Reductionism
“The question posed by the Pharisees and Herodians appears to concern Caesar and taxation, but its purpose is to force the Lord Jesus to choose between loyalty to God and obedience to worldly government. Christ, in turn, exposes the deep error involved in making God an alternative to Caesar. Such gross oversimplification distorts theology into manageable human concepts – an impossible task….The Pharisees and Herodians engage in reductionism, which attempts to minimize a compl
Personhood
“We can speak of “human nature,” but it does not exist as a thing-in-itself. Human nature is only revealed in the uniqueness of a human person.” (Father Stephen Freeman) “The Lord Who rose from the dead in order to make us participants in His eternal life showed mercy throughout His earthly ministry to people who suffered from death and disease in the world as we know it. In doing so, He provided signs of His fulfillment and restoration of the human person in the image and li
Faith, Trust, and Belief
“When we separate faith from everything else, we make it into belief. It becomes the assent to the truth of something that cannot be proven by empirical evidence. The Book of James addresses this mistaken thought directly when it says, “You see then that a man is justified by works, and not by faith only” (OSB James 2:24)… Paul speaks of “faith active” in love. This poignant phrase indicates that Paul would agree with James, who wrote against the idea of “faith alone.” He ins
Grope (Groping for God)
“Even if we only grope, only feel around, trying to find God, the promise is that we shall find Him. Sometime my life feels as if I’m just feeling around for a God whom I don’t see or experience. I’m groping in the dark. Even when we feel as if we are in darkness and are feeling around in the dark room of our lives, if we keep going the promise is that we shall find Him. Even when we are confused and struggle with doubt, if we keep up the struggle, the promise is that we shal