In the discussion today, some have admitted that they have yet to read a real Catholic Theologian, so I thought that I might share some videos.
Anyway, tons of stuff on Scott Hahn and others on youtube and these things called the intertubes.
Joel Landon Watts is a Masters of Theological Studies student with a focus in Mimetic Criticism of the Gospel of Mark. His interests include exploring the role of mimesis in human civilization, specifically in the study of religion and media, as well as science fiction and the way in which it has allowed mythology to be explored in light of scientific ideals of the past century. Currently, he is a TA for Old Testament at United Theological Seminary under Dr. Vivian Johnson, Associate Professor of Old Testament. His first book, Rhetorical Strategies of the Evangelist: Mimetic Criticism of the Gospel of Mark, is expected to be published by Wipf and Stock early next year. He is currently co-editing a book on moving from Fear to Faith (Energion, 2013).
yeah scott’s smart.
Yes, yes, yes, Joel!
Did my mother-in-law put you up to this? She’s always trying to push Scott Hahn on me. Something about him converting from Protestant to Catholic.
Sigh …
I’m not going to admit that I received a large and substantial ‘donation’.
Scott Hahn is amazing. Here is a link to a list of PDFs of some of his published academic articles (he has also written numerous popular level works).
Indeed, Dr. Barber!
If there was ever a modern Catholic Theologian for the modern Protestant!
Joel,
I think you know this, but I’ll just reiterate it. There is a lot of bad blood between the successors of the Reformers and the Roman Church. This taints the way everyone sees things, and it runs very deep.
There is even more bad blood between the successors of the Puritans (aka American Reformed movements) and the Roman Church.
I remember sitting in a Roman Catholic funeral once and thinking, “Wow, there is a lot behind what they’re saying – and the priest doesn’t have a clue.” There was true majesty in the words he was saying – a majesty which he clearly did not grasp.
Then again, I’ve felt the same way in Methodist, Baptist, Charismatic and even (gasp!) Presbyterian churches. One’s beliefs on justification and sovereignty do not necessarily translate into devotion to God.
The animosity is ideological rather than theological, which means there is a constant breakdown of comprehension between the two camps.
Do I think that most Catholics don’t understand a thing about their religion? Yeah, I’d say there’s an awful lot of cultural adherence without theological compliance – but that is true of any denomination where it is dominant (Lutherans in Minnesota and Baptists in Texas, etc.). And I think Scott Hahn would probably agree with me on that one.
Have nefarious men (and women) seized the See of Rome and used it for their own advancement? Yes, of course. That was what Luther rebelled against at the beginning. Leo X was a Medici, and he was using the church to build his own empire – centered in Rome.
I could go on and on from a historical perspective – that Luther and the German princes were fighting a political war against the Roman bishop assuming monarchical powers more than theological ones, that the great heroes of the Roman faith (Benedict of Narsia and Francis of Assisi to name a couple) would have joined their voices to Luther’s had they lived at the time of the Reformation.
But I’ve rambled enough.
As I’ve pointed out elsewhere (I think), I consider myself to be a postdenominationalist. It is time to rediscover the ancient practices, including communal liturgy, that defined our faith and reject this idea that somehow as modern men we no longer need to hear the voices (both right and wrong) of our predecessors.
Oops, I forgot to post the link!:
http://www.salvationhistory.com/library/category/scripture
Looks a great site, over all!