The Christian Vanguard

The following is a review and analysis of the Catechism/Confirmation class I taught at Holy Innocents. This is mainly for future review and comparison. Drop out rate I started with 39 boys.  3 of them did not finish  8% drop out rate, 92% completion rate  Assigned work Total class points were 233 8 quizzes were assigned The 8 quizzes were worth a total of 58 points Quizzes were 25% of class points 10 homework assignments were given Homework was worth a total of 155 points Homework was 67% of class points 1 extra credit assignment was given Extra credit was worth 10 points Extra credit was worth a 4% boost 1 report was given Report was worth 20 points Report was 9% of class points Grades Out of 36 boys, 8 earned passing grades.  1 boy earned an A. 4 earned a B 3 boys earned a C 7 boys earned a D 21 boys earned an F 77.7% failed, while 22.3% passed The mean percentage is 51% Median percentage was 55% Standard deviation is 23 L...

I came across an open air preacher at CSULB. He didn't seem any kind of offensive or distasteful like many others are. I begin to talk to him at the 21:30 mark when he revealed to us that he was an Open Theist . I didn't really communicate what I was trying to communicate all that well. I haven't looked into Open Theism in like five years, so I was extremely rusty. Besides, he seemed kinda friendly, and didn't care so much if I didn't slam-dunk on this point. The point I was trying to articulate was this: God makes promises. These promises are special, infallible, because they are guaranteed. There is no way they could be false. However, in Open Theism, this is not necessarily true. It's possible that some state of events in the future may not occur even if God says they will occur. Perhaps in practice God never makes a mistake in Open Theism, but so long as it is possible, and necessity is a necessary condition for infallibility, then in principle, God could b...

Julia: Hey dad, what's this? Dad: That's a cocoon, sweetheart. Julia: A cocoon? What's that? Dad: A cocoon is where caterpillar turns into a butterfly. Julia: A butterfly? Oohhh I want to see the butterfly! Dad: Well, you're going to have to wait for that, sweetie. Julia: Awww. But why can't we just take a peak now? Please? Dad: Because you're going to hurt it. If you take it out, you'll kill it, and the caterpillar will never grow up into a big beautiful butterfly. Julia: I don't want to kill it. Dad: Good. Now leave it alone. Julia: Can I take a picture of it? Dad: Sure thing. *Click* Julia: Hey dad! Look! The flash was able to see through the cocoon! Dad: Wow sweetie, that's neat! That kinda like how baby Rachel is in mommy's tummy, isn't it? Julia: Oh, you mean that triangle picture with no color? Dad: Yes, that's called an ultrasound, dear. Julia: Do the pictures hurt baby Rachel? Dad: No, they don...

The following is a reply to a Bible study a protestant sent to me. It is only an exercise for me concerning Catholic apologetics. Nothing I haven't said before, but I'll keep it up here just for reference.  The stated purpose of the Bible study outline is to aid those who wish to seek truth by having people compare the Catholic Church to the Bible. A protestant assumption is being made here, however, that the Bible alone is the measure of truth. It is not, for scripture itself says that the pillar and foundation of truth is the Church (1 Tim 3:15) and that we are supposed to hold fast the traditions passed on to us (2 Thess 2:15). Further, Christ comes to establish a Church and one that will not fall (Matt 16:18). While this is perhaps a great weakness for protestants, it is not the focal point of this study. As the quoted Constitution on Revelation says (which is properly entitled Dei Verbum ), we hold both the Church Tradition, or the deposit of faith, and scripture on the...

Matthew 23:9 is cited as contrary to the Catholic practice of calling priests "father". This is not a good understanding of the text. First, this would exclude calling even our biological fathers "father" and clearly Jesus didn't mean that (Matt 15:4-6). Nor does he mean this in a spiritual sense as he also warns us to not call other people teachers (v. 8 & 10), but clearly we have hundreds of well accredited and trained theological professors at seminaries all across the world. So what does Jesus mean? As indicated in v. 11, he means that we do not take these titles so that they supplant the place of God, because that is pride. The preceding two paragraphs starting at the beginning of the chapter make this evident that this is the issue with those whom Jesus is criticizing and why. With that in mind, consider the second problem with this understanding of the text, which is that it is actually done with approval elsewhere in the Bible. In the parable of...

Last night I had one of the most satisfying dreams ever, in which I got to see and play with a great friend that I lost last year. I was walking down the neon lit street into a middle class neighborhood when I bumped into my friend Julia. I haven't seen her in almost a year, so naturally I am thrilled to see her again. She expresses hesitation to dialogue with me, but I try to assure her that I am up to no funny business and that I'm genuinely happy to see her again. Somewhat skeptical, she allows me to walk her to a cafe where she was scheduled to do a spoken word poem (which is odd because that's not like her to do). Afterwards, we hung out and laughed a lot.  I woke up almost in tears because such great happiness was over and learned to be unreal. I love dreaming. Rarely do I get nightmares. But what this all points to, and what I take consolation in, is the hope that at the end of history, I get to be reunited with all my lost friends, Julia included. 

At the recommendation of my professor, I purchased a Great Courses audio course titled, "Your Deceptive Mind: A Scientific Guide to Critical Thinking Skills." Here is my review.