About the author

“Oratio Fidelis” is Latin for “prayer of the faithful.”

I wish to remain anonymous, but I will say that I was raised loosely as a Reform Jew, and became a materialist atheist in my teen years, until I converted to Catholicism at 17. I was a Latin “Extraordinary Form” Mass-obsessed traditionalist Catholic for about ten years, but have since left the Catholic Church to join the United Church of Christ.

I have a B.A. in Theology & Religious Studies from a Catholic university, and I spent most of my Catholic years studying Thomistic philosophy and ethics. Nowadays I am primarily focused on soteriology and determinism.

If you wish to excerpt my blog for any reason, you are free to do so. I only ask that you provide the link to the post you’re quoting if you are copying it verbatim.

Why do I call myself “Reformed”?

Any Christian denomination that traces its doctrinal ancestry to the Continental Reformed tradition begun by Huldrych Zwingli can properly be called “Reformed”, including the United Church of Christ, to which I currently belong.

I decline to use the term “Calvinist” because that suggests a close affinity with John Calvin’s beliefs, many of which I don’t share, especially: infernalism, limited atonement, penal substitution, inherited guilt, biblical inerrancy, political theocracy, presbyterian polity, iconoclasm, and the regulative principle of worship. However, generally speaking, I am fairly close to Reformed theology due to my beliefs in monergism, sovereign election, radical corruption, and memorialism.

What are my political views?

I don’t think billionaires should coexist in a world with child poverty. Whatever ideology(ies) you think that corresponds to is your business and not mine.

What Bible translation do I recommend?

The New Testament: A Translation by David Bentley Hart (2018) is the only one I can recommend without reservation.