In wrapping up his First Epistle, the Apostle Peter makes a cryptic reference to his location, stating that, “The church that is in Babylon, elected together with you, saluteth you: and so doth my son Mark.”[1] The “Mark” referenced here…
Reconquest, Crusade, and the “Llibre dels Fets”
In his broad survey of the crusading movement, Jonathan Riley-Smith paid homage to the Iberian monarchs James I of Aragon and Fernando III of Castile, referencing their military success in the thirteenth-century as well as the fact that “this extraordinary…
Some Musings on Papal Infallibility
In his work Innocent III and the Crown of Aragon: The Limits of Papal Authority, Damian Smith shares the words that Giovanni Capocci is supposed to have said to that Pope: ‘Your words are God’s words, but your works are…
Did St. Thomas Aquinas Believe that the Virgin Mary was a Sinner?
I recently came across an article entitled, What is the difference between Mariology and Mariolatry?, attributed to the late Reformed Theologian, R.C. Sproul.[1] In it, the author says the following: “Thomas [Aquinas] saw that Mary’s Son was also Mary’s Savior…
Book Review: Church in the Wild
Grainger, Brett Malcolm. Church in the Wild: Evangelicals in Antebellum America. Harvard University Press. Cambridge, 2019. Reviewed by: Nicholas Gulda Church in the Wild: Evangelicals in Antebellum America seeks to revise the historical record regarding the attitude towards nature taken…
Sahih Muslim and the Immaculate Conception
This past summer, I was reading Jessica Coope’s monograph on the Martyrs of Córdoba. While discussing the religious climate in the ninth-century capital of al-Andalus, she says the following: “…[B]y the ninth century a hadith was generally accepted which states…
Visigoth Identity in the Trastámara Dynasty
[Note: This post is derived from a term paper that I was assigned in a class on Islamic Spain, where I was tasked with writing a quasi pre-thesis prospectus on topics that I might want to pursue as a Master’s…
The Martyrs of Córdoba: Part III
[Note: The posts on the Martyrs of Córdoba are derived from a term paper that I was assigned in a class on Islamic Spain, where I was tasked with writing a pre-thesis prospectus of sorts, on topics that I might want…
The Martyrs of Córdoba: Part II
In Part I, we took a look at the historical context of the Martyrs’ Movement in 9th century Córdoba. In Part II we will examine how scholars have grappled with the question of what motivated the martyrs to confront Islamic authorities in the way that they did.
The Martyrs of Córdoba: Part I
[Note: The posts on the Martyrs of Córdoba are derived from a term paper that I was assigned in a class on Islamic Spain, where I was tasked with writing a pre-thesis prospectus of sorts, on topics that I might…