Buddhist Catholic Contemplative Evangelical General Christian Hindu Jewish Latter-day Saint Muslim New Visions Progressive Christian

Beliefs

Topics

Columnists

Resource Library

Research Tools

Video

Podcasts

Thought Readers

Faith In Media Tracker

Newsletters

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Follow Patheos

Home
Catholic

2022-08-19T14:46:24-05:00

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Punch Or Be Punched? The Crucified God and Nicea’s Long Shadow

Last updated on: August 19, 2022 at 2:46 pm By Edwin Woodruff Tait

Every year during Advent and Christmas, punchy Catholic dudebros who think themselves clever clutter the Internet with memes about St. Nicholas. No, not the lovely story about how he saved three girls from being sold into sexual slavery. Much less the charming if often consumeristic modern mythology that has clustered around him as “Santa Claus.” No, what really impresses these valiant knights of social media is that St. Nicholas supposedly punched Arius at the Council of Nicea. He was... Read more

History and Religion

Uncategorized

2022-02-01T13:45:49-05:00

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

The Secret That Shouldn’t Be

Last updated on: February 1, 2022 at 1:45 pm By Edwin Woodruff Tait

Mark Shea’s excellent primer on Catholic social teaching has the catchy but rather odd title The Church’s Best-Kept Secret. I don’t blame Mark in the least for the oddness. He’s right that many people, both Catholic and non-Catholic, don’t understand the shape of Catholic social teaching. In particular, conservative American Catholics of the past few decades, proudly declaring themselves “faithful to the Magisterium” and denouncing “Cafeteria Catholicism,” have bought into the notion that Catholic social teaching is fundamentally about a... Read more

Uncategorized

2021-11-08T20:21:26-05:00

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

5 Things People Get Wrong About the Reformation

Last updated on: November 8, 2021 at 8:21 pm By Edwin Woodruff Tait

This is the time of year when people talk about the Reformation because of the “Reformation Day” celebration many Protestants observe on Oct. 31. Since I was trained as a Reformation scholar, I naturally have a lot to say about the Reformation. I’ve written a number of Reformation Day posts in the past, chronicling my own journey from disgruntled Catholic-leaning Protestant to disgruntled Protestant-hankering Catholic. Last year I defended Pope Francis against criticisms of his generous statements about atheists... Read more

Uncategorized

2021-09-19T13:34:09-05:00

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Conservatives and Corona: Why is the Pandemic Polarized?

Last updated on: September 19, 2021 at 1:34 pm By Edwin Woodruff Tait

One of the weirdest aspects of this endless pandemic is the political polarization of responses to it. It’s not surprising that people disagree over how to respond to a new disease. But it doesn’t, on the face of it, seem obvious that conservatives would oppose shutdowns and mask mandates and even vaccines while liberals would support those things. Once upon a time, a very long time ago, in March of 2020, First Things editor Rusty Reno landed in a lot... Read more

Uncategorized

2021-03-06T18:27:48-05:00

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

The Sacrifice of the Beloved Son

Last updated on: March 6, 2021 at 6:27 pm By Edwin Woodruff Tait

This past Sunday, the Catholic lectionary juxtaposed two famous Biblical stories. In the Old Testament reading, we had the powerful and troubling story of Abraham’s sacrifice of Isaac. Our Gospel reading, in contrast, was the transfiguration of Jesus. By putting these stories together, the lectionary is inviting us to think about them in connection with each other. In both stories, a “beloved son” goes up a mountain. In both stories, there’s some kind of divine acknowledgment of a special... Read more

Uncategorized

2021-02-21T21:39:51-05:00

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Unveiling the Virgin

Last updated on: February 21, 2021 at 9:39 pm By Edwin Woodruff Tait

In grad school, I read a book called Veiled Threats by Michael Carroll, a Canadian scholar has written a number of books about popular/folk Catholicism in several different cultures. This book, like its predecessor Madonnas that Maim, focused on the role of the Virgin Mary in southern Italian Catholicism from the fifteenth century to the present. Carroll describes a common practice in southern Italy of covering statues of the Virgin Mary (and I believe sometimes other statues as well) with veils and... Read more

