Author Archive: Laura McAlister
Laura is a baby Catholic, research student, writer, tea-drinker and aspiring countess from Sydney, Australia. Formerly an Evangelical Protestant, she came back to the Catholic Church in 2012. She disturbs the universe at Catholic Cravings.
Calvinism vs the Sacred Heart of Jesus
Calvinism is a Protestant theological system based on the writings of John Calvin (1509 – 1564), a Protestant Reformer most famously associated with Geneva. Calvin was brilliant, harsh and very persuasive. Calvinism almost killed my faith in Jesus. Like all good heresies, Calvinism is an intellectually coherent theological system that ultimately destroys the heart of Christianity. It starts […]
7 Reasons Christianity is the Most Persecuted Religion in the World
Last night, I asked my family what percentage of religious persecution in the world they thought was directed at Christians. They guessed about 30%. After all, they said, Christians are about one-third of the global population so that would make sense, right? When I told them it was closer to 80%, they initially refused to believe […]
Five Ways Christians Live Holy Saturday Every Day
Holy Saturday is an odd, quiet day. Stuck between the agony of Good Friday and the joy of Easter Sunday, it is a day of middles and “alreadys but not yets”. In many ways, Holy Saturday is a symbol for the Christian life. As Christians, we live Holy Saturday. 1. Experientially, we live Holy Saturday. […]
Purity Balls: the Good, the Bad, and the Catholic
He kneels before me, taking my hand in his, and slips a ring on my finger. I look it at: it’s beautiful, so sparkly, and I’m in awe of what it symbolises. This is what love is, I think. He tells me how glad he is so that he is able to give me ring, […]
Which Battle are You Fighting this Lent?
This week, we are in the midst of the battle. Lent is a battle. It’s our “campaign of Christian service,” as the Ash Wednesday collect says. At the beginning, we can be so gung-ho about Lent. We’ve gathered our weapons and put on the armor of God. (If we have loins to gird, we might even do that […]
Gatecrashing the Trinity: Don Miller and Why Catholics Go to Mass
Don Miller is a prominent Evangelical Christian writer. And he doesn’t go to church much… at all. But wait, I hear you saying, don’t all Christians go to church? Isn’t that kind of a non-negotiable? I mean, how could he not!? Don says he doesn’t go to church because “it’s not how I learn.” He describes […]
Can You Be Catholic and Feminist?
About a week ago, I saw an article pop up here on Ignitum Today called Roots, Fruits, and Feminism. I eagerly clicked on the link, wondering what new light it could shed on feminism. (I’ll be honest, I love me some old-fashioned feminist rants!) Then I realised, oh dear me, this wasn’t any old article about Feminism. Oh no. This one […]
Why Do Catholics and Protestants Have Different Bibles?
It was one of the odder things about returning to the Catholic Church. Suddenly I realised that I had seven more books, and a few extra chapters, in my Bible than I did as a Protestant. This is because the Protestant Bible has 39 books in the Old Testament, the Catholic Old Testament has 46 (yay […]
What to Expect When You’re Converting to the Catholic Church
Becoming Catholic is a tricky business. When I left my wonderful Evangelical church two years ago, I didn’t know what to expect. Now I’m a self-confessed Converty Pants (a term I made up for nerdy converts/reverts like myself!) So I’d like to share with you what you can expect when you’re converting to the Catholic Church… Expect […]
