St. Irenaeus Ministries

On Jacob's deathbed, he declares that Judah is the tribe from which a king will come. Similarly, Balaam prophesies that a king would come out of Jacob. Jer 31:31 prophesies a new covenant, and Isaiah prophesies a suffering servant whose life points to Christ. There are several covenants, those of creation, conscience, Noah, Abraham, the law, David, and the new covenant of Christ, each building on...

God promises to Abraham that through him, all the nations will bless themselves. God is so involved with man that He will even send an angel to wrestle with man, as Jacob does. We are told to not be unclean, and God will welcome us. Through this time, we can see many Christophanies in the Old Testament: Abraham's sacrifice of Isaac, his chosen son, Melchizedek, the priest who offers sacrifice of b...

Here begins a sweeping overview of salvation history. God created man because of love. God wants a relation with man, and man gropes after God. Prov 8:17 says that those who seek God diligently find Him, and Hebrews says something very similar. Sin clouds our minds, but even in Genesis 3, God promises an end to this state. In the very next chapter, the sin of eating the fruit has become murder.

From the Rochester NY Chesterton Society's 8th Annual Conference, Dale Ahlquist (President, American Chesterton Society) talks about the end of the world and how it factors into the world that God has created, a world of justice and peace, and a world that will undergo a revolution to conform it to God's plan. We must use our free will to be a part of this plan.  Whether or not you agree with ever...

In this recording from the 2011 Rochester NY Chesterton Conference, Hilaire Belloc (played by Kevin O'Brien) takes a sweeping overview of Christian history with a look at what he conceptualized as the five major heresies. Arianism, one of the earliest great heresies, claims that Jesus was not God but a creature. St. Athanasius and some military victories dealt a blow to the heresy, but so did the...

The Church can be divided into three parts: the Church Militant on Earth, the Church Triumphant in Heaven, and the Church Suffering in Purgatory. All parts of the Church are ceaselessly praying for each other, and it is through this prayer that God has chosen to place the vitality of the Church.

Through the saving power of Jesus Christ, death has been turned from a curse into a blessing. It is important to emphasize that this is indeed a blessing and not simply a lack of curse. In Christ, we will have communion with all others who are in Christ. We must therefore pray for our brethren and pray for those who are in Purgatory. Never fear to pray for a lost cause, as no prayer is ever wasted...

The majority of the church fathers are of the opinion that more people, indeed more people claiming to be Christian, will be damned than saved. There is a minority who hold an opposing opinion. As overly-optimistic visions of Hell are not particularly helpful, so too are hellfire speeches which luridly describe the punishments of Hell are not useful. Prayer, however, is never wasted.

There was a theory expounded by Origen, among others, that all would be saved, in some theories extending even to the Devil. While the Church has never officially ruled out the more moderate versions of this theory, the clear language of the Bible is very difficult to square with this belief. Still, we do not know what God knows, and there is no reason not to pray that we might have hope for salva...

Hell is not a pleasant subject, and some religions try to explain it away or ignore it entirely. How could a loving God commit any of his creation to unquenchable fire? The answer is that we choose it ourselves. The damned have physical bodies, because the body helped commit the sins that damned the soul, so should the body participate in the punishment. Thus, we must take care to instruct our bod...

God cannot be seen as He is unless He allows Himself to be seen, which is termed the beatific vision. This is an unapproachable light (1 Tim 6:16), but we expect to see face to face in Heaven (1 Cor 13:12, Ps 17:15). The Catechism also tells us that we will reign in heaven, though obviously not over God, and this implies that Heaven is not a static place. Rev 22, even taken literally, tells us tha...

Despite the physicality of Heaven, we cannot expect carnality or a fleshliness there. 1 Cor 13:12 tells us that we will be face to face with God, and there cannot be any attachment to anything else when we are. Rev 22 tells us that we will have His name inscribed on our foreheads, such will be the communion with the Trinity in Heaven. Section 1024f of the Catechism tells us that there will be many...

Benedict XII tells us that those who have died and have been purified or are not in need of purification are in Heaven, even before the resurrection. This is a place of surpassing beauty and where we will be in a union of love with God without any mediation. We must still be resurrected on the last day, since we were created to be a union of body and spirit, but Heaven is still a timeless part of...

