I have never read the book, The Two Babylons by Alexander Hislop, nor do I intend too; however, since I was recently hit with ‘facts’ from this book, I thought that maybe I would add a few links for rebuttal that I can refer to later.
Oct 13 2009
A Look at Christianity, Through a Buddhist Lens
I’ve noticed that many who have left the faith after discovering that they had questions which could not be answered never thought to look into other branches of Christianity, with other formulations, and other doctrines.
Five decades ago, Paul F. Knitter, then a novice studying to become a Roman Catholic priest, would be in the seminary chapel at 5:30 every morning, trying to stay awake and spend time in meditation before Mass.
Last Wednesday, at the same hour, he was sitting on his Zen cushion meditating in the Claremont Avenue apartment he occupies as the Paul Tillich Professor of Theology, World Religions and Culture at Union Theological Seminary in New York.
A few hours later he was talking about his pointedly titled new book, “Without Buddha I Could Not Be a Christian” (Oneworld). The book is the outcome of decades of encounters with Buddhism — and of struggles with his own faith.
Read the rest here:
Beliefs – A Look at Christianity, Through a Buddhist Lens – NYTimes.com.
Sep 19 2009
Ted Kennedy: The Resurrection Gave Me Hope
At one point, he kind of turned to me and he said: So, how do you think it’s going? And I told him … I said, I’m not sure I really understand how you’re feeling about things, and I don’t understand how you’ve lived with all of this loss. And he heard that, and he didn’t say anything at the lunch table. He moved on. And then he went upstairs and he took a rest. And then he came down about an hour later, and he said there’s something I want to talk to you about. And that was when he told me how he had dealt with it all the years. And he described it as being in a state of restlessness and always trying to keep moving so that he could stay ahead of the darkness and not be swallowed by it. And that was really when I felt like I was beginning to understand him.
And then he talked more. And he started talking about how important his faith was, and he was talking about it in very specific language, about how the resurrection gave him hope. And I’d never heard him talk about the resurrection before, and I said to him, I said, you know, have I missed something? I’ve never really heard you talk this way. And he looked at me with surprise, and he said, well, of course I haven’t talked this way. I mean, this is personal. And that’s when I realized that the public Ted Kennedy was a lot different from the private Ted Kennedy.
Ted Kennedy: The Resurrection Gave Me Hope – God & Country (usnews.com).
Aug 26 2009
My Attack on Protestantism
Not really, but I have come to the conclusion that one of the reasons we see a fall in the numbers of Evangelical Protestants and the rise of the East and Rome, is that people want something more than a ’sinner’s prayer’ and a hand shake from the pastor. They want something to hold on to, to grasp, and to be a part of.
Aug 26 2009
Senator Ted Kennedy (1932-2009) on Catholicism
By now, everyone knows that the last of the Kennedy brothers have died, and while the nation, some of the nation no doubt, will mourn and some will mock, all should remember the Senator’s fight for the poor and equality. This is not a political blog, but I do like to examine the cross-section between religion and politics. So, in that spirit, I present this:
In 1983, Senator Kennedy spoke at Jerry Falwell’s Liberty University on “Faith, Truth and Tolerance in America”.
Continue reading “Senator Ted Kennedy (1932-2009) on Catholicism”
Aug 14 2009
Corruption, Communism, and Catholicism in Vietnam
There are about 6 million Catholics in Vietnam today (about 8 percent of the population). They are the biggest religious minority in a nation which has been ruled in its entirety by a Communist government since 1975. Like all Communist regimes, Vietnam had its “re-education” camps. The regime has also long harassed the Catholic Church. There is no greater symbol of this than the late Cardinal François-Xavier Nguyen Van Thuan, widely regarded as a modern saint. Before exiling him, the regime imprisoned him for 13 years, nine of which were spent in solitary confinement.
Continue reading “Corruption, Communism, and Catholicism in Vietnam”
Jul 21 2009
Pastor John Hagee on Zionism and John McCain
Dan Gilgoff has posted an email exchange with John Hagee, the Christian Zionist of Christian Zionists. During the presidential campaign last year, I and a former friend were discussing the break down in John McCain’s Campaign, especially in relation to the Religious Right, starting with John Hagee’s break.
His comment was to the effect that he admired Hagee because he stuck to his convictions – from which I understood him to mean the anti-Catholic stance as well as the pro-Israel stance. Well, while he may not back away from his pro-Israel above all stance, he has raced away from his previous anti-Catholic stances:
CUFI has recently stepped up outreach to Catholics. What precipitated that , and how is the effort going so far? What are your goals for that outreach?
Yes, we are reaching out to Catholics. These efforts started last year, during the presidential campaign, when Bill Donahue of the Catholic League claimed that I had slighted the Catholic Church while teaching from the Book of Revelation. He was mistaken on this point. But he and I handled this disagreement the way that Christians should. We met. We had fellowship. We learned from one another. A few months after the controversy, he came to our Washington, D.C., Summit as my guest. When I recognized him during my keynote address, he received a rousing ovation from our CUFI audience. I consider him a friend.
Bill and I decided that we should turn our personal reconciliation into a broader reconciliation. We decided to try to bring Catholics and Protestants together on behalf of Israel. Some of Israel’s best friends and strongest defenders are devout Catholics. They should be a part of this movement.
No, I do not think Rome is the great whore of Babylon, but I think it political that John Hagee no longer does.
Read the rest here: Exclusive: Pastor John Hagee on Zionism and John McCain – God & Country (usnews.com).
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