each of us is a superorganism. The best path to a healthy life is through recognizing that profound truth.<br /><br />Source: The Human Superorganism: How the Microbiome Is Revolutionizing the Pursuit of a Healthy Life <a href="https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/531468/the-human-superorganism-by-rodney-dietert-phd/" target="_blank">https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/531468/the-human-superorganism-by-rodney-dietert-phd/</a> <br /><br />Audio Interview: Rodney Dietert on Microbiome-First Medicine <a href="https://youtu.be/nCshOFnRVZU" target="_blank">https://youtu.be/nCshOFnRVZU</a> <br /><p></p>
<iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/nCshOFnRVZU" title="YouTube video player" width="560"></iframe>A. J. MacDonald, Jrhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02606590381956913426noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1465846687607030856.post-21590854564426937832021-10-07T16:53:00.000-07:002021-10-07T16:53:16.014-07:00"The transhumanist agenda is already visible as the distant destination-point..."<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-yyhZuIkYtCM/Xwo4Q0pWatI/AAAAAAAAFHc/FRHOBwiRsYoQJNhrMo1B3u-7JxbGoIpsACPcBGAYYCw/s640/102688612_561403607905270_3672607943874307630_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="640" data-original-width="640" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-yyhZuIkYtCM/Xwo4Q0pWatI/AAAAAAAAFHc/FRHOBwiRsYoQJNhrMo1B3u-7JxbGoIpsACPcBGAYYCw/s320/102688612_561403607905270_3672607943874307630_n.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><p></p><div class="" dir="auto"><div class="ecm0bbzt hv4rvrfc ihqw7lf3 dati1w0a" data-ad-comet-preview="message" data-ad-preview="message" id="jsc_c_64"><div class="j83agx80 cbu4d94t ew0dbk1b irj2b8pg"><div class="qzhwtbm6 knvmm38d"><span class="d2edcug0 hpfvmrgz qv66sw1b c1et5uql oi732d6d ik7dh3pa ht8s03o8 a8c37x1j keod5gw0 nxhoafnm aigsh9s9 d3f4x2em fe6kdd0r mau55g9w c8b282yb iv3no6db jq4qci2q a3bd9o3v b1v8xokw oo9gr5id hzawbc8m" dir="auto"><div class="kvgmc6g5 cxmmr5t8 oygrvhab hcukyx3x c1et5uql ii04i59q"><div dir="auto" style="text-align: start;">"Belgian psychologist Dr. Mattias Desmet may be the most articulate voice on the most clear and present danger facing us: the mob-baiting now being pursued by formerly democratic governments..."</div></div><div class="o9v6fnle cxmmr5t8 oygrvhab hcukyx3x c1et5uql ii04i59q"><div dir="auto" style="text-align: start;"> </div><div dir="auto" style="text-align: start;">Covid Totalitarianism: The Deification of Error <a href="https://johnwaters.substack.com/p/covid-totalitarianism-the-deification"><span>https://johnwaters.substack.com/p/covid-totalitarianism-the-deification</span></a> </div></div><div class="o9v6fnle cxmmr5t8 oygrvhab hcukyx3x c1et5uql ii04i59q"><div dir="auto" style="text-align: start;"> </div><div dir="auto" style="text-align: start;">WHY DO SO MANY STILL BUY INTO THE NARRATIVE? <span><a class="oajrlxb2 g5ia77u1 qu0x051f esr5mh6w e9989ue4 r7d6kgcz rq0escxv nhd2j8a9 nc684nl6 p7hjln8o kvgmc6g5 cxmmr5t8 oygrvhab hcukyx3x jb3vyjys rz4wbd8a qt6c0cv9 a8nywdso i1ao9s8h esuyzwwr f1sip0of lzcic4wl py34i1dx gpro0wi8" href="https://youtu.be/uLDpZ8daIVM" rel="noreferrer noopener" role="link" target="_blank">https://youtu.be/uLDpZ8daIVM</a></span> via @YouTube</div></div></span></div></div></div></div>A. J. MacDonald, Jrhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02606590381956913426noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1465846687607030856.post-42764210492335272362021-10-05T18:23:00.000-07:002021-10-05T18:23:04.118-07:002021 Yamaha XT250 <p><span class="css-901oao css-16my406 r-poiln3 r-bcqeeo r-qvutc0"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSvOFLMTiBcWGPhXult_IyUxrzdGM_eZdLvHhj_KboyZxickRDbj4SmLZe_Q7KQYyP_5hTmqYXvoGVA0LvTVKW8xDVatPchKqqzfecZrI49lYU1Js7kEhFC1ZMOeqbFa_0imy1l2kArQ4/s1600/20211005_122114.