Science Proves the Unborn Are Human Beings

An unborn child at 16 weeks. Is it just a "religious matter" whether you can kill this little guy?

Abortion is a controversial issue, and at the center of the controversy is the question of whether the unborn are human beings. If they are, then abortion kills a human being.

Many people think that this is somehow a religious issue and involves religious questions like when the soul arrives.

Some people deliberately try to frame the issue this way in order to shut down rational discussion of the subject.

So let’s set the question of religious aside entirely.

Instead, let’s look at something we should all be able to agree upon: science.

What does science say about whether the unborn are human beings?

 

CLICK HERE TO VIEW VIDEO ON YOUTUBE.

What Next?

Incidentally, if you’re interested in this type of information, I would invite you to check out my Secret Information Club.

If you’re not familiar with it, the Secret Information Club is a free service that I operate by email.

I send out information on a variety of fascinating topics connected with the Catholic faith.

The very first thing you’ll get if you sign up is an “interview” I did with Pope Benedict on the book of Revelation. What I did was compose questions about the book of Revelation and take the answers from his writings.

He has a lot of interesting things to say!

If you’d like to find out what they are, just sign up at www.SecretInfoClub.com or use this handy sign-up form:

Just email me at jimmy@secretinfoclub.com if you have any difficulty.

In the meantime, what do you think?

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The Weekly Benedict: 7 October, 2012

This  version of The Weekly Benedict covers material released in the last week from 20 September 2012 – 7 October 2012  (subscribe here; get as an eBook version for your Kindle, iPod, iPad, Nook, or other eBook reader):

Angelus

General Audiences

Homilies

Speeches

Is St. Peter the Rock on which Jesus built his Church?

Is St. Peter the Rock on which Jesus built his Church?
One of the most controversial passages in the Bible is Matthew 16:18, where Jesus tells Peter, “You are Peter, and on this rock I will build my Church.”

Catholics see this passage as evidence that Jesus made Peter the first pope.

Many Evangelicals look at it as just the opposite.

Who is right?

It’s an interesting question, and I’ve been on both sides of the question. In fact, this passage played a pivotal role in my conversion to the Catholic Church.

You may think you’ve heard all the arguments about whether Peter is the rock, but I’m going to show you the one that convinced me, and you probably haven’t heard it anywhere else . . .

The Basic Argument

A common claim in Protestant apologetics is that in Matthew 16:18, Jesus is actually contrasting St. Peter with the rock on which he will build his Church.

The argument is based on the fact that in Greek the word for Peter is petros, while the word used for “rock” here is petra.
It is often claimed that these words meant two different things–that petros meant a small stone or a pebble, while petra meant a large rock.

The idea is that Jesus is contrasting Peter–a tiny, insignificant stone–with the great rock on which he will build his Church, which is often said not to be Peter but Peter’s faith.

How well does this argument work?

By the Way . . .

Incidentally, if you’re interested in this type of information, you might want to check out my Secret Information Club.

If you’re not familiar with it, the Secret Information Club is a free service that I operate by email.

I send out information on a variety of fascinating topics connected with the Catholic faith.

The very first thing you’ll get if you sign up is an “interview” I did with Pope Benedict on the book of Revelation. What I did was compose questions about the book of Revelation and take the answers from his writings.

He has a lot of interesting things to say!

If you’d like to find out what they are, just sign up at www.SecretInfoClub.com or use this handy sign-up form:

Just email me at jimmy@secretinfoclub.com if you have any difficulty.

In the meantime, what do you think?

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

One of the Most Beautiful Stories I Know . . .

St. John: Apostle of Love

There are many gems in the writings of the Church Fathers. Some are valuable because of their insight into faith, others are valuable because they fill in things not mentioned in the Bible, and some are valuable because of their spiritual beauty.

Here is one about the Apostle John, who is sometimes called the Apostle of Love. This story alone would earn him that nickname.

It records an incident late in his life, and it is found in the writings of Clement of Alexandria, who wrote only a hundred years afterward and who obtained it from earlier sources.

