Martin Luther as Initial Cause of Protestant In-Fighting

Last updated on: March 25, 2019 at 2:26 pm By Dave Armstrong

Martin Luther always failed to see how his own radically new (“here I stand, no matter what Church and tradition [and, I would add, Bible] say”) sola Sciptura principles led to the rapidly proliferating sectarianism that he utterly despised and detested. For example, Thomas Müntzer, Markus Stübner, and Nicholas Storck: leaders of the Anabaptist sect, had all begun as disciples of Luther, and in fact started preaching their radical doctrines in Luther’s town of Wittenberg in 1521. They started with... Read more

“Faith Alone”?: Quick & Decisive Biblical Refutation

Last updated on: March 25, 2019 at 1:50 pm By Dave Armstrong

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

Could God POSSIBLY Use Trump, Like Queen Esther?

Last updated on: March 23, 2019 at 12:40 pm By Dave Armstrong

. . . 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 Nature & Function of Prayer: Reply to Two Atheists

Last updated on: March 22, 2019 at 1:32 pm By Dave Armstrong

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

Catholic Conversion: Some Silly Protestant “Analyses”

Last updated on: March 22, 2019 at 12:01 pm By Dave Armstrong

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

A Brief Introduction to the Development of Doctrine

Last updated on: March 21, 2019 at 12:52 pm By Dave Armstrong

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

It Ain’t About Kumbaya, But About Mindless Naivete

Last updated on: March 21, 2019 at 7:17 pm By Dave Armstrong

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

Ecumenical Dialogue: Protestant & Catholic Soteriology

Last updated on: March 20, 2019 at 11:26 am By Dave Armstrong

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

Why Conform to Orthodoxy and Sacred Tradition?

Last updated on: March 20, 2019 at 10:41 am By Dave Armstrong

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

Did Miracles & Supernatural Gifts Cease in 100 AD?

Last updated on: March 19, 2019 at 11:47 am By Dave Armstrong

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