Acts 16:30-31 (RSV) and brought them out and said, “Men, what must I do to be saved?” [31] And they said, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household.” But of course, Jesus explains what it means to “believe” in Him: John 14:12 Truly, truly, I say to you, he who believes in me will also do the works that I do; and greater works than these will he do, because I go to... Read more
. . . and Like He Used Balaam’s Ass, Jonah’s Whale, King Cyrus, and the Babylonian Heathen King, Nebuchadnezzar (Not to Mention Adulterous Murderer, David)? From a Jewish news source: On Thursday, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo told a Christian television network that it’s “possible” that God sent President Trump to save the Jews — just like he sent Queen Esther, from the Purim story. “Could it be that President Trump right now has been sort of raised for such a... Read more
The words of my two atheist friends will be in blue and green. ***** Why does Jesus say that we will get whatever we ask in prayer, as we obviously don’t? Because prayer is conditional upon being consistent with God’s will. So if we pray (to use an extreme example) for a difficult neighbor to be struck down and not able to talk or walk, that wouldn’t be in God’s will and God wouldn’t answer it. 1 John 5:14 (RSV)... Read more
We converts to Catholicism are often told that we didn’t understand Protestantism before we left it (and that was, of course, supposedly why we left — we were dupes of Rome and her nefarious, deceitful apologists because we were so stupid in the first place). In most conversion stories to Catholicism that I have seen, this isn’t the case at all. In fact, the exact opposite is usually true: it was the commitment to Protestant Christianity and all that is good... Read more
Development of Doctrine Development is how Catholics try to explain away their doctrinal novelties Christian doctrine was given once and for all, completely developed, by Jesus Christ Initial reply Development of doctrine is common to all kinds of Christians; it happened in history with regard to doctrines agreed upon by all, and it is also seen in the Bible. Extensive reply The Catholic Church holds that there was one apostolic deposit, given by Jesus Christ to the apostles, and that... Read more
Catholic writer Mark Shea has recently written two posts (one / two) having to do with the beautiful African-American folk song, or spiritual, Kumbaya (which probably dates from the 1920s). His point (as usual), is to bash political conservatives, but (also as usual when he does that), he is dead-wrong and, I think, entirely misses the point. Here are two examples of his choice remarks: I was somewhat taken aback with the surprisingly bitter contempt heaped on certain songs and, in... Read more
C. Michael Patton (Th.M. Dallas Theological Seminary, 2001) started the Credo House (formally, Reclaiming the Mind Ministries) in 2006. The ministry began in a seminary classroom as Michael dreamed of ways to introduce lay-people to the same type education that he was receiving while at seminary. Michael was on pastoral staff at Stonebriar Community Church for six years with Chuck Swindoll. The following is my reply on his blog to some of his remarks in a post / thread entitled: “Roman... Read more
A friend of mine commented on my Facebook page (edited slightly for prudential reasons): Certainly, no blogger / writer / apologist / theologian is going to be everyone’s cup of tea, and it’s good that there is a diversity of views, backgrounds, personalities, etc. If someone is pushing forward a viewpoint that someone else views as heterodox, it seems better to allow them to debate, engage, and discuss their disagreement (so long as it remains civil, charitable, and respectful), than... Read more
From my book, The One-Minute Apologist (Sophia Institute Press, 2007), pp. 22-23. ***** The Bible teaches that “when the perfect comes, the imperfect will pass away.” Thus the Catholic Church cannot claim that its ministers today enjoy the gifts and authority that Christ gave to the Apostles. ***** THE ONE-MINUTE APOLOGIST SAYS: The idea that spiritual gifts or charisms, or even offices in the Church, were intended for the apostolic age only and not for all times is not taught... Read more
I always recommend trying to be friends first when looking for a potential marriage partner. It worked great for my wife Judy and I. We were friends for seven months, then best friends for ten, then we got serious and romantic and knew we would get married. All of that supported getting to know each other as people. I knew Judy was a quality person who loved God, and had all the right priorities, and that is what is far... Read more
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