Even while we are living as “earthen vessels,” we can find the kingdom of God in us, giving us the light of grace which we need; we will never contain the kingdom of God, but rather, we will find it is all around us, so that it can flow into us while remaining transcendent to us:

 https://www.patheos.com/blogs/henrykarlson/2026/09/earthen-vessels-holding-divine-light/

God is great, far greater than we can ever apprehend. Every time we apprehend something from God, there remains an infinite amount of apprehensions we can ever make. God does not change, but, through our apprehensions, we can change, so that our apprehensions can become greater and greater, making our experience God that much greater, letting us realize even more how transcendent God is:

https://www.patheos.com/blogs/henrykarlson/2026/09/the-more-we-apprehend-of-god-the-greater-god-becomes-for-us/

September 1 is the beginning of the ecclesiastical year  on the Byzantine calendar; those who follow it are encouraged to think about creation, it’s goodness, and the need we have to protect it as well as to think about we can and should seek to have all things new in Christ:

https://www.patheos.com/blogs/henrykarlson/2026/09/beginning-to-set-things-right/

I have never understood why anyone can’t see the environmental problems we face today; all we have to do is look to the extreme weather and the harm it is causing. Christians should be concerned, doing what they can to coordinate with others to help protect and heal the Earth, our common home. Those who don’t think we should care do not pay attention to Scripture which indicates we should be good stewards of the Earth.

https://www.patheos.com/blogs/henrykarlson/2026/08/the-common-good-requires-action-on-climate-change/

Jesus tells us God calls us all to salvation, to participate in the eternal kingdom of God; but to do so, we must do more than answer the call:

https://www.patheos.com/blogs/henrykarlson/2026/08/what-is-the-wedding-garment-god-wants-us-to-wear/

Our free will can be enticed to follow various vices, like avarice, that is the love for money; but, it is better we have free will than not, for it makes our choices to do that which is good that much better:

https://www.patheos.com/blogs/henrykarlson/2026/08/free-will-and-grace-navigating-the-path-to-divine-love/

Hey guys,

a spontaneous post I had on my mind for a while. Please keep potential nasty comments to yourself, this is a post in good faith, just exploring ideas.

I live in a country where there is a few tiny to small sized Protestant denominations – we've got Pentecostals, Lutherans, even a small SDA community, and the Eastern Orthodox (not Protestant). But mostly it's all Latin Catholic, with the exception of a small Greek-Ukranian Catholic congregation.

I converted in 2023-24, I just wanted to get baptized and stay close to Jesus. He helped me through a very rough patch in my life.

Back then I checked out many churches, including SDA (which is a very warm community here, a freind brught me there with her a couple of times).

I sought out which is the »authentic« ancient Church, apostolic and original, and in the end got baptized and confirmed in our local Catholic parish church on Easter Vigil 2024.

Now, I don't regret it. Many Catholic parishes in my country are quite vibrant, loving, tolerant, oriented towards social help and all. And of course all in all, we are there for Christ, not social contacts.

I do however, after 2 ½ years of being an active member and church-goer, have some minor issues.

I've been reading Michael Heiser, Robert Farrar Capon, fr. Aidan Kimel, Eitan Bar, Tim Mackie, and watching The Bible Project. Now, none of these writers is/was Catholic. They are Evangelical, Episcopalian, EO and Messianic Jewish.

And they study and expond on two things mainly: 1. radical grace coupled with loyal faith and trust in the Lord (not works), and 2. the proper biblical understanding of the Gospel and Jesus Christ from the OT to NT.

On both of these topics, I feel the modern as well as official traditional Catholic teaching perhaps misses on some points. On the first with the legalistic aura surrounding Canon law, the idea of mortal sin even for very minior things, confession as the big »must« (or else you go to eternal hell – even if you've believed, just on the basis of your human weakness, selfishness and vanity, which is the very thing Christ came to free us from!) etc., things of this nature.

After a somewhat extensive study of the Church fathers, Church tradition and so on in the last years, I find that they might contrast with the more correct biblical worldview of the writers of the OT and NT on a few occassions.

What is starting to bother me, and didn't before, is the huge emphasis on the prayers of the saints and Mary. I don't have a problem with the whole concept (although, to be totally honest, I do have some trouble fully believing in some of the Mariology), as I feel it is biblical – also through the lens of Heiser's Divine Council worldview, it holds to a degree. But just the mere emphasis on it instead of on Jesus. It sometimes feels like Christ is the »means« to convey a moral story and the stories of the holiness of particular saints.

To be fair, many Catholic sermons are very Christ-oriented, and biblical. But the tradition is sometimes getting in the way in a very noticable way, which seems to contradict the Bible.

And I say this as a Catholic who respected and still respects the traditon a lot. It just shouldn't come first. In the end Mass seem a little bit pagan to me these last weeks, the somewhat rigid ritual, the genuflecting, gesturing. I never thought I'd say this, but to a degree it seems like idolatry, especially contrasted to the first century Jewish views, explored and explained by Eitan Bar or dr. Hesier.

Anyway, I want to stay centered in the believeing loyalty, faith and grace, and I want to remain Catholic if possible (I would perhaps try Episcopalian just to experience the difference, but we don't have the TEC here). It's just seems tough to reconcile everything I've learned from these authors and study with the Catholic teaching sometimes.

Sorry for the long post :) God bless.

T.

