De Omnibus Dubitandum Est.

"Christian hope is ... trust in the justice and mercy of God as they have been revealed in Christ. It holds together the Cross and the judgement, the invitation and the warning. If we lose that tension, we do not become more merciful. We become less serious. And a Church that is no longer serious about salvation will not long remain serious about mission."  It's been a tough week for Bishop Robert Barron, but I am left wondering, why did he go there after he got stung so badly the last time? Read the full article here .

The trend to universalism is one that is increasingly noticeable among Christians today. I find friends often comment to me when a brother Catenian dies for example, that the consensus in circulated emails is that "he is in heaven now". Similarly, Bishop Alan Williams has said things like this when offering funeral masses for priests who have died. Social media is awash with people make ontologically crazy assertions about their dead relatives having gained their "angel wings". Purgatory is never mentioned. Their is no need to pray for our dead, it is game over and they are in heaven when they die - end of. You may be thinking this is impossible but it is regularly and openly preached in a next door parish to me in Rayleigh . The Bishop of Brentwood seems to be absolutely fine with this. I found it interesting that this move to Universalism - the idea of universal reconciliation – that all humans will eventually receive salvation -- is as prevalent today in evangeli...

Ralph Martin is a  highly respected academic and holds an STD from the Angelicum. He has published many books I have used in my own academic study. This talk must be listened to, it covers some really important topics. One of his most influential books is Will Many Be Saved . If you have drunk the Kool Aid of a generation of false prophets who have tried to tell us that there is no need to be worried about our salvation, we don't have to do anything and everyone is going to heaven no matter what, you need to acquaint yourself with Martin's work and what the Church HAS ALWAYS TAUGHT ON THIS SUBJECT! The watering down of the teachings of Jesus on these issues has led to a decimation of the Church's missionary work & a prevalence of universalism which is doing untold damage, as Martin puts it using biblical language: the wild boar has entered the vineyard and is rooting up the vines.

Botticelli's Map of Hell: La Mappa dell'Inferno One of the most enduring theological debates that has coloured my Catholic perspective has been the one that considers who will go to hell. The Catechism of the Catholic Church says: Our Lord warns us that we shall be separated from him if we fail to meet the serious needs of the poor and the little ones who are his brethren. To die in mortal sin without repenting and accepting God's merciful love means remaining separated from him for ever by our own free choice. This state of definitive self-exclusion from communion with God and the blessed is called "hell." ~ CCC 1033 My dear brother-in-law is a deeply intelligent man and someone who I think has been largely put off Christianity because of what he has perceived as an inherent threat in the doctrine, i.e. if you don't believe and do what we say, you will burn in hell for all eternity. He was, if I recall correctly, pleasantly surprised to discover that u...