/clg/ - Catholic Literature General

Any of you read pic related?

Apologia Pro Vita Sua. St. John Henry Newman was an Anglican priest but converted to Catholicism and became a cardinal. Despite his conversion he's venerated as a saint by the Church of England, as well by the Catholic Church.

All non Christian forms of meditation, yoga included are banned for Catholics. Try with removing false idols from your life first (and no, there's no such thing as secular yoga).

The English have a strange way of picking saints that devoted their lives against their schism, Newman and Thomas More being obvious ones.

>tfw had an hour long conversation with the university chaplain about Pseudo-Dionysus and faith via negativa

Feels good desu

>Tfw you read more theology than most priest you know and you can't actually discuss it with them because they don't read much
Feels bad

>tfw one of the nuns at your university told you that the true reason anyone is a Christian is to get into heaven

Hi Tertullian.

>What books will convert me to Catholicism from Anglicanism?

The bible

>tfw I have no idea what that means

>not being a panentheist
How do you niggas even experience God if you don't partake of Him?

>hurr hurr muh language of analogy
That's trying to have your cake and eat it.

Has anyone read any Hans Urs von Balthasar? I read Cosmic Liturgy but it went way over my head because I'm an idiot. I'm really interested in his book on prayer because it sounds more practical and doesn't require memorizing the bibliography of Hegel. Thoughts?

How modernism/10 is he? I know he perpetuated the stupid myth of Aquinas versus Scholasticim.

>How do you niggas even experience God if you don't partake of Him?
Do you know what the Eucharist is?

I really can't stand Woke Space Jesuit and weird leftist catholic twitter

inb4 they cap this post and spread this around like the ironic dipshits they are

I just don't find them funny. It's like the Tradical Twitter, but without cool excerpts from various books and funny memes. And the Catholic left is completely incoherent.

Yeah, God is experienced via the mouth, makes perfect sense

It's not really via the mouth. At least the experience. It takes like regular bread you know.

Fun fact, this bait is actually correct- enjoying the Justice of God is one of the joys of Haven. And justice of God is Hell and everyone in it will be there based on perfect justice and complete guilt.

Do you guys know any comfy Christian documentaries?

Some that I have enjoyed:
youtube.com/watch?v=9nz7C0Kr9OA
youtube.com/watch?v=WGqtStYEnTI
youtube.com/watch?v=0Vcf-vf4aUI
youtube.com/watch?v=XmSm120gFlQ

One more: youtube.com/watch?v=0ouqzH9o6rg

Will add a few more in case someone finds them valuable/interesting:

youtube.com/watch?v=ZuUZYMCgcyM
youtube.com/watch?v=BpfaWxZDNOk
youtube.com/watch?v=Xd35W6lp3GQ
youtube.com/watch?v=MdGUnSu49hg
youtube.com/watch?v=R1TzgKZQB-s

Yes, I realize some of these are Orthodox and not Catholic

>The St. Paul documentary I just opened has everything I hate about documentaries.

desu there are pretty slim pickings of quality "pop" production documentaries, different if you want to get into lectures or some private work. From the ones linked I enjoyed Augustine, Fr. Lazarus and Paisios the most.

Its funny that Newman came up with the theory that the Anglican church is one of three legitimate branches apostolic church along with the RCC and the EOC. Anglo-Catholics still use this theory even though Newman abandoned the idea when he became Catholic.

I wouldn't call him a modernist at all, he was a sort of traditionalist I suppose. I don't know about this Aquinas v. Scholasticism myth of which you speak.

Just watched moonstruck and I want some comfy catholic literature, preferably focusing on Italian or Italian-American communities. Could any kind soul please toss a recommendation my way?

The idea was that ever since Suarez and Cajetan everyone misunderstood Aquinas and that we should get rid of (basically Reginald Garrigou-Lagrange). It was extremely popular with the modernists and von Balthasar is one of the chief perpetuators of the meme.

According to people on Veeky Forums, the Jews are responsible for making this picture

from my understanding faith via negativa is approaching a description of god through negations. I have only seen it mentioned in passing though so I don't know for sure.

The only absolutely correct statements about God are negative. The positive ones are never enough to capture his fullness and are analogical. It's absolutely true that God is not evil as there's no imperfections in him at all. But it's only analogically correct that he's good because his goodness is impossible to grasp fully.

