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Click Here to purchase the full set of available talks from the 2008 Deep in History Conference.

Study Guide:

-Is there any connection between Christianity and the emergence of modern science? Is there a “passing on” of Tradition in both religion and science?

-What is the purpose of the Bible (Scripture), according to Dr. Howell? Why does he seek to clarify that point?

-What were four of the ways that Christian thought functioned as a strong motivation to pursue science, according to Dr. Howell? What importance did mathematics play?

-What call does Dr. Howell give to educated Catholics? Do you think this is important? What should be the Catholic Church’s relationship with science presently, as Dr. Howell suggests?

-What does Dr. Howell believe will bring about the reunion of empirical science, philosophy, and the knowledge of God? Do you agree?

Important Terminology:

Modern Science: The radical transformation which occurred in the natural sciences during the 16th and 17th centuries, surrounding the Protestant Reformation and the voyages which ultimately led to the discovery of the New World.

The post The Reformation’s Effect on Church and Science – Dr. Kenneth Howell appeared first on The Coming Home Network.

This and other great Deep in History talks can be purchased on our store. Click here for more information.

Study questions:

-Why did God create man in His image? How is “be fruitful and multiply” a way to express the image of God? 

-Kimberly reads from a Catholic wedding prayer, which reflects on the blessing of Genesis 1 & 9. Share your thoughts about this prayer in light of Jesus’ words on marriage in Matthew 19:3-9. 

-What part does the child play in the indissolubility of marriage? 

-God reveals Himself as husband in Song of Songs. How does each marriage witness to the relationship between Christ and the Church? 

-Are annulments “divorce, Catholic style”? What are the criteria for annulment? 

-What were some of the ways in which Martin Luther viewed marriage? 

-What are the similarities between Moses permitting a Bill of Divorce and the Protestant Reformation?

-How can Catholics help others understand the reality of God’s plan for Marriage and human sexuality, according to Kimberly?

Click Here to purchase this talk as an mp3, CD, or DVD.

Click Here to purchase the full set of available talks from the 2008 Deep in History Conference.

The post The Reformation’s Effect on the Family – Kimberly Hahn appeared first on The Coming Home Network.

Click Here to purchase this talk as an mp3, CD, or DVD.

Click Here to purchase the full set of available talks from the 2009 Deep in History Conference.

Order Karl Adam’s book, “The Roots of the Reformation” through the Coming Home Network store.

Also available through the CHN store: Pillar and Bulwark by Marcus Grodi.

Study Questions:

-Grodi explains the hierarchy of authority in the Middle Ages (Church, Tradition, Scripture, Holy Spirit, and conscience) and then contrasts it with a reversed, modern-day example. Does this thought challenge your particular view of authority?

-What is Grodi’s response to the idea that the Catholic Church is “apostate”?

-What were some of the historical events that occurred in the centuries leading up to the Reformation? What effect do you think these historical events had on the authority of the Church in the eyes of the lay people?

-Read Matthew 23:3-5. What does Grodi say about the scandal that was present in the Church of the Middle Ages? Grodi gives three suggestions (questions) to consider when you face a movement in the Church. Do you find his suggestions helpful? Can you think of a situation in which his advice would be helpful?

-Read Psalm 11:3. At the beginning of his talk, Grodi asks, “What kind of Church are we going to leave our children?What are the righteous called to do, according to Grodi?

Vocabulary:

The Great Apostasy: The belief among some non-Catholics that the Catholic Church either became totally corrupt at some stage or that the Catholic Church is the product of pagan Rome attempting to infiltrate the Christian religion.

The post Roots of the Continental Reformation – Marcus Grodi appeared first on The Coming Home Network.

Click Here to purchase this talk as an mp3, CD, or DVD.

Click Here to purchase the full set of available talks from the 2009 Deep in History Conference.

Study Questions:

-What does Bishop Campbell say about the Catholic Church emerging from the Middle Ages?

-What were the four focuses of the Council of Trent?

