Yes, as long as it is understood as “artistic license”. Literally speaking, the Bible teaches that God the Father is an invisible spirit (Col 1:15; 1 Tim 1:17). I think it is permissible to portray the “idea” of God the Father visually, just as the equally invisible Holy Spirit was portrayed (by God’s express design) as a dove at Jesus’ baptism (see Mt 3:16; Mk 1:10; Lk 3:22; Jn 1:32). Likewise, God the Father on several occasions in the Old... Read more
[see book and purchase information] St. John Henry Cardinal Newman fully accepted (indeed, was pleased with) the decree on papal infallibility, defined at Vatican I (lest anyone would try to deny this, as many Protestants erroneously attempt to do). See my paper: John Henry Newman on Papal Infallibility Prior to 1870 (Classic Anti-Catholic Lies: George Salmon, James White, David T. King et al) [8-11-11]. There seems to be a lot of misconceptions and confusion about Ultramontanism. That strain of thought did indeed seem to be... Read more
This is a massive abridgment (keeping all the “meat and potatoes”) of a huge exchange with an atheist who goes by “DagoodS”: dating 10-21 January 2011. The original consisted of four parts, linked on my Atheist web page to Internet Archive (one / two / three / four). *** Ah, the irony and humor here . . . This is one of those familiar cases where — in the past — only the Bible mentioned something or other. So the... Read more
vs. David Waltz David Waltz was a Catholic (and an apologist online) from 2002-2009. Recently he announced that he can no longer accept all Catholic teachings in good conscience, citing infallibility and development of doctrine as the areas that particularly trouble him. [I believe he has subsequently become a Mormon]. This friendly dialogue was drawn from recent combox discussions at David Waltz’s blog, Articuli Fidei. His words will be in blue. * * * * * [Rory, a Catholic friend of David’s] I am... Read more
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
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
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
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
[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
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
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