Presby-Musings

I just finished reading N.T. Wright 's short treatise For All The Saints ? Remembering the Christian Departed , which is a distilled version of his larger, academic work The Resurrection of the Son of God. Both works deal with what Wright believes is a "mismatch between what the earliest Christians believed about life after death--and what many ordinary Christians seem to believe on the subject today." If you've got a week to kill, then by all means pick up the Resurrection of the Son of God  and commence reading.  When Wright says it's "academic" he isn't kidding around.  But if you would like to visit his basic arguments about what the New Testament and early Christian tradition have to say about what happens to us when we die, then For All The Saints?  is more than adequate. For All The Saints? addresses particular controversies within the Anglican Communion surrounding the doctrine of Purgatory and also the inclusion of All Souls Day w...

This guest post is from my good friend Fr. Christopher Decker, who serves two parishes in Louisiana in addition to being one of the creative engines behind the popular Catholic Underground. Fr. Decker and I slogged through Clinical Pastoral Education together many moons ago, and I would not have made it without his friendship, wit and deep faith.  I asked him to jot down some thoughts from the Catholic perspective about Hell & Purgatory to dovetail on my recent sermon on Hell last week.     Visit Catholic Underground .   Follow Catholic Underground on Twitter.   Visit Catholic Underground on Facebook.   Of the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit, the one that often turns up an eyebrow is “The Fear of The Lord”. What is it? Doesn’t the Lord Himself say to the apostles who are startled at his appearance upon the stormy seas, “Take courage, it is I, do not be afraid.”? It would seem that this gift contradicts Jesus who wishes to be known and to make kno...