-Bishop Campbell states that the Protestant Reformation was not actually fought over justification by faith alone, but over whether or not things of a material nature can be made to mediate the presence of the Divine. Does this idea surprise you? Why or why not?

-How was the papacy revitalized after the Catholic (or Counter-) Reformation?

-What were the “freedoms from the State” that were the result of the Protestant Reformation? What effect did they have?

-Did anything in Bishop Campbell’s talk about the Catholic Church’s reformation at the Council of Trent surprise you?

Vocabulary:

Council of Trent: A council of the Roman Catholic Church that met between 1545 and 1563 at Trent in South Tyrol. Reacting against the Protestants, it reaffirmed traditional Catholic beliefs and formulated the ideals of the Counter- Reformation.

The post Catholic Response to the Reformation – Bishop Frederick Campbell appeared first on The Coming Home Network.

Click Here to purchase this talk as an mp3, CD, or DVD.

Click Here to purchase the full set of available talks from the 2009 Deep in History Conference.

Study Questions:

-Calvin wanted to bring Christianity back to it’s Christian “roots” in the Early Church, back to what he called “the
simple Gospel.” What is Howell’s response to Calvin’s method?

-Howell enumerates four tones of Cardinal Jacopo Sadoleto’s letter to John Calvin in Geneva. How could the cardinal’s tones be applied to evangelizing those outside the Catholic Church today?

-Howell stated, “Nothing should be more distasteful than someone introducing into Christianity something that Christ has not taught.” What do you think about this statement?

-What does Cardinal Sadoleto say in his letter to John Calvin about “faith alone”? What does the Latin word habitus mean in terms of salvation?

-What are the differences between Catholic and Calvinist views on justification and works? What is the difference between justification and sanctification? How does the Catholic Church respond to this?

-Howell believes that one of Calvin’s biggest mistakes was that he began to look at the Fathers of the Church selectively. What does it mean to “selectively” look at historical data?

-Why does Howell say that all of Calvinism can be summed up in the spirit of Iconoclasm?

Vocabulary:

Renaissance humanism: The term generally applied to the predominant social philosophy and intellectual and literary currents of the period from 1400 to 1650. The return to favor of the pagan classics of antiquity stimulated the philosophy of secularism, the appreciation of worldly pleasures, and above all intensified the assertion of personal independence and individual expression.

Cardinal Jacopo Sadoleto: A well-educated and faithful servant of the papacy in many negotiations under successive
popes, especially as a peacemaker, his major aim was to win back the Protestants by peaceful persuasion and by putting Catholic doctrine in a conciliatory form, famously writing to the people of John Calvin’s Geneva, urging them to return to the Catholic faith.

Early Church Fathers: A title that gradually came to be applied to Christianity’s earliest teachers, who in the period of the Church’s infancy and first growth, instructed her members in the teaching of Jesus Christ and that teaching which He very specifically had given to His Apostles. An Early Church Father must be of must be of orthodox doctrine and learning, living a saintly life, and having a certain antiquity (usually, prior to the Council of Chalcedon, 451).

Iconoclasm: “Image-breaking”; the heresy against the veneration of images that, in the 8th and 9th centuries, disturbed the peace of the Eastern Church and later the Frankish kingdom to the west.

Resources:

• Dr. Kenneth Howell’s written conversion story
• Dr. Howell’s Journey Home Program episodes  1 | 2 | 3  | 4
• Dr. Howell’s books  Clement of Rome & the Didache | Ignatius of Antioch & Polycarp of Smyrna | Something Greater Is Here (memoirs)
• Grant, Edward. The Foundations of Modern Science in the Middle Ages: Their Religious, Institutional and Intellectual Contexts
• Grant, Edward. Science and Religion, 400 B.C. to A.D. 1550: From Aristotle to Copernicus
• Grant, Edward. God and Reason in the Middle Ages
• Grant, Edward. A History of Natural Philosophy: From the Ancient World to the Nineteenth Century
• John Paul II, Pope. Ut Unum Sint
• Ray, John. The Wisdom of God Manifested in the Works of Creation
• Sungenis, Robert. Not by Faith Alone: A Biblical Study of the Catholic Doctrine of Justification

The post Calvin and the Radical Reformation – Dr. Kenneth Howell appeared first on The Coming Home Network.

