{"version":"https://jsonfeed.org/version/1","title":"Micro.blog - Andrew Belfield","home_page_url":"https://micro.blog","feed_url":"https://micro.blog/posts/drewbelf","_microblog":{"about":"https://micro.blog/about/api","id":"98142","username":"drewbelf","bio":"historical theologian. assistant professor of theology & Franciscan studies. very amateur photographer & moviegoer.","pronouns":"he/him","is_following":false,"is_you":false,"following_count":175,"discover_count":0},"author":{"name":"Andrew Belfield","url":"https://andrewbelfield.com/","avatar":"https://avatars.micro.blog/avatars/2025/50/98142.jpg"},"items":[{"id":"95845094","content_html":"

Hinsdale, NY, August 2026

\n\"Two\n","summary":"","url":"https://micro.andrewbelfield.com/2026/08/15/hinsdale-ny-august.html","date_published":"2026-08-16T01:40:20+00:00","author":{"name":"Andrew Belfield","url":"https://andrewbelfield.com/","avatar":"https://cdn.micro.blog/photos/96/https%3A%2F%2Favatars.micro.blog%2Favatars%2F2025%2F50%2F98142.jpg","_microblog":{"username":"drewbelf"}},"_microblog":{"date_relative":"2026-08-16 01:40","date_timestamp":1786844420,"is_favorite":false,"is_bookmark":false,"is_deletable":false,"is_conversation":true,"is_linkpost":false,"is_mention":false,"is_podcast":false,"note":"","syndication":[]}},{"id":"95770856","content_html":"
\n

Lost Weekend asks a powerful question: How do you tell a story that includes so many contradictory elements, conflicting perspectives, shadowy corners and hidden passageways, it changes shape every time you touch it? (npr.org)

\n
\n","summary":"","url":"https://micro.andrewbelfield.com/2026/08/14/lost-weekend-asks-a-powerful.html","date_published":"2026-08-14T16:29:59+00:00","author":{"name":"Andrew Belfield","url":"https://andrewbelfield.com/","avatar":"https://cdn.micro.blog/photos/96/https%3A%2F%2Favatars.micro.blog%2Favatars%2F2025%2F50%2F98142.jpg","_microblog":{"username":"drewbelf"}},"_microblog":{"date_relative":"2026-08-14 16:29","date_timestamp":1786724999,"is_favorite":false,"is_bookmark":false,"is_deletable":false,"is_conversation":false,"is_linkpost":false,"is_mention":false,"is_podcast":false,"note":"","syndication":[]}},{"id":"95409537","content_html":"

St. Paul, MN, August 2026

\n\"A\n","summary":"","url":"https://micro.andrewbelfield.com/2026/08/08/st-paul-mn-august.html","date_published":"2026-08-08T15:30:06+00:00","author":{"name":"Andrew Belfield","url":"https://andrewbelfield.com/","avatar":"https://cdn.micro.blog/photos/96/https%3A%2F%2Favatars.micro.blog%2Favatars%2F2025%2F50%2F98142.jpg","_microblog":{"username":"drewbelf"}},"_microblog":{"date_relative":"2026-08-08 15:30","date_timestamp":1786203006,"is_favorite":false,"is_bookmark":false,"is_deletable":false,"is_conversation":false,"is_linkpost":false,"is_mention":false,"is_podcast":false,"note":"","syndication":[]}},{"id":"95351988","content_html":"

Jay Cooke State Park, MN, August 2026

\n\"A\n","summary":"","url":"https://micro.andrewbelfield.com/2026/08/07/jay-cooke-state-park-mn.html","date_published":"2026-08-07T14:00:00+00:00","author":{"name":"Andrew Belfield","url":"https://andrewbelfield.com/","avatar":"https://cdn.micro.blog/photos/96/https%3A%2F%2Favatars.micro.blog%2Favatars%2F2025%2F50%2F98142.jpg","_microblog":{"username":"drewbelf"}},"_microblog":{"date_relative":"2026-08-07 14:00","date_timestamp":1786111200,"is_favorite":false,"is_bookmark":false,"is_deletable":false,"is_conversation":false,"is_linkpost":false,"is_mention":false,"is_podcast":false,"note":"","syndication":[]}},{"id":"95305809","content_html":"