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSvOFLMTiBcWGPhXult_IyUxrzdGM_eZdLvHhj_KboyZxickRDbj4SmLZe_Q7KQYyP_5hTmqYXvoGVA0LvTVKW8xDVatPchKqqzfecZrI49lYU1Js7kEhFC1ZMOeqbFa_0imy1l2kArQ4/s320/20211005_122114.jpg" width="320" /></a></div> <p></p><p><span class="css-901oao css-16my406 r-poiln3 r-bcqeeo r-qvutc0">I got a new phone with a camera. It's still a dumb phone. This is a photo of my bike (a 2021 Yamaha XT250 that I've been riding since April) at the Dark Hollow vista on Stillhouse Hollow Road in Michaux State Forest in Pennsylvania. It was a bit damp and cold today.</span></p>A. J. MacDonald, Jrhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02606590381956913426noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1465846687607030856.post-75719990027630879902021-09-26T04:45:00.000-07:002021-09-26T04:45:08.694-07:00America, Build with the Bible!<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-klaeL8tn2z4/W3YiseUWvyI/AAAAAAAADpw/3ZLsXVvnkp0fZktSVaJ_Ip7h9M8ub38_ACPcBGAYYCw/s640/turquoise.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="480" data-original-width="640" height="240" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-klaeL8tn2z4/W3YiseUWvyI/AAAAAAAADpw/3ZLsXVvnkp0fZktSVaJ_Ip7h9M8ub38_ACPcBGAYYCw/w320-h240/turquoise.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p>So for us today, in Scripture our Heavenly Father Himself speaks to us directly, personally, infallibly. His Word pulls down all pride and pretense to show that no matter how good you may think you are, how outwardly respectable your life may appear, without Jesus, you are lost in your sin.<br /><br />In the Scriptures we find the most magnificent love the world will ever witness is that marvel of mercy whereby Jesus became the Savior and Substitute for sinful mankind. There on Calvary, and the cross of curse and shame, He paid the penalty for our sins, suffering punishment for our iniquities. There He shed His blood to cleanse us and then He died to give us life. Three days later He rose again to assure us of our own future resurrection, ascending to the Father to guarantee us the glories of heaven.<br /><br />In and through the risen Redeemer, God's precious Volume gives you peace for your soul. In God's saving, comforting Word, by the Holy Spirit's power, you can find strength to conquer evil habits, reform your life, and return to your Heavenly Father. Between the covers of Scripture you'll discover God's truth, the divine lamp unto your feet, His guidance for every problem, and the Holy Spirit's regenerating force to make you a new creature in Christ.<br /><br />May every one of you take time to pause and hear the Savior's special appeal to you: “Come to Me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest,” (Matthew 11:28). May the Holy Spirit fill your hearts with the love of Jesus, who first loved you. With your whole being may you revere and lift up God's sacred Word, taking it wholly and wholeheartedly, and receive Christ Jesus as your Lord.<br /><br />From “America, Build with the Bible!” a sermon excerpt from Rev. Dr. Walter A. Maier, the first Speaker of The Lutheran Hour<br /><br /></p>A. J. MacDonald, Jrhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02606590381956913426noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1465846687607030856.post-7296856468439185362021-06-05T10:44:00.001-07:002021-06-05T10:46:49.689-07:00Saint Francis of Assisi's warning to rulers<p></p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-FM1MvFP1DjE/YLu1qvrSI9I/AAAAAAAAFac/GWJ825ixTmouGASkrkE5PPbrrZejBudtQCLcBGAsYHQ/s599/430px-StFrancis_part.jpg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="599" data-original-width="430" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-FM1MvFP1DjE/YLu1qvrSI9I/AAAAAAAAFac/GWJ825ixTmouGASkrkE5PPbrrZejBudtQCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/430px-StFrancis_part.jpg" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Image: Frater Franciscus, anonymous fresco, before 1228 <br /></td></tr></tbody></table><p></p><p>We have from Francis one other letter written in 1220, an appeal to the very rulers to whom his friars were to preach repentance and devotion to the Eucharist. Addressed “to the podestas, consuls, and other rulers” of cities, the letter is short and stern, a reminder of death and judgement:<br /><br /></p><blockquote>Reflect and see that the day of death is approaching. With all possible respect, therefore, I beg you not to forget the Lord because of the world’s cares and preoccupations and not to turn away from his commandments, for those who leave him in oblivion and turn away from his commandments are cursed and will be left in oblivion by him. When the day of death does come, everything they have will be taken from them. The wiser and more powerful they were in the world, the greater will be the punishment they will endure in Hell.