Just a quick update to let you faithful readers know that I've now gotten where I'm going, I merely need to find a place to live (and perhaps finally sell the place where I used to live, too). I expect by this time next week I'll be back to a somewhat regular posting schedule. Until then, enjoy the following programs from Renewal Ministries:

Celebrating Pentecost
May 12: All Authority is His	mp3 Version
May 13: Receiving His Power	mp3 Version
May 14: The Last Days	mp3 Version
May 15: Jesus is Lord and Christ	mp3 Version
May 16: The Harvest	mp3 Version

Here are some talks on the Theology of the Body, along with some e-printed materials, hosted by R.J. Grigaitis, S.F.O.:

Sex and the Sacred City

The following book by Steve Kellmeyer can be downloaded for free:

• Sex and the Sacred City PDF 387 KB
• Sex and the Sacred City HTML

A printed version of Sex and the Sacred City can be order on the following website:
http://bridegroompress.com

The following talks by Steve Kellmeyer can be downloaded for free:

• Sex and the Sacred City MP3 16.1MB
• Theology of the Body - Aurora MP3 16.5MB
• Theology of the Body (radio quality) MP3 55.5MB
• Theology of the Body (CD quality) MP3 190.5MB

Naked Without Shame

The following talks by Christopher West can be downloaded for free:

• Naked Without Shame (radio quality) MP3 156.5MB
• Naked Without Shame (CD quality) MP3 690.0MB

These MP3s are organised for playback on computers and MP3 players, and are organised optimally for burning to CDs. A set of 10 audio CDs can be purchased for only $4.90 US on the following website:
http://nakedwithoutshame.com

Just wanted to say thanks to all of you regular visitors who helped me pass 100,000 hits. This is for you...don't spend it all in one place!

I'm moving and starting a new job, so I expect the next two weeks or so will entail some rather minimal blogging. Have patience - I'll be back. Until then, please feel free to check the archives and, should you find something, e-mail me any new links and I'll post them on my return.

God Bless

From the St. Paul Center for Biblical Theology (Scott Hahn's thing) come a series of lectures. Here they are:

Mike Aquilina – October 2007

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3

"Our Liturgical Fasting – No Man Shall Live by Bread Alone"

Dr. Daniel Keating

Letter & Spirit 2007: Jesus & the Mysteries
"Jesus & the Jewish Festivals"

"Jesus & the Mystery of the Temple"

Here Come the Evangelical Catholics

After the Revolution

Audio File

Letter & Spirit 2007: Jesus & the Mysteries
"Sonship, Testing and the Fear of the Lord"

Part 1 | Part 2

David Scott

His Excellency, MOST REV. LUIS ANTONIO G. TAGLE, D.D., Doctoral graduate of the Catholic University of America and Bishop of Imus since 2001, gave the following lectures. I'm really looking forward to giving them a listen.

Dogmatic Theology - Arnold C. Biago, SVD
Lectures of Bishops Luis Antonio Tagle, DD on Dogmatic Theology in Divine Word Seminary, Divine Word School of Theology, Tagaytay City, Philippines. Bishop Chito will discuss Christian dogma of the Trinity. The Lecture was delivered June 2005.

Dogmatic Theology - Arnold C. Biago, SVD
Lectures of Bishops Luis Antonio Tagle, DD on Dogmatic Theology in Divine Word Seminary, Divine Word School of Theology, Tagaytay City, Philippines. Bishop Chito will discuss the Christian Doctrine of the Trinity. and particularly discusses trinitarian heresies. The Lecture was delivered last July 5, 2005

Dogmatic Theology - Arnold C. Biago, SVD
Lectures of Bishops Luis Antonio Tagle, DD on Dogmatic Theology in Divine Word Seminary, Divine Word School of Theology, Tagaytay City, Philippines. Bishop Chito will discuss the Christian Doctrine of the Trinity. The Lecture was delivered last August 6, 2005.

