My favorite book is the Holy Bible, without a doubt. However, if we exclude the Sacred Scriptures, here are my favorite ten books. This list is not in any particular order:

1. Summa theologiae by St. Thomas Aquinas
2. Introduction to the Devout Life by St. Francis de Sales
3. Resurrection of the Son of God by NT Wright
4. Brideshead Revisited by Evelyn Waugh
5. The Power and the Glory by Graham Greene
6. Divine Comedy by Dante
7. The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoevsky
   
8. On Duties (De officiis) by Marcus Tullius Cicero
9. Essay on the Development of Doctrine by John Henry Newman
10. Orthodoxy by G.K. Chesterton

- Taylor

Labels: Autobiographical, Books

My original suspicion was correct. The song "Magnficent" on the new U2 album as a "Marian vibe".

Posted by Tim Drake at NCR:

In a recent Rolling Stone magazine interview with Brian Hiatt, U2’s Bono says that the song “Magnificent” is inspired by the Blessed Virgin Mary.

“All music for me is worship of one kind or another,” says Bono.

The song appears on the band’s new album, “No Line on the Horizon.”

“Magnificent was inspired by the Magnificat, a passage from the Gospel of Luke in the voice of the Virgin Mary that was previously set to music by Bach,” says Bono. “There’s this theme running through the album of surrender and devotion and all the things I find really difficult.”

The lyrics include: “Magnificent, Magnificent, I was born, I was born to be with you in this space and time. I was born, I was born to sing for you. I didn’t have a choice but to lift you up and sing whatever song you wanted me to. I give you back my voice. From the womb my first cry, it was a joyful noise ... Only love, only love can leave such a mark, but only love, only love can heal such a scar.”

Recorded in the Gospel of Luke (Luke 1: 41-45), the Magnificat (Latin for “magnifies”), also known as the Canticle of Mary, is the Blessed Virgin Mary’s joyful prayer in response to her cousin Elizabeth’s greeting.

Hat tip to American Papist.

Labels: Bono, Culture, Mary, Music, U2

I hope y'all are checking out the new group site entitled: Called to Communion. The site is getting tons of traffic and the comments are amazing. Lots of Protestants and Catholics going back and forth over the claims of Catholicism - in a respectful and cordial way.

John Calvin's confusion over Substance and the Eucharist

I recently posted something at Called to Communion about John Calvin and his use of "substance" with respect to the Eucharist:

Several years ago when I was once a Calvinist, I remember reading this quote by John Calvin and being impressed by it:

We must confess, then, that if the representation which God gives us in the Supper is true, the internal substance of the sacrament is conjoined with the visible signs; and as the bread is distributed to us by the hand, so the body of Christ is communicated to us in order that we may be made partakers of it (John Calvin, Short Treatise on the Lord’s Supper, 17).

The interesting thing is that Calvin here discusses the presence of Christ in terms of “substance.” Not only that, Calvin speaks of the “internal substance” being “conjoined with the visible signs.” This comes close to consubstantiation, where the substance of Christ is conjoined to the substance of bread and wine. Quite remarkable.

Click to continue reading: "Calvin's confusion over Substance and the Eucharist"

Labels: Eucharist, John Calvin, Thomas Aquinas

Click here for the podcast and more details.
27 minutes.

Join us as we tread through the passages in Paul that everyone loves to avoid.

Evangelicals and other kinds of Protestants in their commendable zeal often distill the writings of Saint Paul to such an extent that they miss the complexities and nuances of the Apostle. This is especially the case when it comes to Saint Paul’s doctrine of salvation. As a result, the Evangelical doctrine of “once saved always saved” misses the nuances of Paul’s doctrine. Paul does in fact teach that “nothing can separate us from the love of God” (Rom 8:39). However, he also clearly states that certain Christians have “fallen from grace” (Gal 5:4). What does the Apostle mean when he says that certain Christians have fallen from grace?

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Labels: Confession, John Paul II, Mortal Sin, Romans

The word pallium is Latin for a traditional Roman cloak made from wool. It is a garment that only the Pope can confer and signifies the jurisdiction of a metropolitan archbishop and also the special communion that the recipient shares with the Pope and the Church of Rome. The earliest reference to the pallium derives from the reign of Pope Marcus (died 336) who conferred the pallium on the bishop of Ostia.

The pallium is still made from lamb's wool. In fact, the lambs come from Trappist monks. The wool is then given to the nuns of the convent of Saint Agnes who weave the wool into the pallia. The connection to sheep also recalls "Christ the Good Shepherd" who carries the wandering sheep upon His shoulders. Similarly, the pallium is a reminder to the archbishop that he too should be a good shepherd ever mindful of the straying sheep.

