Author Archive for: tquid

   It’s all too easy to get caught up in rhetoric and ad hominem with someone presenting a counter position. Paul instructs Christians to slander no one, and to be peaceable and considerate as we strive to show true humility toward all men (Titus 3:2). This goal can be easily forgotten. Particularly in written dialog, things we write not intended as

   If you ever engage those who advocate Catholic apologetics, you’re probably familiar with the argument that Catholics are unified in their beliefs, while Protestants are not. A Roman Catholic apologist recently stated this common caricature in a blog entry against me: “The same thing happens with Protestants, in their internal squabbles. This is one of the ongoing tragedies of Protestantism.

   I’ve spent a lot of time chasing Luther quotes, particularly those put forth by Catholic apologists. Back in November, I posted a brief review of a Martin Luther quote used by Steve Ray in his book Crossing the Tiber: Evangelical Protestants Discover the Historical Church. The quote suggested Luther wrote a letter to Zwingli telling him only a Church Council

“Just when I thought that James Swan has forgotten me, my book, and the issue of the Old Testament canon, he reappears on the Alpha & Omega website with a canon article.I really respect James Swan even though I have never had the pleasure of meeting him. He seems to try to base his position on research and I’m glad

   For Roman Catholics, the Council of Trent made the official pronouncement on the canon of Scripture, and in that pronouncement determined the apocrypha was sacred Scripture. What criteria did Trent use to determine which books of the Bible were canonical? Some of the answers I’ve been given are, “Trent did not determine the canon, they simply reaffirmed the canon,” and

“Swan struck me as a real lightweight, and the above seems to verify my suspicion. He is a ‘wanna-be’ and it seems like he tries to puff out his chest to look bigger than he actually is.”     “It seems he is a James White wanna-be, though he’s no where near as clever.”    These are recent comments directed towards me

While looking through Catholic apologist Steve Ray’s blog, I came across a very brief entry that I found curious: Would Today’s Reformed & Presbyterians Agree? Jean Calvin, father of the multiple Reformed & Presbyterian denominations, said: “Persons who persist in the superstitions of the Roman Antichrist . . . deserve to be repressed by the sword.” Harkness, Georgia, John

“If the world lasts for a long time, it will again be necessary, on account of the many interpretations which are now given to the Scriptures, to receive the decrees of councils, and take refuge in them, in order to preserve the unity of faith.” Epis. ad. Zwingli (ap. Balmes, p. 423)” – Martin Luther    It is an odd occurrence

I have the New Catholic Answer Bible sitting under a pile of books on my desk. A while back, I posted my initial review, The New Catholic Answer Bible (Part One). After documenting this “Answer Bible” did not contain the answers about the particular aspects of Roman Catholicism that I’ve been looking for, it easily made its way to the

In a previous entry, I explored the alleged parallel in the development of the Roman Catholic Marian dogmas and the Trinity. Recall, Catholic apologist Steve Ray recently sought to validate the Marian dogmas as developing like the Trinity developed. To hear Ray’s assertion, listen to this recent Dividing Line broadcast.    I pointed out the Marian dogmas are not mined from

   After this past Thursday’s Dividing Line, I’ve been looking around for any type of response from Steve Ray or his supporters. One person on Ray’s discussion board at the “world premier” quipped, “There was also some guy named J. White on the guest list, but he never showed.” Well, at least this may indicate some of his Ray’s supporters at

   After about a year of stopping myself, I finally picked up The New Catholic Answer Bible (Wichita: Fireside Catholic Publishing, 2005). The work appears to be some sort of collaboration between Dr. Paul Thigpen, editor of The Catholic Answer magazine and My Daily Catholic Bible (Our Sunday Visitor) and Dave Armstrong (a self-proclaimed Catholic apologist). Thigpen left the charismatic movement

I’ve been reading Van Til’s An Introduction To Systematic Theology. Van Til notes systematic theology seeks to offer an ordered presentation of what the Bible teaches about God. He says “the study of systematic theology will help men to preach theologically. It will help to make men proclaim the whole counsel of God. Many ministers never touch the greater part

The Scriptures are materially sufficient. This simply means the content of divine revelation God intends His people to have is contained entirely in Scripture. That is, all the doctrines Christians are to believe are found in the Bible. The Bible alone is a sufficient source for the believer. The Scriptures are God-breathed (2 Tim. 3:16), and the very voice of

Catholic apologist Patrick Madrid recently put up some comments via the Envoy forum on my earlier post. Of course, Patrick can’t inform the Envoy crowd exactly where my words were located, because he’s banned links to aomin. To my recollection, Patrick has not explained why, but my guess would be this article from Dr.White has something to do with it

The following disclaimer appears on the blog of Catholic apologist Dave Armstrong: “To the best of my knowledge, all of my theological writing is ‘orthodox’ and not contrary to the official dogmatic and magisterial teaching of ‘the Catholic Church. In the event of any (unintentional) doctrinal or moral error on my part having been undeniably demonstrated to be contrary to

Over on the Envoy boards, one of Patrick Madrid’s posts (which has been anchored firmly at the top for months) is an advertisement for his 1993 debate with James White on Sola Scriptura. Madrid says it is “a classic you won’t want to miss!” Madrid informs the Envoy folks, “Over the years, we have received many e-mails, letters, and personal

Catholic apologist Gary Michuta was on The Journey Home (8/6/07). Marianne from Pennsylvania called in and described her method of Bible study: she opens the Bible to any page, and then gets layers of meaning from the text. She wanted to know if this was a normal method of Biblical reading and interpretation. Here is the clip: Get the Flash

   I recently purchased The Scriptural Roots of Catholic Teaching by Chantal Epie (New Hampshire: Sophia Institute Press, 2002), subtitled, How the Bible Proves the Truth of the Catholic Faith. Sophia Institute Press says this book will give “solid scriptural proof” for a number of distinctly Catholic beliefs, the first being, “God’s revelation comes through the Bible, Tradition, and the Church’s

   Catholic apologist Dave Armstrong is now arguing Jonathan Edwards believed the saints in heaven see what’s happening on earth. Therefore, Dr. White should consider granting the validity of at least this basic aspect of Armstrong’s argument for intercessory prayer to the saints: “Jonathan Edwards would wholeheartedly agree with me on this general point of awareness of saints in heaven, of