No Particular Judgment? (vs. Anglican Stearns #3)

March 17, 2025 By Dave Armstrong

Including a Brief Examination of the Views of the Church Fathers Edward Josiah Stearns (1810-1890) was an Episcopal clergyman from Maryland and author of several books. His volume, The Faith of Our Forefathers (New York: Thomas Whittaker, 1879), was a reply to The Faith of Our Fathers (1876), by James Cardinal Gibbons (1834-1921), one of the best and most well-known Catholic apologetics works, with an emphasis on scriptural arguments and replies to Protestant critiques of Catholicism. It had sold over 1.4 million copies by the time of its... Read more

Was St. Paul Still a Pharisee After His Conversion?

March 15, 2025 By Dave Armstrong

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This came about in an exchange with (I think) a Lutheran; some sort of Protestant, at any rate, in a Protestant venue. ***** The Pharisees are usually regarded by Christians of all stripes as the “bad guys” in the New Testament. In many respects they were. But they remained the mainstream Jewish tradition, and they accepted the view that Moses received oral tradition from God on Mt. Sinai in addition to the written law, and many other theological views that... Read more

Is Scripture Totally Clear? (vs. Anglican Stearns #2)

March 13, 2025 By Dave Armstrong

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+ the Church Fathers (Especially St. Augustine) on the Question of the Perspicuity (Clearness in the Main) of Scripture Edward Josiah Stearns (1810-1890) was an Episcopal clergyman from Maryland and author of several books. His volume, The Faith of Our Forefathers (New York: Thomas Whittaker, 1879), was a reply to The Faith of Our Fathers (1876), by James Cardinal Gibbons (1834-1921), one of the best and most well-known Catholic apologetics works, with an emphasis on scriptural arguments and replies to Protestant critiques of Catholicism. It had sold over... Read more

Infallible Church Authority (vs. Anglican Stearns #1)

March 11, 2025 By Dave Armstrong

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Particularly With Regard to Being Led by the Holy Spirit Edward Josiah Stearns (1810-1890) was an Episcopal clergyman from Maryland and author of several books. His volume, The Faith of Our Forefathers (New York: Thomas Whittaker, 1879), was a reply to The Faith of Our Fathers (1876), by James Cardinal Gibbons (1834-1921), one of the best and most well-known Catholic apologetics works, with an emphasis on scriptural arguments and replies to Protestant critiques of Catholicism. It had sold over 1.4... Read more

The James White St. Ignatius of Antioch Controversy

March 6, 2025 By Dave Armstrong

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“Yes, Virginia, There Was a St. Ignatius of Antioch” This came about after his recent debate with Joe Heschmeyer regarding whether the Catholic Mass is propitiatory. During one of the cross-examination periods, Bishop “Dr.” [???] James White (see my large web page devoted to him and also my long 2013 book, Debating James White: Shocking Failures of the “Undefeatable” Anti-Catholic Champion) mentioned in passing that in contemporary scholarship, there is a movement that denies the historical existence of St. Ignatius... Read more

The Sacrifice of the Mass in Hebrews & Revelation

March 6, 2025 By Dave Armstrong

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I’m inspired by the fabulous performance of Catholic Answers apologist Joe Heschmeyer vs. Bishop “Dr.” [???] James White in the recent debate, “Is the Mass A Propitiatory Sacrifice?” Joe pointed out how Protestants look the death of the Jesus on the cross as a one-time event (as indeed it was), but in a way that precludes a revisiting of it in the Mass. But then he noted how there was a difference in the Old Testament sacrificial system between the... Read more

Reply to François Turretin #14: Eucharist, Pt. 2

February 28, 2025 By Dave Armstrong

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False premises; unfounded, unbiblical divine “impossibilities”; cessationism; ten types of physical divine presence François Turretin (1623-1687) was a Genevan-Italian Reformed scholastic theologian and renowned defender of the Calvinistic (Reformed) orthodoxy represented by the Synod of Dort, and was one of the authors of the Helvetic Consensus (1675). He is generally considered to be the best Calvinist apologist besides John Calvin himself. His Institutes of Elenctic Theology (three volumes, Geneva, 1679–1685) used the scholastic method. “Elenctic” means “refuting an argument by proving the falsehood of its conclusion.” Turretin contended against the conflicting Christian perspectives of Catholicism and Arminianism. It was a... Read more

Reply to François Turretin #13: Transubstantiation, Pt. 2

February 27, 2025 By Dave Armstrong

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Language of “bread” & “wine” after consecration; transubstantiation and transformation: compendium from the Church fathers François Turretin (1623-1687) was a Genevan-Italian Reformed scholastic theologian and renowned defender of the Calvinistic (Reformed) orthodoxy represented by the Synod of Dort, and was one of the authors of the Helvetic Consensus (1675). He is generally considered to be the best Calvinist apologist besides John Calvin himself. His Institutes of Elenctic Theology (three volumes, Geneva, 1679–1685) used the scholastic method. “Elenctic” means “refuting an argument by proving the falsehood of its conclusion.” Turretin contended against the conflicting Christian perspectives of Catholicism and Arminianism. It... Read more

Reply to François Turretin #12: Transubstantiation, Pt. 1

February 26, 2025 By Dave Armstrong

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Does Turretin think biblically in this regard or hyper-rationally and skeptically? François Turretin (1623-1687) was a Genevan-Italian Reformed scholastic theologian and renowned defender of the Calvinistic (Reformed) orthodoxy represented by the Synod of Dort, and was one of the authors of the Helvetic Consensus (1675). He is generally considered to be the best Calvinist apologist besides John Calvin himself. His Institutes of Elenctic Theology (three volumes, Geneva, 1679–1685) used the scholastic method. “Elenctic” means “refuting an argument by proving the falsehood of its conclusion.” Turretin contended against the conflicting Christian perspectives of Catholicism and Arminianism. It was a popular textbook;... Read more

François Turretin and the Debate Over the Lord’s Supper

February 24, 2025 By Dave Armstrong

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Does a traditional literal reading of “this is my body” entail “a thousand absurdities and contradictions”? The book of Job is instructive Vs. Turretin #11: Eucharist, Pt. 1 François Turretin (1623-1687) was a Genevan-Italian Reformed scholastic theologian and renowned defender of the Calvinistic (Reformed) orthodoxy represented by the Synod of Dort, and was one of the authors of the Helvetic Consensus (1675). He is generally considered to be the best Calvinist apologist besides John Calvin himself. His Institutes of Elenctic Theology (three volumes, Geneva, 1679–1685) used the scholastic method. “Elenctic” means “refuting an argument by proving... Read more