EDITOR'S ROUND-UP

Saturday, 13 September 2008

A discussion on the "uniqueness" of Christianity…

Dear Friends,

Today I'm pleased to say all our subscribers should receive the email around the same time. Our new email program has been road-tested over the last few days and appears to be a great improvement on the old system. The continued steady growth in our subscription lists has necessitated this upgrade. Today's email is also being sent out earlier than normal because Milly and myself are attending the Australian Reforming Catholics Conference at Chatswood for the day.

For our weekly readers I would draw attention to a week of vigorous discussion on our forum. One of the questions I raised a couple of days ago pertained to the "uniqueness" of Jesus. Little did I know at that time that Ian Elmer's commentary today would be exploring similar ground. He'd submitted this commentary earlier in the week so, on this occasion, it seems Ian himself was largely anticipating the discussion in the forum. When you sit down and compare Christianity with the other great systems of religious belief in the world what is unique about Christianity? That's the topic Dr Elmer explores today and it's also one of the questions we've been exploring in the Catholica Forum in recent days. <Link to Ian's commentary>

The controversy that led to the emergence of the Doctrine of the Trinity… In today's essay Daniel Gullotta investigates the significance of the Council of Nicaea in the emergence of Trinitarian Doctrine and the factors that contributed to its development This essay was originally written as part of his theology studies at ACU. <more>

Catholicism —a quest for identity or a quest for salvation? The news story yesterday that Catholics don't read the Bible much led the editor of Catholica, Brian Coyne, to wondering how most Catholics viewed their religion. Is it a way of helping define our identity or is it primarily a means to salvation? <more>

The importance of being… Dr Kania starts his commentary today with an Irish joke. That's always a good way to start a commentary, or a homily — particularly one that's not too "heavy". Today's commentary is a gentle one looking at that balance, and tension, between doing what we want to do and doing what God wants us to do. <more>

8.1: Which Gospel to Choose? To recap for newer readers of Catholica. this manuscript by actor, writer and broadcaster, Tom Lee, might be described as one man's long quest to better understand what he was brought up to believe. It took him nearly three decades to write it. Today we begin a lengthy part of his exploration in which Tom seeks to understand the origin of the Sacred Texts upon which Christianity is based. <more>

American political spirituality II… Tom McMahon is on his best behaviour today endeavouring to write a fair and balanced overview on the Republican Convention. His own sympathies are with the Democrats, and he's upfront in admitting that but he also discloses a latent admiration for John McCain. At the end of the commentary we also provide links to a couple of other "political" stories worth reading today. <more>

Best wishes for a great day wherever you happen to be ... in life or in our world!

Brian Coyne
Editor and Publisher