I have been researching priesthood organization in the early Christian Church as of late.  On the FAIR blog I have written a post to counter an evangelical critique of Mormon (and indirectly Catholic) insistence on ordaining to priesthood offices. I have also attempted to address fundamentalist concerns that some priesthood offices have changed and developed over time. Catholics often have to face similar criticisms from Protestants, so sometimes I find commonalities in the way both of our faiths apologeticly respond to such attacks, even though there are significant differences that put us at odds with one another.  So if you check out either link be warned you will see a little of both along with a lot of Mormon esoterica.

I encountered an article in the National Catholic Reporter of 9-19-’08
by Fr. Richard McBrien, a Notre Dame professor, which totally changed my understanding of  how informed Catholics look at the history behind apostolic succession claims. I have since gotten the book McBrien refers to by Francis Sullivan and have even cited it in the FAIR blog. I think From Apostles to Bishops is a must read for those who like to participate in Catholic and Mormon discussions and I will probably review in an upcoming blog when I have time to digest all the wealth of information. As a teaser, I will post this lengthy excerpt from the NCR article: Read the rest of this entry »

I realize that I haven’t posted any new content for several months. Even though I have been busy, I haven’t forgotten my desire to learn more about the Catholic faith and share my own convictions without being overbearing.

The Friday before last, I responded to posters I saw around campus to see a film about Pope John Paul II with the Newman club. The film was good and starred the main character from A Princess Bride as the pope in his younger days. I was saddened by the decision he had to make between the priesthood and a potential marriage, when in comparison, worthy Mormon males are encouraged to magnify both privileges. But as I attempt to understand Karol Wojtyla in the context of his own faith, I can see the good fruit that the decision produced and I am glad he put his talents to optimal use. The film portrayed the pope as having a very keen sense of humor and willing to stand up to his principles, which were sometimes at odds with Communist-controlled Poland. My short response here can’t do justice to such a great man. Read the rest of this entry »

[ed. notes: A friend of mine, Ted Jones, has prodigiously compiled some notes in regards to Pelagianism heresy. I have heard that Mormons are semi-pelagianists, but I haven't carefully compared the two beliefs. A review of history might be relevant in some way to the recent coverage given to Catholic clarification about the fate of unbaptized infants.]

8-10 years or so back I did some reading on Pelagianism and took notes on cards. I finally decided to transcribe those notes to the computer. As the notes were taken long ago; I have trouble reading my own handwriting at times (grin); the note and the source references are sometimes too cryptic for me to even decipher anymore. But anyway, here it is. It is 15 pages long, but mostly in short sentences, so the contact is actually rather small (130K). It will be noticed that the controversy waged long after Augustine died (430), and continued to do so for centuries.

Pelagianism: a Chronology Read the rest of this entry »

Steve asks:

On this feast of the Immaculate Conception I thought it might be a good time to ask if the Mormon Church has any official doctrine on the events surrounding Mary’s conception of Christ? That, and I just wanted to see if people still visit this site.

I am glad to see at least some people still visit this site, although I think it only gets about half the traffic that it got when it first started up. I am excited to field a new question in addition to some other posts I have planned. Read the rest of this entry »

As promised, I’m going to piecewise review Hugh Nibley’s book. The Apostles and Bishops in Early Christianity and where appropriate make connections with Mormon priesthood development. This will act as a fairness control and will probably have the effect of softening some of Nibley’s criticisms. I’ll start with the Editors’ preface, and if any book needed such this one does, because it remains an unpolished literary work. Something that is bound to be frustrating is that the editors were unable to track down some of Nibley’s sources, especially some that buttress his arguments at crucial junctures. This is on top of of some of Nibley’s typical freelancing with footnotes, something he has come under fire for even among Mormon scholars. In fairness to Hugh, he never intended this manuscript to be for publication, rather it contains lecture notes for a 1954 class originally containing 155 pages, but expanded to 239 in the FARMS compilation. Read the rest of this entry »