Target Field, Minneapolis, July 2026

\n\"A\n","summary":"","url":"https://micro.andrewbelfield.com/2026/08/06/target-field-minneapolis.html","date_published":"2026-08-06T17:36:30+00:00","author":{"name":"Andrew Belfield","url":"https://andrewbelfield.com/","avatar":"https://cdn.micro.blog/photos/96/https%3A%2F%2Favatars.micro.blog%2Favatars%2F2025%2F50%2F98142.jpg","_microblog":{"username":"drewbelf"}},"_microblog":{"date_relative":"2026-08-06 17:36","date_timestamp":1786037790,"is_favorite":false,"is_bookmark":false,"is_deletable":false,"is_conversation":false,"is_linkpost":false,"is_mention":false,"is_podcast":false,"note":"","syndication":[]}},{"id":"94178129","content_html":"

On Fritz Eichenberg’s woodcuts for The Catholic Worker:

\n
\n

For the Catholic Left, faith became political by reorganizing life from below; through labor, hospitality, solidarity with the poor, social conscience, & praxis. It is precisely this vision that animates Fritz Eichenberg’s wood engravings: made through strenuous manual labor, depicting the toil & suffering of ordinary people, while also suffused with a spiritual gravity that refuses to separate holiness from work or suffering from dignity. In Eichenberg’s hands, art itself becomes a form of witness, showing that the Gospel is not a message to be...

\n
micro.andrewbelfield.com","summary":"","url":"https://micro.andrewbelfield.com/2026/07/17/on-fritz-eichenbergs-woodcuts-for.html","date_published":"2026-07-17T16:18:50+00:00","author":{"name":"Andrew Belfield","url":"https://andrewbelfield.com/","avatar":"https://cdn.micro.blog/photos/96/https%3A%2F%2Favatars.micro.blog%2Favatars%2F2025%2F50%2F98142.jpg","_microblog":{"username":"drewbelf"}},"_microblog":{"date_relative":"2026-07-17 16:18","date_timestamp":1784305130,"is_favorite":false,"is_bookmark":false,"is_deletable":false,"is_conversation":false,"is_linkpost":false,"is_mention":false,"is_podcast":false,"note":"","syndication":[]}},{"id":"93532717","content_html":"

This is old news now, which helps me feel a bit less sheepish about sharing it, but I received a couple awards from SBU in the spring: the Faculty Appreciation Award & the Junior Faculty Award. The latter link offers a nice write-up of some of the work I’ve done at SBU.

\n\"Jacqueline\n","summary":"","url":"https://micro.andrewbelfield.com/2026/07/06/this-is-old-news-now.html","date_published":"2026-07-06T15:49:48+00:00","author":{"name":"Andrew Belfield","url":"https://andrewbelfield.com/","avatar":"https://cdn.micro.blog/photos/96/https%3A%2F%2Favatars.micro.blog%2Favatars%2F2025%2F50%2F98142.jpg","_microblog":{"username":"drewbelf"}},"_microblog":{"date_relative":"2026-07-06 15:49","date_timestamp":1783352988,"is_favorite":false,"is_bookmark":false,"is_deletable":false,"is_conversation":false,"is_linkpost":false,"is_mention":false,"is_podcast":false,"note":"","syndication":[]}},{"id":"91078381","content_html":"

Pope Leo on the need for a slow education:

\n
\n

In an era when truth is often distorted in order to serve particular interests & communication strategies, the field of education assumes decisive importance. Yet rapid technological transformations reveal just how unprepared we are on the educational level. The pervasiveness of digital media fosters a culture of immediacy & hyper-stimulation, which gives rise to fatigue, boredom & apathy concerning the effort required for seeking the truth.