</blockquote><br />He then turned to his favorite topic in this period, the Eucharist, writing that “therefore” they should receive communion with fervor and foster honor to the Lord among those they rule. “If you do not do this, know that, on the day of judgement, you must render an account before the Lord your God, Jesus Christ.”<br /><br />Augustine Thompson, <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Francis-Assisi-Biography-Augustine-Thompson/dp/0801450705" target="_blank"><i>Francis of Assisi: A New Biography</i></a> (pp. 84-5) <br /><br /><p></p>A. J. MacDonald, Jrhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02606590381956913426noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1465846687607030856.post-39469330115082913482021-03-22T06:34:00.001-07:002021-03-22T06:34:38.930-07:00 God’s goodness and the permission of evil<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-fo3B6pJW1Uc/StOZmZ35VFI/AAAAAAAAA5s/I3RE4NDGGMkQFyP8mRwUwD8F6Vn67RTxACPcBGAYYCw/s308/ThomasAquinas.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="308" data-original-width="241" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-fo3B6pJW1Uc/StOZmZ35VFI/AAAAAAAAA5s/I3RE4NDGGMkQFyP8mRwUwD8F6Vn67RTxACPcBGAYYCw/s0/ThomasAquinas.jpg" /></a></div><p>God’s permission of evil in the things governed by Him is not inconsistent with the divine goodness. For, in the first place, the function of providence is not to destroy but to save the nature of the beings governed. The perfection of the universe requires the existence of some beings that are not subject to evil, and of other beings that can suffer the defect of evil in keeping with their nature. If evil were completely eliminated from things, they would not be governed by divine providence in accord with their nature; and this would be a greater defect than the particular defects eradicated. <br /><br />Secondly, the good of one cannot be realized without the suffering of evil by another. For instance, we find that the generation of one being does not take place without the corruption of another being, and that the nourishment of a lion is impossible without the destruction of some other animal, and that the patient endurance of the just involves persecution by the unjust. If evil were completely excluded from things, much good would be rendered impossible. Consequently it is the concern of divine providence, not to safeguard all beings from evil, but to see to it that the evil which arises is ordained to some good. <br /><br />Thirdly, good is rendered more estimable when compared with particular evils. For example, the brilliance of white is brought out more clearly when set off by the dinginess of black. And so, by permitting the existence of evil in the world, the divine goodness is more emphatically asserted in the good, just as is the divine wisdom when it forces evil to promote good. <br /><br />Thomas Aquinas, <a href=" https://isidore.co/aquinas/Compendium.htm" target="_blank"><i>Compendium of Theology</i></a> (Chapter 142) <br /><br /></p>A. J. MacDonald, Jrhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02606590381956913426noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1465846687607030856.post-61192486632913593912021-03-16T17:20:00.002-07:002021-03-16T17:22:29.598-07:00The spiritual effects of tearing down Christian culture <p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-YhpovKRE8Jc/YFFKPVOU3MI/AAAAAAAAFW0/j_c8A4_0BYE6TGMzu4j0v2ueg99XSTarwCLcBGAsYHQ/s800/inside-the-church-brew-works.