Caesaropapism in Orthodoxy & the Byzantine Empire

Last updated on: February 27, 2020 at 12:01 pm 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

Last updated on: February 26, 2020 at 1:18 pm 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

Last updated on: February 26, 2020 at 1:00 pm 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

Last updated on: February 25, 2020 at 5:45 pm 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?

Last updated on: February 27, 2020 at 3:14 pm 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)

Last updated on: February 22, 2020 at 9:11 pm 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

Dr. Fastiggi: Open Letter Re Abp. Viganò, Pope Francis, & Mary

Last updated on: February 22, 2020 at 11:21 am By Dave Armstrong

[Letter to Inside the Vatican: February 11, 2020; published here with the express permission of Dr. Robert Fastiggi] Dear Editor, I was happy to see Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò refer to Mary as the “Coredemptrix and Mediatrix of all graces” in his December 19, 2019 letter published in your January 2020 issue. I was also pleased to see an excerpt of an article by Dr. Mark Miravalle from the National Catholic Register, which emphasizes “the central truth of Mary being... Read more

Bible on Authority to Anathematize & Excommunicate

Last updated on: February 21, 2020 at 1:12 pm By Dave Armstrong

From my book, Bible Proofs for Catholic Truths (Aug. 2009) [aka “Dave’s Topical Bible“] [all verses RSV, from my original manuscript (the final book version used KJV) ] *** Matthew 16:19 . . . whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven . . . Matthew 18:15-17 If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault, between you and him alone. If he listens to you, you have gained your brother. But if he does not listen,... Read more

“The Deuterocanon Was Wrongly Added to the Bible!”

Last updated on: February 21, 2020 at 1:08 pm By Dave Armstrong

From my book, The One-Minute Apologist: Essential Catholic Replies to Over Sixty Common Protestant Claims (May 2007) ***** [critical accusation] The early Church denied the canonicity and inspiration of these seven Aprocryphal books, but the Catholic Church added them centuries later. The One-Minute Apologist Says: It was Protestantism that removed these “deuterocanonical” books from the Bible many centuries later. And, contrary to the myth, the early Church did, indeed, accept those books as Scripture. The seven disputed books are: Tobit, Judith, 1 and 2 Maccabees, Wisdom... Read more

Bible on “One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic” Church

Last updated on: February 20, 2020 at 1:28 pm By Dave Armstrong

From my book, Revelation! 1001 Bible Answers to Theological Topics (Oct. 2013; also available in Spanish and French), pp. 33-39. Bible passages are taken from the KJV. ***** Doctrine of the Church (Ecclesiology) Oneness / Unity of 12-1. Is the Church “one body”? 1 Corinthians 12:12-13 For as the body is one, and hath many members, and all the members of that one body, being many, are one body: so also is Christ. [13] For by one Spirit are we all baptized... Read more