by Joshua Shaw When we tried in a previous series to take in Eusebius’s apologetic argument against Plato at a glance, we skipped over a few passages in the middle of Book XIII (of the Praeparatio Evangelica). In this book Eusebius is slowly building his case against Plato by thoughtfully curating passages from Socrates’s last… Read More “[His] only care was not to please”: Eusebius’s Tribute to Socrates
by Joshua Shaw In the beginning of Pascal’s Pensées, Part I, Chapter I (online here), there is the famous distinction between those subjects whose material is contained entirely in books, and so dependent entirely upon authority, and those subjects whose material (the corporeal world) is dependent upon sense perception (i.e., experience) and reason (paraphrasing the… Read More Pascal and Bavinck on Science and Theology
by Joshua Shaw Wrapping up Eusebius In the last post (here), we saw some of Eusebius’s clever maneuvering with Plato. Plato had quoted Homer ungenerously to prove his point that God does not change nor does he come to the aid of ‘mad and wicked men.’ Eusebius fought fire with fire, using Plato to purify… Read More Eusebius and his Sources: How Then Shall We Dialogue? (VI)
by Garrett Robinson This essay continues a line of inquiry and reflection begun here. Emperor Frederick Barbarossa, while riding with the lawyers Bulgarus and Martinus, asked them whether he was “lord of the world.” Bulgarus replied that he was not lord over private property; Martinus simply told him: “You are lord.” Martinus was rewarded with a horse, and Bulgarus with nothing. Variations of the… Read More Medieval Kingship
In light of our recent discussion of reform in the history of the Church, I wanted to bring to your attention a panel featuring John O’Malley, Russell Hittinger, and Joseph Mueller. The panel addresses losses and gains in the governance of the Church after Vatican I. There are some important references in the dialogue back to… Read More Vatican I and Papal Governance
by Trevor Anderson I was born about twenty years after the Second Vatican Council, and came into communion with the Roman Catholic Church about twenty-five years after that, so I have no recollection of what the Catholic Church was like before Vatican II. Likewise, I have no recollection of what the relations between Protestants and Catholics,… Read More Trent and Vatican II: Suggested Principles for Analysis