What have you read?

Nice try Carson. But I dont think so.

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/listmania/list-browse/-/27NQM0L6HCIG1/ref%3Dcm%5Flm%5Fdp%5Fl%5F2/102-7752717-9702536 -

This is Lewis' 'Divine Comedy'; Lewis takes a trip to purgatory and discusses theology with his mentor, George MacDonald.

http://www.cin.org/archives/cinapol/200001/0148.html -

Question: I 've heard that C.S. Lewis was a believer in purgatory

Answer: Lewis covers this quite nicely in "The Great Divorce".

http://www.ev90481.dial.pipex.com/cslewis.htm -

If Dante had Virgil as a guide in his The Divine Comedy, then MacDonald is Lewis's in Ch.IX of The Great Divorce. The Lewis character asks MacDonald various questions about the final fate of those who are in Hell and Purgatory, and in the process gives expression to Lewis's own speculative thoughts on these matters.

http://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Great_Divorce -

The narrator is met by George MacDonald. MacDonald explains that it is possible for a soul to remain in Heaven having been in the town; for such souls, their time in the town has been purgatory

http://lilacrose.nu/cgi-bin/mt-comments.cgi?entry_id=282 -

The reason I find the idea of Purgatory interesting is because of C.S. Lewis' book The Great Divorce.

I can quote more sources if you're not satisfied.

 

I like cs lewis strictly from an apologetic standpoint against atheism. I always knew his thoelogy was all out of whack.

In other words, you chose another door than Lewis did, to use the terminology of Mere Christianity.

Another one of my favorite apologists is Peter Kreeft

I particularly enjoy Kreeft as well, who is a convert to Catholicism from Protestantism. My former roommate studied philosophy under him.

Carson, have you ever read anything by Ravi Zacharias?

No, I have not. Thank you for the suggestion.

I also highly recommend On Being Catholic by Thomas Howard - one of the best books I've come across lately in the wake of apologetics.

[ May 28, 2003, 01:27 AM: Message edited by: Carson Weber ]

 

Aquinas twists Scripture too much to be of any use at all except in the blinding the mind to the truth.

Have you ever read Aquinas firsthand? Or have you ever read a book on the theology of Aquinas?

If so, what have you read?

 

I understand Philip Jenkins is professor of history and religion at Pennsylvania State University.

Yes, and his research has been fundamental to debunking the myths that have been making headlines concerning pedophilia in the ministerial priesthood of the Catholic Church.

I'm speaking specifically of Pedophiles and Priests: Anatomy of a Contemporary Crisis.



http://www3.la.psu.edu/histrlst/Faculty/Jenkins.htm

 

Above, I mentioned On Being Catholic by Thomas Howard.

Today, he was inteviewed by Zenit News Agency on the Eucharist:

Thomas Howard on the Eucharist and Conversion
Sees the Blessed Sacrament as the Center of the Church's Life

MANCHESTER, Massachusetts, JUNE 3, 2003 (Zenit.org) - The Holy Thursday release of John Paul II's encyclical "Ecclesia de Eucharistia" has prompted the Church to reconsider the role of the Eucharist in its daily life.

As part of a series of spiritual reflections from Protestant converts to Catholicism, Thomas Howard describes the role of the sacrament in his life and the life of the Church. Howard is the author of "Evangelical is Not Enough" and "On Being Catholic."

***

A Note on the Eucharist
By Thomas Howard

I was received into the Church at the age of 50, after a long pilgrimage, which drew me from the earnest and biblically zealous world of Protestant evangelicalism, and thence to the Anglican church and finally home, to full obedience to the apostolic Church.

To say that the Eucharist "played an important part" in my pilgrimage would be to falsify things. It did not play a part at all: It was there, and insofar as I came to the Church, I came to the Eucharist. The Eucharist is not a component part of the Church, along with any number of other items. It is the Center, and all of the Church's disciplines, teaching, piety and hierarchy draw us to this Center.

As an Anglican, I had become accustomed to the idea of sacrament, and of the liturgy. In fact, the particular sector of Anglicanism where my wife and I had located ourselves was the so-called catholic wing of that church. Hence, we were accustomed to the vocabulary of "the Mass" and "the Blessed Virgin," and also to the practices of confession, adoration of the Blessed Sacrament and the liturgical year -- all of which are quite unknown in plain Protestantism. So, in making my obedience to Rome, I was already "catholic" in many ways, at least in appearance. But ...

The morning after I was received at the Easter Vigil, I began assisting at Mass in the Catholic Church, and I made it my habit to do so daily, from then on. The liturgy was a simple matter -- a "Low Mass" (although that term is no longer used), held in a tiny chapel in the rectory of my parish. There was a peculiar sense in which I found that I had to climb down -- from the great pomp, elegance and high ceremonial of the Anglican High Mass to which I was accustomed.

But this "climbing down" brought me home. It was rather like arriving at Bethlehem, from a great, bustling, glittering city. Bethlehem: so small, so unobtrusive, so quiet: But God is there. I felt like one of the shepherds (I am not a Magus). Here is Our Lord Jesus Christ, in the very flesh and blood. "How silently, how silently, The wondrous gift is given...."

When I find myself in the little chapel at the rectory in our parish, in the minutes before Mass begins, it sometimes strikes me that my situation is not altogether unlike a death.

That would seem, at first glance, to be a very strange idea -- surely the Eucharist is, if it is anything at all, life for us? How can we possibly liken it to a death?

When we approach the "altare Dei," we are summoned into the very Divine Presence. We meet Our Lord face to face. In another way, to be sure, but nevertheless just as truly, at our death we will find ourselves in his presence.