Dogmatic Theology - Arnold C. Biago, SVD
Lectures of Bishops Luis Antonio Tagle, DD on Dogmatic Theology in Divine Word Seminary, Divine Word School of Theology, Tagaytay City, Philippines. Bishop Chito will discuss the Christian Doctrine of the Trinity. The Lecture was delivered last August 6, 2005

*HT: Filipino Catholic, who I should really consider putting on the payroll...

There's a site out there, Treasure Chest of Fun & Fact, which has collected scans of old Catholic-y comics from last century. They're pretty kewl, in a POD (piously over devotional) sort of way. If you have kids (or nieces / nephews or godchildren) who you have trouble articulating the truths of the faith to, you might just give the site a browse -- the archive is voluminous.

Here's an interview (WMA format) with an artist illustrator of said comics:

Listen to the Interview with Frank M. Borth
[Read the Transcription]


For an example, you might try the following Comic about God and creation from 1956. It talks about how the earth came to be from a scientific perspective, discusses how this doesn't contradict Church teaching, and closes with the line, "...Remembering how things were made isn't half as important as remembering who made them."

Click to view large images

*HT to Creative Minority Report

Here's a debate I'm looking forward to watching - Robert Sungenis Vs Jame White "Is the Pope infallible?" Sungenis is a rather able Catholic apologist who has done a series or two for EWTN, and James White is an elder at the Phoenix Reformed Baptist Church and is broadly recognized as one of the most able debaters in this context. Having exchanged a few e-mails with him, I'll say he's sharp but he has a tendency to selectively edit. Take for example his use of St. Athanasius as a proto-Protestant who believed firmly in Sola Scriptura. It might be credible if you only listened to him, but then you read St. Athanasius and find statements like the following about the Blessed Virgin Mary:

O noble Virgin, truly you are greater than any other greatness. For who is your equal in greatness, O dwelling place of God the Word? To whom among all creatures shall I compare you, O Virgin? You are greater than them all. O [Ark of the New] Covenant, clothed with purity instead of gold! You are the Ark in which is found the golden vessel containing the true manna, that is, the flesh in which divinity resides. Should I compare you to the fertile earth and its fruits? You surpass them. . . . If I say that heaven is exalted, yet it does not equal you. . . . If we say that the cherubim are great, you are greater than they, for the cherubim carry the throne of God, while you hold God in your hands.

—St. Athanasius, quoted by L.Gambero in Mary and the Fathers of the Church (Ignatius Press, 1999), pp. 106-7

Either James White should agree that the Bible teaches that Mary is the Ark of the New Covenant (with the immaculate conception and perpetual virginity flowing naturally therefrom) or St. Athanasius categorically didn't believe Sola Scriptura (contrary to the quote-mining of Mr. White). I simply don't see another way to see it. If it's claimed that St. Athanasius was inconsistent in his application of Sola Scriptura...I suppose the same could be said of every other Catholic. Heh heh. Silly defense. But that's Sola Scriptura, not Papal Infallibility...

In any case, the debate is about 180 minutes long, so have a seat and grab a soda.

Here are some talks from the Diocese of Kalamazoo by Msgr. Tom Martin:

Confession:Sinning & The Sacrament of Reconciliation" - Msgr. Tom Martin (March 4, 2008)

Prayer and Devotion: The Feeding of the Soul - Msgr. Tom Martin (February 26, 2008)

The Theological Virtues: Faith, Hope and Love - Msgr. Tom Martin (February 19, 2008)

I got an e-mail from a Catholic rap artist, DJ 86, whose flow I greatly respect. Here's the gist:

Check out my new mixtape "Catholic Rap-The Remix Vol 1". It's a bunch of old Catholic rap verses over my beats. It's a free download, so please feel free to burn it, and pass it along to anyone and everyone.