\n

Education, by contrast, is a long journey requiring patience, & therefore needs time for development & for engagement...

\n
micro.andrewbelfield.com","summary":"","url":"https://micro.andrewbelfield.com/2026/05/28/pope-leo-on-the-need.html","date_published":"2026-05-28T13:44:12+00:00","author":{"name":"Andrew Belfield","url":"https://andrewbelfield.com/","avatar":"https://cdn.micro.blog/photos/96/https%3A%2F%2Favatars.micro.blog%2Favatars%2F2025%2F50%2F98142.jpg","_microblog":{"username":"drewbelf"}},"_microblog":{"date_relative":"2026-05-28 13:44","date_timestamp":1779975852,"is_favorite":false,"is_bookmark":false,"is_deletable":false,"is_conversation":false,"is_linkpost":false,"is_mention":false,"is_podcast":false,"note":"","syndication":[]}},{"id":"91078146","content_html":"

Humanity flourishes not despite limitations, but often through them: micro.andrewbelfield.com

","summary":"","url":"https://micro.andrewbelfield.com/2026/05/28/humanity-flourishes-not-despite-limitations.html","date_published":"2026-05-28T13:40:09+00:00","author":{"name":"Andrew Belfield","url":"https://andrewbelfield.com/","avatar":"https://cdn.micro.blog/photos/96/https%3A%2F%2Favatars.micro.blog%2Favatars%2F2025%2F50%2F98142.jpg","_microblog":{"username":"drewbelf"}},"_microblog":{"date_relative":"2026-05-28 13:40","date_timestamp":1779975609,"is_favorite":false,"is_bookmark":false,"is_deletable":false,"is_conversation":false,"is_linkpost":true,"is_mention":false,"is_podcast":false,"note":"","syndication":[]}},{"id":"91077349","content_html":"
\n

We cannot consider AI to be morally neutral. In reality, every technical tool embodies choices & priorities through what it measures, ignores & optimizes, & how it classifies people & situations. If a system is designed or used in a way that treats some lives as less worthy, or excludes them without the possibility of appeal, then it is not merely a tool “to be used well,” since it has already introduced criteria that contradict the inalienable dignity of the human person.

\n
\n

Magnifica humanitas, no. 104

\n","summary":"","url":"https://micro.andrewbelfield.com/2026/05/28/we-cannot-consider-ai-to.html","date_published":"2026-05-28T13:29:06+00:00","author":{"name":"Andrew Belfield","url":"https://andrewbelfield.com/","avatar":"https://cdn.micro.blog/photos/96/https%3A%2F%2Favatars.micro.blog%2Favatars%2F2025%2F50%2F98142.jpg","_microblog":{"username":"drewbelf"}},"_microblog":{"date_relative":"2026-05-28 13:29","date_timestamp":1779974946,"is_favorite":false,"is_bookmark":false,"is_deletable":false,"is_conversation":false,"is_linkpost":false,"is_mention":false,"is_podcast":false,"note":"","syndication":[]}},{"id":"90962656","content_html":"
\n

It is not possible to provide a single, comprehensive definition of AI. What can be stated, however, is that we must avoid the misconception of equating this type of “intelligence” with that of human beings. These systems merely imitate certain functions of human intelligence. In doing so, they often surpass human intelligence in speed & computational capacity, offering tangible benefits across many fields. Yet this power remains entirely tied to data processing. So-called artificial intelligences do not undergo experiences, do not possess a body, do not feel joy or pain, do not mature through...