They're heretics. What I hate though is other Catholics being all friendly to them.

You mean other heretics?

>this thread

We must correct and guide without being hateful and cruel. That's the way of Christ, the gentle but insistent call to repentance.

Also please remember to pray the Rosary, /clg/.

Why do people pretend he's so incredibly great and convincing?

We're here when you have an argument you want to present that we can sort out for you.

Not to be rude, and I am interested in Christian faith/theology, but I don't quite understand the point and it seems to me that the entirety of God rests upon two facets: the assumption of his existence and the assumption of objective, transcendent Good as his nature.
If everything was created from nothing by God, who himself is in nature a good wholly beyond nothing and being (in this case, the "God beyond God") then would not everything have this God as its intrinsic nature, preceding creation and nothing? So if this is in fact a beginning-less beginning, would there not be an endless end? It is said man cannot approach God in terms of understanding, but if we had God as our nature, why would this be impossible?
Assuming man is subject to God, and this relationship is non-reciprocal, then what is the point of doing Good which is limited in scope to God by our place as man? If God is transcendentally Good, why is there judgement or hell? Does mercy and compassion not stem from good?
Sorry if I am not making too much sense. Like I said before I am interested in Christianity, and have attended a few services, but I still don't feel comfortable believing all of this.

The assumption of his existence is obviously necessary to call this "faith" in the first place. How/why you choose to believe or have faith in God is probably down to the individual, ie as many as there are persons just as many there are ways of getting to God. That is, we could assume the notes of God's call are specifically designed for one's own set of ears.

I'm not entirely sure what your second point is about. The endlesss end and the beginning-less beginning. I'm not sure what you meant, but obviously there is a concept of eternity in the Christian faith, so yes there is an endless end when you enter eternity after your earthly death.

Man can approach God in terms of understanding, but it seems like it is impossible to grasp infinite God fully when accouting for your existence as a creature in the physical world. For understading God, or seeing Him as He is, look up beatific vision.

The point of doing Good is Good itself. You should not want to do Good on a transactional basis, ie if I do Good I will get a reward (even though that might be true). That is obviously a "lower" form of Good than doing Good because you want to do Good or because you want to be Good on its own. Obviously, the irony is that in this way you would imitate your Father in heaven as (as you said) transcendent Good.

Mercy and compassion has to be accepted. If you reject God continually and even finally, then it doesn't seem unusual that you would end up in the place you actually want to be. Many Christian mystics have said that you go to where you "belong" and where you want to go. Souls going to hell reject God. When you think of it, God in His perfect knowledge has already given humanity the rules and advice as to how to behave that is in their OWN best interest. Moreover even when we fail to do that and act foolishly we are still offered pardon so that we might return to our "best" state we were designed to be. Yet as a consequence of our free will, we get what we ultimately want. Your father tells you not to roll in the mud because you will get dirty. You do it and you know he will forgive you and give you new clothes. But if you simply say that you prefer being covered in dirt, then that is your choice and to be respected.

Going to an orthodox church tomorrow to talk to a priest about becoming a godfather for a friend's kid. I haven't been to church since I was like 5 or 6....

I think he's gonna quiz me on the faith, so I memorized the Creed and some basics. What should I expect? What is ortho church like? Its a Russian one.

It is a pretty dumb idea desu. I remember this AMA on the Catholic subreddit about a year back with a branch theory traditional Anglican. Dude just wouldnt get that the Church needs to be united and historically people died horrendously and the schism was extremely radical and sinful. Pretty sad.

I hope he rejects you. You shouldn't be a godfather. It's a position that's supposed to be spiritual guidance in the faith, something which you cannot perform.

Hey, know any sick ass catholic narrative works and epics? 10 bucks extra if they're early modern/premodern

Well, I'm a bit torn between believing in a Christian heaven and hell or Eastern-style reincarnation so I'm trying to cover all my bases... Philosophy, after all, is preparation for death and thus as a man with a philosophical bent I want to insure that I have done all that I can to receive the best afterlife.

