That’s the question at the heart of this essay — which, among other things, notes that a lot of Catholics on the web use Macs (including, I confess, Your Humble Blogger.)

The author notes:

I’ve noticed a rather interesting correlation between prominent Catholics on the web and Mac users.

Those who want to understand why should read a 15-year-old essay by novelist Umberto Eco, “The Holy War: Mac vs. DOS.” Published in the Italian newsweekly Espresso on September 30, 1994, the essay is firmly tongue-in-cheek, but like the best humor, it works because it’s based in truth.

Eco writes, “I am firmly of the opinion that the Macintosh is Catholic and that DOS is Protestant.” Explaining this distinction, he continues:

Indeed, the Macintosh is counter-reformist and has been influenced by the ratio studiorum of the Jesuits. It is cheerful, friendly, conciliatory; it tells the faithful how they must proceed step by step to reach — if not the kingdom of Heaven — the moment in which their document is printed. It is catechistic: The essence of revelation is dealt with via simple formulae and sumptuous icons. Everyone has a right to salvation

What a difference from the world of MS-DOS:

DOS is Protestant, or even Calvinistic. It allows free interpretation of scripture, demands difficult personal decisions, imposes a subtle hermeneutics upon the user, and takes for granted the idea that not all can achieve salvation. To make the system work you need to interpret the program yourself: Far away from the baroque community of revelers, the user is closed within the loneliness of his own inner torment.

You’ll want to check out the rest.

And, if you’re feeling truly nostalgic, check out the clip below, when the world got its very first glimpse of Mac in the flesh (so to speak). It happened exactly 25 years ago: January 24, 1984. The fellow in the bow tie is the pre-turtleneck Steve Jobs.

And the rest really is history.