“I am the Truth”: Brief Catholic Ponderings on Truth

In a well-known passage, Jesus proclaims, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life.” (Jn 14:6a) As with all the seven “I am” sayings recorded in John’s Gospel, Jesus here is making a claim regarding His divinity. Indeed, three individual c … [Read more...]

The Emerging Catholic Literary Renaissance

Interview with Poet James Matthew Wilson

“You know, there is, at the moment, an exciting rebirth of Catholic poetry in the United States and it’s full of talented young writers, but even in this interesting cohort James Matthew Wilson, I think, is one of the leading people that you … [Read more...]

On the Problem of Mental Reservation

Should we lie when the Nazi stands at the door and asks us his infamous evil question? Traditional proposals about how to solve this problem by means of what is called “mental reservation” tend to be unsatisfying, because they are based on t … [Read more...]

Newman‘s Concept of Conscience in His Quest for Moral Truth

The question about truth is vividly present in the teachings of the Catholic Church throughout the ages. The discourse on truth — which resounds in the question posed to Christ, “What is truth?” (Jn 18:38) — has been heard throughout the cen … [Read more...]

The Dark Spirit in Our Institutions

Catholics, Take Heed

There is a dark spirit, a spirit of unreason, stalking the world. In earlier times we might have characterized it as a Dionysian spirit attempting to oust Apollo. This spirit urges those who listen to it to throw off the constraints of the … [Read more...]

Saint Edith Stein

Footsteps to Truth

“Whoever seeks the truth is seeking God.” – Saint Edith Stein, Teresa Benedicta of the Cross. While the general story of Edith Stein (St. Teresa Benedicta of the Cross [1891–1942]) might be well known, her kind of concern for truth in all … [Read more...]

On a Small Point of Doctrine

He (Sir Thomas More) gave up life itself, deliberately; he accepted violent death as of a criminal, not even for the Faith as a whole, but on one particular, small point of doctrine—to wit, the supremacy of the See of Peter. (Hilaire B … [Read more...]

The “Rhetoric” of Relativism

Exposing the Logical Contradiction

Relativism: (1) the wholesale philosophical rejection of the existence of any objective, absolute, or universal truths whatsoever (specifically referred to as cognitive/epistemological relativism or radical skepticism); or (2) the … [Read more...]

Yes, We Can Know Truth Today

How astonishing it is to be a human person! Like vegetables, it is wonderful enough to be able to assimilate inanimate minerals and grow, as well as to reproduce our own kind. Like our dear pets, it is amazing that we have senses to know … [Read more...]

Questions Answered

Can you explain what the general rights and duties are of the state in regard to the family? What does the Leadership Conference of Women Religious (LCWR) mean by their term “Creative Fidelity”? Question: Can you explain what the gen … [Read more...]

God and Caesar

In the Catholic view, the religious sphere is based on the virtue of faith. This faith is a gift of God ... In contrast, according to this Catholic view, the civil sphere is based on experience illumined by faith. That is to say, it is … [Read more...]

Questions Answered

For August 2013

Is there another theory of the origin of the Synoptic Gospels besides Marcan (or "Markan") priority? How important is the ceremony in the liturgy?      Authors of the Synoptic Gospels: Saints Matthew, Mark, and Luke. Question: Is ther … [Read more...]

True freedom is interior

Interior freedom is gained by loving God and one’s neighbor, and by not being inordinately attached to any created thing.               Alexander Solzhenitsyn and St. Therese of Lisieux Freedom is what makes man to be man.  Freedom is wh … [Read more...]