"It is...Our will that Catholics should abstain from certain appellations which have recently been brought into use to distinguish one group of Catholics from another. They are to be avoided not only as 'profane novelties of words,' out of harmony with both truth and justice, but also because they give rise to great trouble and confusion among Catholics. Such is the nature of Catholicism that it does not admit of more or less, but must be held as a whole or as a whole rejected: 'This is the Catholic faith, which unless a man believe faithfully and firmly; he cannot be saved' (Athanasian Creed). There is no need of adding any qualifying terms to the profession of Catholicism: it is quite enough for each one to proclaim 'Christian is my name and Catholic my surname,' only let him endeavour to be in reality what he calls himself." -- Pope Benedict XV, Ad Beatissimi Apostolorum 24 (1914)

Saturday, January 2, 2016

Patheos. Pathetic, Actually

You either believe in God as the first creator or not: God as omnipotent, omniscient, and omnipresent. If you do believe in God then you either believe in the Trinity or not. If you do then you either believe Jesus Christ as the Second Person of the Trinity founded a Church while He walked among us or not. If you believe He did then you must believe all other faith pursuits are erroneous.

Of course, some faith pursuits are better than others. The Protestant assemblies and Evangelical groups have the right direction but wrong path. The Jews have half the story right. Islam is a cult founded by a violent pedophile. Hindus and Buddhists mean well. Pagans and New Age are just silly.

Ours is an age where objective truth is offensive or intolerant and all opinions are equal. There are multiple shades of grey in many people's minds regarding any issue. Politicians win elections by being all things to all people and making whatever promises the voters need to hear.

This is why the Catholic Church (the one and only Christ founded) is at odds with the times. In the Church, something is either a sin or it's not. One either attains salvation or not. Prior to consecration it's just bread; after it's His Body. There are no grey areas on Judgement Day nor will anyone's opinion matter. Good or Evil; Right or Wrong, Heaven or Hell. Catholic or Not.

In dialoguing with the Nots one needs to extend charity and prudence while not compromising the truth. True evangelization involves guiding people towards the Light, not grey areas.  False ecumenism lumps the true faith in with any and all others.



Patheos is a website where the only path to salvation gets mixed up with a bunch leading to damnation. It is described as a non-denominational, non-partisan online media company providing information and commentary from various religious and nonreligious perspectives. It has a dozen faith channels including Catholicism, Paganism, and even Atheism. Basically it's a blog hosting site.

In the Catholic channel there are a couple decent blogs that can be found on their own. Clicking on a Patheos blog post encourages advertisers who fuel the fire (pun intended). My advice is to avoid this particular source.

There are many outstanding Catholic blogs none of whom I'm aware of promote the heresy of Indifferentism like Patheos does. Several can be found near the bottom on my blog under "My Blog List".

Then there are the dubious ones: Elizabeth Scalia, Mark Shea, and Dave Armstrong. These are professional Catholic bloggers/writers who knowingly or not have strayed from Church teaching at one point or another. What's worse is they eventually get into loggerheads with faithful Catholics like Michael Voris, Lila Rose, and Vox Cantoris. They are either current or past Patheos contributors and got paid by the click.

Most of us don't have the time and/or interest to thoroughly research any issue that people dispute on the Internet. When I come across one of these flame wars, invariably it's the one making petty insults, absent of facts and reason, and committing fallacies like ad hominem attacks and straw men that are in the wrong. Another quick evaluation would be if the party contributes to a source that holds the Church with the same consideration as pagans and atheists. Transubstantiation is not the same as dancing around a tree.

Patheos was started and is run by a couple outside the Church probably for financial gain. With so many authentically Catholic websites and blogs to choose from it doesn't make sense supporting heretics who could risk your eternal destination.

Accessory to Another’s Sin

I. By counsel
II. By command
III. By consent
IV. By provocation
V. By praise or flattery
VI. By concealment
VII. By partaking
VIII. By silence
IX. By defense of the ill done

1 comment:

  1. This piece gets most of its facts about Patheos sinfully wrong.

    ReplyDelete