The "Virgin" Mary?

With tomorrow being The Solemnity of the Mary, Mother of God, I thought it may be appropriate to consider the virgin birth. While I disagree with atheist Paul Tobin's view of Jesus a whole, I think his view of the virgin birth is dead on.

1) The Isaiah 7:14 passage that Matthew and Luke use to "foretell" the virgin birth is a Greek mistranslation. In Hebrew it just means young girl.

2) The Isaiah passage refers a boy to born shortly, not some 700 years in the future after the death of Ahaz and Isaiah.

3) Neither Paul nor the Gospel of Mark, our earliest Christian sources mention the virgin birth.

4) It seems to be an import from the Roman mystery religions. It was a "creative" way for Matthew and Luke to demonstrate that Jesus was God's son.

Personally, I have no problem believing that Joseph and Mary had sex, conceived Jesus, and at conception, the Word became Flesh in a very special way that has never happened before or since, but I have a feeling that others may find that view horrific (but hopefully not).

Does it really matter to if Mary had a virgin birth within the greater scheme of the paschal mystery?

A Faithful Catholic

Vatican Folds Under Pressure?

Last week, I was praising the Vatican for its scholarly honestly in its plans to portray the birth of Jesus in Nazareth via its annual Christmas creche. Per Catholic News Service, someone had the creche revised before its unveiling on December 24th to have the birth occur in Bethlehem instead, according to the tradition in Matthew's Gospel, that the holy family is from Bethlehem originally and did not travel there for the census (as in Luke's Gospel). As can be seen in my previous blog's comments, this is a surprisingly touchy subject, especially considering that I was praising the Vatican for its scholarly integrity. I received comments from distraught readers that for some reason were aimed at me instead of the Vatican that wanted to bring them into 20th century biblical scholarship.

A Faithful Catholic

Jesus Had Christmas At Home In Nazareth

As reported at Catholic News, the Vatican creche this year depicts a scene of Jesus to be born at home. Whether this is at home in Nazareth or Bethlehem, Pier Carlo Cuscianna, director of technical services for Vatican City, did not say. His silence indicates that this creche represents Jesus being born at home in Nazareth, not Bethlehem.

What a breath of fresh air. The conflicting infancy stories in Matthew and Luke that both have Jesus being born in Bethlehem are beautiful, but obviously false. They were written in the creative spirit of the authors to fulfill Old Testament prophesies, but at some point we need to dispel the myths of our faith, so that we can look more honestly at the Gospels to see who Jesus really was.

So bravo to Pier Carlo! You made my Advent. This may also be a continuing sign that Benedict is truly a person of scholarly honesty.

A Faithful Catholic

Can I Have Some of Your Kool-Aid Drew Mariani?

Last Wednesday afternoon, I made the mistake of turning on "Relevant" Radio. The Drew Mariani Show was on and Drew was trying to give me the special Kool-Aid. The show was on birth control. I believe that under most circumstances, the use of birth control is a good thing. Drew is of the traditional belief that birth control is an intrinsic evil - wrong in any circumstance.

He then explained that when you except birth control, you are not far from becoming pro-abortion, which means you are about to think that euthanasia is a good idea, which means that you are about to support genocide. Uh?

Logically then, since I think birth control is okay, I guess I also think that the genocide of all Native American tribes, Jews, Shiite Muslims, and any other group that I'm not a part of is a wonderful idea. The next logical conclusion is that almost every American would also think that genocide is okay. Unfortunately, he didn't explain at all how this sequence occurs, I would imagine because it does not make any sense. Also, if you look at my previous blog entry, the US and WI bishops appear to be swaying towards genocide themselves.

Someone please let me know when "Relevant" Radio is having another fundraising drive so that I can donate. (I'm being very sarcastic.)

A Faithful Catholic

Pope Offers Prayers, But Not Condoms

It is good to see that Pope Benedict is "spiritually close" with those who suffer from AIDS and their families. And it is good that he is calling for an end to discrimination against those with AIDS. But perhaps the most meaningful and awesome blow he could give to AIDS would be to push the use of condoms. That, perhaps, would be the best Christmas present Benedict could give those suffering from AIDS. 22 days until Christmas... I'll be waiting.

A Faithful Catholic

US Bishops Fine With Birth Control Methods Other Than NFP

The United State Conference of Catholic Bishops approves of the use of chemicals for birth control when money and political pressure are involved. It is the official policy of our US Bishops to approve the use of emergency contraception by Catholic hospitals if a woman is admitted who was raped and it has been confirmed that she is not currently pregnant.

It seems odd to me that contraception can be used by Catholic hospitals, though traditionally (pre-Vatican II) it has been considered an intrinsic evil that cannot be condoned under any circumstances. This view is enunciated regularly by conservative Catholics and "Relevant" Radio.

Since approximately 1/3 of hospitals are Catholic hospitals, the main reason for this exception is obviously money and legal pressure. This appears to be the only to sway the arrogance of some bishops regarding the issue of birth control.

In truth they are also afraid to prohibit the use of birth control in hospitals. If they did so, they would have one of two situations. Catholic hospitals would either disobey the bishops or they would say, "Fine, but only if the diocese covers the legal costs when we are sued." The bishops fear both of these options.

Now if only there were a way to create a similar catch-22 with regards to the ordination of women. We would be ordaining women within the year if anyone was ingenious enough to think of the situation.

A Faithful Catholic

Weakland Playing Cards!!! Collect them All!!!

A while back a I happened upon one of these "prayer" cards. I know that at times I have been critical of Archbishop Dolan, but I have never mass-produced any prayer cards for his immediate removal. This is one of my problems with a particular brand of conservative Catholics. Their reason is always: "The Pope said so," "The bishop said so," "Canon Law said so," until of course the pope, bishop, or canon law disagrees with what they think. I also cannot stand liberals who quote the pope to make their case before conservatives. It indicates to me that the intellectual well has dried up.

To be honest, at times I wish we did have a different bishop, but as my initial blog states, the larger problem is the way in which the Catholic Church is currently structured. It now gives too much power to pope and bishop - whether liberal or conservative. There's an old story of a milk corporation with a great boss who is getting his workers to organize a union. One of the workers says to him, "Why are you having a union organized? You are a great owner. No one has a problem with your management." The owner wisely said to the worker, "While that may be true, I will not always be the owner."

A Faithful Catholic