Dialogue: Christian Witness, Trump, & Prudential Voting

May 10, 2019 By Dave Armstrong

Words of my friend, Deacon Steven D. Greydanus will be in blue. This occurred spontaneously on my Facebook page, in reaction to a posted article, “Yes, Christians Can Support Trump Without Risk to Their Witness,” by Chris Buskirk (American Greatness, 5-8-19). ***** Without risk? Ridiculous. My witness isn’t compromised in the least. But the witness of pro-lifers who vote for childkilling advocates sure is. What is compromising is a prudential judgment call, which means opinions will differ. Voting for pro-abortion... Read more

Papal Critics Concede: No Proof of Canonical Papal Heresy

May 10, 2019 By Dave Armstrong

Let’s cut to the quick. The bottom-line questions at hand are: 1) Is Pope Francis a heretic, or demonstrably guilty of espousing or promulgating specific heretical tenets? 2) On what canonical / theological basis does one incontrovertibly establish this charge? Even a reactionary signatory to the Easter Letter like Dr. Peter Kwasniewski (one of 13 out of 19 documented original signatories with strong reactionary leanings) will go part of the way in acknowledging that there is an honest, legitimate case... Read more

Ecclesiological Errors of “Easter Letter” Reactionaries Summed Up

May 9, 2019 By Dave Armstrong

That is, Ones Not Specifically Related to Pope Francis: Especially Vatican II as the Big Bad Wolf Some folks don’t like to read much and/or prefer to get right down to brass tacks. My original post on this topic was 2991 words long. This will be a lot shorter (only 628 words). For further documentation, see the original. Do these critics speak for you? 1) Fr. Thomas Crean doesn’t like Pope St. John Paul II, and opposed his canonization. He... Read more

Calvin’s Self-Contradictory Trashing of Monasticism

May 9, 2019 By Dave Armstrong

I only wished to show, by the way, what kind of monks the early Church had, and what the monastic profession then was, that from the contrast sound readers might judge how great the effrontery is of those who allege antiquity in support of present monkism. Augustine, while tracing out a holy and legitimate monasticism, . . . (Institutes of the Christian Religion, Book IV, 13:10) Observe how Calvin described ancient monasticism as “holy and legitimate.” Why, then, doesn’t he... Read more

Melanchthon Flaws Verified By Biographer Manschreck

May 9, 2019 By Dave Armstrong

Philip Melanchthon (1497-1560) was Martin Luther’s best friend and successor as the leader of early Lutheranism. I made the following comment: As for Melanchthon’s “complexity”: yes, he sure was: a mild-mannered humanist who was too much of a wimp to even stand up to his friend Luther, yet who was in favor of killing peaceful Anabaptists, those who rejected the Real Presence of Christ in the Eucharist (the very belief that he himself later came to hold!), and those who held... Read more

Martin Luther’s (“Catholic”) Mariology in a Nutshell

May 8, 2019 By Dave Armstrong

1. He vigorously defended the use of the title Theotokos [“Mother of God”] 2. He believed in Mary’s perpetual virginity (including in partu: that is, — without getting graphic about it — a virgin during birth: Jesus miraculously passing through her body to be delivered). 3. He held to a form of Immaculate Conception: thinking Mary was freed from original sin: but at the conception of Christ, not her own. 4. He (and early Lutheran confessions) held that a person... Read more

Luther & the Deuterocanon (So-Called “Apocrypha”)

May 8, 2019 By Dave Armstrong

I looked through virtually every reference to deuterocanonical citations in the Index to Luther’s Works (vol. 55 — I have the entire set in hardcover) and found a few other things on my own. Luther cites as “Scripture” Ecclesiasticus (or Sirach) twelve times, referencing as many different passages. He cites Wisdom of Solomon in this way five times. He calls 1 Maccabees “Scripture” twice, and virtually equates the book of Judith with Scripture, saying that its words are to “be understood... Read more

Jesus, Dylan, & Paul on the Disposing of Loved Ones

May 7, 2019 By Dave Armstrong

I Don’t Believe You (Bob Dylan, 1964; excerpts) . . . I wish she’d unlock her voice once an’ talk ‘Stead of acting like we never met If she ain’t feelin’ well then why don’t she tell ‘Stead of turnin’ her back to my face? . . . But now something has changed for she ain’t the same She just acts like we never have met If I didn’t have to guess, I’d gladly confess To anything I might’ve tried If... Read more

Reply to Protestant Difficulties Regarding Papal Infallibility

May 7, 2019 By Dave Armstrong

Popes can err if they are not talking in the limited circumstances in which we believe papal infallibility applies to them, per the 1870 dogma. The pope is not some kind of inspired oracle, like a walking Bible. If, for example, the pope said over lunch, “The earth is flat,” that would not be in line with the special conditions of what we define as “infallible” because it was merely a private remark and has nothing to do with faith... Read more

Did God Immorally “Murder” King David’s Innocent Child?

May 6, 2019 By Dave Armstrong

God’s Providence and Permissive Will, and Hebrew Non-Literal Anthropomorphism 2 Samuel 12:9, 13-15, 18 (RSV) Why have you despised the word of the LORD, to do what is evil in his sight? You have smitten Uri’ah the Hittite with the sword, and have taken his wife to be your wife, and have slain him with the sword of the Ammonites. . . . [13] David said to Nathan, “I have sinned against the LORD.” And Nathan said to David, “The LORD also... Read more