Biblical Evidence for Dave Armstrong

Before we dive into Dave Armstrong’s blog of infinite biblical apologetics, lets take a look at what Dave goes up against on a daily basis.

Biblical Evidence Against Catholicism

Dave Armstrong is a worthy opponent indeed. But he lacks the real biblical depth to defend the Catholic church. He writes long and hard. So long that, whew, who can keep up. Well we at BEAC can. That is the purpose of our apostolate. To dispute, critique, and answer every post that DA writes and debunk and dismantle it. We use the true Word of God given to us in God’s English in the only real translation, The King James.  Dave has a Catholic bible which contains errors galore. Errors written not by the holy spirit but by one of his fallen angels who is now leader of hell. I’m sure he’s a nice guy in person, but were not out to be nice, were out to save souls and give them the truth, especially those caught in the grip of Catholic Lies and Falsehoods. Why write anti-Catholic stuff on a Catholic site. Easy. So Catholics will see it and be convinced of the truth. Why would they publish us here? Cause those in charge of Catholic things don’t pay attention, and we may catch someone’s eye with the honest to goodness King James truth as we present Biblical Evidence Against Catholicism.

How does the bible relate to the Catholic faith and dogma? If you have a biblical related question about the faith, Dave Armstrong is probably your guy to ask. He’s been writing and defending the Catholic faith for decades.  His knowledge and defense of the faith is long and lengthy. He is more then ready to take on people like his opponent mentined above. Not only does he have a strong biblical foundation for Catholic belief and theology he is one of the few orthodox Catholics who adamantly defends Pope Francis with zeal and vigor. He seems to be attacked by all sides, angry protestants, angry atheists and angry Catholics, both liberal and conservative. But like water off a duck’s back, he rolls with the punches and turns an attack into a informative blog post. He has been a good online friend who has been encouraging to me. In an age where  Trump supporters have been given a bad rap, He has helped me to see that one can be a Donald Trump supporter and be a good holy and fruitful Catholic as well.  He is also mentioned in this article. 12 Catholics I Admire | Mark Wilson (patheos.com) You can find Dave writing over at Biblical Evidence for Catholicism.  GoodReads Profile

Here is a small interview with Dave and the Catholic Bard.

Catholic Bard: What do you like about being a Catholic Patheos Writer?

Dave Armstrong: Most of all, the freedom to write without being censored (or even edited). That can be bad if one is heterodox! But since I am 100% orthodox, it’s a good thing in my case. It’s truly free speech. But heterodox opinions (where they occur, including — if I dare say so — at Patheos) concern me.

Catholic Bard: What is the Main focus of your particular blog?

Dave Armstrong: It’s much more than just the title of my blog. It’s a defense of the Catholic faith in all of its many aspects (apologetics). I try to cover all major bases. 2900+ articles and no end in sight!

Catholic Bard: What’s your favorite article/Post you have written?

Dave Armstrong: Probably “The Imitation of Mary” (originally from 1997).

Catholic Christianity recognizes and venerates the Blessed Virgin Mary, the Immaculate Mother of God, as the exemplar of what redeemed humanity will one day be.

Catholic Bard:What is your favorite Catholic topic to write about?

Dave Armstrong: A tie between the Blessed Virgin Mary and [Newmanian] development of doctrine. Both have in common the fact that they are vastly misunderstood by many (including even too many orthodox Catholics). And both were key to my conversion to Catholicism.

Catholic Bard: If you are named a Saint, what would you be named patron saint of?

Dave Armstrong:  Utterly impossible, but strictly in a hypothetical sense: socratic dialogue.

Catholic Bard: Who is your favorite Living Writer?

Dave Armstrong:  Peter Kreeft

Yes, our love for Mary is crazy and wild, because God’s love for us is crazy and wild. We make a big deal out of Christmas; we should make an even bigger deal out of March 25. The greatest event in history, the Incarnation, happened at the Annunciation.
Peter Kreeft, Why is Mary So Important for Catholics? (January 2, 2020) Catholic Exchange

Catholic Bard: If you could have lunch with any deceased writer who would it be, what would you eat and what would you talk about?

