Lay Evangelist
Till Christ Be Formed in Every Heart
BG-1.jpg

Blog

FOR PROPHETS AND APOSTLES

Biblical Interpretation: Fundamentalism

Many Christians view the use of scientific methods in the interpretation of Scripture with hesitation or even hostility because they see such criticism undermining the traditional authority of the Bible. Rejecting the scientific methods altogether, some turn to biblical fundamentalism in order to safeguard their understanding of the Bible as inspired and inerrant. This post addresses the claims of biblical fundamentalism, what it is and why is it inconsistent with the Catholic approach to the Bible itself and to biblical interpretation.

This post deals first with a brief treatment of the fundamentalist ideology, followed by their conception of inspiration and inerrancy. The reader will understand how the fundamentalist, operating within their ideological world view, must reject diachronic methods of interpretation. Finally, the next post that I will do will treat the Catholic vision of the Bible and its interpretation in order to show biblical fundamentalism is inconsistent with the Church’s model of exegesis.

Read More
Scripture, TheologyMichael GormleyBible, Fundamentalism, Interpretation
Christian Morality: Happiness

Is there such a thing as "Christian morality", as in, a morality that is shaped by the Christian faith? If morality is universal, how can any religion or sect or belief claim to have a morality all to themselves, or claim that their morality is morality as such? As Catholics we have a strong belief in what is known as the moral law, or the natural law, or, as the Catechism of the Catholic Church puts it, the "natural moral law", that is written on the hearts of every human person and is echoed in each conscience. Is Christian morality, then, an extra superimposed or added on to the already existing super-structure of natural law morality?

These are questions that have bothered me over the years. I think this is what drove the Enlightenment project of Immanuel Kant. He sought to remove from morality any supernatural basis and ground everything in the individual's practical reason, that is, in the capacity for rational thought about human action.

Read More
Morality, TheologyMichael GormleyMorality, beatitude, happiness
Pontifical Council for the Promotion of the New Evangelization

As summer was just beginning, Pope Benedict XVI announced his intention to form a new Dicastery within the Roman Curia. This Council is called "The Pontifical Council for the Promotion of the New Evangelization" and its purpose is to confront those cultures that were rooted deeply in the Gospel, but which are now being overwhelmed by secularism and religious indifferentism.

Here's the earlier statement of the Pope from Zenit.org

There are regions in the world that ...the Gospel put down roots a long time ago, giving place to a true Christian tradition, but where in the last centuries -- with complex dynamics -- the process of secularization has produced a grave crisis of the sense of the Christian faith and of belonging to the Church.

Read More
NewsMichael GormleyNew Evangelization