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="775" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-YhpovKRE8Jc/YFFKPVOU3MI/AAAAAAAAFW0/j_c8A4_0BYE6TGMzu4j0v2ueg99XSTarwCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/inside-the-church-brew-works.jpg" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Image: Church in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania converted into <a href="https://churchbrew.com/" target="_blank">brewery</a></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://churchbrew.com/" target="_blank"><br /></a></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr></tbody></table> <p></p><p>So long as Christ does not reign over nations, His influence even over individuals remains superficial and exposed to overthrow. If it is true that the work of the apostolate consists in the conversion of individuals and that nations do not go to heaven, but souls, one by one, we must not forget, nevertheless, that the individual member of society lives under the never-ceasing influence of his environment, in which; if we may not say that he is submerged, he is, at least, deeply plunged. If the environment is non-Catholic, it prevents him from embracing the faith, or, if he has the faith, it tends to root out of his heart every vestige of belief. If we suppose Catholic social institutions, with our Lord no longer living in the hearts of the individual members of society, then religion is merely a signboard which will soon disappear. But, on the other hand, try to convert individuals without Catholicizing the social institutions and your work is without stability. The structure you erect in the morning others will tear down in the evening. Is not the strategy of the enemies of God there to teach us a lesson? They want to destroy the faith in the hearts of individuals, it is true, but they direct still more vigorous efforts to the extirpation of religion from social institutions. Even one defeat of God in this domain means the weakening, if not the ruin, of the faith in the souls of many.* <span style="font-family: 'Times'; font-size: 5pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: 'Times'; font-size: 8pt; font-style: italic;"></span></p><p>Rev. Denis Fahey, <i>The Mystical Body of Christ in the Modern World </i>(pp. 164-5)</p><p>
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<p><span style="font-family: 'Times'; font-size: 5pt;">* </span><span style="font-family: 'Times'; font-size: 8pt; font-style: italic;">Paqe« choisies du Cardinal Pie, </span><span style="font-family: 'Times'; font-size: 8pt;">quoted in </span><span style="font-family: 'Times'; font-size: 8pt; font-style: italic;">La RoyauU Sociale de N.S.
</span><span style="font-family: 'Times'; font-size: 7pt; font-style: italic;">JtBU8- </span><span style="font-family: 'Times'; font-size: 8pt; font-style: italic;">Christ, </span><span style="font-family: 'Times'; font-size: 8pt;">p. 59, by Pere de Saint-Just., </span><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica'; font-size: 8pt;">a.M.C.
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A. J. MacDonald, Jrhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02606590381956913426noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1465846687607030856.post-59339845396009114412021-03-15T13:54:00.002-07:002021-03-15T14:09:20.275-07:00 Man’s triumphs are being placed more and more at the service of demoniacal hate<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-yyhZuIkYtCM/Xwo4Q0pWatI/AAAAAAAAFHc/FRHOBwiRsYoQJNhrMo1B3u-7JxbGoIpsACPcBGAYYCw/s640/102688612_561403607905270_3672607943874307630_n.