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LET US, IN HEAVEN'S NAME, drag out the Divine Drama from under the dreadful accumulation of slipshod thinking and trashy sentiment heaped upon it, and set it on an open stage to startle the world into some sort of vigorous reaction.
If the pious are the first to be shocked, so much the worse for the pious — others will enter the Kingdom of Heaven before them. If all men are offended because of Christ, let them be offended; but where is the sense of their being offended at something that is not Christ and is nothing like Him? We do Him singularly little honor by watering down till it could not offend a fly.
Surely it is not the business of the Church to adapt Christ to men, but to adapt men to Christ."
— Dorothy Sayers
Creed or Chaos?, 24-25
WHAT THE CHURCH of Jesus Christ believes, teaches, and confesses on the basis of the word of God: This is Christian doctrine. Doctrine is not the only, not even the primary, activity of the church. The church worships God and serves mankind, it works for the transformation of this world and waits the consummation of its hope in the next. "Faith, hope, love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love" — love, and not faith, and certainly not doctrine. [But] the Christian church would not be the church as we know it without Christian doctrine.
— Jaroslav Pelikan
The Emergence of Catholic
Tradition (100-600), p. 1.
The Will to Believe
and the Need for Creed
— an address by Jaroslav Pelikan
REJOICE ALWAYS. Pray without ceasing. in all circumstances give thanks, for this is the will of God for you in Christ Jesus.
— 1 Thessalonians 5:1
Apologetics
APOLOGETICS. This new page is under construction. Watch for a discussion of what this word means, why St. Paul was the first Christian apologist, the works of Tertullian and others, and contributions from members of the parish.
We are not talking about apologies,
as in "I apologize for offending you."
An anonymous author notes that "the term apologetics comes from the Classical Greek word apologia. In the Classical Greek legal system two key technical terms were employed: the prosecution delivered the kategoria (κατηγορία), and the defendant replied with an apologia (απολόγία). To deliver an apologia then meant making a formal speech to reply and rebut the charges, as in the case of Socrates' defense.
"This Classical Greek term appears in the Koine (i.e. common) Greek of the New Testament. The Apostle Paul employs the term apologia in his trial speech to Festus and Agrippa when he says 'I make my defense' (Acts 26:2). A cognate term appears in Paul's Letter to the Philippians as he is 'defending the gospel' (Philippians 1:7 & 16), and in 1 Peter 3:15 believers must be ready to give an 'answer' for their faith."
Watch this page for more to come. We hope you will find it provocative, but not sweetly pious, for Christianity is tough and demanding -- definitely not sacharine.
Links to Famous Texts
John Henry Cardinal Newman:
Apologia Pro Vita Sua
Quintus Septimius Florens Tertullianus:
Apologia de Spectaculis
