Joined: Sun Oct 17, 2004 12:40 am Posts: 25451 Location: 111 Archer Ave.
This guy seems to be quite the rabble rouser in the Catholic Church. I stumbled upon two of his books at the library (The Head and the Heart, Why I Am A Catholic) and upon further investigation realized that WIAMAC is a direct response to the cries of heresy that he has received from the more conservative branches of the church for writing another book, Papal Sin. This is the one I want to read first. Anyone read him? I also see that he wrote another controversial book, What Jesus Meant. These all look promising.
Amazon.com Review
Quote:
"Catholics have fallen out of the healthy old habit of reminding each other how sinful Popes can be," notes Garry Wills in the introduction to Papal Sin: Structures of Deceit. In his book, Wills alludes occasionally to the most egregious papal scoundrels: "In the tenth century a dissolute teenager could be elected Pope (John XII) because of his family connections and die a decade later in the bed of a married woman." But most of the author's energy is devoted to an incisive analysis of recent popes' doctrinal pronouncements, which Wills believes have eroded the Church's moral authority and contributed to the drastic decline in vocations to the priesthood today. "The arguments for much of what passes as current church doctrine are so intellectually contemptible that mere self-respect forbids a man to voice them as his own," Wills writes. "The cartoon version of natural law used to argue against contraception, or artificial insemination, or masturbation, would make a sophomore blush. The attempt to whitewash past attitudes toward Jews is so dishonest in its use of historical evidence that a man condemns himself in his own eyes if he tries to claim that he agrees with it."
In chapters that address all of the matters just mentioned, and many others (including women's exclusion from the priesthood and clerical celibacy), Papal Sin considers "the connection between a Christian's truthfulness and Christ's truth." Wills argues that "the New Testament link between the two is brought about by the Spirit when he fills Christians so they speak without restraint." A final chapter, of great rhetorical and spiritual power, finds hope for Catholicism in a "church of the Spirit" where "the poor have the good news brought to them (Matthew 11:5)." Wills is one of those rare and exceptional writers who can clearly discern and describe both sin and righteousness, and can boldly speak the truth about power
Unfortunately, the author is not Garry Wills' intellectual equal. His scriptural quotes do not support his conclusions, and his attempts to draw on Tradition are very limited.
Also, Radio Times on my local NPR affiliate WHYY did a program on the Catholic vote and issues important to Catholic voters. You might find it interesting.
Unfortunately, the author is not Garry Wills' intellectual equal. His scriptural quotes do not support his conclusions, and his attempts to draw on Tradition are very limited.
Also, Radio Times on my local NPR affiliate WHYY did a program on the Catholic vote and issues important to Catholic voters. You might find it interesting.
I'm very excited about this, SLH. My brother is visiting this weekend so I don't have that much time to look and listen, but it's on my plate for Monday.
Joined: Sun Oct 17, 2004 12:47 am Posts: 46000 Location: Reasonville
that wills' piece on abortion is absolutely fantastic.
_________________ No matter how dark the storm gets overhead They say someone's watching from the calm at the edge What about us when we're down here in it? We gotta watch our backs
Joined: Tue Mar 13, 2007 4:48 pm Posts: 4320 Location: Philadelphia, PA
corduroy_blazer wrote:
that wills' piece on abortion is absolutely fantastic.
It is. But he's only one voice in this debate.
Dr. Frank Flinn is a noted Catholic scholar who teaches at Washington University in St. Louis. Dr. Flinn notes that for five hundred years the Catholic Church taught that a fetus does not aquire a soul until it takes on the appearance of a human being. According to St. Anselm of Canterbury, "No human intellect accepts the view that an infant has the rational soul from the moment of conception."
According to Dr. Flinn:
Today the Roman Catholic Church often likes to promote the theory that its teachings on abortion are eternal. The history of the abortion controversy clearly demonstrates that this theory cannot be true. Whether a Catholic agrees with Joe Biden or not, he is still right about St. Thomas Aquinas and many other authoritative teachers of Catholic doctrine in the past, including popes. Both the current papacy and the American episcopacy themselves stand in need of a lesson in Catholic doctrinal history.
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