Metaphysics and Philosophy

By Father John A. Hardon, S.J. It is most appropriate that the beginning of the New Year should be the Feast of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of God. The first day of a New Year reminds us of the beginning of things, the beginning of the world and of mankind. We commemorate, therefore, the […]

By Father John A. Hardon, S.J. The term “ethical culture” is commonly applied to a movement started by Felix Adler (1851-1933) in New York City in 1876. It has since come to be applied also to the societies which owe their origin to the principles of ethical culture, even when affiliated with other religious bodies […]

By Father John A. Hardon, S.J. Before we begin to answer what it means to believe, it may be useful to explain that faith is not some strange experience professed by some people and denied by others. Faith is a common possession of the human race. Aristotle defined man as a “rational animal.” We may […]

By Father John A. Hardon, S.J. Secularist leaders in growing numbers are telling the people that America needs an “entire separation of Church and State.” [1] Organizations like the American Humanist Association and Protestants and Other Americans United for Separation of Church and State are symptomatic of this frame of mind which, if sufficiently articulate, would […]

By Father John A. Hardon, S.J. Certain cases like the most recent discouragement of state movie censorship or the reputation for moral relativism in men like Oliver Wendell Holmes and Fred Vinson tend to obscure the authentic tradition of the nation’s highest judiciary body. With rare exception the Supreme Court has consistently recognized that most […]

By Father John A. Hardon, S.J. The most important area of Church and State co-operation is that of education. It is also the most delicate because it involves something more than collaboration in external details and presupposes a degree of harmony on the deepest issues that affect a man’s relations with God and his fellowmen. […]