Archive for category: Roman Catholicism

I had never heard of Jay Dyer before, but he is a non-Calvinist, ex-Protestant. He has eleven claims (source) with respect to what a consistent Calvinist must be. At first, I thought I’d give a quick answer to each and make this a single blog post. However, the more I looked at the issues, the more I realized that there

   This MP3 clip is from a broadcast of Catholic Answers live last month. Catholic apologist Patrick Madrid answered a caller concerned about her mortal sin. After explaining how the Catholic Church instructs such a person to go through confession, absolution, and penance, Madrid says to pray the Rosary because it is the “strongest weapon outside the sacraments that we have

   Catholic apologists often let us know how crucial it is to have an infallible magisterium help one 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 truth . I’ll post

On the last 2008 broadcast of Catholic Answers live, Tim Staples continued perpetuating the myth that there are 33,000 Protestant denominations (this MP3 can be heard here). Some time back Dr. White gave a thorough examination of this claim, as has Eric Svendsen. If you interact with those espousing Catholic apologetics, I suggest reviewing these links and keeping them handy.

Now a great sign appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and on her head a garland of twelve stars. Then being with child, she cried out in labor and in pain to give birth. (Revelation 12:1-2)    When asked where the Bible teaches Mary was assumed into heaven, Catholic apologists typically use

   A few people sent me this link, Pope Clarifies Luther’s Idea of Justification (Says It’s True, if Faith Is Not Opposed to Love). It’s a review of statements made by the Pope on November 18, 2008. This means we’re reading what someone heard Pope Benedict XVI say, rather than reading an entire context of exactly what was stated. I mention

   Catholic Answers occasionally airs a show dedicated to taking calls from non-Catholics. The shows are usually very cordial, as Rome’s apologists seek to influence the callers to “come home to Rome.” Tim Staples hosted the show recently, and spent time interacting with a Baptist on the correct interpretation of Matthew 5:32. What exactly is the interpretation of “marital unfaithfulness”? The

Mr. William Albrecht (aka GNRHead) is an apologist promoted and endorsed by Steve Ray (a lay apologist and pilgrimage tour guide who frequently appears on the “Catholic Answers” radio program). By way of background, I should point out that I am not usually this harsh in my criticism of Internet videos. I recognize that a lot of folks slap such

   Back in 2004 I attended Dr. White’s debate with Catholic apologist Gary Michuta on the Apocrypha. The cross-examination period was the key moment in determining whose position actually made the most sense of the historical facts. One of the questions Dr. White asked Mr. Michuta was about the historical accuracy of the book of Judith. Judith claims Nebuchadnezzar reigned from

Occasionally, I point out that one of the biggest reasons to reject the doctrines of Rome, is that Vatican II dogmatically taught that God and Allah are the same: that Muslims worship the one true God. As well, Vatican II teaches the Jews worship the one true God. This doctrine is false. Those who reject the Son of God reject

Introduction Dr. White, on yesterday’s special edition of the Dividing Line, provided answers and some cross examination of one of the critics of an article I wrote a while ago on the worship of Mary in Catholicism. Dr. White did an excellent job, I write here simply to briefly summarize two of the relevant points, for those listeners who, like

Zenit news reports (and Global Catholic News repeats) that Benedict XVI has asserted, “the distinction between religion and politics is a specific achievement of Christianity and one of its fundamental historical and cultural contributions.” In context, Benedict stated: The Catholic Church is eager to share the richness of the Gospel’s social message, for it enlivens hearts with a hope

Benedict XVI is reported (link to report) as recently praying to Mary: “We implore you to have pity today on the nations that have gone astray, on all Europe, on the whole world, that they might repent and return to your heart.” This is a prayer that is openly idolatrous. Mankind needs to turn, not to the heart of Mary,

In a recent blog post (link), Dave Armstrong (a lay advocate of Catholicism) has made the remarkable argument that “there is one mediator” in 1 Timothy 2:5 does not rule out what Dave calls “mini-mediators.” Dave doesn’t comment on whether “Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God is one LORD,” rules out mini-Jehovahs or whether “One Lord, one faith, one

