Honoring Rulers: Biblical Teaching vs. Crass Political Bigotry

Last updated on: March 2, 2019 at 4:34 pm By Dave Armstrong

Does the following statement (about President Trump) align with biblical teaching? You be the judge: “Massively Ignorant Bigot and Garrulous Buffoon-in-Chief”. Now here is what I believe (as best I can ascertain) is the relevant biblical teaching on the topic of honoring and respecting political rulers: 1 Peter 2:17 (RSV) Honor all men. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honor the emperor [even if pagan, anti-Christian, or persecuting: at that time, it was Nero] Exodus 22:28 You shall not revile God, nor... Read more

Debate on the Merits of Trump’s Korean Diplomacy

Last updated on: March 2, 2019 at 4:01 pm By Dave Armstrong

This is another discussion (posted one yesterday) with my friend, Deacon Steven D. Greydanus, from my Facebook page. It came about spontaneously today, and so (as with most of my debates), I am sharing it more widely, so that others can ponder two sides of a given debate and use their own critical faculties to see where they stand. This is what I love about back-and-forth dialogue. His words will be in blue. ***** The Great Dealmaker got no deal... Read more

Debate: Antichrist Traitor Trump & Cohen’s Testiphony

Last updated on: March 11, 2019 at 11:27 am By Dave Armstrong

Exchange with my friend, the esteemed Deacon Steven D. Greydanus, from my Facebook page. His words will be in blue. ***** “I surround myself with the best people. I know the best people.” — the president with the highest turnover rate in modern history, including five former advisers who have pleaded guilty Are you still in the ranks of the Gospel-denying “Christianist” followers of antichrist GOP, or have you departed to an irrelevant 3rd party by now? Who cares who... Read more

My Conversion to Catholicism: “Five Minute Version”

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

I was very happy as an evangelical Protestant. I underwent a conversion to Christ in 1977 after being very nominal in my Methodist faith as a child and young teenager. I was an apologist on college campuses in the late 80s and had done a lot of street evangelism also. In the late 80s I became involved in Operation Rescue, where we would block the doors of abortion clinics in order to save the lives of babies about to be... Read more

Protestant & Catholic Holiness, Miracles, & Reform

Last updated on: February 28, 2019 at 5:52 pm By Dave Armstrong

Catholics don’t deny at all that Protestants can and do have miracles in their midst. Personally, my wife and I both feel that we were healed as Protestants, from her severe pains of scoliosis, and serious depression in my case. I noted many miracles in the Wesleyan revivals, as I was compiling my book of John Wesley quotations. What I think is really the bottom-line point in the overall discussion of miracles and the differences between Protestants and Catholics is... Read more

“Why Convince Protestants to Become Catholics?”

Last updated on: February 28, 2019 at 5:25 pm By Dave Armstrong

This is an exchange I had with a woman (presumably Protestant) — words in blue –, who was objecting to my dialogue on baptism (incidentally, the Protestant in that dialogue from 2002 recently became a Catholic). ***** It is important to share the fullness of Christian truth (as we Catholics believe it to be), so that all others may also share in its blessings. The motive is love, not a sort of “we know everything and you are stupid” mentality.... Read more

Suggested View on Bible Prophecy & Eschatology

Last updated on: February 27, 2019 at 2:20 pm By Dave Armstrong

1) There are many Christian views on eschatology, so that no one perspective can be very dogmatic about it, in my opinion. 2) There will be an end times and a Day of the Lord / Judgment Day at some point in history (we know that), and it could possibly be soon. 3) But as Jesus said, “no man knows the day or the hour.” I was actually highly interested in Bible prophecy in the late 70s and early 80s... Read more

Our Prayers and Souls Ending Up in Heaven or Hell

Last updated on: February 27, 2019 at 1:53 pm By Dave Armstrong

Everyone who goes to hell has had every chance to repent. God gives grace enough to all for them to repent, but some (many, apparently) choose not to. It’s their fault in the end. Prayer and penance and love assuredly help them along the road, but ultimately each individual decides and each stands before God, accountable for their actions and beliefs. God’s grace is sufficient to save them. They choose not to avail themselves of it. We must simultaneously hold... Read more

Bible on Bodily Mortification for the Sake of Others

Last updated on: February 26, 2019 at 6:07 pm By Dave Armstrong

The well-known Protestant reference work, New Bible Dictionary (edited by J. D. Douglas, Grand Rapids, Michigan: Wm. B. Eerdmans Pub. Co., 1962, “Sackcloth,” p. 1112), describes biblical sackcloth: A coarse cloth . . . usually made of goat’s hair . . . Sackcloth was worn as a sign of mourning for the dead . . . , or of mourning for personal or national disaster . . . or of penitence for sins (1 Ki. 21:27; Ne. 9:1; Jon. 3:5; Mt.... Read more

Radically Unbiblical Protestant “Quest for Uncertainty”

Last updated on: February 26, 2019 at 2:42 pm By Dave Armstrong

Far too many Protestants make such a big stinking deal about how Catholics like to have “certainty” and how silly and foolish — almost “infantile” — that supposedly is (as if it were some foreign concept in Scripture). It’s not at all! One anti-Catholic tonight even ridiculously compared this to being nearly mentally ill, or on the path to same, anyway. Catholics have only a deluded certainty and mental illness . . . How dare we actually believe that God... Read more