Click Here to purchase this talk as an mp3, CD, or DVD.

Click Here to purchase the full set of available talks from the 2009 Deep in History Conference.

Study Questions:

-Was there anything from Martin Luther’s younger days that surprised you? How did that help you to better understand his ultimate actions? 

-What were some of Luther’s sentiments towards the Catholic Church? What were his sentiments toward other breakaway, Christian groups?

-What was the end of Luther’s life like?

-As Dr. Thigpen describes Luther’s theology, how did Luther view the human person? How does this differ from the Catholic Church’s view of the human person? 

-What were the “four historical ironies” of Luther’s theology that Dr. Thigpen lists? How does this help you put your personal belief system into perspective? 

Resources:

• Dr. Paul Thigpen’s Amazon author page
• Dr. Thigpen’s The Journey Home episodes: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, Paul & Leisa Thigpen
• Dr. Thigpen’s Deep in Scripture episodes: The Rapture, Bread of Life Discourse, “Master are you going to wash my feet?”, Romans 8
• Dr. Thigpen’s written conversion story, His Open Arms Welcomed Me
• Dr. Thigpen’s Deep in History Conference talks: “Luther”; “Martyrs”; “Southeastern Missions”; “From Topeka to Rome:How the Pentecostal Movement Has Brought Millions Closer to the Catholic Faith”; “Spiritual Authority — Who Needs It?”; “Tales of Thomas, Judas, & the Magdalene: The Fourfold Gospel & the False Gospels”; “You Have Received Gold, So Pass It On: Sacred Tradition in the Life of the Early Church”

The post Martin Luther – Dr. Paul Thigpen appeared first on The Coming Home Network.

Click Here to purchase this talk as an mp3, CD, or DVD.

Click Here to purchase the full set of available talks from the 2009 Deep in History Conference.

Study Questions:

-Why must we ask ourselves if the language of Jesus is figurative or real? What are Dr. Hahn’s reflections on this idea?

-What is the importance of the “marriage metaphor” in understanding Christian theology?

-How does St. Thomas Aquinas’ musings on “freedom” help you better understand the “rules” of Christianity? How did the Via moderna affect the understanding of “freedom”?

-What difference do “intellectuals” actually make? Do you think ideas have consequences, in light of Dr. Hahn’s talk?

-In what intellectual environment did Martin Luther grow up? How do you think this affected his reformation?

-Dr. Hahn discusses the theological theory that God’s Law and Power are arbitrary, stemming from Machiavelli’s idea that “the ends justify the means.” How does this theory then portray God (“Despotic deity” vs. “Loving Father”)? What consequences could this theory have?

-Dr. Hahn described the importance of recognizing “how we think about things without thinking about them.” Did this talk open up your eyes to anything that you might have “thought of without thinking about”?

-Why is God’s “Fatherhood” important, according to Dr. Hahn? Consider one of the Protestant views on the importance of the papacy to Christianity, which Dr. Hahn lists. Did any of his reasons surprise you?

Vocabulary:

Via Antiqua: “Old Way”

Via Moderna: “Modern” or “New Way”

Marsilius of Padua: The Italian political philosopher (c. 1275-1342) who wrote Defensor pacis, which attacked many of
the arguments used to support the political and temporal authority of the papacy.

Manichaeism: A heresy that developed in the third century that was fundamentally gnostic and dualistic, positing an opposition between the realm of good (spirit) and evil (matter).

Donatism: A heresy that developed in the fourth century, which purported that only those living a blameless life belonged in the church, and, further, that the validity of any sacrament depended upon the personal worthiness of the priest administering it.

Resources mentioned:

The post The Forerunners of the Reformation – Dr. Scott Hahn appeared first on The Coming Home Network.