The Eucharist: Scriptural, Historical, and Practical Perspective (by Danny Manthei)


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Why is there Temporal Punishment for Sin; Didn't Jesus Pay Our Debt?

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I was discussing Penance, purgatory, and indulgences (among many other topics) with a friend, and the topic of temporal punishment came up. Temporal punishment happens to be closely linked to indulgences, which happen to be linked to the effects of Sacramental Penance, so it was only natural that it be next in line for discussion. In case you aren't familiar with what I'm talking about: " An indulgence is a remission before God of the temporal punishment due to sins whose guilt has already been forgiven ..." ( CCC 1471 , emphasis mine). Anyone not familiar with that might respond with, " Whoa! Hold up there on the 'temporal punishment'! What's that all about? " I'll explain what it's all about, but you can also get a good idea by reading the very short Catechism paragraphs 1471-1473, especially in light of the three paragraphs immediately preceding those, and 1478-79. ( HERE's that link.) Anyway, my friend actually read ...
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Child Sexual Abuse - Where Should Our Focus Be?

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Interview with an Anti-Vaxxer, by Erin Fielding

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The Church Fathers on: Relics and Icons (by Brian Showalter)

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Should Christians Expect to Suffer?

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A person once wrote to a friend of mine, " I've never been too keen on the whole 'God values suffering' bit. He knows we are suffering, but God provided salvation through his Son because God wanted man to live in paradise. Jesus bought all of mankind from death. If you have died, regardless of faith or not, you will receive your resurrection through Christ and His judgement. And, if you live like we are told to through Jesus, there should be no suffering...only a wrong attitude . " This was in response to my friend asking, " Why do we suffer? Didn't Jesus suffer for us so that we don't have to? Are we called to suffer? Does God value our suffering? How do I explain to someone the benefits of suffering other than just saying ' offer it up '?" " There were a couple things in the person's response that were off base (i.e. "If you have died, regardless of faith or not..."), but I chalked it up to a possible ...
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Responding to Steve Finnell's Definition of Prayer

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Pastor Charles Lawson on the Virgin Birth

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My wife and I were sent a video link to a Fundamental Baptist preacher's sermon on the Virgin Birth, and what that means for Christians. ( The Virgin Birth as explained by pastor Charles Lawson.)  I half-expected the sermon to be the usual anti-Catholic hate-speech that I am sent from time to time by anonymous readers.  But instead of an anonymous person, this was sent to us by a good friend of my wife's, someone who genuinely cares about us and for whom we also care and pray daily.  So it should not have surprised me when the sermon was far from the usual.  While he did accuse Catholics of "worshipping" Mary a couple times, he spent most of his time sounding Catholic on the topic of Mary.  Compared to the usual, it was music to my ears.  In watching the video, I was excited to find that we have so much common ground on such an important person as Christ's Mother. I couldn't help but wonder if this pastor kn...
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