Dave Armstrong: St. Paul, pizza, and justification.

“If your enemy is hungry, give him something to eat; if thirsty, something to drink. By this, you will be heaping red-hot coals on his head.
Do not be mastered by evil, but master evil with good.” St. Paul, Romans 12: 20-21

Here are some examples of his writings.

Christmas

The monitor, it twinkled! My mood, it was merry! 🙂
But then “momma” saw all the “e’s,” and ’twas “hairy!” 🙁
When she grimaced and winced , and shook her fair head, {{{ >;-C }}}
She gave me to know I had plenty to dread. :-O
Then without a word, she left really quick, :-I —-> {?}
And I was alone with ole jolly St. Nick. 😀
But pointing his finger straight out at my nose,
He launched into most shocking “preacher man” prose:

Emmanuel’s what this great night’s all about;
He’s brought us new life so you better not pout.
Focus on Him, not malls, lights, and me.
And cut down on e-mail so a dad you can be.
Christmas is much more ’bout love than of credit.
Its message will fill up your soul if you let it.
So always remember the most valued things,
Are God, loved ones, heart, not cyberspace flings.

He sprang to his web page; my PC gave a clickin’;
And away he did fade, and his exit did quicken.
But I heard him exclaim, ere he “morphed” out of sight,
“Christ in Christmas is All, and to all He is Light!”
Dave Armstrong THE MEGABYTE BEFORE CHRISTMAS  “Dave’s Old-Fashioned Christmas Page” [Internet Archive: from 4 December 2003 on my original website] Biblical Evidence for Catholicism @ Patheos Catholic

Who Dave Is

People may decide what box to put me in. I think I’m in a pretty good place. I now use the word radical Catholic reactionary for folks who want to classify obedient, orthodox Catholics such as myself as somehow second-class Catholics. Hence, I’ve been called a modernist, neo-Catholic, neo-conservative, Vatican II lover, a Novus Ordo Catholic, an integrist, even a money-grubbing, unscrupulous apologist who makes a living by ill-gotten gains, by some.
But I’m just an . . . orthodox, obedient, devout Catholic, who loves Holy Mother Church, loves the Holy Father, and the Blessed Virgin Mary (to whom I have a great devotion: lots of writings defending her and Catholic Mariology)
– Dave Armstrong Am I a Catholic Traditionalist? (Well, YOU Decide!) (October 14, 2015) Biblical Evidence for Catholicism @ Patheos Catholic

Pro-Life

The wanton destruction of some 4000+ human beings a day by this abominable practice, and the upholding of it by politicians and judges, who are primarily responsible for its existence in the first place, legally-speaking, is altogether relevant, because we the voters who put such men and women in office and on judicial benches also directly bear responsibility for the holocaust. It’s the old thing about evil prevailing when good men do nothing. If a person can’t even see the intrinsic value of any human life, and the duty of government to protect that, why should we trust he or she to uphold any other lesser right?
Dave Armstrong, Abortion as a Deal-Breaker & Ethical Voting (October 6, 2016) Biblical Evidence for Catholicism @ Patheos Catholic

Fish Symbol

Fish in Greek is ichthus. It actually has five letters in Greek:
i (Greek letter iota)
x (chi)
0 (with horizontal slash in the middle) (theta)
u (upsilon)
s (sigma)

This was perhaps the original acronym: each letter stood for something else, which is why the fish was the Christian symbol (even before the cross, as I understand it).

i = Iesous = Jesus = Greek transliteration of the Hebrew Joshua
x = Christos = Christ = Messiah = literal meaning anointed
0 = Theos = God (“0” is the “th” sound; root of theology)
u = Huios = Son
s = Soter = Savior (root of soteriology)

