Were the Albigensians Primitive or Proto-“Protestants”?

Last updated on: May 23, 2019 at 12:44 pm By Dave Armstrong

Some strains of Protestant thought — most notably the “Landmark” Baptists — seek to find a non-Catholic “apostolic succession” all throughout Church history up to the 16th century. In the desperate attempt to claim spiritual and theological predecessors, all sorts of heretical groups are espoused, including the Montanists, Novationists, Donatists, Docetists, Cathari, Albigensians, Waldenses, Hussites, and Wycliffites. The trouble is that none of these groups fit very well into a Protestant schema. They are either radically non-Christian, even Gnostic (e.g.,... Read more

GOP & Pro-Life Supreme Court Justices: Revisiting the Facts

Last updated on: May 23, 2019 at 12:01 pm By Dave Armstrong

[I was replying to a Catholic leftish Never Trumper, a month before the 2016 presidential election] The problem with your analysis of the Supreme Court is that it doesn’t continue into recent history. The last Democrat-appointed pro-life Justice is Byron White (JFK, 1962). For Republicans it’s a mixed record, but at least it is that. Here are the appointments under Republican Presidents since Reagan and how they turned out on the life issue: O’Connor (Reagan) = mixed record Scalia (Reagan)... Read more

Nuclear Bombing of Japan vs. Just War Ethics (Part II)

Last updated on: May 22, 2019 at 12:54 pm By Dave Armstrong

[see Part One] Wikipedia: “Atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki,” is a great resource to further study this issue. More important resources: “Hiroshima: Was it Necessary?” (by Doug Long; opposed to the bombings) NuclearFiles.org (opposed) The latter includes a very helpful page of documented correspondence concerning the decision Quotes: In a private letter written just before he left the White House, Truman referred to the use of the atomic bomb as “murder,” stating that the bomb “is far worse than gas and biological warfare because it... Read more

Nuclear Bombings of Japan: Justified by “Double Effect”?

Last updated on: May 22, 2019 at 12:02 pm By Dave Armstrong

Hiroshima and Nagasaki fail the Catholic test of “double effect” because they involved the killing of over 200,000 civilian noncombatants. Such an act is condemned in traditional just war criteria which forbids deliberate targeting of such non-military populations. The exceedingly weak counter-argument given by proponents is that these cities had military installations (President Truman absurdly referred to the city of Hiroshima as a “military base”). These were the targets, so we are told, not the civilian population; therefore the dreadful result of... Read more

Were the Waldenses a Species of Primitive “Protestants?”

Last updated on: May 21, 2019 at 7:33 pm By Dave Armstrong

There is a strain of Protestant thought — most notably the “Landmark” Baptists — which seeks to find a non-Catholic “apostolic succession” all throughout Church history up to the 16th century. In the desperate attempt to claim spiritual and theological predecessors, all sorts of heretical groups are espoused, including the Montanists, Novationists, Donatists, Docetists, Cathari, Albigensians, Waldenses, Hussites, and Wycliffites. The trouble is that none of these groups fit very well into a Protestant schema. They are either radically non-Christian,... Read more

Thoughts on Fr. Jonathan Morris’ Laicization Request

Last updated on: May 21, 2019 at 7:01 pm By Dave Armstrong

Deacon Greg Kandra, fellow blogger on the Catholic Channel on Patheos, has written twice on the issue (one / two). His second article ended as follows: Absent any other details, what we have here is heartbreaking, but it is not — strictly speaking — evil. Sad? Yes. Sinful and scandalous? No. Pray for Father Morris. Pray for all of our priests. The road is long. The journey is difficult. The laity sometimes do not make it any easier. And, indeed,... Read more

Mary’s Immaculate Conception: Dialogue w Episcopalian

Last updated on: May 20, 2019 at 4:50 pm By Dave Armstrong

Kim Bishop is a member of the Charismatic Episcopal Church. This discussion came about on my public Facebook page. Her words will be in blue. ***** Don’t care what your traditions say [about] this [Mary’s sinlessness and Immaculate Conception and in partu virginity] is totally ridiculous. Mary herself admitted she needed a saviour. Jesus was brought into the world like every other baby. I accept that Mary was a virgin when Jesus was born, but to stay a virgin and... Read more

Transubstantiation: A Philosophical & Rational Defense

Last updated on: May 20, 2019 at 12:35 pm By Dave Armstrong

From my book, A Biblical Defense of Catholicism, completed in 1996 and published by Sophia Institute Press, in 2003; pp. 80-83. The book is available for $2.99 in several e-book formats. ***** The daunting word transubstantiation is easily understood when broken down: trans means “change.” Therefore, the term is defined literally as the process of change of substance. The Catholic Church, in seeking to understand the Real Presence, a doctrine delivered directly by our Lord and St. Paul, gradually developed... Read more

Debate: Do Liberal Social Policies Lessen Abortion & Poverty?

Last updated on: May 19, 2019 at 1:45 pm By Dave Armstrong

I started out by posting the article, “Hillary Clinton to Receive Planned Parenthood’s ‘Champion of the Century’ Award.” My initial comment on that was as follows: How frightening that this woman almost became our President. She would have put a secularist pro-abort radical on the Supreme Court and the entire legal system of this country would have been vastly different in the next generation. How absurd that folks like Mark Shea thought pro-life Catholics and other Christians could vote for... Read more

“Pro-Choice” / “Anti-Abortion” & Inaccurate Definitions

Last updated on: May 19, 2019 at 12:35 pm By Dave Armstrong

The following exchange took place with a fellow Christian and pro-lifer, in the context of a discussion about the fairness of the terminology anti-Catholic. But it can stand alone in its own right, as an examination of words and titles in the vexed and emotional abortion debate. Though I think the discussion of the terms themselves is entirely “objective,” I still mince no words in how I describe abortion and the worldview which condones it. So if such straightforwardness and frankness of... Read more