A Welcome Return and a Sad Loss

I am very pleased to recommend the excellent article posted by Fr. Al Kimel (aka The Pontificator) on the subject of predestination. This one is a home run.

I do not believe God to be the absolute predestinarian of Augustine, Calvin, Beza, and Bañez. I do not believe God to be a God who has eternally decreed, before prevision of irrevocable rejection of divine love and forgiveness, the eternal salvation of some and the eternal reprobation of the rest. I am convinced that for all of his greatness, St Augustine went tragically astray on this matter of predestination and that his theory has had pernicious repercussions on the spiritual lives of Western Christians. The theory of absolute predestination calls into question, at the most fundamental level, the identity and character of God as revealed in Jesus Christ.

I know I am not alone in expressing my hope that this portends the return of Fr. Kimel from his self imposed blogging fast. Read the entire post here.

On a less sanguine note I am sorry to have to report that Sub Deacon Anderson's incredible blog Occidentalis is now accessible by invitation only. The blog has been dormant for some time but I maintained the link in the side bar due to the wealth of material on Western Orthodoxy in the archives. Should the blog become open to the public again I will happily restore the link.

Non Habemus Pontificator

Fr. Al Kimel better known to most of us simply as the Pontificator has announced the end of his blog Pontifications. His departure will leave a large void in the religious corner of the blogosphere. While most of us will undoubtedly feel a sense of loss at his departure, it sounds like his decision at least for now is the right one. Fr. Kimel wrote movingly of the personal and spiritual struggles in his life. Being torn from the Episcopal Church by its apostasy left him scarred. And as he wrote in his emotional farewell, some wounds do not fully heal. We all suffer at times from what Catholics used to call the dark night of the soul or what we Orthodox refer to more generally as spiritual warfare. And we must all do what we think is right under spiritual direction to deal with these crisis.

Thus it is with sadness that I bid farewell to the Pontificator whose website was one of the best on the web, and will likely remain the gold standard against which most other Catholic blogs are judged. Fr. Kimel was a great intellectual (and occasional critic of yours truly). Reading the lively and generally civil debates on Pontifications helped give me clarity at a time in my life when I really needed it. And for that I am deeply grateful. I ask the reader to keep Fr. Kimel in your prayers as he carries on in whatever calling God has in mind for him.

Pontiifcations has moved

Fr. Kimel has returned from his holiday and Pontifications has moved to a new site. Please note the new address in your book marks. The old site is still experiencing some technical problems but should be back up soon for archives.

Hat tip to Mike at Sacramentum Vitae.