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Science is our knowledge of the natural world obtained by observation, experiment and theoretical analysis. It may conveniently be divided into the empirical knowledge obtained by observation and experience and the much more detailed knowledge that we have today. The former, which may be called primitive science, describes the knowledge of the properties of materials gained by craftsmen working with wood, stone and metals, and that of plants...

The Black LegendWe recall standing before a book store window on Maria-Hilfenstrasse in Viennain July 1939, when the Nazi propaganda was in high gear, and seeing the bloodcurdling display of posters and pictures of imaginary scenes from the Inquisition. “See there,” Goebbels was saying, “that is what will happen to you if we do not rescue you from the Church.” [The Truth About the Inquisition John A. O'Brien, 1950,...

Book Review: Seeing beyond the present momentArt, Truth & Time, Essays in Art by Sister Anselma Scollard OSB, Luath Press, 112pp, £12.00reviewed by Kitty Turley ‘Artistic creation depends as much upon the body as soul and the soul’s intelligent use of the body’s own way of understanding’, writes Sr Anselma in her Preface to this insightful collection of fourteen essays on art, its relationship to faith and its capacity to express truth.

William Charlton FAITH Magazine May-June 2006In 1312 the Council of Vienne declared: ‘Anyone who denies that the rational or intellectual soul is essentially and of itself the form of the human body is to be deemed a heretic.’[1] To modern ears, this is a surprising declaration. By “John Brown’s body” we normally mean either his torso, as distinct from his head, arms and legs, or his corpse; and the word...

In Fr David Barrett’s September 2007 article in this Magazine “The Church and Sacramentality”, he explained Edward Holloway’s definition of a sacrament as “the enfleshing ... of an objective gift of God, ... in Christ, enwrapped in matter as befits ... the economy of God who became enwrapt with a human soul and body for the perfection and the beatification of His creature.” In a continuation of that...

Since we have become very familiar with attributing the title 'Priest' to Christ, it may come as a surprise to find that Christ is never explicitly called a priest in any of the books of the New Testament except the Letter to the Hebrews. In the Gospels the term 'priest' always refers to the Old Testament institution of priesthood.[1] The title High Priest is always in a context of opposition to Jesus.[2] In the letters and Revelation...

My Journey to Our Lady of the Oak, Islington Fiona Campbell Hicks tells the story of a campaign to revive Islington’s ancient pilgrimage site Driving in Islington one day I was suddenly overcome by a very vivid imaginative experience of the Virgin Mary’s garden. It was an enclosed garden; centred around a large tree, completely filled with flowers and nature and suffused with sunlight, peace and happiness. Suddenly aware that I needed to concentrate on the road, I looked up and saw a van in f...

Joseph Laracy FAITH Magazine September – October 2011Joseph Laracy offers a succinct and very helpful overview of the development of post-Reformation philosophy, which through modernism and post-modernism affirms presuppositions which, a priori, make the harmony of science and religion impossible.In the process he brings out well how the concepts of "formal and final causes ... are making a serious return" through some modern...

Thanks to Paul, we have inherited the Church Paul: A Biography by N. T. Wright, HarperOne, 464pp, UK £12.99 (paperback), US $20.39 (hardback). reviewed by Sister Mary Dominic Pitts

The Epistle to the Hebrews is one of the least understood writings of the New Testament corpus.[1] The present note will outline the motives for the Incarnation as presented in Chapter 2 of the epistle. No attempt will be made to "prove" what is presented, but an attempt will be made to make a plausible case for all that is asserted.[2]Hebrews is a classic example of the importance of structure for ascertaining meaning.[3] The present...