catholicism

Biblical Interpretation

Biblical Interpretation in the Catholic Church, the 1994 Pontifical Biblical Commission Decree

03/16/2018 Bruce Strom 1

Historically, the Catholic Church has defended itself from attacks, both real and imagined, from enemies of the faith, and this defensiveness also extended to Biblical studies. The twentieth century saw a relaxing of this defensiveness, culminating in the decree Dei Verbum pronounced by Vatican II, encouraging Catholic scholars to use more modern methods of interpreting the Scriptures, under the guidance of the Vatican office, the Pontifical Biblical Commission. […]

Catholic Catechism

Who Should Study the Catechism?

03/13/2018 Bruce Strom 3

Who should study the Catechism?  Everyone!  Everyone who is Catholic?  No, everyone who wants to live a godly life should study the Catechism.  The Catechism was reviewed by thousands of bishops before publication, many thousands of suggestions were pondered, more thought and care was invested in the editing of the Catholic Catechism than probably any modern book in print.  You ignore this wisdom at your moral peril.  These teachings are not merely preachings, they are annotated by thousands of footnotes to both Scripture verses and the writings of the Church Fathers and the decrees of Vatican II, Trent, and the other councils, so you can go back to the sources yourself. […]

Command 5 Do Not Adulter

St Augustine on Concupiscence, Blog 3, Final Reflections

01/23/2018 Bruce Strom 1

The church teaches that what gives marriage purpose is the bearing of children, so we do not live our lives for ourselves. Salvation is the purpose of marriage, the salvation of our children, the salvation of our spouse, and the working out of our salvation. How does the command to love our neighbor as ourselves work its way out in marriage? We should consider first the good of our children in the living of our lives, then we should work for the good of our spouse, and we should take care of ourselves, but we are last. But last of all in a marriage should be concupiscence, but we should not neglect loving kindness and tenderness, that should pervade all the relationships with our children and with our husband or wife. […]

Command 5 Do Not Adulter

St Augustine on Concupiscence, Blog 2

01/20/2018 Bruce Strom 3

St Augustine starts his discussion on “On the Good of Marriage” with a discussion how marriage is first a friendship in bonds of family, and a friendship between man and wife, friends who walk together, side by side, raising children, growing old together. St Augustine is a bit harsher in “Marriage and Concupiscence,” teaching that “in matrimony, let these nuptial blessings b the objects of our love – offspring, fidelity, the sacramental bond.” This sacramental bond is meant to be ever-enduring, “lost neither by divorce nor by adultery, and should be guarded by husband and wife with concord and charity.” […]

Command 5 Do Not Adulter

St Augustine on Concupiscence, Blog 1

01/18/2018 Bruce Strom 5

St Augustine’s most famous quote, made before his ultimate conversion, was a prayer to God, “Please, Lord, grant me chastity, but not yet.” This shows that St Augustine was quite human, just like us, and quite honest about his struggles with intimacy. Let us give St Augustine the benefit of the doubt, let us read him hagiographically, for even though the modern world with modern technology differs greatly from the world of the ancient Christian, St Augustine has much to teach us, and we can benefit from his teaching, finding purpose in our family life, working out our salvation through the raising of our children and through our relationships with our spouse and other family members and close friends. […]

Early Church Writing

Didache: Early Church Writing

12/25/2017 Bruce Strom 2

What is the Way of Life? You shall Love God with all of your heart and with all of your soul and all of your mind and with all of your strength, and you should love your neighbor as yourself, and you should never do to others what you do not want done to yourself. Thus opens the first paragraph of the Didache, which may be among the most ancient patristic works surviving. […]