Race, Sex and Social Justice: The Impact of Herbert Marcuse in America

Last updated on: October 16, 2022 at 9:21 am By Anthony Costello

It seems redundant to point out that with every cry of racial injustice and every call to right racial wrongs, there is an equally forceful cry of sexual oppression and call for total sexual equality. This coupling of two very different aspects of the human condition: race and sex (or gender), has become quite commonplace. So much so that the idea of distinguishing between the two has nearly vanished in recent history. Making the obvious distinctions between the Civil Rights movement... Read more

20 Common Sense Truths People Hate

Last updated on: February 7, 2024 at 8:14 am By Anthony Costello

Recently Jordan Peterson interviewed Catholic philosopher Peter Kreeft. Kreeft is one of the wisest voices in American intellectual culture today. In the interview, when asked about a common theme that runs through his many books, Kreeft spoke about the intersection of abstract and theoretical thought (3.20-4.10) with that of common sense. Referencing Chesterton’s book on St. Thomas Aquinas, Kreeft mentions Chesterton’s insight into how Aquinas’ brilliance in abstract, metaphysical thinking never overshadowed or conflicted with Aquinas’ practical sense about the world and... Read more

Do We Need A New Apologetic?: Responding to the New Paganism

Last updated on: February 20, 2024 at 2:14 pm By Anthony Costello

Since the late 17th century, the defense of the Christian faith has primarily been made with respect to the veracity of its claims. With the emergence of modern philosophy, however, and the great emphasis in the West on natural science as the main, if not sole, source and arbiter of truth, Christian apologists since the time of Montaigne have had to demonstrate the rationality of the Christian faith using evidence and arguments. While this line of rational apologetics goes further... Read more

Recovering From a Heart Attack (Conclusion): Giving Thanks & What Will Change?

Last updated on: September 30, 2022 at 2:51 pm By Anthony Costello

This is the final post in a series about my recent heart attack and quadruple bypass surgery. In the first post, I wrote about the importance of suffering in the life of the Christian man or woman. Suffering as a disciple of Christ opens us up to new opportunities to know our God and become more compassionate and understanding toward our neighbor. In the second entry, I discussed the beautiful family of God, the Church. The Church is the only... Read more

Recovering From a Heart Attack (Part 4): Experiencing God & The Fellowship of Christ’s Sufferings

Last updated on: September 30, 2022 at 2:39 pm By Anthony Costello

In this series, I am recounting the work of God in my own life. This is a personal testimony to the reality and goodness of God. I testify to this in the context of a very common type of contemporary trial: a heart attack, quadruple bypass surgery and ensuing recovery. While many will be skeptical of personal testimony as evidence of anything supernatural or transcendent, the Bible tells us specifically that it is by the blood of the Lamb (that’s... Read more

Recovering From A Heart Attack (Part 3): The Mercy of God & Demons Next Door

Last updated on: September 30, 2022 at 2:31 pm By Anthony Costello

It has often been said that the greatest apologetic for the truth of the Christian faith is the beauty of the Church and the lives of her saints. In this series, I am relating a personal account, the story of my recent heart attack, surgery and recovery. I do this as evidence of God and His Goodness. While there is always place for abstract arguments for God’s existence, and historical ones for the reality of Jesus Christ and the truth... Read more

Recovering From A Heart Attack (Part 2): The Beautiful Family of God

Last updated on: September 30, 2022 at 2:15 pm By Anthony Costello

In this series, I am articulating my own experience of living through a heart attack, major surgery and convalescence. The first post in this series is here, and I would ask readers to consult it initially. This type of event: “heart attack-surgery-convalesce” is not unusual for men my age and in my day-in-age. But I am interpreting these experiences through a theological lens. I am talking about them as a follower of Christ, whose religion speaks volumes about the necessity... Read more

Recovering From A Heart Attack (Part 1): When God Takes You On A “Detour”

Last updated on: April 16, 2023 at 8:35 pm By Anthony Costello

A note to my readers: This next series will cover some personal ground. In my articles, I usually do not relate details of my personal life, not to any great detail at least. I do this out of a handful of convictions: first, because I believe in our culture we overemphasize the “personal narrative,” or “lived experience.” We often do this at the expense of the publicly accessible fact. It is not that the former are unimportant, but today they... Read more

What Should Christians Study?: Part 4 – Spiritual Formation

Last updated on: September 11, 2022 at 11:06 am By Anthony Costello

One fundamental element of Christian discipleship is the pursuit of sacred knowledge. We might say that sacred knowledge is knowledge of God and His activity in the world and, in relation to those, of ourselves: of our lives and our purpose. One means to pursue sacred knowledge is direct, through mystical experience. The other is through various intellectual activities grounded in propositional knowledge, that is, study. Both are important, since either one without the other can lead to serious failures... Read more

What Should Christians Study?: Part 3 – Church History

Last updated on: September 2, 2022 at 7:00 pm By Anthony Costello

Continuing in this series on what makes for a robust program of Christian discipleship and learning, I now turn to a third, fundamental domain of sacred knowledge: the study of Church History. If there is one area of Christian study that has clearly been neglected in recent years, especially by Evangelicals, it is this one. The atrocious lack of knowledge of history in general, let alone Church History, is a glaring mark against the contemporary Church in America. If we... Read more