Early Christians thus quickly identified each other (in those dangerous times) by use of the fish symbol. In so doing, they were saying they believed in “Jesus Christ, Son of God, Savior.” It was the first Christian “creed,” so to speak.
Dave Armstrong “Xmas” & the Christian “Fish”: Etymology & History (December 23, 2016) Biblical Evidence for Catholicism @ Patheos Catholic

Musical Instruments

With regard to musical instruments in a context of worshiping God, we have the model of David and others of his time worshiping God with harps, tambourines, etc.: Many of the Psalms mention “stringed instruments” and in one case, “flutes” at their start, implying (or so it seems to me) that the Psalm was accompanied by instruments (e.g., Psalm 5: “To the choirmaster: for the flutes. A Psalm of David”; Psalm 6: “To the choirmaster: with stringed instruments . . .”). Therefore, John Calvin’s contention that a Psalm can only be properly sung is not even consistent with what the Psalms themselves teach (see also Psalms 4, 54-55, 61, 67, 76; cf. Hab 3:19).
– Dave Armstrong Musical Instruments in Worship: Biblical Evidence | Dave Armstrong (patheos.com)  (July 2, 2018) Biblical Evidence for Catholicism @ Patheos Catholic

Tasks of Apologists

Our task as apologists is to vigorously share and defend the truth, with charity and gentleness and wisdom. The results are up to God, since it is only His grace that moves any heart closer to Him in the first place. Sometimes we are opposed and seem to achieve no result whatever (like Jeremiah); other times there is abundant visible fruit (as on the day of Pentecost or with St. Francis de Sales, winning back many thousands of Calvinists). Jeremiah was not at fault; nor could St. Francis claim final credit for “his results.”

We mustn’t be naive enough to actually think that Satan and his demons won’t put up a vigorous fight against anyone who is effectively sharing and defending God’s truth and the fullness of the Catholic faith. We can count on it. It’s not peaches and cream and all method and PR and getting folks to like us. Apologetics is ultimately spiritual battle. We can be friendly, nice, charming; all that (and I sure hope we all strive to be that way), but that doesn’t nullify the fact that it is, bottom line, a battle (thus, “young guns” is a very apt metaphor indeed!).
– Dave Armstrong Apologetics is Always a Difficult Spiritual Battle & Struggle (December 3, 2018) Biblical Evidence for Catholicism @ Patheos Catholic

Other Voices on Dave’s Blog

The world, you must agree, contains much good. If it didn’t, you would not have seen anything that pointed towards God. But as you point out, there is much that could cause one to despair. The Good do not always prosper. The Evil are not always punished. There is seemingly pointless suffering, and in the final analysis death is the end for each of us. And you ask the atheist “what gives you hope?”

I suppose one way to get “hope” is to deny that this is the case. But as a Secular Humanist my commitment is not only towards enhancing and enjoying life, but understanding truth. I don’t think the evidence supports either the existence of God or an afterlife. You disagree, I know that. But I don’t intend to get into an argument on this issue right now, I simply want to note that the existence of God is not really a meaning question as such, but an empirical one. It isn’t love of life that separates the atheist from the theist, I think, but what we see as evidence; a desire for consistency and integrity in examining claims and determining their probability. We don’t think it’s true. There you have it.
Sue Strandberg Secular Humanism & Christianity: Seeking Common Ground (March 6, 2019) Biblical Evidence for Catholicism by Dave Armstrong   @ Patheos Catholic

Faith and Works

St. Paul again regards faith and the human cooperation of works (labor) as two sides of the same coin, both proceeding from grace. Elsewhere, the apostle writes of the “works of faith” and related concepts (1 Thess. 1:3; 2 Thess. 1:11; Titus 1:15-16). Faith and works are not at all incompatible in all these Pauline passages. Salvation is described as a struggle, a process, a goal — not merely an abstract, past, instantaneous event.

As we labor faithfully as Jesus’ disciples, we store up corresponding rewards (1 Cor. 3:8; cf. 1 Tim. 6:18-19): the idea of merit (which most Protestants deny). It is by virtue of our union with our Lord Jesus Christ that our actions — worthless in and of themselves — become meritorious.