Uncategorized

2021-02-16T22:11:32-05:00

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Homo factus est: Why Bishop Bode was right

Last updated on: February 16, 2021 at 10:11 pm By Edwin Woodruff Tait

Did Christ become a human being or a man? According to the German bishop Franz-Josef Bode, the first answer is the correct one. At a forum he chaired on the role of women in the Church, Bishop Bode stated, about a year ago, that Christ became a “human being” rather than a “man” in the Incarnation. This shocked his episcopal colleague Bishop Strickland of Tyler, Texas, who called Bishop Bode to repent of his heresy. Due to the way Facebook... Read more

Uncategorized

2021-01-23T18:07:06-05:00

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

If this isn’t a prolife issue, then nothing is

Last updated on: January 23, 2021 at 6:07 pm By Edwin Woodruff Tait

Many Catholics claim that a wide variety of issues are “prolife.” I am one of them. We affirm as Catholics that God has made all human beings in His image. Therefore, all human beings have inalienable dignity. When we encounter a difficult moral issue, the first question we should ask is whether a given position affirms or denies that dignity. This requires us, among other things, to make the protection of human life a paramount ethical priority. Anything that harms and... Read more

Uncategorized

2021-01-11T12:59:23-05:00

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

In the Day of Disillusion

Last updated on: January 11, 2021 at 12:59 pm By Edwin Woodruff Tait

Near the end of G. K. Chesterton’s play “The Judgment of Dr. Johnson,” the hero, 18th-century writer and curmudgeon Samuel Johnson, is talking to the (fictional) American revolutionary John Swallow Swift. Swift has just learned that France has entered the war on the side of the Americans, and prophesies that this is the beginning of the triumph of republicanism all over the world. Johnson replies: it is true that I am of an older fashion; much that I love has... Read more

Uncategorized

2020-12-02T15:42:19-05:00

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

The Biden Dream: Hadley Arkes and “Moral Consequence”

Last updated on: December 2, 2020 at 3:42 pm By Edwin Woodruff Tait

However reluctant many Trump supporters are to admit it, it now seems quite clear that Joe Biden is going to be the next President of the United States. And clearly American Catholics are deeply divided in their attitudes to this prospect. On the day of the election, when the result was very far from certain, Catholic convert and natural law theorist Hadley Arkes wrote an article for The Catholic Thing on the potential Presidency of Joe Biden. Arkes regarded the prospect... Read more

Uncategorized

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

Who killed his own brother out of jealousy and became the first murderer in the Bible?

Select your answer to see how you score.

Ishmael Esau Cain Jacob

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category apologetics Bible Catholicism Christianity economics history Middle Ages personal Reformation Rodney Stark Uncategorized

Select a Month August 2026 June 2026 January 2026 December 2025 October 2025 June 2025 February 2025 December 2024 November 2024 June 2024 May 2024 January 2024 December 2023 April 2023 December 2022 November 2022 September 2022 July 2022 June 2022 April 2022 November 2021 September 2021 March 2021 February 2021 January 2021 December 2020 November 2020 October 2020 August 2020 July 2020 June 2020 May 2020 December 2018 October 2018 June 2018 March 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 September 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 August 2014 June 2014 March 2014 January 2014 September 2013 August 2013 June 2013 August 2012 July 2012 October 2011 June 2011 March 2011 July 2010 March 2010 January 2008 May 2007 April 2007 February 2007 October 2006 August 2006 March 2006 January 2006 November 2005 October 2005 September 2005 August 2005 June 2005 May 2005 April 2005 March 2005 February 2005 January 2005 December 2004 November 2004 September 2004

TRENDING AT PATHEOS Catholic