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="640" data-original-width="640" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-yyhZuIkYtCM/Xwo4Q0pWatI/AAAAAAAAFHc/FRHOBwiRsYoQJNhrMo1B3u-7JxbGoIpsACPcBGAYYCw/s320/102688612_561403607905270_3672607943874307630_n.jpg" /></a><br /></div><p>For St. Thomas, as we have seen in a previous chapter, contemplation is the end of civil government, not that civil government is meant to aim at it as its proportionate end, but because it can prepare for it as for a higher end, superior to political ends and preferable to them. Thus, when a tiller of the soil makes ready the ground for planting, he is preparing for the flowers and fruits that will spring from the cultivated soil. Civilization, as we have already said, has directly in view the development of human nature here below, but mediately it is ordained to the Kingdom of God, that is, to the order of eternal and supernatural life begun here below, and it is from the Kingdom of God that it must receive the supreme rule and measure. Civilization is the development of the truly human life of the State. It belongs of itself to the natural order: metaphysics, art, science, politics, civic virtues. But it cannot attain its full development except under the supernatural sky of the Church. Christian civilization is the overflow of the Kingdom of heaven. It is the impress of the Mystical Body of Christ on man's natural social organization.<br /><br />Accordingly, as man's contemplation of God in the actual world is meant to be not merely natural but supernatural, that civilization is simply and absolutely (<i>simpliciter</i>) the most perfect in which the well-being and moral rectitude of society is sought in a manner calculated to pave the way for supernatural contemplation. Such a civilization may be surpassed by others in a certain department or departments (<i>secundum quid</i>), but these latter will lack the harmony and power of recuperation of the former. For the true progress of a people, the rulers must ever keep these principles in view. True progress will always respect the line of formal development of man. It will give rise to qualitative civilizations such as was the civilization of Greece in the fourth century before the birth of our Lord and, in a higher degree, the civilization of Western Europe in the thirteenth century. If a people's attention is diverted from things spiritual and turned to material conquests, to the cultivation of the useful, that is of whatever serves as a means of furthering human intercourse and ministers to man's bodily needs and comforts, the whole direction of life gradually changes. The means become the end. The civilization is quantitative instead of qualitative. As mind tends invincibly to universality, it will then seek it in the realms of matter. The reign of quantity, of mass production and of standardized parts will be inaugurated. In such a civilization, metaphysicians will be of little social account compared with financiers. Arts in which matter is excessively prominent, such as the noble art of self defence and certain games, will occupy a place altogether out of proportion to their importance. The winning of material comfort which appeals to the animality in man (animality is so universal that it belongs also to beings other than man) will become all-absorbing. By all this we do not mean to convey that those technical triumphs are devoid of intelligence and idealism. Far from it. We simply want to emphasize the fact that, in our quantitative civilization, intelligence and idealism are placed at the service of the animality in us and turned downwards to the manipulation of matter rather than upwards to contemplation and suprasensible reality. With the rejection of the great truth of our membership of the Mystical Body of Christ Crucified, these very material conquests are leading to a state of awful disorder. Man can now overcome the obstacles of time and space with what may be termed, of course with exaggeration, angelic swiftness, but his triumphs are being placed more and more at the service of demoniacal hate. Matter is the principle of division. <br /><br />Rev. Denis Fahey, <a href="https://loretopubs.org/mystical-body-of-christ-in-the-modern-world.-the.html" target="_blank"><i>The Mystical Body of Christ in the Modern World</i></a> (pp. 145-7)</p>A. J. MacDonald, Jrhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02606590381956913426noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1465846687607030856.post-74442041810484707952021-03-05T16:36:00.001-08:002021-03-05T16:37:27.582-08:00Justly? or unjustly? at 1 Peter 2:23<p><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-5CQ6ArdeGmQ/YELLxxhQI5I/AAAAAAAAFWI/jlQZFAytHQEAB8F9SVtTiuqIVgy6i4htACLcBGAsYHQ/s1728/CP%2B1%2BPeter%2B2-23.