Sociology: Devout Married Christians Have Best Sex

February 29, 2020 By Dave Armstrong

As for studies on relatively more sexual fulfillment among Christians, I have a paper about that, too: Christian Sexual Views and Support from Sociology Excerpt: A large-scale study of 1,100 American adults by the Family Research Council found that 72% of married people who attended church weekly reported being “very satisfied” with their sex lives, thirty points higher than their unmarried counterparts, and thirteen points higher than other marrieds. Much more is easily able to be found in Google searches:... Read more

Is Orthodoxy Immune from Modernism and Dissent?

February 28, 2020 By Dave Armstrong

An Orthodox Christian wrote: “The Roman Catholic Church has changed a great deal in the past twenty years or so, and can hardly be considered the same Church it was in say, 1965 or before.” 1) What Catholic dogma was changed by Vatican II? Ecumenism and religious freedom do not have anything directly to do with sacraments (the subject at hand), if that is your answer. How would baptism in particular be affected? 2) At what point did the... Read more

Clarification on Heretical Eastern Patriarchs (260-715)

February 28, 2020 By Dave Armstrong

It was reported to me that someone (presumably Orthodox) caught wind of my chart of heretical Eastern Patriarchs (seen in this paper of mine, with my commentary). I will reproduce the chart below and then interact with his criticisms (his words in blue). ***** A Chart of Heretical Eastern Patriarchs Patriarchal See / Patriarch / Years / Heresy Antioch Paul of Samosata 260-269 Modalist Antioch Eulalius c. 322 Arian Antioch Euphronius c. 327-c. 329 Arian Constantinople Eusebius 341-42 Arian Constantinople Macedonius 342-60 Semi-Arian Antioch Leontius 344-58 Arian Alexandria George 357-61 Arian Antioch Eudoxius 358-60 Arian Constantinople Eudoxius 360 Arian Antioch Euzoius 361-78 Arian Constantinople Nestorius 428-31 Nestorian! Alexandria Dioscorus 448-51 Monophysite Alexandria Timothy Aelurus 457-60, 475-77 Monophysite Antioch Peter the... Read more

Lenten Meditation: NT Teaching on Suffering with Christ

February 27, 2020 By Dave Armstrong

[From my book, A Biblical Defense of Catholicism (1996; published by Sophia Institute Press in 2003), pp. 158-161] *** Matthew 10:38 / 16:24 [RSV] And he who does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me. Then Jesus told his disciples, “If any man would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.” (cf. Mk 8:34-35) The disciple of Christ is called to suffer (Matthew 10:22; Mark 10:37-39; Luke 6:22; Acts 14:22; Romans... Read more

Caesaropapism in Orthodoxy & the Byzantine Empire

February 27, 2020 By Dave Armstrong

1) Encyclopædia Britannica, 1985, vol. 2, pp. 718-719, “Caesaropapism”: Political system in which the head of the state is also the head of the church and supreme judge in religious matters. The term is most frequently associated with the late Roman, or Byzantine, Empire. Most modern historians recognize that the legal Byzantine texts speak of interdependence between the imperial and ecclesiastical structures rather than of a unilateral dependence of the latter; historians believe also that there was nothing in the Byzantine... Read more

Biblical Evidence for Lent & Practices of Asceticism

February 26, 2020 By Dave Armstrong

Someone asked me on my Facebook page: “How come we celebrate Lent…and the word is not in Scripture?” “Lent” simply comes from Old English for “spring” (I learned that just now). “Trinity” (the word) is not in Scripture, either. Christian church buildings are not in Scripture. “Original sin” (the term) is not in Scripture (the concept is). The biblical books are not listed in Scripture itself. Nothing new here. The practices and beliefs regarding Lent are all eminently biblical. In my book, Bible Proofs... Read more

Anti-Catholic Orthodox Claims of Exclusive Apostolic Succession

February 26, 2020 By Dave Armstrong

An Orthodox Christian whom I encountered on the Internet objected to my comparison of the anti-ecumenical school of Orthodoxy to the ancient Donatist schismatics. The non-Catholic Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church (2nd edition, edited by F. A. Cross and E. A. Livingstone, Oxford University Press, 1983, 419, 1389), defines Donatism as follows: Theologically, the Donatists were rigorists, holding that the Church of the saints must remain ‘holy,’ and that sacraments conferred by traditores were invalid . . . The Church maintained that... Read more

Roman See as Historic Standard-Bearer of Orthodoxy

February 25, 2020 By Dave Armstrong

+ the Ecclesiological Absurdity of Anti-Catholic-Type Eastern Orthodox Arguments Against Roman Primacy & Apostolicity [this is a slightly abridged and revised version of a paper that was originally written and posted online in 1997, and was also part of the older version of my book on Eastern Orthodoxy. See the greatly expanded and modified revised version, co-written by Byzantine Catholic Fr. Deacon Daniel Dozier] ***** Orthodox Anti-Catholicism A vocal Orthodox minority nowadays expresses itself in an alarming fashion, which might... Read more

Dialogue w Timothy Flanders #2: State of Emergency?

February 25, 2020 By Dave Armstrong

Timothy S. Flanders is the author of Introduction to the Holy Bible for Traditional Catholics. In 2019 he founded The Meaning of Catholic, a lay apostolate. He holds a degree in classical languages from Grand Valley State University and has done graduate work with the Catholic University of Ukraine. He lives in the Midwest with his wife and four children, and is a regular columnist at the One Peter Five website. Previously, I engaged in two good dialogues with him: Reply to Timothy Flanders’ Defense of Taylor Marshall [7-8-19] Dialogue... Read more

Dialogue: Paul, Bible, & Catholicism R Anti-Sex? (Pt. 2)

February 22, 2020 By Dave Armstrong

This is my reply to comments on my blog, underneath the article, Dialogue: Are Paul, the Bible, & Catholicism Against Sex? Words of anti-theist-type agnostic 90Lew90 (who was dialogue opponent in part 1) will be in blue. *** “Each and every sexual act must be marital, unitive and procreative.” I looked through my words in our last dialogue and could not find this “quote.” So why do you put these words in quotation marks, and where did you get it from. I think I know,... Read more