Daily Theology
Conversation
Downton Abbey, Francis Bacon, Spiderman, and St. Augustine: Who holds the power of That Thing We Call Science?
“I am come in very truth, leading Nature to you with all of her children, to bind her to your service and to make her your slave.” Francis Bacon was a beast of a man. Standing in the midst of the post-Reformation chaos, aside the growing Copernican revolution, and hearkening the beginnings of the Enlightenment, Bacon spoke of nature as a … Continue reading
Truth, Power, and Conversation
Several weeks ago I finished a month long project of posting one piece of “good Catholic news” on Facebook every day for a month. Prompted by a friend who kept posting bad news out of the Vatican, news which is admittedly not difficult to come by, I decided to try and find representations of the … Continue reading
Cliffs Notes or Oliver Twist: What is the relationship between catechesis and theology?
Yesterday I attended a workshop given by the Archdiocese of Seattle as an orientation for new ministers. As I am a new Director of Faith Formation in the archdiocese I was graciously invited to attend. It was a lovely day complete with stunning views of the Puget Sound (thanks to the Archbishop Brunett Retreat Center … Continue reading
Thoughts from the Science Classroom: Faith!? What faith?!
Where is faith in the science classroom? Where is faith in the physics courses, studying the latest developments from the Large Hadron Collider; the astrophysics graduate classrooms, perusing the search for life on other planets via the Kepler Space Telescope; the chemistry undergraduate lab, investigating the strands of amino acids and proteins that comprise the very … Continue reading
Is there Faith in the Classroom?
Was George Michael right? Do you “gotta have faith”? Last week I started my second year of teaching Catholic theology at Boston College. I have the same core course as last year (“Exploring Catholicism”), but the shift from 8am to 2pm has led my class roster to double in size. I’ve made some minor changes … Continue reading
Catholic Conversation Project and Theological Mood
What do you expect when you walk outside in the morning and encounter “the world”? (For the purposes of this thought experiment, assume full caffeination.) The grace of God leaping up to meet you in the people you meet, in their cultures, in their attempts to live out lives of goodness and truth? Or the … Continue reading
The Humanity of it All
The question: “Why am I (still) Catholic?” The answer: “Because I am a human being.” I did actually leave the Roman Catholic Church for several years. Because there are a host of issues over which my well-formed conscience puts me at odds with some of the more vocal members of the Roman Church’s leadership, I … Continue reading
Theological Shark Week II: “Why I am (still) Catholic”
Following the wonderful reception of last October’s Theological Shark Week and the conversation it generated, we at Daily Theology have decided that it’s time for another. Inspired in part by Michael Leach‘s book Why Stay Catholic?, seven of our contributors are offering their own reflections on why they are (still) Catholic. We hope these posts … Continue reading
The Entangled Beauty of Ecumenism
On Christmas Eve I had the privilege of attending two Christmas services: a 4pm Evangelical Presbyterian Church service focused around children and an 8pm Roman Catholic Mass. Although the differences between the two services were stark in many ways, these were mostly expected. What struck me, surprisingly, were the similarities–especially in the people attending. Besides … Continue reading
Apostle of Common Ground: In Memory of Joseph Cardinal Bernardin
Today (November 14th) marks the fifteenth anniversary of the death of Joseph Cardinal Bernardin (1928-1996), who served as Archbishop of Chicago and president of the US bishops’ conference. In his ministry, Bernardin served the local, national, and universal church with all the energy of a missionary. He faced personal attacks and false accusations against him … Continue reading