– Dave Armstrong St. Paul on Justification, Sanctification, & Salvation     (April 2, 2019) Biblical Evidence for Catholicism @ Patheos Catholic

Pope Francis Devotion to Mary

Pope Francis has a very strong devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary, truth be told.

In 2018 he established a new feast day for Mary “Mother of the Church” which will now be celebrated on the Monday after Pentecost. In October 2019 he also added the feast of Our Lady of Loreto to the liturgical calendar (December 10th).

Furthermore, he has a special devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary, Untier of Knots, and has promoted this relatively obscure devotion. It grew particularly as a result of a painting in Bavaria around 1700 by Johann Georg Schmidtner, but was based on a statement from St. Irenaeus (c. 130-c. 202): “the knot of Eve’s disobedience was loosed by the obedience of Mary. For what the virgin Eve had bound fast through unbelief, this did the virgin Mary set free through faith” (Against Heresies, III: 22).
– Dave Armstrong Pope Francis’ Deep Devotion to Mary (Esp. Mary Mediatrix) (December 23, 2019) Biblical Evidence for Catholicism @ Patheos Catholic

Civil Dialogue

Greatest Apologists

I have precisely as much formal theological education as the two men who are considered the greatest Protestant and Catholic apologists of the 20th century: C. S. Lewis and G. K. Chesterton (i.e., none whatsoever). Chesterton didn’t attain a college degree of any sort at all. He took a year or two of a smattering of courses, focusing on art classes. Lewis was a professor of literature. Peter Kreeft, arguably the greatest living Catholic apologist, also has no theological education that I’m aware of. He is a philosopher. The same was true of Malcolm Muggeridge (journalist like Chesterton) and Thomas Howard (English professor). There are many other examples: including the first historic Christian apologist, St. Justin Martyr, who had a philosophical background and was converted to Christianity by talking to an old man by the sea.

– Dave Armstrong Mike Frost Trashes Me Regarding St. Athanasius  (June 6,2020) Biblical Evidence for Catholicism @ Patheos Catholic

Twisted Reading

The Bible isn’t to blame for people twisting it. We’re just pointing out that even something as good and holy as Sacred Scripture can be misused, leading to error. That’s how we got Adventism, the Watchtower and many other cults – by people reading the Bible without the guidance of Sacred Tradition and the Magisterium. If even Scripture can be misused to ones own destruction, then it should not surprise us that ordinary books can also be misused the same way. That doesn’t make those books evil, though.

Harry Potter is a work of fiction. It’s intended for entertainment. If someone reads it and says, “Hey, I think I’ll create my own personal spirituality centered on this book series! Lemme try one of the spells to see if it works….” – that’s a misunderstanding and misuse of the books. If anyone misses the Christian themes in the story, that’s a misunderstanding of the book. Same as when people say that they became neo-pagans after reading Lord of the Rings. They’ve missed the point.

– Dave Armstrong Is Harry Potter & Related Fantasy Literature Evil? | Dave Armstrong (patheos.com) (June 17,2020) Biblical Evidence for Catholicism @ Patheos Catholic

Where The Apostles Got Their Info

If you like this, read some more about some other Catholic personalities.

A Tribute to Mark Shea MAY 30, 2020
A Monk’s Writing Life Monday June 29, 2020
Jimmy Akin’s Mysterious Poem JULY 08, 2020
Jimmy Akin’s Mysterious Interview JULY 10, 2020
A Tribute to Rebecca Bratten Weiss AUGUST 10, 2020
In Defense of Fr. Casey Cole FEBRUARY 04, 2021
The Wisdom of Steve Skojec MAY 28, 2021
A Conversation With Singer Katie Curtis JUNE 17, 2021
What are people starving for, Fr. Altman? JUNE 22, 2021
The Spirituality of Fr. James Martin JUNE 23, 2021
Scott Eric Alt Gives A Defence OCTOBER 21, 2021