Abortion and Christianity

A Christianist takes on Garry Wills:

Stating "Aquinas said" is not the same as saying "Christendom said" or even "the Catholic Church said." The church did not accept his arguments wholesale. For instance, the church ultimately rejected Aquinas' arguments against the immaculate conception of the blessed Virgin Mary. Indeed, Wills' own championing of Aquinas would be a touch more credible if he were equally enthusiastic of Aquinas' arguments that both contraception and homosexual sex are gravely sinful and that only men can be ordained to the priesthood.

Will's op-ed can be read here. With typical MSM cluelessness, the LA Times does not provide a link to the article being rebutted on the same page. Money quote:

John Henry Newman, a 19th century Anglican priest who converted to Catholicism, once wrote that "the pope, who comes of revelation, has no jurisdiction over nature." The matter must be decided by individual conscience, not by religious fiat. As Newman said: "I shall drink to the pope, if you please -- still, to conscience first, and to the pope afterward."

I think this is what Jonah Goldberg, in dissecting my book, called the "divinization of conscience." No. Just the primacy of conscience. Ponnuru's take is here. Not Garry Wills' finest hour, I'd say.