Recent news developments have seen what even the mainstream media is calling an unusual conversion. An atheist blogger, a well known one at that, has converted to Catholicism. That's right, Leah Libresco, known widely for her writings in Atheist circles has converted and embraced Jesus in His One True Faith. (See here) . For the mass media and secular society, the so-called progressives(Bill Maher,), this is seen as an assault upon the intellect. For us, though as Catholics, this is nothing new.
Now I'm not about to go off on a typical 'Optimusmastro' rant with regards to this subject, but I will call upon the need to truly investigate the claims of the Catholic Church. I've been called too philosophical by some protestants, yet I firmly hold to the notion that Faith and Reason are two sides of the same coin. My own conversion was not the 'Paul falling off the horse event,' instead it was a long drawn out process(St Augustine) which is still ongoing. I thought I knew philosophy back in university, especially coming from the political science backround. Rene DesCartes, Jean Jacques Rousseau, Adam Smith, Heigel, Marx, etc, etc...Then from the religious side, there was Kung, and Richard McBrien representing this 'evolving' catholicism... My meeting with this dude right here Bishop Dowd sent me away humble, but very curious. Intellectually starved, and knocked silly by an all out nuclear assault on my intelligence by this bearded little priest, I was introduced to Plato, Aristotle and finally Aquinas! (I've often found it funny, that they both have the same first name...). From there, I dove back into the Bible, started praying and went back to reading GK Chesterton, Jacques Maritain, and anything authored by Peter Kreeft. From there discovery after discovery,..
The Catholic Church developed the scientific method.
The Catholic Church put forth the theory of the 'Big Bang.'
The Catholic Church invented hospitals
The Catholic Church invented University,..
You could go on and on,...
Truth is one, it just IS. Whether you ascend to it by way of intellectual discovery or by Faith, it is from the same Divine wellspring. The key is to integrate the Truth of the Faith so that it penetrates the heart. The 'atheist logic' of 'nothing' magically exploding one day producing 'something' is just plain absurd. Why Christianity gets a bad rep intellectually you ask? Simply put because of protestantism, specifically fideism...scholars and 'PHds' such as Jack Van Impe, Benny Hinn, Hal Lindsey,..God bless them all, I do not doubt the sincerity of their heart, but you can't be afraid of knowledge. What God uncovers, man discovers! Sorry for being blunt, but the truth must be said. You can't proove the Bible by the Bible,.. Like the atheist logic, it just doesn't work. My protestant friends, you lose nothing by becoming Catholic, but you will gain The Most Holy Eucharist, the Blessed Mother, and an intellectual tradition so rich and so steeped, you could spend a lifetime learning it all...(and then some!..)
St Thomas Aquinas,..................ora pro nobis.
Now I'm not about to go off on a typical 'Optimusmastro' rant with regards to this subject, but I will call upon the need to truly investigate the claims of the Catholic Church. I've been called too philosophical by some protestants, yet I firmly hold to the notion that Faith and Reason are two sides of the same coin. My own conversion was not the 'Paul falling off the horse event,' instead it was a long drawn out process(St Augustine) which is still ongoing. I thought I knew philosophy back in university, especially coming from the political science backround. Rene DesCartes, Jean Jacques Rousseau, Adam Smith, Heigel, Marx, etc, etc...Then from the religious side, there was Kung, and Richard McBrien representing this 'evolving' catholicism... My meeting with this dude right here Bishop Dowd sent me away humble, but very curious. Intellectually starved, and knocked silly by an all out nuclear assault on my intelligence by this bearded little priest, I was introduced to Plato, Aristotle and finally Aquinas! (I've often found it funny, that they both have the same first name...). From there, I dove back into the Bible, started praying and went back to reading GK Chesterton, Jacques Maritain, and anything authored by Peter Kreeft. From there discovery after discovery,..
The Catholic Church developed the scientific method.
The Catholic Church put forth the theory of the 'Big Bang.'
The Catholic Church invented hospitals
The Catholic Church invented University,..
You could go on and on,...
Truth is one, it just IS. Whether you ascend to it by way of intellectual discovery or by Faith, it is from the same Divine wellspring. The key is to integrate the Truth of the Faith so that it penetrates the heart. The 'atheist logic' of 'nothing' magically exploding one day producing 'something' is just plain absurd. Why Christianity gets a bad rep intellectually you ask? Simply put because of protestantism, specifically fideism...scholars and 'PHds' such as Jack Van Impe, Benny Hinn, Hal Lindsey,..God bless them all, I do not doubt the sincerity of their heart, but you can't be afraid of knowledge. What God uncovers, man discovers! Sorry for being blunt, but the truth must be said. You can't proove the Bible by the Bible,.. Like the atheist logic, it just doesn't work. My protestant friends, you lose nothing by becoming Catholic, but you will gain The Most Holy Eucharist, the Blessed Mother, and an intellectual tradition so rich and so steeped, you could spend a lifetime learning it all...(and then some!..)
St Thomas Aquinas,..................ora pro nobis.
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