TLDR: Humanae Vitae

Today marks the 50th anniversary of the release of Humanae Vitae.  This was the papal encylcical which, in the face of mounting pressure to the contrary, reaffirmed the Church's teaching against contraception, sterilization, and abortion.  It is a document which effects my life every single day.

However, it can be a bit lengthy for some folks.  So I've decided to give it the same treatment I give the Epistles in my book, Too Long Didn't Read.  Today I'll be reducing Humanae Vitae down to 1/5 its size for those who want to dip their toes in.

Recent Presentation on Messianic Prophecy:

A little while ago I did a written study on some of the Old Testament prophecies concerning the Messiah.  Recently I gave a presentation to the highschoolers on the subject.  I hope you enjoy!

[For the written version, see this:  LINK]

Short Answer: Does Isaiah say God made evil?

Dear Apologist, Why does God say He “creates evil”?

Chrysostem and Aquinas on Unanswered Prayer

Recently I confessed to a friend that I’m in no ways tempted to Atheism.  It seems absurd for the universe to have not have a first principle for its existence and intelligibility. No... if I’m tempted to anything it is “Deism”.  Deism is the belief that God fashioned the universe but doesn’t interfere with the events therein.

The foremost driver of this temptation is our lived experiences.  Most of our lives, from sunrise to sunset, have no obvious indicators of divine intervention.  The world seems so … natural.  And the presence of God in human affairs seems less than obvious.

Nothing drives this home more than the scandal of unanswered prayer.  We’ve all had times when we’ve asked for something which seemed like an unmitigated good… and then nothing happens.  This seems grossly contrary to the promises which Jesus made in several locations:

“Very truly I tell you, whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father. And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son.” – John 14:12-13

“Truly I tell you, if you have faith and do not doubt, not only can you do what was done to the fig tree, but also you can say to this mountain, ‘Go, throw yourself into the sea,’ and it will be done. If you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer.” – Matthew 21:21

Many times it can seem like Jesus wrote a blank check which cannot be cashed.  So today I wanted to share some thoughts from Saint John Chrysostem and Saint Thomas Aquinas on the subject.

Five Facepalm Inducing Pro-Choice Arguments

Have enough conversations about abortion and you’ll start noticing patterns.  For the most part, the arguments you hear for abortion following these forms:

• Here is a slogan I’ve been taught to repeat: “[insert slogan here]”
• The fetus lacks physical trait [XYZ], and therefore doesn’t count as a true human.
• The autonomy of the woman allows her to do whatever she wants to the baby within her body.
• Here is a tragic circumstance which I think justifies keeping every possible instance legal.

But sometimes you’ll run into arguments which astound you with their lack of sense.  They’ll make you wonder if the supporter of legal abortion is trolling you for fun…  or if he/she really is that clueless.

Here is my list of the 5 dumbest Pro-Choice Arguments: (Yes, I've encountered them all.  A lot.)

Announcing my first Book!

Hey everyone!

About two years ago I began a little project.  It started with summarizing the letter to the Hebrews into condensed snippets, which I jokingly called the "TL;DR version".

Well, after writing my TL;DR version of Hebrews, I began going through the other New Testament epistles.  And before I knew it, I'd written a book-length summarization of each letter - roughly 1/5 the size of the originals.

That work is now available as an Amazon eBook for $3.00 or paperback for $7.00 (out later this week).  I hope you'll consider giving it a look.  If you do read it, please be sure to leave a review!

Check it out [here].

Can Christian Adoption Agencies be Defended? - Part I

Recently I read about some efforts by the ACLU in Michigan to challenge the status of Christian adoption agencies.  Many similar programs have been shut down across the country because of their practice of only adopting children to homes with a mother and father.** That is to say, not because they have bad track records or unacceptable waiting periods, but because their opponents claim they are employing arbitrary bigotry and bronze-age superstitions.

That’s what I want to look at today.  Is there a defense to be made for these Christian adoption programs?  Is there a way to challenge the assertion that they employ bigotry?

**(Wait a minute… abortion-rights-supporters always say Christians don’t care about children after they’re born.  Why do all these Christian adoption agencies exist?  That’s odd... )