Archive for category: Roman Catholicism

Recently Concordia Publishing House released Luther’s Works Volume 69. It’s a new English translation of Luther’s writing not previously available in English. While the volume is primarily a verse by verse commentary of John 17-20, interspersed are some interesting apologetic arguments against Romanism. (A word of caution: if you follow the above link to Concordia Publishing and fill out the

Recently I examined how Catholic apologist John Martignoni attempted to prove the immaculate conception without biblical proof while using a Bible. In this mp3 clip Martignoni explains Roman Catholics can defend their beliefs and refute Protestants using just the Bible. He calls this scriptural apologetics, claiming particular Roman Catholic beliefs have both direct or indirect Biblical proof. Last time we

The constant dilemma of the Roman Catholic apologist is to insert doctrines into the Bible that aren’t there to begin with. Their argumentation of meandering logic seeks to demonstrate: a) The Bible doesn’t contradict the doctrine being inserted; b)There are indirect Bible passages that if interpreted by first granting the validity of the extra-biblical doctrine, actually support the extra biblical

There is a very old error that derogates marriage and attempts to forbid marriage. In its extreme form, it forbids marriage of all Christians. In a less extreme form, it forbids marriage of office holders. It is that form that we see in the Roman Catholic church today. Introduction 1 Timothy 4:1-3 Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the

Recently, I came across a web page of a convert who appears to have been smitten by the popular Roman Catholic claim to canon certainty. How does one know who wrote particular books of the Bible without infallible Tradition? The answer must be: one couldn’t know without an infallible church! Well, if the Roman Catholic Church has the power to

   TurretinFan, whose RSS feeds seem to be considerably more advanced and useful than mine, noted a comment by Jonathan Prejean (“Crimson Catholic”) that contained the following statements: In my opinion, Calvin’s Institutes is the equivalent of spiritual pornography, worse than anything you hear in 99% of Beatles’ songs, and most people who read it aren’t doing it as an example

We’re sometimes told that it an incorrect “either/or” mentality that causes us to reject the sacrifices of the mass on the basis that Christ was offered only once and not often. Yet Scripture itself has that mentality. Hebrews 9:24-28 24 For Christ is not entered into the holy places made with hands, which are the figures of the true; but

Catholic apologists often let us know how crucial it is to have an infallible magisterium and church Tradition in order to interpret the Bible correctly. With so many Catholic apologists now commenting on sacred scripture, I thought it would be interesting to provide their commentary on the Bible. Let’s see how they’ve been able to rightly divide the word of

   I am in Santa Fe, New Mexico, for the Discern 09 Conference at Calvary Chapel, Santa Fe. I was surfing the channels in my hotel room as I was getting ready to hit the hay, and I ran across EWTN. They were showing the Eucharistic Congress going on in, as I gather, Washington, DC. A woman was speaking, and as

Previously, I had written regarding the one true shepherd (Christ) as contrasted with the Roman bishop who seeks essentially to usurp that role (link to my post). In response, I have received some rather typical comments. Rather than beginning by characterizing the response, let me provide it to you: In my reading of Catholic literature, I have never came across

Introduction A perennial issue in our discussions with Roman Catholics is the issue of whether, in addition to believing God’s word in Scripture, we ought also to trust (in a similar way) in the church. While nothing in Scripture suggests that the church is another rule of faith in addition to Scripture, such that we would accord the church the

   When you think about it, if you can write a three-volume set about a theology based upon thin air in Scripture, you can’t be too concerned about little things like facts, truth, reality, etc. And surely, Mark Shea doesn’t sweat the “little stuff” along those lines! No indeed. He noticed the Newser mistake where someone threw my picture up instead

Years ago I sat through a number of philosophy courses debating how or if one could know ultimate reality. How do I know what color the desk really is? How do I know I even exist? At the time, I recall thinking, who sits around wondering about how they know something? These “how do you know” issues, while fun in

There are many great arguments that are presented as to why we should not pray to anyone besides God. One underused argument, however, is the analogical or typological argument. The Old Testament worship of God employed incense. That incense is a symbol and picture of our prayers. We can see its connection to prayer in the New Testament: Luke 1:9-11

I noticed that Steve Ray is mocking communion supplies that involve pre-packaged cup/wafer combinations (link – link to website he’s mocking). But it wasn’t so long ago when those in the Roman communion could generally only communicate under the species of bread – the people of that church being denied the symbol of Christ’s blood. Yes, we are aware that

   You wonder, at times, how it is that those who listen regularly to Roman Catholic apologists do not notice the wide range of differences between them on important matters of theology and practice. Don’t they cringe just a little when they hear the “sola scriptura is a blueprint for anarchy” silliness knowing that they are using a double standard? We

Some Roman Catholics are under the false impression that the councils of Hippo (A.D. 393) and/or Carthage (A.D. 397) authoritatively settled the canon of Scripture for the church – either directly or by endorsement by one or more Roman bishops. To be deep in history, however, is to cease to be so naive. John of Damascus (lived from about A.D.

