I just finished watching Russian Ark, the film by Alexander Sokurov. How can one describe this film? Incredible. Unbelievable. Ambitious. I'm not sure. It is an hour-and-a-half filmed in one single continuous take. The camera perspective is a man from modern times that wakes up in 18th Century Russia. He meets a French aristocrat and … Continue reading Russian Ark – a film by Alexander Sokurov
"I found myself on 11 November 1992, when the Church of England voted to ordain women, overwhelmed with a sudden and mysterious conviction of the truth of Roman Catholicism." So wrote Sheridan Gilley in his contribution to The Path to Rome: Modern Journeys to the Catholic Church, edited by Dwight Longenecker. In the same vein … Continue reading The Path to Rome: Modern Journeys to the Catholic Church, edited by Dwight Longenecker – A Review
The Holy Land has been called the Fifth Gospel, and after visiting there I now better understand why. Visiting the sites where such great events took place was humbling and often emotional. Seeing and experiencing the land and geography made the stories come alive. Allowing imagination to see the people of old walking those same … Continue reading Pilgrimage to the Fifth Gospel
So I decided to nerd it up over the weekend and read A Commonitory by Vincent of Lérins in full, written circa 434. In it, I came across a very interesting section on the development of doctrine. Below are a few excerpts from the chapter. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Chapter XXIII – On Development in Religious Knowledge But … Continue reading Vincent of Lérins on Development of Doctrine
Recently I was walking with some family members down a river-walk in town. One of these members is a Protestant/Fundamentalist and someone with whom I cannot talk about anything serious, especially anything that may challenge his preferred worldview. But he's also the temperament that doesn't stop him from offering his own opinions off-the-cuff. Standing alongside … Continue reading Pantheism! The horror…….
Recently I read a tiny little book called “Abuse of Language – Abuse of Power” by Josef Pieper. Pieper starts by going all the way back to the ancient Greek philosopher Plato who really didn’t like the sophists; men who were “smooth talkers” and learned the art of winning an argument. The problem with the … Continue reading “Abuse of Language – Abuse of Power” by Josef Pieper: A Book Review
This post stems from a comment discussion I had on an American Evangelical blog about Purgatory. Since I thought my response turned out well I decided to edit and expand it for a stand-alone blog post. Enjoy! ----------------------------------------------------- The doctrine of Purgatory is tough for most Protestants[1] to accept. I imagine it is partly due to … Continue reading Purgatory: Why some likely find it difficult
So I’ve had mixed feelings about the Met Gala fashion show themed “Heavenly Bodies: Fashion and the Catholic Imagination.” For some Catholics it was a travesty and offensive. For other Catholics it was seen as an opportunity. My initial inclination was one of contempt, but then I wondered if that was due to hold-over American … Continue reading On Shepherds, Lost Sheep, and Fashion Shows
Blade Runner 2049 has come and gone and most people are probably not thinking much about it. After seeing it in theaters back in October I wrote up some thoughts but never got around to posting them, hoping for more developed thoughts that never came. So here are those thoughts, undeveloped as they may be. … Continue reading Some thoughts on Blade Runner 2049 (Spoilers!)
Like most of these posts, this is a topic which I’m not qualified to write about. But like any good random blogger, I’ll write about it anyway and hopefully do it justice. All Christians recognize the Scriptures—the Bible—as sacred and authoritative. And yet there is widespread disagreement about its meaning. Why is this? I believe … Continue reading How do we study the Bible? – Typology