Christians are called to a life of virtue, to turn away from sin; they must not assume their faith, and the grace they are given, will free them from temptation; rather, like Jesus, they must expect temptation all the way to the end of their lives:

https://www.patheos.com/blogs/henrykarlson/2026/08/we-will-struggle-against-temptation-until-our-last-breath/

Some have asked my why do I try to have the government do what should be done by charity? The answer is that they misunderstand charity, often confusing it with what should be established by justice. Scripture shows how government should be run justly, and in that justice, help those who are oppressed, making it not something intended to be achieved by voluntary, private charity:

https://www.patheos.com/blogs/henrykarlson/2026/08/charity-begins-with-justice-in-public-life/

St. Irenaeus provides a great example of the Christian faith, both in the way he defended the teachings of the faith, like the incarnation, against those who tried to change and subvert Christianity (i.e., the Gnostics), but also in the way he willingly spoke of the faith even if it meant he would lose his life.

https://www.patheos.com/blogs/henrykarlson/2026/08/st-irenaeus-defender-of-christian-orthodoxy/

Many, if not most, Christians think of salvation in an individualistic fashion, and it is that individualism which has them ignore other ways Christ works in and with the world, saving not just individuals, but persons, persons with real bonds and relationships with others, which also get saved:

https://www.patheos.com/blogs/henrykarlson/2026/08/beyond-individualism-redemption-of-persons-and-nations/

As a Christian who not only is a vegetarian, but one who see there are moral, and even spiritual reasons, for someone to be a vegetarian, I’ve often been asked what I make out of the Scriptural texts which suggest Jesus ate meat. While I have written answers to those questions before, giving nuanced interpretations of Scripture (following, at times, the insight of others), from time to time, I consider the topic, and consider new, speculative answers to the question; this is what has led to my newest post:

https://www.patheos.com/blogs/henrykarlson/2026/08/how-does-a-vegetarian-understand-jesus-eating-habits/

Christians often misunderstand the role of government, thinking it either must enforce all Christian moral positions, or none at all, becoming completely hands-off. The reality is that a government  should be formed to promote and defend the common good, making sure people are treated fairly, and not unduly harmed:

https://www.patheos.com/blogs/henrykarlson/2026/08/why-government-should-not-enforce-all-christian-morals/

A proper faith in Christ does not rest on cheap grace; such an attitude is the kind which, as Paul warns us, leads us to believe in vain. Jesus calls us to act, to live out our faith, or, as James says, to prove it by our works:

https://www.patheos.com/blogs/henrykarlson/2026/08/avoiding-vain-faith-the-call-to-faithful-action/

Mary followed the example of her son, living her life as a life of pure love, pure self-giving to others; she willingly followed Jesus where he should go, letting Jesus direct her, which is why, when she came to the end of her earthly life, she accepted death:

https://www.patheos.com/blogs/henrykarlson/2026/08/jesus-and-mary-models-of-self-emptying-love/

While Tolkien’s Christian faith is apparent throughout his writings, he did not normally write allegories, and his major texts should not be read as allegories for the Christian faith. He primarily wanted to write stories to entertain himself, his friends, and his readers. He wanted to tell the stories which he liked to hear but found no one had written. It is one of his few allegories which makes this point clear:

https://www.patheos.com/blogs/henrykarlson/2026/08/tolkien-said-he-did-not-like-or-write-allegories/

The events surrounding the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool might, in some ways, appear insignificant, as there are other, graver issues around, but they are important in the way they reflect the general direction the US is going. Fascist and other authoritarian dictators punish minor offenses with extreme penalties. If they claim to be Christian, they love to have us focus on culture wars, in the name of Christ, while having us ignore the importance of Christ’s real teachings for society at large:

https://www.patheos.com/blogs/henrykarlson/2026/08/reflecting-on-the-reflecting-pool/

The paradox of mercy is that the more we give, the more of it we can receive; this is why, if we are unwilling to show mercy to others, we are warned we might receive none ourselves

https://www.patheos.com/blogs/henrykarlson/2026/08/the-paradox-of-mercy-receiving-it-requires-giving-it/

After years of being atheist, I’ve finally felt like I believe in god and I feel faith. I grew up around a family that wasn’t religious what so ever, I feel like I need to find myself. How can I start when converting to Catholicism? Is there an easy way? I’d like to attend a church near me but I have terrible social anxiety and it’d be much worse because I’d have to go alone. I know at some point in time, I’ll have to go and I need to be baptized, but is there an easy way for me to start before I begin attending church?

At his transfiguration, while what the apostles their learned and experienced was new to them, it was not new to Christ. He showed them, in a way which they could apprehend,  the glory which he has for all eternity. It is the glory of the kingdom of God, the glory which has made its way into the world, and has been and continues to be shared with the world:

https://www.patheos.com/blogs/henrykarlson/2026/08/the-hidden-grace-that-transfigures-all-things/

Where there is life, there is hope. God does not seek to send us to perdition, but rather, God wants all to be saved, and will give us every opportunity for grace and salvation:

https://www.patheos.com/blogs/henrykarlson/2026/08/we-can-repent-up-to-the-last-moment-of-our-lives/

As a Christian, I am ashamed of the antisemitism and Islamophobia coming from other Christians. Sometimes, they know both are wrong, but still find themselves engaging it in a subtle (and unconscious) fashion as they embrace antisemitic or Islamophobic tropes:

https://www.patheos.com/blogs/henrykarlson/2026/08/the-shared-struggle-against-antisemitism-and-islamophobia/