tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15470936227331892102024-02-21T09:33:48.739-06:00Reverend Know-it-allA Catholic priest responds to queries on faith, the Bible, religion, Catholic practice, etc. posed by readers.
What he doesn't know, he makes up.
Rev. Know-it-allhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17268089562368228249noreply@blogger.comBlogger446125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1547093622733189210.post-35776434093141979492020-03-22T00:00:00.000-05:002020-03-22T00:00:02.736-05:00Good Intentions with which the Road to Hell Is Said to Be Paved
A Series of Essays “On the Business of Religion” by the
Rev. Know it all
Essay Seven: Good Intentions with which the Road to Hell Is
Said to Be Paved
Many years ago when I was young and even more foolish than
I am now, I was invited to be a guest on a radio talk show sponsored by an
evangelical organization. They thought they might venture into the heady world
of ecumenism that was popular atRev. Know-it-allhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17268089562368228249noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1547093622733189210.post-4009567552116023592020-03-15T08:08:00.000-05:002020-03-18T08:09:54.571-05:003-15-2020 Pastors of Long Ago
When I was a boy, and the wooly
mammoth still roamed, there were two kinds of pastors in the Catholic Church.
There were irremovable pastors who could only be removed by the pope and there
were removable pastors who could only be removed by the pope. If you were a
removable pastor you could be removed by the bishop, but you had the right of
appeal to Rome and the process took so much time and Rev. Know-it-allhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17268089562368228249noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1547093622733189210.post-37668863706876235182020-03-01T11:44:00.004-06:002020-03-01T11:45:51.094-06:00Fun Facts about the Papacy<!--[if gte mso 9]>
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Rev. Know-it-allhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17268089562368228249noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1547093622733189210.post-46387325138851295182020-02-23T09:59:00.000-06:002020-02-28T10:03:24.809-06:002-23-2020 On the Canonization of Cato the Elder
A Series of Essays “On the
Business of Religion” by the Rev. Know-it-all
Essay Three: On the Canonization
of Cato the Elder
I would like to suggest that we
consider Cato the Elder, an ancient Roman from the times even before Christ,
the times of the Roman Republic. I think he might provide a valuable
model for creating vital and viable parishes in our times.
Marcus Porcius Cato;
Rev. Know-it-allhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17268089562368228249noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1547093622733189210.post-67264649975175054392020-02-16T09:41:00.000-06:002020-02-28T09:56:21.554-06:002-16-2020 On the Welcoming Spirit of the Early church
A Series of Essays “On the
Business of Religion” by the Rev. Know-it-all
Essay Two: “On the Welcoming
Spirit of the Early church”
Return with me to a simpler,
grubbier, smellier time in History: ancient Rome around 190 AD, a Sunday
morning. We visit the Subura,
a vermin-infested stinking district in the heart of old Rome. Around you are
five, even ten story tenements wedged in so Rev. Know-it-allhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17268089562368228249noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1547093622733189210.post-74718222315536286002020-02-09T09:02:00.000-06:002020-02-28T09:40:39.676-06:00Catholicism Isn’t as Complicated as You May Think!
A Series of Essays “On the
Business of Religion” by the Rev. Know-it-all
Essay One: “Catholicism
Isn’t as Complicated as You May Think!”
Things are in bit of a
pickle in the Catholic Church in our times. To make sense of the crisis, one
must understand the structure of the Catholic church. The Catholic church is
arguably the largest and among the oldest institutions in the world. ItRev. Know-it-allhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17268089562368228249noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1547093622733189210.post-64688954760669550232018-07-29T00:00:00.000-05:002018-07-29T00:00:13.477-05:00Musings of an aging pastor...<!--[if gte mso 9]>
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Rev. Know-it-allhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17268089562368228249noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1547093622733189210.post-36184915005042196402018-07-01T10:26:00.000-05:002018-07-01T10:26:14.771-05:00Isn't the Bible self-contradictory? part 5<!--[if gte mso 9]>
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Rev. Know-it-allhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17268089562368228249noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1547093622733189210.post-31075225697706397912018-06-24T00:00:00.000-05:002018-06-24T00:00:00.730-05:00Isn't the Bible self-contradictory? part 4<!--[if gte mso 9]>
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Rev. Know-it-allhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17268089562368228249noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1547093622733189210.post-18095275590236712632018-06-17T00:00:00.000-05:002018-06-18T08:47:12.435-05:00Isn't the Bible self-contradictory? part 3<!--[if gte mso 9]>
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Rev. Know-it-allhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17268089562368228249noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1547093622733189210.post-13526271958325593412018-06-10T00:00:00.000-05:002018-06-10T00:00:06.720-05:00Isn't the Bible self-contradictory? part 2<!--[if gte mso 9]>
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Rev. Know-it-allhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17268089562368228249noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1547093622733189210.post-37445311570779885972018-06-03T00:00:00.000-05:002018-06-19T16:21:48.252-05:00Isn't the Bible self-contradictory? part 1
Warning!
This is a treatise about important theological distinctions over which wars
have been fought. It will be fairly complex and boring but will have a few
salacious details about Roman emperors Nero and Claudius. Sorry.