Rev 21:27 says that nothing unclean shall enter Heaven, which is why it is necessary that there be a place where we are purified before we enter Heaven. 2 Maccabees explains that there must be a place, as there would be no sense in offering prayers for the dead otherwise. The Catechism, in section 1030ff, explains much about the doctrine of Purgatory. In Matt 12:31f, Jesus states that some things...

Even from Old Testament times, there have been writings of an intermediary place between Heaven and Earth, such as Wisdom 3, Psalms 6:5, 88:12, 94:17, Job 10:21f, Job 14:21 and these are confirmed by the saints, like St. Irenaeus. We know that this place has no knowledge of the world, but it is clear from I Sam 2:6, Job 26:6 and Psalms 86:13, 139:8 that God is still present in this place, and from...

Immediately upon separation from our bodies in death, we undergo our own particular judgment, and the judgment and pronouncement of the sentence are given. The actual execution of the sentence occurs later at the Final Judgment when Christ comes again. Daniel 12 and John 5 give us evidence for this. We will know at the particular judgment the justness of the sentence, but not until the final judge...

Wisdom tells us that ungodly people belong to death, but as Philippians 1 says, for the Christian, to live is Christ and death is gain. We would do well to remember that death, is the wages of sin, and that God's plan was to have man be immortal as God is. Death, however, has been transformed into a blessing by Christ. The saints also have much to say about the way to approach death.

God promises to punish Molech, the god of the Ammonites, and those who worship it, but the Ammonites will be restored afterward, as they are relatives of the Israelites, descended from Lot. God will also punish the Edomites, who had a marauding culture, but their children and widows He will keep alive. Other nations also have judgments against them. Babylon was used by God to exact judgment on Isr...

After God promises to punish Egypt, he promises to punish the Philistines, whose people were very advanced, possessing the ability to forge iron. God will punish them for the taking of the Ark of the Covenant, many, many years ago. Moab will also be punished for pride. In all of these cases, the true God is attacking the false gods. It is worthy of note that the language here echoes Numbers 21:27f...

The last few chapters of Jeremiah are rich in wordplay and in detail, and in some ways are like an entirely different book. There are many pronouncements made against Egypt, which has often been used to mean the world at large, but pride of worldly power is singled out for particular condemnation.

The word of the Lord comes to Jeremiah, and he tells those who escaped to Egypt that Nebuchadnezzar will conquer them and they will not come back. Those who have worshiped false gods, and who have taken wives who brought in worship of false gods, like the goddess Astarte, known as the queen of Heaven, have left God.  King Hophra of Egypt was already having trouble before Nebuchadnezzar came agains...

Jeremiah is cared for in Babylon, and Gedaliah is left as governor of Judah, since he did not go with the rebellion, and since he was not taken to Babylon. A marauder named Ishmael plots to kill Gedaliah, and since Gedaliah won't take efforts to stop him, Ishmael does kill him and all those who were with him. A while later, eighty other pilgrims come to give offerings in the temple, and Ishmael ki...

Some in the military hear the words of Jeremiah, and they plot to silence Jeremiah. King Zedekiah, like Pontius Pilate later, lets them do what they will. They put Jeremiah into a cistern and left him to die until Ebed-melech, a eunuch, comes to the defense of Jeremiah. Jeremiah is rescued, and Zedekiah asks Jeremiah to tell him the truth, and Jeremiah tells him to surrender. Zedekiah is afraid to...

The Babylonians approach Israel, and the people prepare for the attack. Extrabiblical accounts of this time exist in the Lachish Letters. At this time, some people make a sacred covenant to free their slaves, possibly as a cost-cutting measure, but when the impending army seems to be less of a threat, these people break their sacred covenant and take back their slaves. Jeremiah wrote down all the...

God declares again that He will restore both Israel and Judah, and declares that the king will be from their own, as opposed to being ruled from outside, and God will bring him near, as opposed to him daring to approach God. Even Samaria will come back to Zion. Jeremiah prophesies consolation for God's people after the exile, even the priests whom he has often prophesied hardship. The people will...