In this interview from April 1, 2011, Catholic Answers host Patrick Coffin and I discuss the life and legacy of John Calvin. Some points of interest include Calvin’s attitude towards “denominationalism,” adultery and divorce in Calvin’s Geneva, Calvin on predestination, Calvin’s relationship to Luther and Augustine, and the theological innovations of Calvin’s successors.

Monergists, i.e. Calvinists and some Lutherans, claim that man cannot cooperate with God in salvation, because that would detract from God’s glory. I think that by God’s glory they mean something like “God appearing very impressive to everyone.” They probably mean additional though related things, like God doing whatever he wants. But let’s stick with […]

Today, March 25, we celebrate the central event in the whole of human history: the Incarnation of the Second Person of the most Holy Trinity, in the womb of the Virgin Mary, nine months before His nativity. On this day, God fulfilled the promise He had made in the Garden of Eden (Gen 3:15) that […]

Did Jesus provide for the continuing transmission of the Christian faith? What a simple and foundational question! And yet, oddly, it is one that Protestant apologists rarely ask. In the history of Protestant apologetics, great emphasis is placed on how we recognize the inspiration of Scripture (Church authority vs. internal witness of the Spirit), the […]

I would like to introduce our newest contributor at Called to Communion, Marc Ayers. We are thrilled to have Marc join us and look forward to his contributions, as we know our readers will.

Protestants often caricature the Catholic doctrine on sacramentalism as if it taught that a sacrament was something like a magic wand waved over the recipient regardless of his disposition. But this is not an accurate description of the Catholic doctrine.   In this short article, I will explain why. On this day, March 7, 1274, St. […]

Recent discussions at Called to Communion, though admittedly polemical, have focused attention on an important commonality between Catholic and Reformed Christians.  We both share a deference for a historical and creedal understanding of the faith, and a suspicion of mere private theological opinion. In that spirit, I would like to draw attention to a seldom […]

Today in the liturgical calendar we celebrate the Feast of the Chair of St. Peter the Apostle. According to an ancient tradition, February 22 was the day Jesus changed Simon’s name to Peter, and gave to him the keys of the Kingdom of Heaven. (Matt. 16:19) The Catholic Encyclopedia article on the chair of St. […]

This is a guest post by Michael Liccione, who is well known to regular readers of Called To Communion. Michael earned his Ph.D. in philosophy at the University of Pennsylvania and his B.A. in philosophy and religion at Columbia University. He has taught at a number of institutions, including UPenn, St. Francis College, the Catholic […]

The principle of lex orandi, lex credendi (which can be translated as “the law of praying is the law of believing”) has an immediate appeal to almost all Christians. It is easy to see that how we relate to God in prayer is a mirror-like reflection of our beliefs, and we sense intuitively that our […]