“Formless Matter” in Wisdom 11:17

“I beseech you, my child, to look at the heaven and the earth and see everything that is in them, and recognize that God did not make them out of things that existed.” (2 Maccabees 7:28) Genesis Unbound In a fascinating modern book on the biblical creation story (Genesis Unbound), Evangelical Bible scholar John Sailhamer…

Can Man Become God?

Introduction One thing that saints like Athanasius, Augustine, and Aquinas all have in common is that they asserted that man can become God. Wait, what??? This teaching is also reflected in the Catechism of the Catholic Church: “The Son of God became man so that we might become God.” (CCC 460) Hold on – What?!?!?!…

Thomistic Arguments for Christianity

Introduction Saint Thomas Aquinas is famous for his philosophical proofs for the existence of God, but proving theism does not prove Christianity. Fortunately, Aquinas did not stop there. Although they are less well-known, and sprinkled throughout several of his works, Aquinas extended his apologetic arguments to the truth of Christianity itself. In many apologetic systems (e.g., McDowell, Geisler, or Montgomery), the…

The Christian Faith: All or Nothing?

Introduction One of the most convicting (i.e., terrifying) theological passages I ever read had to do with lack of faith. Now, a reasonable guess as to its content would be something about the threat of Hell – maybe a Sinners In The Hands of An Angry God sort of thing. But it wasn’t. In fact,…

The End of Man (Happiness!)

“Truly here is the light of the Church. Here he found the entire way of discipline.” Why Are We Here? This life often does not make sense to us. It can seem like a wildly fun ride one moment, and a terrifying roller coaster the next. Undeserving people often seem to have it easy, while…

Aquinas on Abortion

Introduction The Christian Church was against  against abortion from the earliest days (see The Fathers on Abortion). It can be something of an embarrassment, then, for Christians to discover that the views of the Church’s greatest theologian, Thomas Aquinas, have been used to support abortion. The specific view in question has to do with Aquinas’s statement that God created the rational human…