Dear
Rev. Know-it-all,
The
Bible makes me crazy. It is always contradicting itself. In particular how do I
get to heaven? St. Paul says one is saved by faith. St. James Rev. Know-it-allhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17268089562368228249noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1547093622733189210.post-9685007221238043622018-05-27T00:00:00.000-05:002018-05-27T00:00:17.096-05:00Isn't religion the cause of all wars? <!--[if gte mso 9]>
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Rev. Know-it-allhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17268089562368228249noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1547093622733189210.post-49647824740114458042018-05-20T00:00:00.000-05:002018-05-20T10:35:05.304-05:00Thoughts on the decline of a lilac bush...Friends,I really like lilacs. Their perfume is intoxicating. I have a few lilac bushes on my family’s country estate, Blithering Heights, a quarter-acre of gracious living in rural Illinois. I am a little worried about one of the bushes. A lot of the branches are no longer putting out buds. They are clearly dead, though they still seem to be part of the plant. Another curious thing, when the Rev. Know-it-allhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17268089562368228249noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1547093622733189210.post-44029450533513871862018-04-22T00:00:00.000-05:002018-04-22T00:00:41.614-05:00What do you think of a married priesthood - part 2<!--[if gte mso 9]>
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Rev. Know-it-allhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17268089562368228249noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1547093622733189210.post-49765663512971191682018-04-01T00:00:00.000-05:002018-04-01T11:57:30.455-05:00An aside on this Easter day
Dear
Friends,
I
know I promised to write about priest’s’ wives, but it’s Easter and I would
like to talk about something else, so next week I’ll continue to talk about the
fascinating topic of the possibility of priests in the Amazon basin having
wives or of wives having priests, if you are not a chauvinist like me.
Fascinating. Can’t wait.
Dear
Rev. Know-it-all,
I
want to recommend a Rev. Know-it-allhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17268089562368228249noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1547093622733189210.post-51264645999152535782018-03-25T00:00:00.000-05:002018-03-25T00:00:43.928-05:00What do you think of a married priesthood?<!--[if gte mso 9]>
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Rev. Know-it-allhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17268089562368228249noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1547093622733189210.post-25554248211938278452018-03-18T00:00:00.000-05:002018-03-23T12:00:09.798-05:00Do people still believe that Shroud thing?
(The Rev. is taking a break and is offering this article from March, 2015)
Dear Rev. Know-it-all,
Is it true that there are
still Neanderthals that believe the shroud of Turin is the real thing even
after it has been clearly disproven by science?
Yours,
Alba Leavnutin
Dear Alba,
I am sure that you are
referring to the carbon dating tests that were done on a corner of the shroud
in Rev. Know-it-allhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17268089562368228249noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1547093622733189210.post-57896919346398895402018-03-16T14:52:00.000-05:002018-03-16T14:52:22.173-05:00Did the Syrophoenician woman teach Jesus to be tolerant?<!--[if gte mso 9]>
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Rev. Know-it-allhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17268089562368228249noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1547093622733189210.post-9548802664640080332018-03-11T00:00:00.000-06:002018-03-11T10:28:32.259-05:00You don't really believe that Resurrection stuff do you?
Dear
Rev. Know-it-all,
The
Christian religion is so primitive. This myth of the dying and rising god
permeates ancient religions and is only symbolic. Science has proven that dead
bodies cannot be brought back to life. I celebrate Easter because it is a
beautiful celebration of the power of nature, a celebration of the Goddess in
all her power and splendor. Perhaps there is some kind of Rev. Know-it-allhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17268089562368228249noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1547093622733189210.post-66004754268043799172018-03-04T00:00:00.000-06:002018-03-16T14:52:15.237-05:00Some thoughts about a culture descending into violence<!--[if gte mso 9]>
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Rev. Know-it-allhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17268089562368228249noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1547093622733189210.post-31312597777512340862018-02-18T00:00:00.000-06:002018-02-18T00:00:36.887-06:00 How can you remain a catholic? part 4<!--[if gte mso 9]>
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Rev. Know-it-allhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17268089562368228249noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1547093622733189210.post-60293183443717196192018-02-11T00:00:00.000-06:002018-02-11T10:16:50.265-06:00How can you remain a catholic? part 3
Letter
to Mo Derniste continued: “Why I remain a Catholic”
I
remain a Catholic because of relics, statues and religious images. We Catholics
get a lot of grief because of statues etc. The Bible forbids graven images
doesn't it? Not exactly. It forbids the making of idols — that is the
images of gods. Admittedly Catholics allow the representation of Christ and the
Trinity because God choseRev. Know-it-allhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17268089562368228249noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1547093622733189210.post-88801591226347054182018-01-28T00:00:00.000-06:002018-01-28T10:48:24.667-06:00How can you remain Catholic? part 2<!--[if gte mso 9]>
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Rev. Know-it-allhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17268089562368228249noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1547093622733189210.post-59881347508791058312018-01-21T00:00:00.000-06:002018-02-11T10:08:34.762-06:00In these enlightened times, how can you remain Catholic?<!--[if gte mso 9]>
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