Download below...

http://www.mediafire.com/?xm0iumzhmnw

Tracklisting:

1. Intro

2. Emcee Miko - Sweeten The Pot

3. Moses Ther Black - Mighty Pen

4. D-Major - Do Right

5. manCHILD & Pontifex - Man Of Fire

6. Akalyte A.K.A. Mc Just - Catholic Dopeness

7. Moses The Black - Axis

8. Kanye West - Jesus Walks

9. Dj 86 - Too Cool Too Fool

10. Boogiemonsters - The Beginning Of The End

11. Sammy Blaze - Just Envision

12. Paradox - Do Right

13. Flip - Swing

14. Moses The Black - Once You Begin

15. D-Major - Butta On My Pancakes

16. Dj 86 - It's the Beat

17. Cassidy The Hustler - Youtube Freestyle

18. Fr. Leo Clifford - Anxiety

Ok. So Ben Stein made a movie called Expelled, chronicling the censure of Intelligent Design folks in academia. Since the premise seemed interesting and it's a subject often discussed by religious folks, I decided to check it out. After watching it, I have a few points for anyone interested in my opinion...

To start, there are some rather good things said in the film.

• First, Stein points out that Darwinism is a necessary intellectual justification for the Holocaust and Eugenics, though it is not a sufficient condition. I think that's a correct statement. Only if you think that survival of the fittest and seeking the genetic uber-man are appropriate paradigms for humanity could you believe in the appropriateness of the Holocaust and/or Eugenics.
  
• Second, Stein points out the link between eugenicist Margaret Sanger, founder of Planned Barrenhood, and the Nazis. Good. That needs to be said more often.
  
• Third, I think Stein's undertaking is a good one - it shouldn't be the case that folks are written off in academia simply by uttering the words 'intelligent design', and I sincerely believe this to be the case presently. Some critics have called this a conspiracy theory, but listening to the monotonously consistent invocation of the scare-word "Creationism" any time ID is brought up seems to lend more credibility to Stein than the critics.
  
• Fourth, there was a worthwhile foray into the problem of abiogenesis, for which there isn't even a scientific "best guess" ("It just happened, ok?!?"). The extreme implausibility of inanimate stuff *suddenly* deciding to become "animate" and then *suddenly* deciding to replicate is...well...something which isn't dealt with terribly often. There are a few attempts at proposed answers, but none of them are widely accepted and they each seem to have some serious deficiencies.
  

Now...there are also some rather bad things about the film.

• First, it intentionally has the look and feel of a propaganda piece. The use of vintage film clips is, IMHO, excessive. It's meant to ridicule the opposition by linking them with antiquated ideologies. While this can be helpful and I understand why they did it, the particular implementation comes off as rather ham-handed.
  
• Second, there's a notable failure to do the following EXTREMELY CRITICAL things: (1) define intelligent design - what is it? - and (2) give some of the problems ID advocates see with evolution as classically presented. No mention of the Cambrian Explosion, no discussion of the lack of the number of transition fossils one might hope for / expect to see, no discussion of irreducible complexity -- these are very engaging questions, and scientists offer some explanations (sometimes contradictory, sometimes utterly inadequate, sometimes rather fulfilling), but the simple fact that none of these subjects are even broached in the film strikes me as a marked deficiency. The closest you get is the rather facile claim that when darwinists talk amongst themselves they acknowledge some problems with the theory. That's waaaaay too vague, if you ask me.
  
• Third, the Eugenics / Abortion segment was entirely too short and also failed to engage Euthanasia, which is the final solution (to use the term) for the weakest members of our society. No mention of the disproportionate number of black abortions, no mention of the >90% of Downs Syndrome diagnosed babies being aborted, no mention of the impending "duty to die" that looms like a thunderstorm on the horizon for our nation's elderly should "assisted suicide" come to be the law of the land... I could go on and on about the culture of death and the diminished status of the inherent dignity of all humans. In brief, I think the film's treatment was way too short given the dangers these currently pose.
• Fourth, I think the "Darwinism leads to atheism" argument is (1) fallacious and (2) tactically bad. First, the necessity runs the opposite direction -> atheism requires that the believer be closed minded to anything except Darwinism, though there are many theistic believers in evolution. Second, this is a scare tactic. Teach your kids Darwinism and they'll have no choice but to become atheists. While this might seem logical to Richard Dawkins, it's absolutely not the case and to make the claim is to rely on an appeal to fear.
• Fifth, because of the numerous deficiencies, I doubt the film is likely to persuade anyone. I highly doubt anyone will change their opinion of pretty much anything as a result of the film. And that's a shame, because it could have been otherwise. But...perhaps it will get people talking?
  

