Nathaniel Turner's Blog, page 3
April 17, 2017
Swimming the Tiber 25: The Queen Mother
When I first heard the title “Queen of Heaven,” I must admit that I was troubled. In the limited context in which I grasped monarchy (and divine relationships), I said something like, “So Mary is supposed to be the spouse of Joseph, but she’s really the spouse of the Father (as the Father of Jesus) or the Holy Spirit (as the one who ‘overshadowed’ Mary), and now she’s the spouse of Jesus (the King)?”
Well, first of all, the Incarnation lacks the vulgar carnality of Zeus’ conquests. There was...
April 10, 2017
Swimming the Tiber 24: Theotokos
And then Anastasius, teaching upon [the] church, was saying, “Let no one call Mary ‘God-birther’; for Mary was of man; and [it is] impossible that God be brought forth from man.” This [thing], having been heard, troubled both many priests and all laymen in [the] same [way]; for they had been instructedThis is a periphrastic form (see note 6 from a few months ago for more general information on that) focusing on the current state of the people hearing Anastasius’ speech. before to {speak of C...
April 3, 2017
Swimming the Tiber 23: When the Saints Go Marching in
God creates out of nothing, wonderful, you say: yes, to be sure, but he does what is still more wonderful: he makes saints out of sinners.
– Søren Kierkegaard, trans. Alexander Dru (emphasis original)But these [men], remaining behind in confidence, inherited glory and honor and both were raised and became written by God in their memorial into the ages of the ages. Amen.
It is also necessary therefore that we be glued to examples such as these, brothers. For [it] has been written,1 “Glue [you...
March 27, 2017
Swimming the Tiber 22: Holy Water, Crucifixes, and Other Vampire-Killing Miscellany
When it comes to holy objects and Catholicism, Protestants (like the old me) usually have two objections: “holy” and “objects.”
Here’s what I mean: As a Protestant, I frequently objected to the idea that Catholics could have “blessed” or “holy” objects. Material things were just that: material. They could not have any effect on the eternal. Any object referred to as “holy” or “blessed” was automatically suspect and probably an idol.
At the same time, I was basically raised to be an iconoclast...
March 24, 2017
Good Theology, Weak Conclusion
A Father Who Keeps His Promises: God’s Covenant Love in Scripture by Scott Hahn
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
This is another solid addition to Scott Hahn’s repertoire of theological works. The subject of the book is covenantal theology, that is, that God’s relationship with humanity is based in a series of covenants, beginning first with Adam and Eve and culminating in the new covenant through Jesus Christ. The book covers this full range, starting in Genesis and wrapping up in Revelation.
I like...
March 20, 2017
Swimming the Tiber 21: The Sacraments: Anointing of the Sick
And [they] were throwing out many demons, and [they] were anointing with olive oil many sickly [people] and [they] were treating [them].
– Mark 6:13 (my translation)Is anyone among you sickly? Let [him] summon the elders(presbyters) of the church, and let [them] offer prayers upon him, having anointed {him} with olive oil in the name of the lord. And the prayer of faith will save the sicklit. toiling / working [man], and the lord will wake him; and if [he] is [one] having madeor has made; th...
March 13, 2017
Swimming the Tiber 20: The Sacraments: Holy Orders
About three months ago, I talked about the priesthood of believers. A month after that, I talked about how virginity is a virtue. I’ve also talked a few times about how Catholic priests operate in persona Christi, “in the person of Christ.”
All of this works into my examination of the sacrament of Holy Orders. Ordination is not, in and of itself, particularly controversial; almost all Protestant denominations refer to the process of naming someone a pastor as “ordination,” in no small part be...
March 6, 2017
Swimming the Tiber 19: The Sacraments: Marriage
I hope everyone is having a blessed Lent! (I thought about making an interlude post on the subject, but such an interruption would make no sense to people reading the series from start to finish, and talking about such things may fit in better at another time. Oh, well.)
For there is nothing stronger and better than this, that a man and a woman keep their household working in unity of thought: this is a great pain to their enemies, but a delight to their friends, and it is their very greatest...
February 27, 2017
Swimming the Tiber 18: The Sacraments: Confession
But all [these] things [are] out of God, the [one] having reconciled us to himself through Christ and having given to us the service of reconciliation, that God was, in Christ, reconciling to himself [the] cosmos, not reckoning to them their blunders, and having placed in us the word of reconciliation. On behalf of Christ therefore, [we] are ambassadors,1 as with God summoning [others] through us; [we] beg [you] on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. On our behalf, [he] made the [one] not...
February 20, 2017
Swimming the Tiber 17: The Sacraments: The Eucharist (Part Two)
I was once, five or six years ago, taken by some friends to have dinner with Mary McCarthy and her husband, Mr. Broadwater. (She just wrote that book, A Charmed Life.) She departed the Church at the age of 15 and is a Big Intellectual. We went at eight and at one, I hadn’t opened my mouth once, there being nothing for me in such company to say. The people who took me were Robert Lowell and his now wife Elizabeth Hardwick. Having me there was like having a dog present who had been trained to s...