\n
micro.andrewbelfield.com","summary":"","url":"https://micro.andrewbelfield.com/2026/05/26/it-is-not-possible-to.html","date_published":"2026-05-26T19:27:08+00:00","author":{"name":"Andrew Belfield","url":"https://andrewbelfield.com/","avatar":"https://cdn.micro.blog/photos/96/https%3A%2F%2Favatars.micro.blog%2Favatars%2F2025%2F50%2F98142.jpg","_microblog":{"username":"drewbelf"}},"_microblog":{"date_relative":"2026-05-26 19:27","date_timestamp":1779823628,"is_favorite":false,"is_bookmark":false,"is_deletable":false,"is_conversation":false,"is_linkpost":false,"is_mention":false,"is_podcast":false,"note":"","syndication":[]}},{"id":"90960447","content_html":"
\n

Technological innovations, including artificial intelligence, are not neutral, for they can either foster participation & justice or exacerbate inequality, control & exclusion. For this reason, they must be evaluated by asking a crucial question: Do they truly help individuals & peoples to become more humane & fraternal, while respecting our common home & future generations?

\n
\n

Magnifica humanitas, no. 85

\n","summary":"","url":"https://micro.andrewbelfield.com/2026/05/26/143055.html","date_published":"2026-05-26T18:30:55+00:00","author":{"name":"Andrew Belfield","url":"https://andrewbelfield.com/","avatar":"https://cdn.micro.blog/photos/96/https%3A%2F%2Favatars.micro.blog%2Favatars%2F2025%2F50%2F98142.jpg","_microblog":{"username":"drewbelf"}},"_microblog":{"date_relative":"2026-05-26 18:30","date_timestamp":1779820255,"is_favorite":false,"is_bookmark":false,"is_deletable":false,"is_conversation":false,"is_linkpost":false,"is_mention":false,"is_podcast":false,"note":"","syndication":[]}},{"id":"90887084","content_html":"

Magnifica humanitas is making me want to reread de Lubac’s Catholicism.

\n","summary":"","url":"https://micro.andrewbelfield.com/2026/05/25/magnifica-humanitas-is-making-me.html","date_published":"2026-05-25T17:32:16+00:00","author":{"name":"Andrew Belfield","url":"https://andrewbelfield.com/","avatar":"https://cdn.micro.blog/photos/96/https%3A%2F%2Favatars.micro.blog%2Favatars%2F2025%2F50%2F98142.jpg","_microblog":{"username":"drewbelf"}},"_microblog":{"date_relative":"2026-05-25 17:32","date_timestamp":1779730336,"is_favorite":false,"is_bookmark":false,"is_deletable":false,"is_conversation":false,"is_linkpost":false,"is_mention":false,"is_podcast":false,"note":"","syndication":[]}},{"id":"90857065","content_html":"

When I was a senior eleven years ago at St. Bonaventure University, on a field trip to the Abbey of the Genesee as part of the senior theology research seminar on Christian mysticism, I bought this single-decade rosary. I held it in my pocket almost every day for the next six years, through a master’s degree...

micro.andrewbelfield.com","summary":"","url":"https://micro.andrewbelfield.com/2026/05/24/when-i-was-a-senior.html","date_published":"2026-05-25T02:56:40+00:00","author":{"name":"Andrew Belfield","url":"https://andrewbelfield.com/","avatar":"https://cdn.micro.blog/photos/96/https%3A%2F%2Favatars.micro.blog%2Favatars%2F2025%2F50%2F98142.jpg","_microblog":{"username":"drewbelf"}},"_microblog":{"date_relative":"2026-05-25 02:56","date_timestamp":1779677800,"is_favorite":false,"is_bookmark":false,"is_deletable":false,"is_conversation":false,"is_linkpost":false,"is_mention":false,"is_podcast":false,"note":"","syndication":[]}},{"id":"90796168","content_html":"

Michael Elliot on what makes college fun:

\n
\n

AI is a certainty machine: Ask a question, get an answer. But the most important questions don’t work that way, & learning to live inside them, & to enjoy living inside them, may be the most valuable thing that a liberal education can teach. In all the hand-wringing about higher education & its future, we risk turning our colleges into joyless job preparation, political death matches, or both. We’ve forgotten the most important thing of all—that thinking can be deeply pleasurable.

