Devin Rose has posted a video in which he himself declares that his own book, “The Protestant’s Dilemma” — well let me use his exact words — “Destroys James White’s Scripture Alone.” (his video can be found here)

Devin claims his book has “about thirty-four arguments for the Catholic faith.” Devin says that Dr. White’s book, “Scripture Alone,” “answers none of the arguments in mine.” He claims that “James White manages to evade arguments” and claims that Dr. White attempts to argue for Protestantism by “very carefully avoiding all of those big errors and holes in it.”

In fairness, Dr. White’s book was published a decade before Rose’s book (2004 vs. 2014). Also, in fairness, Mr. Rose never cites “Scripture Alone” or any of Dr. White’s other writings or debates. So, if we’re going to talk about who is evading whom, the shoe would really seem to be on the other foot. Also, as Dr. White pointed out on today’s “Dividing Line” program, “Scripture Alone” was not primarily addressing Roman Catholicism. A better choice for Rose’s attention would be “The Roman Catholic Controversy.”

Furthermore, I don’t agree with Rose’s assessment. Chapter 5 (pp. 95-119) of “Scripture Alone” provides arguments that deal with the substance of at least chapter 8-10 of Rose’s book.

Devin’s video mentions that the back cover of “Scripture Alone” features a quotation from Luther and then points out that allegedly Luther believed in “Marian Veneration” and that Mary was perpetually a virgin. Devin then expresses surprise that Dr. White would quote Luther, given their disagreement on those points. I suppose one answer to that is that the quotation in question has nothing to do with those topics. Other answers might involve a closer look at Luther’s evolving views (something James Swan is more prepared to address than I am).

Rose says, “It’s the same silly stuff you see over and over again.” I would only agree with him in a sense very different from what he intended. It’s hard to find a word more appropriate than “silly” for objecting to quoting Luther on one subject, simply because one allegedly disagrees with Luther on some other subject.

Whilst thumbing through “Scripture Alone,” Devin says, “I’ve bought these books. I bought Protestant books. I’ve read the best they’ve got. I’ve read this book.” Who knows what Devin has actually read – his own book shows little sign of familiarity with Protestant work on the subjects he tackles.

The number “thirty-four” (in Devin’s comment about “thirty-four arguments”) corresponds to the number of chapters in Devin’s book. In a more detailed review, I provide a more detailed response/rebuttal to each of those arguments, for those interested. (link to review/rebuttal)

In brief summary, Rose’s book turns out to be full of misrepresentations of “Protestantism” based on a variety of flawed presuppositions, usually postmodernism.

-TurretinFan

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