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Homeschool Advice for Catholic Parents

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I’d like to take some time today to talk about a plan for homeschooling that I would recommend for homeschooling parents who have no idea what they’re doing. When I say homeschooling parents who have no idea what they’re doing, I’m not being negative or critical. I’m being honest. I’m talking to Christian parents who desire to give their children a Christian education, who are concerned about the quality of modern schools, who love their children very much, who fear God and desire to honor Him as parents. But when it comes to education, when it comes to homeschooling, when … Continue

Modern Sciences in Classical Catholic Education

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This talk is intended for parents and students of the Classical Liberal Arts Academy who are trying to understand how Catholic students should think about the study of the natural sciences, with a Catholic mindset, with a coherent system of Catholic thought. Many think that there’s a choice to be made between Classical Studies and Modern studies. But as I’d like to explain in this talk, that’s not the case. In fact, I would argue that in order to be true scientists, to be good scientists, we actually need to understand scholastic philosophy first and then study science within the … Continue

The Bible Does Not Teach “Sola Scriptura”

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In this talk, I’d like to share a response to the Protestant teaching of sola scriptura, or the Protestant idea that everything necessary for the Christian life must be present in Sacred Scripture, or must be proven from Sacred Scripture and from scripture alone. Any time that Protestants and Catholics attempt to speak to each other, this issue of authority is obviously central to the discussion. The Protestant position that Christian doctrine comes only from Sacred Scripture, I will argue in this talk, is not only impossible to prove, but it’s contrary to what the Scriptures actually say. I’m going … Continue

Realistic Goals for Catholic Homeschooling in the Modern World

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Catholic families who hope to live faithfully and raise their children well in the modern world must begin with realistic goals. The conditions under which Catholic parents now live are not those of medieval Christendom, nor even those of nineteenth-century America. They live under the influence of compulsory education laws. They live in an economy that requires academic credentials. They live in a culture that often measures success by college admissions statistics and income levels. If Catholic parents attempt to compete with secular society on its own terms, while also trying to preserve the Faith in their homes, they will … Continue

The Hidden Cause of Schism in the Catholic Church

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Schism in Christianity is usually explained in terms of personalities, politics, scandals, or discipline. But those explanations never seem to reach the root of the problem. In this talk, I argue that the deepest cause of schism in the Church is not moral or historical, but philosophical. Beneath many modern disagreements—between Protestants and Catholics, and even among Catholics themselves—lies a hidden metaphysical assumption about where the Christian faith exists. Is the faith an abstract ideal that can exist apart from the visible Church? Or does it exist only as embodied, historical, and concrete? Drawing on the classical distinction between Platonism … Continue