The pallium has an organic connection with the Eastern Orthodox omophorion and it looks similar to the Pope's pallium. (See pic below.)

Pope Benedict XVI has returned to an ancient form of the pallium, which closely resembles the Orthodox pattern. The papal pallium is wider than the standard pallium. However, he has been seen recently wearing a version closer to the standard design. If any knows the significance of this, please share.

Labels: Benedict XVI, Eastern Christianity, Liturgy, Pope, Vestments

Lane Keister over at Green Baggins has written:

Labels: Paul, Reformed Theology, Scripture, Tradition

Today (June 29, 2009) is the last day of the Jubilee year of Saint Paul. To commemorate the year, I wrote a book entitled The Catholic Perspective on Paul and put up a website also called The Catholic Perspective on Paul (pauliscatholic.com) with a series of podcasts. (The manuscript is still under editorial review at Ignatius Press - Saint Paul pray for us.)

I'd like to close up the year with a question: Would Saint Paul twitter? For those not yet acquainted with Twitter, it's a social networking site similar to Facebook but with just a simple status update. What's so great about it? Well it is open source so a number of applications can be synced with it. By updating Twitter one can send links, information, updates to a number of places instantaneously. For example, when I send a tweet, it immediately posts at Twitter, Facebook, and my blog.

So that leads us back to the question: Would Saint Paul use Twitter?

I'm not sure that Peter would use twitter. Maybe John. However, I am convinced that Saint Paul would use Twitter for four reasons:

First Reason: Paul quotes pagan authors and is willing to engage his audience at their level whether they be Epicurean or Stoics or whatever. Full story in Acts 17. If Paul appropriated cultural language, he would also appropriate the means of cultural engagement through technology.

Second Reason: Paul was a mass communicator, always writing and sending letters. Over half the New Testament was written Paul and much of it is occasional correspondence about contemporary issues facing the Church.

Third Reason: Paul wrote several things that are similar to the short "bursts" that we find on twitter. The book of Philemon is one example. 2 Timothy is another.

Fourth Reason: Paul felt the need to be heard not only by church leaders but also by the laity. This is why he addresses his letters to the whole church and not just to leaders. He asks for his letters to be read aloud in church gatherings. He wants everyone to hear what he says: bishops, presbyters, deacons, laity.

Does anyone disagree with my conclusion that Saint Paul would use twitter? If so, leave some feedback and I'll counter.

If you're on twitter, please tweet this post and get the conversation going on Twitter. It could become interesting.

If you're interested in finding fellow Catholics on Twitter, visit Matthew Warner's brilliant site Tweet Catholic for a list of popular Catholic tweeple (people who tweet), and while you're there sign up for flockNote - a Catholic networking community.

Labels: Catholicism, Paul, Technology

Jason Stellman, at his provocative blog De Regnis Duobus (Concerning the Two Kingdoms) recently composed a fascinating reflection on Protestant confessionalism entitled "The Complexiities of Confessionalism".

Stellman writes:

The options, as I see them, are as follows: confessional denominations like the PCA [Presbyterian Church in America] ]can either (1) broaden our theological parameters to make room for someone who can make a case that his theology is biblically plausible, or (2) we can insist that our ministers at times must avoid speaking the Bible's language for fear of muddying the systematic waters.

And I must say, I'm not completely thrilled about either of those choices (but then, who ever said being confessional would be easy?).

I find this fascinating. Would it be accurate say that there is a built-in tension in magisterial Protestant traditions since the magisterial documents (WCF, Belgic Conf, 39 Articles, etc.) are considered fallible interpretations of the infallible Scriptures?

It's almost like multiplying a positive number times a negative number - you always get a negative product. No matter how big your positive number, the negative number always yields a negative product. If you have a fallible document interpreting an infallible document, the produce will always be fallible. Hence, the built-in tension of magisterial Protestantism.

With Catholicism you get an infallible interpretation of an infallible document. It's like multiplying a positive number by positive number. The answer is always positive. As Hannibal from the A-Team says: "I love it when a plan comes together!"

Flannery O'Conner once remarked at a dinner party concerning the Holy Eucharist:

"Well, if it's a symbol, to hell with it."

Perhaps we might say the same about any magisterial tradition without the claim of infallibility:

"Well, if a Protestant confessional document relies on a fallible magisterium, to hell with it."

Labels: Magisterium, Reformed Theology, Scripture