Dispute Over the Nature of Doctrinal Development

Last updated on: July 6, 2020 at 10:15 am By Dave Armstrong

This took place on Anglican Church historian Dr. Edwin Tait’s Ithilien blog. “thoughtspot’s” words will be in blue. ***** [A]lthough I tire of making every discussion about authority, I’m not sure you can talk about development without talking about authority. I recently read a very nice scholarly book (by N. T. Wright) in which “developing” a theological doctrine was consistently contrasted with “deviating” from the earlier doctrine. And yet Wright did not (at least in that work) tell us how to distinguish between... Read more

Critique of Theologically Liberal Bible-Basher

Last updated on: July 5, 2020 at 2:27 pm By Dave Armstrong

See the video by Dr. Rev. Keith Ward. Ward holds to theological liberalism, which carries over into his interpretation of the Bible. He casually assumes contradictions where (in almost all cases I have seen), two accounts are complementary and not logically contradictory. See, for example, one of many plausible syntheses of the four accounts of the Easter visits to the tomb. I just reviewed a book that was about alleged biblical contradictions, which was filled with refutations... Read more

Apologetics = Anti-Faith or Absolute “Certainty”?

Last updated on: July 5, 2020 at 1:32 pm By Dave Armstrong

Or, “Does Christianity Reduce to Mere Philosophy or Rationalism?” There seems to be some erroneous — sometimes almost obsessive — thought around in certain circles (roughly speaking: liberal Catholic ones) that apologetics is supposedly about the obtaining of absolute certainty through reason alone, as if faith has little or nothing to do with it. This is flat-out absurd and is a glaring falsehood (I carefully refrained from using the word “lie” because people get all on their ear). I’ve been... Read more

Apologetics is Very Different from the 90s “Golden Age”

Last updated on: July 4, 2020 at 11:34 am By Dave Armstrong

The Unam Sanctam Catholicam [traditionalist] website (Phillip Campbell) wrote about the changing nature of Catholic apologetics, in its article, “The Battle Lines Have Changed” (1-30-20): Gather around, little kiddies, and Uncle Boniface will explain to you why popular Catholic apologists can no longer continue to function as if it is still the 1990s and the golden age of Catholic Answers–and why the battle lines of inter-Christian squabbling have fundamentally changed. In the previous generation (meaning 1980s-2000s), Catholic apologetics was largely... Read more

Good Internet Discussion & Dialogue Are Virtually Dead

Last updated on: July 4, 2020 at 11:10 am By Dave Armstrong

[10-10-03; rev. 1-20-04 and 10-4-16] ***** [I have again revised — mostly shortening — this paper from my extensive archives. It was originally directed towards “Internet Discussion Boards” and was written before I had a blog (2004) — I had had a website since 1997 — and before Facebook became almost universal (I joined in January 2011), but virtually all of what is observed here fully applies to blogs and Facebook as well. The widespread personal dynamics and faults are... Read more

Did Jesus Minister Exclusively to Jews and not Gentiles?

Last updated on: July 6, 2020 at 4:49 pm By Dave Armstrong

Some Catholic liberals argue that the following famous “missionary / evangelism” passage refers only to Jews among all the nations. This is sheer nonsense. Here is the passage: Matthew 28:19 (RSV) Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, Now what does the Greek say? Is this solely about Jews, as is absurdly claimed? Word Pictures in the New Testament, by A. T.... Read more

Did the Blessed Virgin Mary Think Jesus Was Nuts?

Last updated on: July 3, 2020 at 6:33 pm By Dave Armstrong

Some liberal Catholics claim that the Gospel of Mark presents a very unflattering picture of Mary and Jesus’ extended family. If they don’t understand ancient near eastern culture and idiom and ways of thinking and speaking and writing, yes, there would likely be some misunderstandings. Liberal Catholics too often fall right into them, along with anti-Catholic Protestants, who also have an anti-Catholic and anti-Marian agenda to push. It’s remarked by these liberals that nary a word about Mary appears in... Read more

Do the OT & NT Teach Polytheism or Henotheism?

Last updated on: July 3, 2020 at 5:52 pm By Dave Armstrong

Some argue that the early Jews (i.e., at the time of Abraham or Moses) were monotheists (belief in one God only) or henotheists (Yahweh being preeminent among many gods), but concede that by the time of the prophet Isaiah they had become monotheists. Some more extreme liberals, on the other hand, (astonishingly) extend this supposed polytheism into the New Testament as well! Here is a thoroughly biblical refutation of such claims. In the initial passages about Abraham (Abram at first), “LORD”... Read more

Apostolic Succession: Reply to Certain Misconceptions

Last updated on: July 6, 2020 at 5:33 pm By Dave Armstrong

Let me share a little secret with you, that I know from my 39 years of apologetics in both Protestant and Catholic communities. When a Catholic uses the word “fundamentalist” and/or “triumphalism” [-ist] in describing another Catholic, that’s code for “an orthodox Catholic who actually believes all that the Church teaches and requires her members to believe” and, in turn, means that he or she (the one using those terms) does not believe all those things. He or she almost always... Read more

John Calvin Mocked Servetus’ Reaction to His Death Sentence

Last updated on: June 30, 2020 at 11:29 am By Dave Armstrong

John Calvin — whatever his commendable qualities were — seems to have had a bit of a cruel, sadistic streak. I have noted in another paper how he seemed to be quite pleased in 1555 that the sufferings of (wrongly) condemned men were prolonged by the ineptitude of an executioner (“it is not without the special will of God that, apart from any verdict of the judges, the criminals have endured protracted torment at the hands of the executioner”), and... Read more