The Papacy: Changing in History, Theology, and Dogma

In previous blog posts, I’ve given some short history about the development and growth of the historical papacy. The papacy is 1600 years old, not 2000 years old The Crafting of the 4th Century Roman Church, Doctrine, and Papacy The Papacy: “Self-Consciously” Modeled After the 4th Century Roman State “Pope Leo the Great” When you …

Not Called to Communion: Outline of Chapter 1

I’ve been looking at Joseph Ratzinger’s 1990 work “Called to Communion,” a work whose title, at least, has become a kind of rallying cry for a self-annointed group of supposedly (and formerly) “Reformed” believers who became Catholic. In this work, Ratzinger, a Cardinal and head of the “Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith” at …

Not Called to Communion: “The Church”-1

I want to take a minute here and talk about my hopes to continue to look at “Called to Communion.” After Ratzinger outlines his rules for “the base memory of the church” as his standard to judge both what the text says and what is “historically and objectively accurate” – as opposed to “a patient …

Not Called to Communion: Preliminary Thoughts

A writer who identifies himself as Protestant, who has come under the influence of those folks at the Called to Communion website said this to me: Why should I listen to you? [Whatever you say on a given theological subject], that is your opinion. If you say I should listen to scripture, that is saying “listen …