Archive for category: Roman Catholicism

People sometimes see what they want in allegory. If the chapter divisions in Isaiah were original, we would be tempted to place significance on the fact that the number of chapters in Isaiah is equal to the number of books in the canon. If we see the number 27 or 39 in an allegory, we might (less obviously) see the

Scott Alt recently posted “Questions for a Reformed Apologist.”  Dr. White and I (TurretinFan) responded on the Dividing Line, but the following provide some additional notes.

Pastor David King was of great help in providing the following example of an early church Father, a medieval Father, a Doctor of the Church (according to Rome), and a cardinal of the Roman church, all affirming imputation in some form or other. Bernard of Clairvaux (1090-1153): The fragrance of your wisdom comes to us in what we hear, for

Posted by Mark Shea on Friday, Nov 2, 2012 5:18 PM (EST): Luther, by the way, believed in the Immaculate Conception. “It is a sweet and pious belief that the infusion of Mary’s soul was effected without original sin; so that in the very infusion of her soul she was also purified from original sin and adorned with God’s gifts,

In a recent post, Steve Ray describes the “Protoevangelium of James” in this way: “This document was written in the early 2nd century and known and loved by the first Christians.” On the other hand, Thomas Aquinas described this same work as “apocryphal ravings.” (see also the Decree attributed to Pope Gelasius) Even the famous mariologist, Luigi Gambero, admits that

Excellent article from Jason Engwer. All Tiber treaders and swimmers should think about it.

I visited the Tiber a few years ago. It was green. Looked disgusting. I imagine there is some bad stuff in that water, and once you get it in your eyes, well, it really messes with your vision. Assuming the best, that you will eventually get that stuff cleared out of your eyes, and your head, I’d like to give

Tyler McNabb, a former Protestant who has decided to do the “cool thing” and apostatize, has shown he is to be taken as anything but serious by including in his “why I converted to Romanism” announcement the following statement: The principle of sola scriptura is not only self-defeating but the consequence of this doctrine is the creation of over 36,000

Jason Stellman has officially announced his intention to join the Roman communion at the “Called to Communion” blog. However, in the meantime, that post has been removed. It’s unclear why it was removed, but the following are comments on the post that was put up on July 24, 2012. Jason writes: Part of me has wished for a while now

More specifically, I no longer see the Reformed doctrines of Sola Scriptura and Sola Fide as faithfully reflecting what the Bible teaches, which is why I will, Lord willing, be received into full communion with the Catholic Church sometime in the next several months. Let’s ponder this a moment. Scripture never directs us to a higher authority than God’s own

Jason Stellman just announced his defection to Romanism in these words: More specifically, I no longer see the Reformed doctrines of Sola Scriptura and Sola Fide as faithfully reflecting what the Bible teaches, which is why I will, Lord willing, be received into full communion with the Catholic Church sometime in the next several months. Just a few weeks ago

If the Reformers were really were sent by God, where are their miracles to prove it? This was the very question I came across while listening to a Called to Communion conversion story. In this story, a former Mid-America Reformed Seminary alumni recounted how he and his wife journeyed across the Tiber. This couple mentioned the importance of the book,

I subscribe to a number of Roman Catholic e-letters. One such e-letter is John Martignoni’s Apologetics for the Masses. In a recent issue, Mr. Martignoni  presents an argument in regard to the Council of Jerusalem as a proof for Roman Catholcism: “One last thing to note here when talking about the Council of Jerusalem. I need to highlight the fact that

Not too long ago I wrote an article in which I created a composite conversation compiling together bits of different conversations I have had with a cult group known as the Elohim Academy. My intention was not to demonstrate how I refuted their arguments, but rather to show the flow of argument and presentation this group may present if they

A favorite argument of modern-day garden-variety Arminians is that unless the atonement is unlimited, one cannot have assurance of salvation. The argument goes that if Christ has only died for the elect, you, Mr. Calvinist really cannot know if in fact Christ has died for you particularly. That is, how do you know if you’re actually one of elect? On the other hand, if

Steve Ray, pilgrimage peddler, has posted an apparently fictional letter from “Lenny” to “Beau”: Hi Beau, you mention “that Scripture is sufficient to teach us.” There is a problem with your statement is this; it is not in the Bible. Nowhere does it say that we should follow Scripture alone “Sola Scriptura” or that it is all sufficient. Isn’t it