It may well be true, but whatever degree of historical reliability it has, it touches on powerful human emotions, and it is undeniably beautiful.

The following account is taken from section 42 of Clement of Alexandria‘s work Who Is the Rich Man That Shall Be Saved? It begins with John helping a young man out by entrusting his care to a bishop in Asia Minor. . . .

KEEP READING . . .

Revelation: Solving the mystery of the Nicolaitans

The Revelation of John contains many mysteries, like: Who were the Nicolaitans?

The book of Revelation contains a lot of things that are mysterious. Some are mysterious because of the symbolism John uses, but others are mysterious because what he is referring to is simply unfamiliar to us.

For example, he refers to a mysterious group of heretics known as the “Nicolaitans.”

Who were they?

Fortunately, this is a mystery it’s possible to shed some light on . . .

 

What Revelation Says

The book of Revelation first refers to the Nicolaitans in the message to the church of Ephesus, where we read:

Yet this you have, you hate the works of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate [2:6].

That doesn’t give us a lot to work with. There is apparently a group of people known as the Nicolaitans who do things (works) that are rightly hated by the Ephesians.

Revelation’s second reference to them is more informative, however. In the message to the church of Pergamum we read:

But I have a few things against you: You have some there who hold the teaching of Balaam, who taught Balak to put a stumbling block before the sons of Israel, that they might eat food sacrificed to idols and practice immorality. So you also have some who hold the teaching of the Nicolaitans [2:14-15].

Here the teachings of the Nicolaitans are linked to the teaching of Balaam. (The word here translated “so” is houtos, which carries the idea of explanation: “thus.”)

There may even be a play on words here: As we will see, the Fathers link the Nicholaitans to a man named Nicholaus, which can be understood in Greek to mean “conqueror of the people,” and “Balaam” can be understood in Hebrew as meaning “he conquers/destroys the people” (though it can be understood other ways also).

 

The Teaching of Balaam

We meet the figure of Balaam in Numbers 22-24, where we learn that he is a seer who was hired by the king Balak to put a curse on the people of Israel as they were threatening to move into the Holy Land.

Balaam, however, was unable to do so. (God wouldn’t let him!)

If you read only Numbers 22-24, Balaam can come off as a good guy. It seems, though, that he went bad.

Later in Numbers, Moses is criticizing the actions of the Israeliets with regard to the women of Midian, and he says:

Behold, these caused the people of Israel, by the counsel of Balaam, to act treacherously against the LORD in the matter of Pe’or, and so the plague came among the congregation of the LORD [Num. 31:16].

What precisely the Midianite women did that caused the sons of Israel to betray the Lord is not spelled out here.

It is, however, discussed in some extra-biblical writings.

KEEP READING.

Newest Doctor of the Church: Her Visions, Her Writings, and Her Secret Language

St. Hildegard of Bingen: Doctor of the Church

On Sunday, October 7, Pope Benedict is scheduled to proclaim St. Hildegard of Bingen and St. John of Avila as the newest doctors of the Church.

A doctor (Latin, “teacher”) of the Church is a Christian writer who has been specially recognized by the Church for the value of his or her writings.

Earlier this year, Pope Benedict explained his decision to name these two individuals as doctors:

The Spirit, who “has spoken through the prophets”, with the gifts of wisdom and knowledge continues to inspire women and men who engage in the pursuit of truth, offering original ways of understanding and of delving into the mystery of God, of man and of the world.

In this context, I am delighted to announce that on 7 October, at the start of the Ordinary Assembly of the Synod of Bishops, I will proclaim St John of Avila and St Hildegard of Bingen Doctors of the universal Church.

These two great witnesses of the faith lived in two very different historical periods and cultural environments.

Hildegard was a Benedictine nun in the heart of medieval Germany, an authentic teacher of theology and a profound scholar of natural science and music.

John, a diocesan priest in the years of the Spanish Renaissance, shared in the travail of the cultural and religious renewal of the Church and of all society at the dawn of modern times.

