Parish Evangelization

It is common to hear or read references to the New Evangelization based on the Post-Synodal Apostolic Exhortation of St. John Paul II, Christifidelis Laici (On the Vocation and the Mission of the Lay Faithful in the Church and in the World) … [Read more...]

How Metaphysical Certitudes Anchor Proofs for God

This brief essay is not intended to be a complete presentation of the classical proofs for God’s existence as proposed by St. Thomas Aquinas and his disciples. Even partially full treatment of these arguments would require book-length a … [Read more...]

God Is Not Ineffective Against Evil

The problem of evil is a profound enigma. Even for people who believe in God, the presence of evil can be overwhelming. Many ask, “How could God be so silent or inactive?” A look at history reveals countless evils, including wars and gen … [Read more...]

Book Reviews – November 2020

Ceremonies Explained for Servers: A Manual for Altar Servers, Acolytes, Sacristans, and Masters of Ceremonies. By Peter J. Elliott. Reviewed by Christopher Siuzdak. (skip to review) The Disabled Church: Human Difference and the Art of … [Read more...]

Outgrowing Jesus?

How Atheist Richard Dawkins' Recent Book Misleads Young Adults

Outgrowing God, the most recent book by famed evolutionary biologist and outspoken atheist Richard Dawkins, caught my eye when being prominently displayed in a local bookstore following its release in late 2019.[1. R. Dawkins, Outgrowing … [Read more...]

Catholicism and the Zombies of Evolution

Zombies — an undead fictional being created through the reanimation of a human corpse — are all the rage today in popular culture. Many have heard of the top-rated TV show The Walking Dead (the second most-popular TV show in the world) des … [Read more...]

The Philosopher’s Reflections on the Rosary

“I Don’t Know How You’ll Help Me, But I Know You Will” Why would a philosopher go to bat for the Rosary? I’d better ‘fess up right off. I’ve never been able to convince myself that I’m a philosopher, even though I own a Ph.D. in that disc … [Read more...]

Reclaiming the Truth that God Is Spirit

The scorn with which the new atheists heap on religion is understandable when one looks into their understanding of theology. The religion they reject is the religion of kindergarteners. There exists a Santa Claus that delivers presents at … [Read more...]

Does Science Eliminate God?

NASA photo of outer space; Michelangelo's "Creation" art from the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel There is a widespread belief that science has utterly destroyed any rational argument for the existence of God. Richard Dawkins in The God … [Read more...]

Spring Reading for March 2015

Arriving at Amen: Seven Catholic Prayers That Even I Can Offer. Leah Libresco (Notre Dame, Indiana: Ave Maria Press, 2015) 192 pages; $12.12. (Reviewed by Fr. David C. Paternostro, SJ) --------- Master Thomas Aquinas and the Fullness … [Read more...]

Reclaiming the Fifth Way

“New Atheists” such as Richard Dawkins, Daniel Dennett, and Sam Harris utilize evolution’s supposed purposelessness to cast doubt upon God’s existence, and draw atheistic conclusions about morality, ethics, and human nature.[1. See, for exam … [Read more...]

Looking Back at “Humani Generis”

The 1950 encyclical Humani Generis, “Concerning Some False Opinions Threatening to Undermine the Foundations of Catholic Doctrine,” should be understood in the context of the pontifical effort to reform Catholic intellectual life. Pope Pi … [Read more...]

On Thinking the Actual World Out of Existence

The scanty conceptions to which we can attain of celestial things give us, from their excellence, more pleasure than all the knowledge of the world in which we live; just as a half-glimpse of persons that we love is more delightful than a … [Read more...]

Presuppositions of Darwinism

Editorial, October 2011

In his textbook, Philosophical Psychology (FSSP, Elmhurst, PA 1999), Prof. D.Q. McInerny lists and evaluates the six presuppositions of Darwinist evolution. The first presupposition is that life came to be, the way it is on earth, through n … [Read more...]

The “New Atheists”

Editorial, August 2011

Books promoting atheism have been selling very well in recent years. The main proponents, the “New Atheists,” are biologist Richard Dawkins, philosophers Daniel Dennett and Sam Harris, and journalist Christopher Hitchens. A recent clo … [Read more...]