I was contacted by someone at a university out east asking if I would be willing to debate Roman Catholicism there if they could find someone to join in the debate. I indicated that would be fine, but that they might have some trouble finding a suitable opponent. Evidently, in calling around, one of those asked to engage in the

Roger Ebert mentioned the following in his review of Bill Maher’s Religulous (ht: SH): His two most delightful guests, oddly enough, are priests stationed in the Vatican. Between them, they cheerfully dismiss wide swaths of what are widely thought to be Catholic teachings, including the existence of Hell. One of these priests almost dissolves in laughter as he mentions various

I just saw the following comment by Roman Catholic Art Sippo, posted on Patrick Madrid’s web board: The Bible per se was not fully defined until 350 years after the time of Jesus. It could NEVER have functioned as the sole rule of faith. In fact, until the Bible was readily available via the printing press in an affordable form

   Here’s a recent commendation about my interests in the Reformation from one of my Roman Catholic admirers. This time, the kudos come from one of the moderators of Patrick Madrid’s “Speak Your Mind” forum: “Swan’s attempts at scholarship may be posted here, but not his misrepresentation and outright falsehoods about the Catholic Church. He lacks any semblance of charity in

Many Roman Catholic websites will refer to the early church father Epiphanius of Salamis (310/320-403) as a source to substantiate early traditions concerning Marian doctrines. For instance, on Mary’s perpetual virginity, This Rock Magazine, December 1991 and This Rock Magazine, February 2002 use him as historical support, as does EWTN. Recently I posted an argument for Mary’s perpetual virginity from

Beginning tomorrow on The Dividing Line I will be reviewing the 1993 sola scriptura debate with Patrick Madrid from San Diego, California. . I listened to the full debate for the first

On the same Catholic Answers Live episode (May 8, 2008), in which Steve Ray seemingly endorsed 18th Century superstitions (see my previous discussion), Mr. Ray discussed another Rosary-related topic. A caller (Willie in Fredericksburg, TX) asked: I tell somebody I’m going to say a rosary for them, and then I do, and in the process I might have told somebody

On the May 8, 2008, edition of Catholic Answers Live, I was amazed to hear Steve Ray reference (seemingly approvingly) a book called, “The Secret of the Rosary,” for the idea that wearing a rosary “around your neck keeps the Devil away – it keeps the evil powers away, because they hate the rosary and they hate the crucifix …

This is an excellent post from James Swan (hey, why didn’t he post it here?)! It has always amazed me to watch Roman Catholic apologists citing this patristic source or that, and when you actually take the time to read the arguments put forward, you are left shaking your head and saying, “THAT is supposed to be a compelling argument?”

Last year, Catholic Answers started offering a two debate set for purchase. In actuality, neither product was an actual debate. Rather, they were discussions on two different radio shows. The first was Tim Staples discussion with Steve Gregg. The second was a 13 year old radio discussion between Dr. White and James Akin on the Bible Answer Man show. It’s

   James Swan informed me that an old thread on the CA Forums got some life today. Someone asked about the video below, which is just the brief closing statement from the Papacy debate in 1998. Phil Porvaznik immediately jumped in with his pre-fab list of refutations—the same ones he would never dare use in public against me, because he knows

Steve Ray (a Roman Catholic apologist and pilgrimage tour guide) has again provided an argument for the papacy via his blog (link to Ray’s blog). Ray’s argument for the paaccomes in the form of a reply to an objection based on the peg in Isaiah. Apparently, this was the “only issue” about Roman Catholicism that “unsettled … scripturally” one of

   Recently I took part in a short written debate on whether or not Martin Luther mistranslated Romans 3:28 as, “So halten wir es nu / Das der Mensch gerecht werde / on des Gesetzes werck / alleine durch den Glauben” (“That a man is justified apart from the works of law, through faith only”). The entirety of this exchange can