Selective Validation

I find it irritatingly humorous when people quote some portions of the Bible as examples of why other parts of the Bible are invalid.

If you read The DaVinci Code or The Third Jesus, you'll find the authors using quotes from the Bible to invalidate the most important event recorded in the book... the resurrection of Jesus Christ. This amazes me... either the Bible is a valid point of reference or it is not.

Now, if you want to use passages in the Bible to analyze inconsistencies within the Bible itself, for example, that makes sense, but you cannot pick and choose the validity of the Bible as a reference.

That's like me examining the Constitution and referencing the first amendment in order to invalidate the second amendment.

I also find it irritatingly humorous when people utilizes discarded versions of writings similar to the those found in the Bible (Dead Sea Scrolls) and give them equal validity to the Bible.

That's like me finding an earlier version of the Declaration of Independence that stated "all Massachusetts born men are created equal" and arguing that it has equal contextual weight, even though the entry was discarded and ignored.

Just because a document was written during the same time frame about the same subject does not mean it is equally valid as the final, approved document. If I find a writing from the time of Moses stating Moses was also a circus clown doesn't make it accurate.

Obviously, when putting together the Bible or the Constitution or the Declaration of Independence, some discernment over accuracy, validity and continuity had to be taken into consideration.

Things aren't discarded by some grand conspiracy... they're discarded because they're simply not good enough.

So, next time your hear arguments utilizing Biblical quotes skewed to attack the divinity of Jesus Christ, ask them to explain themselves. Their response will more than likely be irritatingly humorous.

The Power of Conversion

Through homeschooling and our involvement in our church we have been blessed to become friends with some truly wonderful, faithful people. They are all passionate and knowledgeable about our Catholic faith and are leaders in our Christian community.

While saying our 54 Day Novena for the U.S. Elections the other morning, it occurred to me that almost all of these married, faithful friends have one spouse who is a convert to Catholicism. Four out of the five families of which we are the closest find passion and the driving force behind their family Catholic faith through the newest members to our faith.

That is both a blessing to us and a sad reflection of what is lost on cradle Catholics. As one U.S. Bishop said recently, we have to stop looking at Catholicism as a family tradition and realize what it truly is, a faith. So many people are Catholics because their parents were and their grandparents were, etc., but the true beauty of the faith has been lost over the generations.

So, we're left with pews full of people attending mass out of obligation instead of inspiration. They find mass a duty instead of a divine opportunity.

They miss the big picture of which they are surrounded each and every Sunday... unfortunately they are unaware and, therefore, unable to see it.

Just as new citizens of this great country appreciate how good we have it, so do converts to the faith. And from them I find my own faith reinvigorated and, myself, spiritually challenged to join them in their study, their faith formation and their adherence to the doctrines of this wonderfully rich, divinely inspired institution called the Roman Catholic Church.

I'm Grumpy...

I'm tired. I'm overworked. I'm grumpy. I'm irritable. I'm spent.

I feel like I'm alone trying to move that really big rock up the mountain, with little success.

Ugh...

It's not self pity... it's exhaustion. I'll probably feel like this for a couple of days. Then I'll get over it. Until then, avoid me if you can. You'll be happy you did.

Obama Using Lives of Troops for Political Gain

Per The Post, it appears that while visiting Iraq, Obama tried to convince the Iraqis not to come to terms with a US withdrawal plan until after the election.

Nice.

You can read more here.

Busy, Busy...

First, thank you Lord for the safety of Paul, Jean and Jonathan during Hurricane Ike! What a blessing. And congrats to Matt and Candyce on the birth of their new baby girl Eleanor Grace and also to Paul and Michelle on tying the knot. What wonderful news!

Things have been busy in the Bauer household recently. Dea and DC have been hit with a flu bug making the rounds. Gabe's Fall Ball season is about to start, so we've been down at the field quite a bit. I've been trying to prepare for a Purgatory, USA premiere for cast/crew and their families as well as working DVD menus for the eventual release of Volume 1.

This past week I finished writing the next two episodes of PUSA, one dealing with Envy and another dealing with the battle between God's Will and Our Will.

In researching a short script idea Paul had sent me about Angels, I finished reading a book called Angels & Devils by Joan Carroll Cruz... she takes all of the references in the Bible as well as from the Saints of any experiences with Angels and/or Devils and puts them into similar groupings, such as what Angels look like, Angels and the Eucharist, etc. It was a very interesting read.

Right now I'm in the middle of another one of Cruz' books called Eucharistic Miracles, which details all of the Eucharistic miracles from Christ through to the mid-1980's, when the book was written. Some of the stories are amazing.

After that I'm going to read another one of Cruz' books called The Incorruptables, about saints who have died and their bodies have remained incorrutable. I have to thank our friend, Darryll Miller, for loaning me the books, as he used to live next door to Mrs. Cruz in Louisiana and has all of her books.

So, things are busy... not exciting, just busy. Hopefully I'll have more interesting stuff later in the week :)