You would think they would get the idea, but I have concluded that Rome’s apologists really do not care about the refutation of their claims. They have an audience that is not going to be doing much looking at “the other side,” so they do not have to advance their arguments in the realms of accuracy, truthfulness, or depth. Protestant rebuttals? What Protestants? That seems to be their motto.
I refer specifically to a blog article posted by Tim Staples on January 18th, pointed out to me just now on Twitter by @BrianBlock2010 (HT). Aside from the normal exegetical and historical errors that mark Tim’s standard anti-biblical sufficiency rants, we find this paragraph:
According to Scripture, the Church—not the Bible alone—is the final court of appeal for the people of God in matters of faith and discipline. But isn’t it also telling that since the Reformation of just ca. 480 years ago—a reformation claiming sola scriptura as its formal principle—there are now over 33,000 denominations that have derived from it?
There it is again. How many years have passed since we absolutely, completely, and with finality, blew this fictional number out of the water? Well, the longest post I published on this topic can be found here. It is dated August of 2007. That is over six years ago, of course. (I have revisited the issue a few times since, adding even further documentation. See here, here and here, for example). I point out numerous problems with the usage of the 33,000 number drawn directly from the primary source. Do Rome’s apologists care about the inaccuracy of their number? Evidently not, as Staples continues to repeat the same error over and over again. Surely helps to explain how they massacre church history regarding the papacy and the development of Rome’s dogmas as well!
Tags: 33000 Roman Catholicism Sola Scriptura Tim Staples