\n
\n","summary":"","url":"https://micro.andrewbelfield.com/2026/05/23/michael-elliot-on-what-makes.html","date_published":"2026-05-23T23:43:06+00:00","author":{"name":"Andrew Belfield","url":"https://andrewbelfield.com/","avatar":"https://cdn.micro.blog/photos/96/https%3A%2F%2Favatars.micro.blog%2Favatars%2F2025%2F50%2F98142.jpg","_microblog":{"username":"drewbelf"}},"_microblog":{"date_relative":"2026-05-23 23:43","date_timestamp":1779579786,"is_favorite":false,"is_bookmark":false,"is_deletable":false,"is_conversation":false,"is_linkpost":false,"is_mention":false,"is_podcast":false,"note":"","syndication":[]}},{"id":"90416892","content_html":"

Let’s go:

\n
\n

Pope Leo XIV’s first Encyclical Letter Magnifica humanitas, on preserving the human person in the age of artificial intelligence, will be released on May 25, 2026.

\n

It bears the Pope’s signature dated May 15th, 135th anniversary of the publication of Pope Leo XIII’s encyclical Rerum novarum. (vaticannews.va)

\n
\n","summary":"","url":"https://micro.andrewbelfield.com/2026/05/18/lets-go-pope-leo-xivs.html","date_published":"2026-05-18T14:22:32+00:00","author":{"name":"Andrew Belfield","url":"https://andrewbelfield.com/","avatar":"https://cdn.micro.blog/photos/96/https%3A%2F%2Favatars.micro.blog%2Favatars%2F2025%2F50%2F98142.jpg","_microblog":{"username":"drewbelf"}},"_microblog":{"date_relative":"2026-05-18 14:22","date_timestamp":1779114152,"is_favorite":false,"is_bookmark":false,"is_deletable":false,"is_conversation":false,"is_linkpost":false,"is_mention":false,"is_podcast":false,"note":"","syndication":[]}},{"id":"87721440","content_html":"

I don’t want to boast, but I also really want to share the following from a review of the Cambridge Companion to Christology:

\n
\n

Indeed, the most rewarding chapters in this 20-author work are compelling overviews that order & explain complex issues. Donald Fairbairn offers an exemplary narration of the journey from the apostolic era to the Council of Chalcedon in 451, not getting lost in names & heresies, but explicating & clarifying at every turn. Andrew Gertner Belfield provides an outstanding account of the notoriously intricate hinterland of the medieval debates.

\n
\n","summary":"","url":"https://micro.andrewbelfield.com/2026/04/06/i-dont-want-to-boast.html","date_published":"2026-04-06T20:21:39+00:00","author":{"name":"Andrew Belfield","url":"https://andrewbelfield.com/","avatar":"https://cdn.micro.blog/photos/96/https%3A%2F%2Favatars.micro.blog%2Favatars%2F2025%2F50%2F98142.jpg","_microblog":{"username":"drewbelf"}},"_microblog":{"date_relative":"2026-04-06 20:21","date_timestamp":1775506899,"is_favorite":false,"is_bookmark":false,"is_deletable":false,"is_conversation":true,"is_linkpost":false,"is_mention":false,"is_podcast":false,"note":"","syndication":[]}},{"id":"85275325","content_html":"

Just found this quotation from Jack Hanson’s Substack in my drafts. Still relevant, unfortunately.

\n
\n

The obscenity of state violence is very often matched by its absurdity. Against the incomprehensible terror of human destruction, the causes raised for willfully bringing it about begin to look callous & vicious, yes, but also thin, flimsy, ridiculous. This is why the Catechism, for example, outlines quite strict conditions for a just war, requiring even “serious prospects of success,” & then under the broader aegis of defense. It is a far more exacting standard than any society has followed, but, apart...