Mr. Shea has posted a still further response on the topic of Mary’s birth pangs or lack thereof and the woman of Revelation 12 (link to Shea’s post). Mr. Shea seems to think our arguments “flat-footed” and compares discussing this with us to discussing music appreciation with a deaf man. This flatfloot, however, is less interested in arresting Mr. Shea

Here’s a response to my recent blog post, Reminding Patrick Madrid of Rome’s Blueprints “I am shocked that someone with the reputation as Swan prints something so idiotic. Its obvious his writing is geared to the sheep of protestantism unwilling to give any coherent thought to any subject. I just can’t believe you people buy it. Its not different than

Opinions regarding: Protoevangelium of James: Aquinas: “apocryphal ravings” (Summa Theologia, Third Part, Question 35, Article 9, Reply to Objection 3)(source) Jan Wakelin, Director of Radio for Catholic Answers, in response to the question “How do we know that the Protoevangelium of James is credible?”: “We don’t.” (source) -Pope Gelasius I, bishop of Rome 492—496, lists it among “The remaining writings

Mr. Shea seems to think that because Rome’s teaching on the painlessness of Mary’s birth is not explicit in the Catechism of the Catholic Church, it’s not one of Rome’s teachings (link). To put that issue to bed, let’s provide him with that teaching from a bishop of Rome. Sorry it’s not Benedict XVI or John Paul II, but there

As far as I know, it was Patrick Madrid who popularized the description “blueprint for anarchy” in describing sola scriptura. Recently, Madrid posted Techno Apologetics: The “Sola Scriptura” Baptists-Can’t-Dance Mix. He includes a mocking video against Dr. White. He also links to his oft-refuted article,The White Man’s Burden. Yes, it’s professional Catholic apologetics at its best, a dance mix video,

Over at his own blog, Mr. Shea has provided comments on what he calls: “For My Money, One of the Weakest Arguments Against the Immaculate Conception” (link). One of the reasons its such a weak argument against the immaculate conception is that it’s not actually an argument against the immaculate conception. Someone with average reading skills will quickly spot this

   I could never be a Roman Catholic apologist. It is just not in me to know that my arguments have been shredded repeatedly and yet to continue on repeating them, relying the whole time on the bare hope that the people I’m talking to just don’t care enough to look closely enough to know I’m selling them used and expired

   James Swan noted a fascinating discussion on Robert Sungenis’ website. He was asked about a series of lectures, and Sungenis’ reply was: R. Sungenis: John, if they advertise in America, NCR, Commonweal, First Things, etc., then it’s the same old liberal, progressive approach to theology that has basically sucked the faith out of the Catholic Church today. It is the

How many times have I heard the line, “We don’t worship statues”! It seems that whenever one brings up the subject of idolatry with a Roman Catholic, they invariably think it is a defense that they are not venerating the statue itself, but the thing it represents. My intuitive response has typically been: do you think the pagans think that

It’s sometimes argued the Reformers didn’t have the right to call for the reform of the Roman church. How could a small minority challenge the authority of the established majority? Of course, there are many nuances and rabbit trails to meander down when one gets into this discussion- like did the reformers have miracles to prove their reform efforts? or

Recently I posted an entry on Catholic Apologist John Martignoni’s interpretation of James 5:14-16. Martignoni said “elders” in James 5:14 means “priests,” and therefore the concept of the Roman Catholic priesthood is clearly taught in the Bible. In response I posted a short MP3 clip from Dr. White’s debate on the Roman Catholic Priesthood. I realize that a response from

   M.S. informed me of this fascinating thread over on the Catholic Answers Forums. It is sad, and encouraging, all at the same time. What is sad, clearly, is that the users assume someone like Keating, who has refused to engage any meaningful critique of his apologetics writings for decades now, would have a meaningful response to my criticism. But what

I was amused to note one example of Rome’s improvisational informal magisterium at work to poach another Reformed slogan. It’s not one of the slogans that the first generation reformers used (Sola Scriptura, Sola Fide, Sola Gratia, Solus Christus, Sola Deo Gloria), but one that became popular in the 17th century: “Ecclesia reformata quia semper reformanda est” (“The Church is

How dare I suggest that this story (link) about an Indian idol’s problem with folks outdoing themselves by giving their idols large crowns have anything to do either with this photo of an idol to Mary (attempted image of Jesus in the background) or these similar idols (first, second, third, fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh, and eighth) or similar to this