Sure thing, happy to help. To begin, I would not call God as existing and being entirely good assumptions by any measure as they well argued for through Christian intellectual history. Existence through Divine Conservation and goodness through God's relation to nature through Divine Conservation. Here's a video explaining how God's goodness is understood:

youtube.com/watch?v=62iSAf4L9E4

It goes into the two major understandings of God between Christian denominations. Catholics/Orthodox/Orientals would be supporting Classical Theism as opposed to the Theistic Personalism mentioned. However, theistic personalism is supported through most Protestant sects and low-info laypeople of any denomination.

This is opposed to and his use of 'faith', which I'd find unjust. Surely you could have faith of God's existence and God's goodness and believe for other reasons but faith as understood by the Christian tradition as virtuous is a faith IN God rather than a faith OF. It presupposes the Christian worldview and is about maintaining trust in God and his law (what is good to do) regardless of situation and struggle.

>If everything was created from nothing by God, who himself is in nature a good wholly beyond nothing and being (in this case, the "God beyond God") then would not everything have this God as its intrinsic nature, preceding creation and nothing? So if this is in fact a beginning-less beginning, would there not be an endless end? It is said man cannot approach God in terms of understanding, but if we had God as our nature, why would this be impossible?

God creates all things from nothing through his will and so all things have an analogical connection to God. They dont have the nature of God outside of this. They are made from nothing pre-existing. For God's nature to within these things would violate God's immutability that is expressed in the discovery of God being pure actuality (I can help explain this if need be).

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The point of doing good is fulfillment of ourselves, if not also preparation of the afterlife. As says, the good is done for its own sake. There is the idea is that a life dedicated to the good is the perfection of man. Hence the "fulfillment of the self comes from self-sacrifice" paradoxical phrases you see from monks sometimes.

>If God is transcendentally Good, why is there judgement or hell?

Well already says it effectively but I'll add on a part of the Catholic Catechism:

"To die in mortal sin without repenting and accepting God's merciful love means remaining separated from him for ever by our own free choice. This state of definitive self-exclusion from communion with God and the blessed is called "hell."" vatican.va/archive/ccc_css/archive/catechism/p123a12.htm#1033

Protestants tend to view this as a penal sense but Catholics view it in regards to whether they accept the grace offered to them. If you deny the good in life then you'd deny the very source of the good in death.

>Sorry if I am not making too much sense

You're making perfect sense and feel free to ask if you have further questions or complaints.

If you want the best from Christianity abandon everything else, God is, as he describes himself, an envious one. He does not suffer masters other than himself.

Book of the New Sun by Gene Wolfe, completely unironically.

Cant serve two masters. Meaning you will go to hell if you are playing aroumd with antichristian things. Also bait or genuinely this stupid? Im going to error on the side of skepticism and say bait.

Not bait. Unfortunately, Jesus never really wrote any philosophical works to clear up such things. From my understanding, there were a number of different afterlife beliefs among the early and modern jews and ancient greeks and romans some of which resemble eastern-style reincarnation. Plato is one example. I believe it is not heretical to posit a prisca theologia is it? Christians before Christ and so on? The study of different traditions is what led me back to Catholicism. I personally subscribe to Origen's view that everyone is saved, even the devil, though perhaps some spend more time in hell/purgatory than others.

Thank you /clg/ for playing your part in helping me return to the Church. I had my first confession in a decade on Tuesday and will receive communion for the first time in in a decade this Sunday. I plan on being confirmed next year. Cheers and God bless.

I don't really believe in God anymore but I'm thinking of joining the church just for the cultural aspect because I'm a manic-depressive who is interested in perceived exotic experiences.
Thoughts?

>perceived exotic experiences

It will no longer seem exotic once you become familiar with it.

This shit never ceases to be funny.

I know but the process of familiarization remains.

Common sense.

Ye ur definitely just dumb. Thats a heresy, you are not truly subscribing to Catholicism if you knowlingly believe in heresy.

Solid troll, user.

Congratulations, user.

I think you're joining for the wrong reasons if you're searching for novelty, though I'm not sure how your manic depressiveness is playing a part in this. I'd say go regardless. Do not partake in communion, however.

Daily reminder that sedevacantism is the only correct position, there's no salvation outside the church, etc.

This also never ceases to be funny.

Outing you heretics and bad-willed people is getting tiring already.