\n
micro.andrewbelfield.com","summary":"","url":"https://micro.andrewbelfield.com/2026/03/01/just-found-this-quotation-from.html","date_published":"2026-03-01T14:17:39+00:00","author":{"name":"Andrew Belfield","url":"https://andrewbelfield.com/","avatar":"https://cdn.micro.blog/photos/96/https%3A%2F%2Favatars.micro.blog%2Favatars%2F2025%2F50%2F98142.jpg","_microblog":{"username":"drewbelf"}},"_microblog":{"date_relative":"2026-03-01 14:17","date_timestamp":1772374659,"is_favorite":false,"is_bookmark":false,"is_deletable":false,"is_conversation":false,"is_linkpost":false,"is_mention":false,"is_podcast":false,"note":"","syndication":[]}},{"id":"85250586","content_html":"

Cuba, NY. January 2026.

\n\"A\n","summary":"","url":"https://micro.andrewbelfield.com/2026/02/28/cuba-ny-january.html","date_published":"2026-03-01T02:04:34+00:00","author":{"name":"Andrew Belfield","url":"https://andrewbelfield.com/","avatar":"https://cdn.micro.blog/photos/96/https%3A%2F%2Favatars.micro.blog%2Favatars%2F2025%2F50%2F98142.jpg","_microblog":{"username":"drewbelf"}},"_microblog":{"date_relative":"2026-03-01 02:04","date_timestamp":1772330674,"is_favorite":false,"is_bookmark":false,"is_deletable":false,"is_conversation":false,"is_linkpost":false,"is_mention":false,"is_podcast":false,"note":"","syndication":[]}},{"id":"81210339","content_html":"

@JohnBrady right – whatever the claim “God exists” is, it’s not a scientific one. I was also struck in that conversation by Harris’s remarkably unsophisticated view of Scripture. Much of what he seems to think must be standard Christians views of Scripture are in fact extremely modern & not at all representative. As you say, one would think the first step to critiquing an opponent is understanding the opponent’s actual views.

\n","url":"https://micro.blog/drewbelf/81210339","date_published":"2026-01-02T18:06:37+00:00","author":{"name":"Andrew Belfield","url":"https://andrewbelfield.com/","avatar":"https://cdn.micro.blog/photos/96/https%3A%2F%2Favatars.micro.blog%2Favatars%2F2025%2F50%2F98142.jpg","_microblog":{"username":"drewbelf"}},"_microblog":{"date_relative":"2026-01-02 18:06","date_timestamp":1767377197,"is_favorite":false,"is_bookmark":false,"is_deletable":false,"is_conversation":true,"is_linkpost":false,"is_mention":true}},{"id":"81201327","content_html":"

Cuba, NY, 2026.

\n\n","summary":"","url":"https://micro.andrewbelfield.com/2026/01/02/cuba-ny.html","date_published":"2026-01-02T15:30:00+00:00","author":{"name":"Andrew Belfield","url":"https://andrewbelfield.com/","avatar":"https://cdn.micro.blog/photos/96/https%3A%2F%2Favatars.micro.blog%2Favatars%2F2025%2F50%2F98142.jpg","_microblog":{"username":"drewbelf"}},"_microblog":{"date_relative":"2026-01-02 15:30","date_timestamp":1767367800,"is_favorite":false,"is_bookmark":false,"is_deletable":false,"is_conversation":false,"is_linkpost":false,"is_mention":false,"is_podcast":false,"note":"","syndication":[]}},{"id":"81165340","content_html":"

First day hike. Cuba, NY, 2026.