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="216" data-original-width="1728" height="50" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-5CQ6ArdeGmQ/YELLxxhQI5I/AAAAAAAAFWI/jlQZFAytHQEAB8F9SVtTiuqIVgy6i4htACLcBGAsYHQ/w400-h50/CP%2B1%2BPeter%2B2-23.png" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">1 Peter 2:23 in the Complutensian Polyglot<br /></td></tr></tbody></table></p><p>I came across this odd reading in the Vulgate recently. I would think they would have changed this, since the Greek of the 1514 Complutensian Polyglot has the better reading, but it's still found in the 1592 Clementine Vulgate New Testament I'm currently reading through. There's a big difference, after all, between <i>unjustly</i> and <i>justly</i>. </p><p>I must say that when I read this passage as "unjustly" I immediately thought of Jesus before Pontius Pilate, given the context of the passage, and, apparently, some of the church Fathers had the same impression.<br /></p><p>“Who, when he was reviled, did not revile: when he suffered, he threatened not, but delivered himself to him that judged him unjustly” (1 Peter 2:23 Douay-Rheims).<br /><br />qui cum malediceretur non maledicebat cum pateretur non comminabatur tradebat autem iudicanti se iniuste” (1 Peter 2:23 Latin Vulgate).<br /><br />“Who, when he was reviled, reviled not again; when he suffered, he threatened not; but committed himself to him that judgeth righteously” (1 Peter 2:23 King James).<br /><br />ὃς λοιδορούμενος οὐκ ἀντελοιδόρει πάσχων οὐκ ἠπείλει παρεδίδου δὲ τῷ κρίνοντι δικαίως (1 Peter 2:23 (Stephanus 1550).<br /><br />The Latin Vulgate reads injuste (unjustly) at 1 Peter 2:23 instead of δικαίως (justly) as is found in the Greek text.<br /><br />The Greek text of the Completensian Polyglot at 1 Peter 2:23 reads δικαίως and the Latin text reads injuste</p><p>(See: <a href="https://biblehub.com/1_peter/2-23.htm">https://biblehub.com/1_peter/2-23.htm</a>) <br /><br />“There is a curious various reading which is adopted by the Vulgate, though without any solid authority, and evidently a mere blunder, the interpretation of which we may leave to those who are committed to it: ‘He gave Himself over to him (or, to one) who judgeth unrighteously.’ St. Cyprian seems to have understood it of our Lord's voluntary self-surrender to Pilate” (Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers).<br /><br />“There is a curious reading, entirely without the authority of existing Greek manuscripts, represented by the Vulgate, Tradebat judicanti se injuste, as if the words were understood of the Lord's submitting himself ‘to one who judged unrighteously,’ that is, to Pilate” (Pulpit Commentary).<br /><br />“The strange rendering in the Vulgate, ‘tradebat judicanti se injuste’ as though the words referred not to God, but to Pilate, for which there is no Greek MS. authority, must be regarded as an arbitrary alteration made on the assumption that this was the crowning act of submissive patience” (Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges).<br /><br />“The Vulg. strangely translates: tradebat judicanti se injuste; according to which Lorinus interprets: tradidit se Christus sponte propriaque voluntate tum Judaeis, tum Pilato ad mortem oblatus. Cyprian (de bono patientiae) and Paulinus (Ephesians 2) quote the passage as it stands in the Vulg. Augustin (Tract. in John xxi.) and Fulgentius (ad Trasimarch. lib. I.), on the other hand, have juste” (Meyer’s NT Commentary). <br /><br />“Judicanti se injuste. In the present Greek we read Greek: dikaios, juste, as also some Latin Fathers read. St. Augustine, (tract. 21. in Joan.) Commendabat autem judicanti juste; and so the sense is, that he commanded and committed his cause to God, the just judge of all” (Haydock Catholic Bible Commentary).<br /></p><p>See commentaries: <a href="https://biblehub.com/commentaries/1_peter/2-23.htm" target="_blank">https://biblehub.com/commentaries/1_peter/2-23.htm</a> <br /></p><p> <br /></p>A. J. MacDonald, Jrhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02606590381956913426noreply@blogger.com0