Author Archive for: TurretinFan

Suppose you are reading through the writings of Gregory of Nazianzus and you hear him say that either the apostle Peter or the bishop of Rome is “entrusted with the chief rule over the people, in other words, the charge of the whole world.” Would you think that he was affirming the universal jurisdiction and primacy of the Roman see?

Johann Joseph Ignaz von Döllinger wrote the important work, “The Pope and the Council.” One of his interesting observations regarding the mutation of the papacy is this: Innocent Iv. supplemented the hierarchical organization by adding a link hitherto wanting to the papal chain, when he established the principle that every cleric must obey the Pope, even if he commands what

Bryan Cross at Called to Communion posted a response to Keith Mathison’s book, “The Shape of Sola Scriptura.” Dr. Mathison’s detailed response to Bryan Cross may be found at the following link (link). Dr. Mathison nails many of the central issues, without trying to be exhaustive. In particular, I think that the readers may enjoy the first portion of the

The term “Molinism” is making it into the headlines of the blogosphere a lot these days. So perhaps you want to know, in thirty seconds, how Molinism differs from Calvinism. The short answer is that Molinism views man’s will differently, and that consequently Molinism holds to “middle knowledge” to explain how God can have a comprehensive plan for all of

Francis Beckwith explains (in a blog entry / column titled: “Transubstantiation: From Stumbling Block to Cornerstone“): The Catholic doctrine of the Eucharist is a real stumbling block to some Protestants who are seriously considering Catholicism. It was for me too, until I explored the subject, historically and scripturally. Transubstantiation is one of those Roman dogmas that spectacularly fails the tests

One of the claims we sometimes hear from Rome’s apologists these days is that the Scriptures are materially sufficient, but that they are not formally sufficient. This sounds better, no doubt, than simply saying that the Scriptures are “insufficient.” In a series of posts, Pastor David King and I (TurretinFan) are exploring the topic of the sufficiency of scripture in

Jesus explicitly repudiated people who singled out his mother for special attention. For example: Luke 11:27-28 And it came to pass, as he spake these things, a certain woman of the company lifted up her voice, and said unto him, Blessed is the womb that bare thee, and the paps which thou hast sucked. But he said, Yea rather, blessed

Some of Rome’s rejections of Scriptural truth are more clear than others. One particularly clear set of examples comes from the dogmatic Constitution, “Unigenitus,”dated Sept. 8, 1713, and authorized by Clement XI. I’ve previously posted a full list of the 101 “errors” condemned (link to full list). There many alleged errors identified. I’ve taken the liberty to highlight a few

“Here I wish to affirm once more that religion can never justify intolerance or war. We cannot kill in God’s name!” (Benedict XVI, Verbum Domini, Post-Synodal Apostolic Exhortation, September 30, 2010, Part 3) Desiring with an ardent desire to liberate the Holy Land from the hands of the ungodly, we decree with the advice of prudent men who are fully

Lord willing, I (TurretinFan) will be appearing on Chris Arnzen’s radio show, Iron Sharpens Iron, from 7-8 pm EST (4-5 pm PST). The topic will be the Formal Sufficiency of Scriptures. The show can be heard over the air in Long Island and Connecticut, and can be heard via live streaming anywhere there is Internet (www.Sharpens.org & www.AM1240WGBB.com). It is

Roman Catholic Michael Liccione recently provided a comment in the comment box of a Roman Catholic blog that I think highlights two of the problems with Roman Catholic theology: (1) the disparaging of the authority of Scriptures themselves; and (2) the deification of “the Church.” He said: What’s needed is a concrete, communal, continuous locus of “the sources” that is

Over at Called to Communion, in the comment box, Bryan Cross wrote: In the first century, no one needed to confess that Christ is homoousious with the Father. But after the fourth century, to deny the homoousious is to fall into heresy. This is dead wrong and gets things exactly backwards. It has always been heresy to

Augustine wrote: It is by these manners of speech, when we speak of things that do not happen to God as though they did, that we acknowledge it is he who makes them happen to us, those things at least that are praiseworthy, and these only to the extent that scriptural usage allows it. I mean, we certainly ought not

I recently received an email from someone who was trying to argue that Augustine “clearly” taught that Mary was immaculate conceived. The person writing to me provided the following quotation (emphasis is his): “Now with the exception of the holy Virgin Mary in regard to whom, out of respect for the Lord, I do not propose to have a single

During Dr. James White’s debate with Christopher Ferrara on the alleged sinlessness and Immaculate Conception of Mary, Mr. Ferrara questioned the fact that a half dozen popes taught or held a position contrary to the dogma that was later defined as the dogma of the Immaculate Conception. Dr. White provided a citation to Schaff, the respected church historian, who identified

On Saturday, August 28, 2010, Dr. James White debated Mr. Christopher Ferrara on the topic of Mary’s alleged sinlessness and immaculate conception. While the debate audio/video are not (to my knowledge) yet available for purchase, here are a few points that I’d like to address. 1) Does Ineffabilis Deus lie about the patristic testimony? During the debate, Dr. White brought

Christians are those who follow Christ, who have faith in Christ for salvation. They ascribe to him power and glory, which they do not ascribe to any creature. They have one mediator, as it is written: 1 Timothy 2:5-6 For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus; who gave himself a ransom

It seems as though whenever we bring up the subject of Roman Catholics worshiping Mary, someone who is a Roman Catholic will say: “Go to your local parish, and as people are leaving Mass, ask them if they worship Mary!” Their expectation, of course, is that the folks at the local parish will say that they do not worship Mary.

Athanasius’ canon of Scripture, presented in his 39th Festal letter is famous. It’s not nearly as famous as his “Athanasius Contra Mundum” rejection of the Arian heresy, but it is probably the second most famous aspect of Athanasius’ life today (his excellent letter to Marcellinus on the Psalms was famous in ancient times and perhaps we can revitalize interest in