\n
\n\"Two\"A\n
\n","summary":"","url":"https://micro.andrewbelfield.com/2026/01/01/first-day-hike-cuba-ny.html","date_published":"2026-01-01T23:22:55+00:00","author":{"name":"Andrew Belfield","url":"https://andrewbelfield.com/","avatar":"https://cdn.micro.blog/photos/96/https%3A%2F%2Favatars.micro.blog%2Favatars%2F2025%2F50%2F98142.jpg","_microblog":{"username":"drewbelf"}},"_microblog":{"date_relative":"2026-01-01 23:22","date_timestamp":1767309775,"is_favorite":false,"is_bookmark":false,"is_deletable":false,"is_conversation":false,"is_linkpost":false,"is_mention":false,"is_podcast":false,"note":"","syndication":[]}},{"id":"81102781","content_html":"

Recollections of 2025: micro.andrewbelfield.com

","summary":"A year in 12 vignettes.","url":"https://micro.andrewbelfield.com/2025/12/31/recollections-of.html","date_published":"2025-12-31T23:17:30+00:00","author":{"name":"Andrew Belfield","url":"https://andrewbelfield.com/","avatar":"https://cdn.micro.blog/photos/96/https%3A%2F%2Favatars.micro.blog%2Favatars%2F2025%2F50%2F98142.jpg","_microblog":{"username":"drewbelf"}},"_microblog":{"date_relative":"2025-12-31 23:17","date_timestamp":1767223050,"is_favorite":false,"is_bookmark":false,"is_deletable":false,"is_conversation":false,"is_linkpost":true,"is_mention":false,"is_podcast":false,"note":"","syndication":[]}},{"id":"81091098","content_html":"Finished reading: Vatican I: The Council and the Making of the Ultramontane Church by John W. O’Malley 📚\n\nAn excellent study of the council most famous for its definition of papal infallibility. But the significance O’Malley’s work goes far beyond Vatican I, engaging questions concerning the history of the... micro.andrewbelfield.com","summary":"","url":"https://micro.andrewbelfield.com/2025/12/31/finished-reading-vatican-i-the.html","date_published":"2025-12-31T19:51:51+00:00","author":{"name":"Andrew Belfield","url":"https://andrewbelfield.com/","avatar":"https://cdn.micro.blog/photos/96/https%3A%2F%2Favatars.micro.blog%2Favatars%2F2025%2F50%2F98142.jpg","_microblog":{"username":"drewbelf"}},"_microblog":{"date_relative":"2025-12-31 19:51","date_timestamp":1767210711,"is_favorite":false,"is_bookmark":false,"is_deletable":false,"is_conversation":false,"is_linkpost":false,"is_mention":false,"is_podcast":false,"note":"","syndication":[]}},{"id":"80887311","content_html":"\n

Currently reading: Vatican I: The Council and the Making of the Ultramontane Church by John W. O’Malley 📚

\n","summary":"","url":"https://micro.andrewbelfield.com/2025/12/28/currently-reading-vatican-i-the.html","date_published":"2025-12-28T16:06:16+00:00","author":{"name":"Andrew Belfield","url":"https://andrewbelfield.com/","avatar":"https://cdn.micro.blog/photos/96/https%3A%2F%2Favatars.micro.blog%2Favatars%2F2025%2F50%2F98142.jpg","_microblog":{"username":"drewbelf"}},"_microblog":{"date_relative":"2025-12-28 16:06","date_timestamp":1766937976,"is_favorite":false,"is_bookmark":false,"is_deletable":false,"is_conversation":false,"is_linkpost":false,"is_mention":false,"is_podcast":false,"note":"","syndication":[]}},{"id":"80726757","content_html":"

Julian of Norwich on the incarnation:

\n
\n

When Adam fell, God’s Son fell: because of the rightful oneing which had been made in heaven, God’s Son might not [be disparted] from Adam. (For by Adam I understand All-Man.) Adam fell from life to death, into the deep of this wretched world, & after that into hell: God’s Son fell with Adam, into the deep of the Maiden’s womb, who was the fairest daughter of Adam; & for this end: to excuse Adam from blame in heaven & in earth; & mightily He fetched him out of hell.

\n
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@ReaderJohn one of my favorites

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@ablerism this is a very cool idea! I’m teaching a course on Bonaventure this fall but I’m bookmarking this in case I ever teach a course on Thomas

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@ChrisJWilson yeah I think that’s a big part of what irks me: the attempt to argue that Christians ought to be stingier with their love on Augustinian/Thomistic/Catholic theological grounds. Whatever Vance thinks Augustine & Aquinas say, he’s plainly mistaken or misreading them for his own ends.