I have plenty more I could say, but that's more or less the gist of my thoughts. As for my own belief (if anyone cares), I'm rather agnostic about origins theories. I whole-heartedly believe what the Church requires, but outside of that I'll simply go where the evidence leads. God (and we, His people) has nothing to fear from Truth - indeed, Truth is how we come to know God, for God is Truth. To whatever extent evolution (or ID, for that matter) can be shown to be true, I'll willingly believe. The trick lays in identifying what has been "shown"...

Here's the Spirit and Life podcast from Franciscan University of Steubenville, that current bastion of orthodox Catholic higher education, as delivered by a perennial favorite, Dr. Scott Hahn. They write:

Franciscan University of Steubenville's Dr. Scott Hahn joins Spirit and Life Podcast host Mark Nehrbas to share about the impact St. Paul has had on Scott, especially through the Book of Romans. Scott and Mark also preview Franciscan University's Institiute of Applied Biblical Studies coming July 22-25, 2008. (16:37, 11.5 MB)

Franciscan Conferences website:
www.franciscanconferences.com

Scott Hahn and the St. Paul Center for Biblical Theology:
www.salvationhistory.com

Direct download: SAL30_ScottHahn_StPaulandRomans.mp3

*HT: Filipino Catholic

I believe the following program was launched on Catholic Radio shortly after the Holy Father's book of the same title came out. If you've already listened to Jesus of Nazareth (tagged under audiobook and SPEAKER: The Pope), you might give the following a listen to help identify some of the finer points you may have missed the first time through:

October 1, 2007: Part 1
November 5, 2007: Part 2
December 3, 2007: Part 3
February 4, 2008: Part 4
March 3, 2008: Part 5
April 7, 2008: Part 6

*HT: Filipino Catholic

Here's another audio version of the New Testament in Greek, from CCEL. I tried learning Greek once, but I'm afraid I can't remember an iota...

Matthew: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28

Mark: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16

Luke: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24

John: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21

Get the rest here.

From noted Catholic blogger / author Danielle Bean:

You can listen to me in a podcast interview with Chris Cash at Catholic Spotlight. I spoke with him earlier this week about Mother’s Day, Mom to Mom, Day to Day and Faith & Family magazine. Go listen!

Enjoy!

Here are some more audio files from Protestant apologist William Lane Craig. His presentations on the proofs for the existence of God are top notch - I have yet to hear a Catholic come close in a presentation. Which is a real shame, since his arguments are arguments Catholics have used for several centuries. In any case, here are the files:

2007/12/24	Question and Answer
2007/12/17	The Problem of Evil (Pt. 3)
2007/12/10	The Problem of Evil (Pt. 2)
2007/12/03	The Problem of Evil (Pt. 1)
2007/11/26	Objections To Belief In God (Pt. 3)
2007/11/19	Objections To Belief In God (Pt. 2)
2007/11/12	Objections To Belief In God (Pt. 1)
2007/11/05	Moral Argument (Pt. 4)
2007/10/29	Moral Argument (Pt. 3)
2007/10/22	Moral Argument (Pt. 2)
2007/10/15	Moral Argument (Pt. 1)
2007/10/08	Teleological Argument (Pt. 3)
2007/10/01	Teleological Argument (Pt. 2)
2007/09/23	Teleological Argument (Pt. 1)