But the sanctity of their life and the profundity of their doctrine render them perennially relevant: The grace of the Holy Spirit, in fact, projected them into the experience of penetrating understanding of divine revelation and intelligent dialogue with that world which constitutes the eternal horizon of the life and action of the Church.

Especially in light of the project for a new evangelization, to which the Assembly of the Synod of Bishops, mentioned above will be dedicated on the eve of the Year of Faith, these two Saints and Doctors are of considerable and timely importance.

Even today, through their teaching, the Spirit of the Risen Lord continues to resonate his voice and illuminate the way which leads to the Truth that alone can set us free and give full meaning to our lives [Regina Caeli, Pentecost, May 27, 2012].

 

Meet St. Hildegard of Bingen

Let’s learn a bit about St. Hildegard of Bingen. Pope Benedict gave a pair of audiences on her a few years ago. He introduced her this way:

KEEP READING.

The Weekly Benedict: 30 September, 2012

This  version of The Weekly Benedict covers material released in the last week from 29 August 2012 – 16 September 2012  (subscribe here; get as an eBook version for your Kindle, iPod, iPad, Nook, or other eBook reader):

Angelus

General Audiences

Messages

Apostolic Exhortations

Speeches

Catholic Speaker Month Interview

Joe Wetterling: Even his FB profile pic tells you he'll be a thoughtful interviewer

Recently Brandon Vogt announced September as Support a Catholic Speaker Month, in which various folks around the Catholic blogosphere would promote awareness of contemporary Catholic speakers.

I was one of those chosen, and Joe Wetterling was kind enough to do a profile interview with me via Skype. (Joe’s web sites include Joewetterling.com, HoKaiPaulos.com, and BaptizedImagination.com–be sure to check them out!)

We were later than many participants in getting the interview done, due to my eye surgery, and since I’ve been letting my eye-realignment settle in a bit before doing another video of my own, Joe is actually the first person to capture footage of me with my new, restored 3-D vision (so that my eyes track together–most of the time).

I’d like to thank Joe, Brandon, and everyone else who participated in the project. Thank you, and God bless you!

Now, here’s the video . . .


CLICK HERE TO WATCH THE VIDEO ON YOUTUBE.

And here are the web sites mentioned during the video:

Speaking arrangements: Catholic.com

Jimmy’s Vatican search: https://www.jamesakin.com/reels_squares/vatican-search

The Weekly Benedict: https://www.jamesakin.com/reels_squares/category/benedict

Jimmy’s Store: https://www.jamesakin.com/reels_squares/store

The final, crushing, humiliating, DEATH-BLOW to that “miracle of sharing” nonsense

Did Jesus really feed more than 5,000 people with five loaves and two fish?

The multiplication of loaves is the most prominent miracle of Jesus’ earthly ministry. It is the only miracle–other than his Resurrection–mentioned in all four gospels.

This even ranks the raising of Lazarus.

But despite this, we’re subjected to countless homilies in which the priest seems bent on explaining away this grand miracle, in which Jesus fed 5,000 men (plus women and children) with just five loaves and two fish. Instead, we’re told, it was just a “miracle of sharing” whereby Jesus encouraged people to share the food they had in secret selfish stashes.

I’ve written about it before, including comments from Pope Benedict and John Paul II, but here’s the final, crushing, humiliating death-blow to the idea . . .

KEEP READING.

Are the German Bishops Just Greedy?

Did the German bishops make the right decision?

That’s certainly the impression you would get from some discussing a recent decree issued by the German bishops’ conference.

It’s being characterized as a “pay to pray” policy, whereby the Church will deny you the sacraments if you don’t give it money.

One news source headlined the story “German Bishops To Catholics: Pay Up Or Die Without Absolution.”

That seems to be about as misleading a headline as you could want, because the decree in question expressly refers to the possibility of people receiving the final sacraments.

But let’s look at the matter . . .

KEEP READING.