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@ChrisJWilson one has to assume he similarly qualifies a great many of Jesus’s teachings!

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@JohnBrady I believe he believes himself to be devout. But he doesn’t seem to have been particularly well catechized.

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@drewbelfield.net I have that piece queued up for this afternoon!

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@JohnBrady yes, that’s my thinking as well: I want to honor everyone whose work went into the film. Sometimes the credits can run long, but what’s a few more minutes? (Plus I like having a few minutes to hear the score & reflect on what I’ve just seen before jumping back into my life.) That monologue approach sounds very cool. I’ll have to check it out.

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@JohnBrady is there a reason not to? That’s a sincere question. I can think of lots of reasons to do it, but not many not to do it. The most compelling one I can think of is if the theater employees are under pressure from their supervisors to get the theater cleaned up & ready for the next show

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@drewbelfield.net Honorable mention to what I think is the most “me” sketch (inspired by @viktorfrankly.bsky.social)

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@tinyroofnail thanks! I love shooting stone architecture like this in black & white

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@KyleEssary falling asleep for me. I don’t usually have too much trouble staying asleep (although I do tend to wake up about an hour or two before my alarm is set) but sometimes I can’t fall asleep until 2:00 or so. The more stressed I get, the harder I find it to sleep.

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@dmahfood.bsky.social I’m not sure why they kept making Christmas movies after this one. It’s hard to top Michael Caine shouting at puppets.

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@cougar98.bsky.social Think about it. Two shows. That’s better.

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@ablerism this is a great question! I thought Helen Sword’s Stylish Academic Writing was good.

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@tinyroofnail @KyleEssary oh, I’ve had Winner’s book on my list for a while now. Too much to read! I haven’t seen Rememory, but I vaguely remember when it was coming out. I do like Peter Dinklage.

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@ReaderJohn yeah, Bruenig’s great, isn’t she? I don’t think she’d disagree with you here—she’s aware of the Lord’s prayer, of course, & the fact that she calls forgiveness a personal virtue must mean forgiveness is in some sense for the forgiver’s benefit, insofar as virtue cultivates happiness. Still, I find instructive the reminder that forgiveness is not primarily about making ourselves feel good in a self-help kind of way. That’s how I read her main concern in that portion of the interview, anyway.

\n

I’m praying for your brother’s repose, & for peace for you & yours today.​

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@KyleEssary I don’t think I’ve read Volf since grad school—I’ll have to check that out. I can see grace via forgetting being an interesting complement to Metz’s dangerous memory

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@chrisheck me too. I’m kind of hoping sometime to have the 3 things building to a larger point or even having connections among the 3 things week to week. But for now I’m just trying to keep up a weekly routine

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@ReaderJohn I don’t intend my juxtaposition of quotes to refuse duty to family as much as to point out that Christian responsibility to those in our care (including family) is rather more complicated than Vance seems to suggest. Your citation, of course, complicates matters further. One way of thinking through these complications, at least by my lights, is to recognize that the ways Jesus radically revises familial relations (Mt 10, 12) means that fidelity to familial duty (1 Tim 5) involves responsibilities to not only one’s biological kin but also & especially those who are “least” (Mt 25). St. Francis of Assisi & James Alison, inter alia, inform my thinking on this.

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@JohnBrady it would be more honest that way, that’s for sure

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@MultoGhost yeah, his brand of Christianity is one that I don’t really recognize (& he & I both are Catholic)

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@JohnBrady good to know. I feel I need a phone that can do at least a little more than call & text—but that’s probably a failure of imagination on my part

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@jonah I’ve been seriously considering a light phone. I need to learn more about it & see whether it meets my needs (or whether I can find workarounds for what it doesn’t meet)

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@jonah oh this is nice

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