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Pope Pius XI gave a defense of the traditional understanding of the sin of Onan through St. Augustine, a source he cites approvingly: 53. And now, Venerable Brethren, we shall explain in detail the evils opposed to each of the benefits of matrimony. First consideration is due to the offspring, which many have the boldness to call the disagreeable burden of matrimony and which they say is to be carefully avoided by married people not through virtuous continence (which Christian law permits in matrimony when both parties consent) but by frustrating the marriage act. Some justify this criminal abuse on…
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Rev. Thomas J. Herron made a persuasive case for dating the 1st Epistle of Clement to before the destruction of the Second Temple in 70 AD.[1] The importance of this finding stresses an extremely early exposition of the authority of Rome. If the chronology is correct, Clement would have written his epistle before being made Bishop of Rome, adding an even greater understanding of early Christians who knew the apostles that the Roman church played a significant role in ecclesial affairs. Philip Schaff, the Protestant historian, writes: The first example of the exercise of a sort of papal authority is…
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Catholic Encyclopedia (1909) That, in the early Church, the faithful stood when receiving into their hands the consecrated particle can hardly be questioned…. The custom of placing the Sacred Particle in the mouth, rather than in the hand of the communicant, dates in Rome from the sixth, and in Gaul from the ninth century.[1] Eusebius (260-339) For I should not dare to renew from the beginning one who had heard the giving of thanks and joined in repeating the Amen; who had stood by the table and had stretched forth his hands to receive the blessed food; and who had…
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The filioque is a dogma of the Catholic Church. Filioque literally means “and the Son,” and refers to the Catholic statement: The Holy Spirit proceeds from the Father and the Son. A related term is per filium, which means “through the Son,” as in “the Holy Spirit proceeds from the Father through the Son.” The Catholic position is that filioque and per filium are the same truths, but the different wording places different emphasis on the relation of the Father and the Son in regards to the Holy Spirit’s procession. The filioque emphasizes the Son’s role with the Father in…
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Video version of the article.
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Below is the FBI file on mobster Hyman Larner received from an FOIA request.
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JFK wrote a letter to his father in 1939 after a visit to Palestine.[1] He gives an outline of the historical situation and his experience there: 1939 Dear Dad: I thought I would write you my impressions on Palestine while they were still fresh in my mind, though you undoubtedly, if I know the Jews, know the “whole” story. It is worth while looking at it in its entirety. In discussing Palestinian questions one naturally goes back to before the war. Palestine was at that time under Turkey, inhabited by Moslem Arabs with a scattering of Christians. There were also…
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Plutarch wrote in his The Life of Theseus: The ship on which Theseus sailed with the youths and returned in safety, the thirty-oared galley, was preserved by the Athenians down to the time of Demetrius Phalereus. They took away the old timbers from time to time, and put new and sound ones in their places, so that the vessel became a standing illustration for the philosophers in the mooted question of growth, some declaring that it remained the same, others that it was not the same vessel.[1] Thomas Hobbes would elaborate on this philosophical exercise on identity in his book…
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Tim Boyd, former mayor of Colorado City, Texas, posted a rant on Facebook before resigning. His diatribe perfectly encapsulates how politicians feel about a nation’s citizens: No one owes you or your family anything; nor is it the local governments responsibility to support you during trying times like this! Sink or swim, it’s your choice! The City and County, along with power providers or any other service owes you NOTHING! I’m sick and tired of people looking for a damn hand out! If you don’t have electricity you step up and come up with a game plan to keep your…
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Tikkun olam is a Jewish concept which roughly translates to “repair the world.” David Horowitz described the pervasive of tikkun olam: For nearly two hundred years, Jews have played a disproportionate role as leaders of the modern revolutionary movements in Europe and the West . . . By carrying the revolution to its conclusion, socialists would usher in a millennium and fulfill the messianic prophecies of the pre-Enlightenment religions that modern ideas had discovered. Through this revolution, the lost unity of mankind would be restored, social harmony would be reestablished, paradise regained. It would be a tikkun olam, a repair…
Eclectic Anecdotes
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