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In 1964, Pope Paul VI issued the Second Vatican Council’s “Decree on Ecumenism,” called Unitatis Redintegratio, which translates from Latin as “The Restoration of Unity.” Right there, we see that the whole notion of denominationalism is wrong. And to their credit, the mostly Protestant thinkers involved in the “Baptism, Eucharist, Ministry” document from the World Council of Churches would agree. As most Christians—not just Roman Catholics&md …

Sometimes skeptics have claimed that the infancy narratives found in Matthew 1–2 and Luke 1–2 contradict each other. For example, it is pointed out that Luke has Mary living in Nazareth before going to Bethlehem, whereas in Matthew they don’t go to Nazareth until later. It has also been claimed that they contain historical errors, such as Matthew’s mention of Herod’s slaughter of boys in Bethlehem (Matt. 2:16) or Luke’s mention of the enrollment that took pla …

When a person is contemplating whether to become or remain Catholic, he may struggle to understand or to agree with certain theological or moral doctrines. He may be concerned about aspects of the Church’s liturgy or popular piety, or perhaps the clergy sex abuse scandals represent enormous roadblocks. Sometimes there are more personal and less rational hang-ups like the prospect of being anonymous in an enormous, impersonal parish. Or maybe it’s fear of going to confession.   …

Could we imagine what it would be like if athletes stopped training their bodies? It would be unthinkable. Without training they would never have the strength and stamina required to perform. They also would lose their fans, since we respect athletes because of the great feats their training allows them to perform.The same can be said of the saints, the champion athletes of the Faith. ThefFy are exemplars not of physical training but of the ascetic life. This ancient staple of our Faith is view …

Biblically, an idol is anything to which we give the adoration and submission that are due to God alone. The ancient world worshiped personal idols, such as Zeus and Athena. Our contemporary world struggles with more spiritual idols, idols that are more discreet and seductive, such as pleasure, money, and power.Just as, in the early centuries after Christ, ancient peoples tried to retain their idolatry and impose it upon the gospel, leading to Christological heresies such as Docetism and Ariani …