A tribute to Avery Cardinal Dulles, S.J., from Marcellino D'Ambrosio, one of his doctoral students. The author notes Dulles' commitment to holiness and discipleship first as the necessary anchor for his work as a theologian. Dulles was first of all a witness and only secondarily...
Athanasius here describes the orthodox and Catholic teaching on God as Trinity, three persons in one divine nature, a wholly creative and energizing reality. The Father, Son and Holy Spirit are an inseparable unity, always acting together....
Often the Catholic teaching about the Eucharist or the Trinity is described as a mystery. Is this just a way of avoiding hard questions about things you can't prove? Some thoughts on what we know and don't know about God and his plan for our...
Leo the Great here emphasizes that the Incarnation, the mystery of God becoming man, changes everything. Human dignity is now vastly elevated, requiring us to live in a new way, with a new relationship to the visible things of this beautiful but passing world....
The flip side of eternal life is eternal dying. This brief essay on hell, an excerpt from Peter Kreeft's book, The Fundamentals of the Faith, is one of the most succinct and compelling reflections on Hell that I've read -- Dr. Italy...
Ambrose reflects on Paul's statement in Philippians 1:21 "to live is Christ, to die is gain." He sees dying as a road to life since through the death of Christ, we are redeemed. This passage is read annually on All Souls Day, November...
[dropcaps type='normal' font_size='100' color='' background_color='' border_color='']I[/dropcaps] n July 2005, Cardinal Christoph Schönborn, the Archbishop of Vienna, stirred a controversy by writing an Op-Ed article for the New York Times entitled, "Finding Design in Nature" (New York Times, July 7, 2005). His article, submitted to the...
Development of Doctrine - Vincent of Lerins, a church father of the 5th century, distinguishes the legitimate growth in understanding of divine revelation from the false alteration of religion and Catholic orthodox dogma in the Church of Jesus Christ....
"The force be with you." No, God is far from an impersonal force. The doctrine of the Trinity shows us just how personal, even interpersonal, God really is....
In this brief video, Marcellino D'Ambrosio, Ph.D. ("Dr. Italy") explains what Fundamental Theology is and why it is not just important, but pivotal and even decisive for determining what we believe about God, ourselves, and how we are to live. Christians and non-believers alike are often...