File this under “Yet another cult group”. The apostle Paul made no pretenses to Timothy as to the challenges that would face him in pastoral ministry. Having warned him that “evil men and impostors will proceed from bad to worse” and having established the sufficiency of Scripture to deal with these things, Paul charges Timothy to “preach the word”. And

There’s always a difficulty in responding to someone’s story, because it’s just that: a story. That is, Joshua Lim has related his experience and interpretation of a particular series of personal events: his personal understanding of the Christian faith and the way this personal understanding led him to a subjective decision to enter the Roman Catholic Church (his Called to Communion entry

Dr. James White has offered a debate challenge to the Roman communion group at the “Called to Communion” blog (mp3, you can start around 6 minutes, if you just want to hear the challenge in context). I am laying out an open challenge to any of the people at Called to Confusion: 2013 – let’s set up a debate. I’ll

Steve Ray, now a Roman Catholic, formerly a Protestant congregant attempted to answer some questions about why he decided to trust the Papal see: I explained my reasons for converting to the Catholic Church in my book Crossing the Tiber and on my Conversion CD. Here I provide a few of the quotations that had an impact on my decision.

The famous Algo pointed me to a rather lengthy thread in the Catholic Answers Forums today, found here. It is an excellent example of how the constant drumbeat argument of Rome, that sola scriptura leads to differences of belief and practice, etc., but Rome is wonderfully unified, etc., is not a wit short of ludicrous. Here you have faithful Roman

I would like to briefly respond to some comments made by C Michael Patton in a blog article that he posted today. I would like to start by saying that I agree with the fundamental assertion that he made, specifically, that the T4G statement of faith is inaccurate when it describes the Bible as the “sole authority for the Church.”

I guess the difference between my view of Rome’s gospel and C. Michael Patton’s (as seen in his most recent comments, following up on last week’s article) is summed up in the title line: “credo” means “I believe,” in the indicative; “credam” would be in the subjunctive, a less forceful and clear affirmation. I believe Rome’s gospel is a false

Trent Trent asserts: And if any one affirm, that all Christians indiscriminately are priests of the New Testament … he clearly does nothing but confound the ecclesiastical hierarchy … . (Session 23, Chapter 4) Scripture Scripture declares: Exodus 19:5-6 Now therefore, if ye will obey my voice indeed, and keep my covenant, then ye shall be a peculiar treasure unto

Jason Stewart (whose apostasy was recently discussed), has posted a fictitious (and apparently also intended as facetious) dialog under the title, “Taking a Stand on the Scriptures Against the Traditions of Men.”  The title is mocking, of course.  Stewart posits a hypothetical dialog between two Judaizers in the mid-first century.  Stewart’s attempt flops for a number of significant reasons, which

This morning I read through the first contribution (aside from his conversion story) by former OPC minister Jason Stewart, who has joined the “Called to Communion” blog. For those who are not familiar with it, this blog ostensibly exists so that formerly “Reformed” converts to Rome may ply their trade in calling others into Mother Church. It is a regular

The Called to Communion clique is fond of replacing “Scripture” with “your interpretation of Scripture.” This has the rhetorical effect of making the appeal to Scripture sound less authoritative. After all, “that’s just your interpretation” is idiomatic of something that has little value. It’s part of the culture of relativism, in which your interpretation is just as good as my

I skimmed through this recent account of a swim across the Tiber: An OPC Pastor Enters the Catholic Church. I found this comment from the author deep in the comments section: Karl Adam, in his book Roots of the Reformation, offers an honest summary of the state of Christendom at the end of the 15th century: “mongst the common people,

Back in 1987, at the Bayview Baptist Church, Karl Keating engaged in a debate against Peter Ruckman.  Although Dr. White has had an open challenge to Keating since October of 1990 (see the discussion here), we have yet to see a debate between Karl Keating and James White. Perhaps this critique will prompt Keating to step up to the debating

A poster using the handle “Gabriel Serafin” wrote: Protestantism is a religion based on a book. But Jesus Christ did not hand out Bibles, He established a Church and gave her authority to teach. God gave us the Bible through His Church; thus the Catholic Church defined the Canon of Scripture in the first place. “Bible-only Christians” who dismiss the

We have noted recently the insular nature of the Catholic Answers Forums. We have also documented the libelous false accusation of one of their users, whose screen name is Ignatius, alleging that we have edited debate tapes, an accusation made not by a named individual with any direct evidence, but by a forum member who, evidently, is free to make