The Basics of Purgatory

Today I wanted to talk about Purgatory.  What is it?  Is it in the Bible?

Short Answer: The Church and Just War

Dear Apologist, What does the Church teach about the justifiability of war?

Mary, Mother of the Baptized

I once had a chimney contractor over to my house to fix the fireplace.  As it turned out, she also wanted to talk about Jesus.  We had a great conversation… until I asked her a question that made her visibly uncomfortable.  I asked if she’d given thought to the role Mary (the mother of Jesus) plays in the Christian life. 

I’d barely gotten the question out before she suddenly had to leave. 

That experience stuck with me.  It was my introduction to the fact that Jesus’ mom is a very divisive figure outside the Catholic bubble.  So today I want to examine the question I naively asked the chimney lady…  

What is the relationship between Jesus’ mother and Jesus’ disciples? 

Hail, Queen Mary

If you examine Catholic and Orthodox piety, you'll notice a crazy amount of attention given to Mary, the mother of Jesus.  They (we) regard her as the mother of all Christians and as a queen. 

For many this can seem a bit odd.  The Bible presents her as a blessed woman, a holy woman... but a queen?  Is that supported in the text of Scripture?

That's what I wanted to look at today. 

Why do People Go to Hell?

One of the first things people learn about the Christian faith is the two eternal destinations: Heaven and Hell.  

The basic formula we learn is that good people go to Heaven - where everyone lives on fluffy clouds and plays harps.  Bad people, on the other hand, will go to Hell - where they will undergo an eternity of fiery punishment. 

The concept of Hell can be very confusing.  Most of us don’t want to see harm come to other people – even those we dislike.  The idea of condemning a person to an eternity of misery and torment seems a bit… psychotic.  Yet, Christianity posits that our infinitely good, infinitely loving, and infinitely merciful God is prepared to do just that.

So… what’s that about?  How could a loving God do that to someone?

Why Listen to Saint Paul?

I was recently talking to a fella about some Bible topics. I mentioned a few things from the writings of Saint Paul and he replied, (paraphrasing):

“I don’t go by what Paul said.  Paul was an invasive influence in the early church and his philosophy contradicts was Jesus taught.  I only go by what Jesus said.”

And then, curiously, I ran into this same idea a few more times.  So today I wanted to take on this “Jesus only” ethic and answer the question of why should we listen to Paul.

Can Christians Consume Crayfish?

A few weeks ago I ran across an online post called, "11 Things the Bible Bans, But You Do Anyway". It was a fascinating list that included things like tattoos, eating shellfish, and trimming one’s sideburns.  A formidable list!  And indeed, all of those prohibitions can be found in the pages of Scripture.  But the post invites a question…

 What does it mean when someone says “the Bible forbids” something?