The Church has always prayed, "From sudden death, Good Lord, deliver us." Why? Because we all hope, most earnestly, that we will have time to collect ourselves, examine ourselves, repent, make a good confession, and be shriven. Or, even more, that we will have time to amend our ways, and live the rest of our time here in sobriety, godliness and charity.

Well, surely this is an attitude most appropriate for us as we approach the altar of God? That altar which is also a table, to which Our Lord invites us, as he invited his disciples on that Thursday evening in the week of his passion.

Who of us will wish to be found having rushed in, heedlessly and carelessly, distracted and preoccupied, full of ourselves, and stained with all the venial sins of the day before? If we have a difficult time finding any such sins in ourselves, we might try using St. Paul's litmus-test in 1 Corinthians 13: "Love is always patient and kind; it is never jealous; love is never boastful or conceited; it is never rude or selfish; it does not take offence, and is not resentful; ... it is always ready to excuse, to trust, to hope and to endure whatever comes."

Alas! How do I show up under that burning light -- and it is the Light of the Divine Charity. How shall I dispose myself, so that I may say with joy and confidence, "Et introibo ad altare Dei"? Well again: the Lord to whom we come in the Eucharist is the one who said to us all, "Come to me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest." And, through his apostle John, "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins."

The sacrament of reconciliation? Yes. Indeed. As often as is practicable for us. But on those mornings "between times," must I come in fear and guilt? No. The Lord who welcomed those disciples on that Thursday evening is the same one who welcomes me. Ah. So. I may come to him with joy, and pray, also with joy, "Agnus Dei, qui tollis peccata mundi, dona nobis pacem."

And now, 18 years later, with my wife, who was received eight years ago, I find myself day by day at this altar, this table, at which the faithful have gathered ever since that Holy Thursday evening 2,000 years ago.

***

I have an extra copy of Howard's conversion story, which I will mail to the first non-Catholic who requests it by email: [email protected] - send me your name and address, and I'll send it to you gratis.

 

I just finished The Story of a Soul by St. Therese of Lisieux, and I wholly recommend it to nourish and give courage to your spiritual life. Therese describes her Little Way: that of loving Jesus in everything she does, especially in the little things and embracing suffering with joy and self surrender for the love of God.

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0935216588/qid=1055172773/sr=2-1/ref=sr_2_1/102-7752717-9702536

 

I just finished A Severe Mercy by Sheldon Vanauken (click here), which has been recommended to me numerous times by several good friends, and it is - quite seriously - now on my top 10 list.

In this book, Sheldon Vanauken gives the autobiography of his love story: that of the love betweeen Sheldon and his wife Jean or "Davy". This pagan love eventually turned to Christianity through the partial mediation of correspondence between Sheldon and C.S. Lewis when they arrived in Oxford, England. I was moved to the core, and I'm already purchasing extra copies for close friends.

Sheldon and Jean were pagans before they converted to Christianity in an Anglican context, and later in his life - unrevealed in A Severe Mercy - Sheldon embraced Catholicism.

 

I just finished Life-Giving Love : Embracing God's Beautiful Design for Marriage (click here) by Kimberly Hahn, which is an excellent overview of God's design for sexuality, marriage, and the family. It's full of personal testimonies by Catholics and non-Catholics regarding a wide range of practical issues in contemporary society with regard to marriage and the family.

Also, last night I started and finished Open Embrace: A Protestant Couple Rethinks Contraception (click here) by Sam & Bethany Torode. This is an excellent summary of the Christian view of the marital embrace and why contraception is harmful to Christian marriage from a non-Catholic point of view. I highly recommend this text to everyone, both Catholic and non-Catholic. It is very well-written and extremely concise; I downed it in 2 hours.

 

I've just listened to three tapes sets by Dr. Scott Hahn: (1) Getting Our Stories Straight: Scripture and the Meaning of Life, (2) Evangelizing the Baptized, and (3) Calling All Catholics to Be Bible Christians and Vice Versa [my favorite of the three].

I'm also currently listening to a book on tape. It is titled An Exorcist Tells His Story by Fr. Gabriele Amorth (click here). This is a very telling account of one of the Vatican's primary exorcists. He has cleared up a few issues for me so far, for which I am grateful, since I have partaken in deliverance ministry in the past. This book displays the real power of the devil, the reality of the occult in our day and age, and the need for the office of exorcist in the Church as well as a detailed account of this ministry. This book is lined with personal accounts, which are both ordinary and extraordinary.

I'm also in the middle of The Interior Castle by St. Teresa of Avila (click here). This is one of the most famous spiritual classics of all time, wherein St. Teresa (a discalced [barefoot] Spanish Carmelite nun) tells of the ascetical and mystical spiritual life by way of analogy. The analogy she employs is that of the soul being a castle with many mansions inside, through which the individual progresses as he/she grows in the spiritual life. I'm enjoying this text thoroughly; it's a required reading for a distance learning course I'm taking over the summer with the Franciscan University of Steubenville entitled Christian Spirituality with Professor Dr. Mark Miravalle of http://www.voxpopuli.org

I also just finished True Devotion to Mary by St. Louis Marie Grignion De Montfort (click here), which is a splendid devotional text, which bespeaks of total consecration to Mary. De Montfort's basic premise is that in the spiritual life, we should follow the path of Salvation History. In His sublime humility, God gave Jesus to us through Mary, and so we mirror the divine action by returning to the Father by going to Jesus through Mary in all humility, and as Jesus subjected himself (even though he was God incarnate) to Mary during the private life in Nazareth, so we are to subject ourselves to Mary's motherhood in the Spiritual life as we attempt to imitate Jesus Christ in the most perfect fashion. All of this, of course, hinges upon Mary's motherhood in the Christian life as set forth in John 19:26-27 and Revelation 12:1ff.