[see book and purchase information] The following is from chapter 11 of my book, Biblical Catholic Salvation (2010), pages 103-114. ***** Again, I shall utilize the eminent Presbyterian theologian Charles Hodge in order to properly define terms and to show what it is that Catholics oppose: The whole question, therefore, concerns simply the purpose of God in the mission of his Son. What was the design of Christ’s coming into the world, and doing and suffering all He actually did... Read more
See book and purchase information for this book of mine (2010). This article is taken from chapter 10: pages 73-101. ***** The Calvinist viewpoint on the fall of man and original sin (tying into the Reformed / Calvinist notion of total depravity) may be observed in the writing of Charles Hodge (1797-1878), the American Presbyterian theologian, in his Systematic Theology (note how he casually assumes that Catholic soteriology is “Semi-Pelagian” and “co-opts” St. Augustine for his side): The Semi-Pelagian doctrine... Read more
This is an installment of a series of replies (see the Introduction and Master List) to much of Book IV (Of the Holy Catholic Church) — and some portions of Books I-III — of Institutes of the Christian Religion, by early Protestant leader John Calvin (1509-1564). I utilize the public domain translation of Henry Beveridge, dated 1846, from the 1559 edition in Latin; available online. Calvin’s words will be in blue. All biblical citations (in my portions) will be from RSV unless otherwise noted. Related reading from yours... Read more
This is my third post in reply to atheist physicist Aaron Adair, who wrote a book skeptical of the star of Bethlehem. He first wrote, asking me some questions, after having seen two posts of mine on the topic. I thought we could actually have a good dialogue (that rarest of rarities these days), and enjoyed it at first. But, sadly, the ostensible “dialogue” quickly went sour, and he has since — unwilling and apparently unable to deal point-by-point with... Read more
Atheist author and polemicist John W. Loftus wrote an article entitled, “The Evidential Value of Conversion/Deconversion Stories. Reviewing Mittelberg’s “Confident Christianity” Part 7″ (2-22-18). I will be responding to his arguments regarding atheist deconversion stories (which tell of how and why one left the Christian faith). His words will be in blue. ***** I want to digress a bit for this post to discuss the value of personal conversion/deconversion stories. [Nomenclature: A conversion story is one which an atheist or nonbeliever... Read more
Even an unplugged clock is right twice a day. And it’s relentlessly wrong, too, for all but two minutes in a 24-hour day. Atheist author and polemicist John W. Loftus cited G. K. Chesterton in his article, “Excerpt From “Unapologetic: Why Philosophy of Religion Must End” (3-24-20): “If something is worth doing, it’s worth doing badly.” Then, lo and behold, he supported his own citation of this famous maxim by doing precisely that. He opined: My specialties are theology, philosophical... Read more
I have replied to atheist physicist Aaron Adair once already: Star of Bethlehem: Reply to Obnoxious Atheist Aaron Adair (Plus Further Related Exchanges with Aaron and a Few Others in an Atheist Combox) [1-14-21] He has come back with a new hit-piece: “Who do you say I am?” Bad Commentary Research on the SoB [1-18-21], which was a “reply” to my post, Bible Commentaries & Matthew 2:9 (Star of Bethlehem) [1-13-21]. What follows is my counter-response, which was also posted underneath his article in the Tippling... Read more
This is an installment of a series of replies (see the Introduction and Master List) to much of Book IV (Of the Holy Catholic Church) — and some portions of Books I-III — of Institutes of the Christian Religion, by early Protestant leader John Calvin (1509-1564). I utilize the public domain translation of Henry Beveridge, dated 1846, from the 1559 edition in Latin; available online. Calvin’s words will be in blue. All biblical citations (in my portions) will be from RSV unless otherwise noted. Related reading from yours... Read more
Plus Further Related Exchanges with Aaron and a Few Others in an Atheist Combox Aaron Adair is an atheist physicist, who wrote the book, The Star of Bethlehem: A Skeptical View (2013). He initially wrote me a cordial letter after seeing a few of my recent posts on that topic, and I responded in kind, at considerable length. But — sadly — it quickly descended to the usual anti-theist atheist insults. My reply below under an absolutely atrocious, abominable put-down post... Read more
Atheist Jonathan MS Pearce takes the position that the star of Bethlehem can only reasonably be interpreted (according to the biblical text, which they of course don’t believe in) as a supernatural occurrence, as opposed to a natural one (conjunction, supernova, or comet being the three most suggested possibilities): as I have argued. Moreover, he claims that this “star” specifically shone down on (to identify) the “house” where Jesus was, even though the biblical text (Matthew 2:9) never states this and... Read more
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