Believing is something radical, that is to say, different at its roots from “forming an opinion,” or “forming a conviction,” if you like. To make a judgment based on particular knowledge and inferences is a very important and, in innumerable areas, indispensable intellectual activity: but “believing” is a different process. In its content and unfolding, [...]
Both instructive and persuasive, Pope Leo XIII"s encyclicals are valuable reminders that the triumph of secularism, materialism, relativism, is by no means inevitable. Pope Leo XIII was a vibrant and courageous intellectual with a dedication to strengthening the Church in its relationships with the outside world. As his predecessor, Pope Pius IX, had hoped, Leo’s [...]
As to the principal stages in education, let us note that there are three great periods in education. I should like to designate them as the rudiments (or elementary education), the humanities (comprising both secondary and college education), and advanced studies (comprising graduate schools and higher specialized learning). And these periods correspond not only to [...]
If suffering seems to mock at life, death’s mockery of life is more blatant still. It is very curious that any man constructing either a way of life for himself or a larger system of life for society should ignore death altogether. Death, after all, is a fact. It was not invented by the Catholic [...]
Marriage is meant to be a bond breakable only by death, because love, by its nature, can be measured neither by space nor time. And yet, despite the ideal of marriage, the hard actualities of life make it end sometimes in dismal ruin and failure. A moment comes when the bonds once meant to be [...]
Death must come some time; this world isn’t our home, only a kind of hotel where our rooms will be wanted sooner or later for somebody else; life is meant to be only a span of time, and a comparatively short one. When I say it’s meant to be, I am, of course, assuming the [...]
Jesus Christ revealed none of the scientific knowledge that it is possible for man to acquire by the use of his own reason. He confirmed the truth of that which reason can attain concerning God and the human soul, besides enlightening us regarding that sphere of truth which is inaccessible to reason, that is to [...]
Let the Church do for Literature in one way what she does for Science in another; each has its imperfection, and she has her remedy for each. She fears no knowledge, but she purifies all; she represses no element of our nature, but cultivates the whole. The Idea of a University, by John Henry Newman [...]
The symbol of Christianity is the Cross, and the Cross lies over the world and marks human history. The rejection by man of God makes a cleavage between the natural and the supernatural, the secular state and the Church. Communism and Christianity, by Martin Cyril D’Arcy (Cluny Media, 216 pages) The felt and reasoned distinction [...]
Pope Gregory XVI believed that, even if it were true that immediate spiritual advantages might be gained by revolt, or by the introduction of liberal measures, the shock to the monarchical system involved by such changes would be disastrous to the Church and Society. Revolution and Papacy: 1769–1846, by E. E. Y. Hales (Cluny Media, [...]
It is not surprising that in the political field, the traditional form of Christianity has not accepted the logical conclusions of that democracy which asserts that man can do what he likes, since there is no power greater than man. In that sense, Catholicism has never been democratic in spirit. The Persistence of Order, Volume [...]
As long as the great powers accept the moral duty of changing an unjust status quo even if it means sacrifice to them, just so long will there be peace. The State in Catholic Thought, by Heinrich A. Rommen, introduction by Bruce Frohnen (Cluny Media, 770 pages) There is no possible evasion of the general principle that [...]
If we really think of God as a Who and not a What—in other words, if we think of him as a Someone capable of speech, then there is no “security” against revelation. And man’s only meaningful response to revelation is faith! The Weight of Belief, by Josef Pieper (Cluny Media, 326 pages) The difficulty [...]
The reader who demands that his own moral code shall not be infringed upon, or his feelings lacerated by any unpleasant happenings in any book he reads, does not want to be made a better man as the result of reading it. How to Read a Novel, by Caroline Gordon (Cluny Media, 250 pages) T.S. [...]