Lol. Feel free to stop wasting your time then.

Catholicism is the One True Church, but let us not forget that the Prottys can write some pretty sweet hymns

youtube.com/watch?v=or1oZ35NA2U

Russian Orthodox is the most kino.

youtube.com/watch?v=gvHAqjODCcI

youtube.com/watch?v=9sR8ezoes6E

That whole collection is 10/10

What do I have to have read before reading The Divine Comedy?

Get familiar with iambic pentameter

Seconding this, Aenied, Bible, anything else?

God bless you.

Thanks. Devoting time to reading the Bible and saying my prayers helped the most with making the return. Then I finally swallowed my pride and attended Mass twice and knew I had to confess. Going here helped because frankly most people I know are godless and would be hostile to any sympathetic discussion of religion unless it was something trendy like Buddhism. I had read plenty of compelling arguments from Catholic writers that played a part in my return but had nobody to discuss them with. I'm glad that this thread is maintained for people like me who are surrounded by the godless.

>I'm glad that this thread is maintained for people like me who are surrounded by the godless.
He says on an anime porn forum.

What's the difference between theosis and samadhi? Both are union with the divine. Tbh, I subscribe to a more metaphorical view of rebirth. Definitely more of a Catholic than a Buddhist or a Yogi. Just using these practices until I find suitable Christian replacements. I do enjoy the physical workout of yoga so that would be a bummer to give up. Is pilates okay? IIRC, Merton was sympathetic toward Buddhism. I quite liked Zen and the Birds of Appetite.

during confession, are you supposed to say you've seen some questionable hentai? what about a monster rape fetish?

You're wrong about the first thing being funny but right about the second thing being funny

You should have heard of the places Jesus preached out and spent time at. Do you expect people who intend to help would be distant from sinners behind a fence or something?

I definitely feel you. These threads and the ones I've made myself really helped me learn how to talk about these topics and explore my own life living like this. Very important in conversations was learning what the basic elements of the Christian life even were - such as the point of prayer. I do need to return to this more, myself. I've done something horrible recently and need to speak with my local priest for confession.

God bless you, user.

The detail is unimportant as long as you can get the problem out there and understood. However, it is best to confront your faults with honesty.

>he doesn't find the personal improvement and welfare of others hilarious

You could just say porn. Don't need to go into that much detail.

Learning Italian is probably more important than either the Aeneid or the Bible for understanding Dante. I don't mean to be snarky; you'll miss out on a lot of Dante's craft by reading him in translation. Just knowledge of who Virgil is and being raised a Christian should suffice in place of reading the entire Aeneid and the Bible.

However, if you plan on becoming a scholar of Dante, you should learn the Aeneid and the Bible very well for catching all the references and parallels. As a scholar you should also become familiar with other Italians from the Middle Ages such as Petrarch and Boccaccio. But if you just want to read Dante a few times for pleasure, I don't see why you would need to become an expert on his influences and contemporaries.

Italians write in iambic pentameter? I'm genuinely curious because I had thought it was a uniquely English meter.

>Hiding things in confession because you're embarrassed to talk about it.

Enjoy retaining your mortal sins.

Amazing, isn't it?

Some translators may use it.

>You should have heard of the places Jesus preached out and spent time at. Do you expect people who intend to help would be distant from sinners behind a fence or something?
I'd expect them not to whine about being surrounded by ungodliness while doing it.

The idea of unnecessary details does, in fact, exist user.

But is it unnecessary because it's actually unnecessary or are you just looking for an excuse to keep quiet about it? One wonders.

God bless you too and your endeavors contra the heretics and godless.

Then you don't people then. Especially those who don't have many outlets for this.

Right, that needs to be examined, hence my last comment about it

You don't need to give the priest the video's exact URL if you watched porn. Of course at some point being too vague amounts to an invalid confession

Sedevacantism is probably the most hilariously pathetic manifestation of cognitive dissonance I've ever encountered.

>Especially those who don't have many outlets for this.
There are plenty of actual religious forums on line, you know?

Such things are hard jumps for people.
Some people also think they can leave Veeky Forums. Silly, right?

Technically, Reddit is as much of an anime porn forum as Veeky Forums, but you'll never see people bring attention to this.