On the Definition of “Evangelical”

Last updated on: March 10, 2018 at 12:54 pm By Dave Armstrong

My good friend Paul R. Hoffer, a regular on my sites (and lifelong Catholic), asked an excellent question: What is the definition of an “evangelical” Protestant? Aside from the denominational labels which are not an altogether accurate description of what an individual Protestant believes, is there something which distinguishes an “evangelical” from a “reformed” or “mainline” Protestant? Or is it more how one perceives the Holy Spirit working in their lives so a person can be both “evangelical” and a... Read more

Dialogue: Real Presence vs. [?] Holy Spirit’s Indwelling

Last updated on: March 9, 2018 at 3:06 pm By Dave Armstrong

Tim Roof is a friendly Reformed Protestant fellow (OPC) with whom I have enjoyed great, cordial dialogues. His words from his initial comments that I am responding to will be in blue; his counter-responses to arguments of mine will be in green. * * * * * The idea of Jesus going away to be seated at the right hand of the Father was so that the Holy Spirit would come and be the real presence of Christ with and in His... Read more

Material Sufficiency of Scripture is NOT Sola Scriptura

Last updated on: March 8, 2018 at 2:51 pm By Dave Armstrong

The following is from my discontinued 2009 book, 501 Biblical Arguments Against Sola Scriptura. It was condensed and reformulated into 100 Biblical Arguments Against Sola Scriptura (published by Catholic Answers in 2012; you can download for free my related 43-minute interview with Jimmy Akin). The original was set up in terms of “pensees” (brief thoughts, a la Blaise Pascal) collected, from the shortest to the longest within each chapter. This chapter ran 5 1/2 pages and presented 23 separate arguments. Abbreviations... Read more

Popes Leading the Church Into False Doctrine (E.g., Paul VI)

Last updated on: March 8, 2018 at 1:04 pm By Dave Armstrong

This is the mindset of radical Catholic reactionaries today, directed not only against Blessed Pope Paul VI, but also against Pope St. John Paul II. *** Bloviator extraordinaire Chris Ferrara wrote on 2-28-18 at The Remnant: But now the seemingly imminent canonization of Paul VI, following approval of two purported miracles which, based on the information published, seem decidedly less than miraculous (to be discussed in Part II of this series), has provoked widespread incredulity about the canonization process itself, going... Read more

The Protestant “Non-Quest” for Certainty

Last updated on: July 12, 2020 at 4:39 pm By Dave Armstrong

Protestants often contend that no Christian tradition can reasonably claim apostolic succession, indefectibility, or infallibility, or (less technically) a self-consistency throughout Church history. This is standard Protestantism in the sense that it denies the existence of any infallible Church. But on the other hand, the early Protestants (as I have often noted) did still claim that each of their traditions was truer than the other ones (else why should they exist at all?). It was the claim to theological truth... Read more

Illogical Angry Atheists: Five Typical Examples

Last updated on: March 7, 2018 at 1:01 pm By Dave Armstrong

These are actual encounters in an atheist forum. Words of various atheists will be in different colors. *** This occurred in the combox of an atheist blog. Jim Jones: Your ‘god’ has done a great job then. Why is gravity so convincing and religion so unconvincing? Don’t you claim your god made them both? Newton seemed to think both were, since he was a theist (Arian, to be exact). Satanic_Panic: That’s a crappy argument. Your [sic] saying that since Newton was... Read more

Dialogues w Critics & Disparagers of Pope Francis

Last updated on: March 6, 2018 at 3:13 pm By Dave Armstrong

These exchanges occurred underneath a related post of mine, and under my review of Phil Lawler’s Lost Shepherd on Amazon. At the end I throw in a few comments made in private correspondence with two different people. Words of others will be in various colors. *** Dave, you wrote that you and Karl [Keating] both defended previous popes against people from the left and right, and imply that you are doing no different here. But what makes this different is... Read more

Dialogue: Sharp Inquiring Protestant vs. Pope-Bashing Catholic

Last updated on: March 6, 2018 at 2:33 pm By Dave Armstrong

[the following is a fictional dialogue, but carefully based on existing widespread opinions about the pope. The lifelong Catholic’s words will be in blue. The Protestant (ecumenical and highly educated) is seriously considering becoming a Catholic, after about six months of intensely studying the Catholic faith and Church history. The two men meet over donuts and coffee after Mass and strike up a conversation] *** Hi. Are you new here? Yes! I’ve been coming to Mass for about 6-7 weeks now. You’re... Read more

Sinning Christians: Catholic vs. Protestant Approaches

Last updated on: March 5, 2018 at 4:23 pm By Dave Armstrong

Reply to a longtime Protestant friend who has made some comments about goings-on in the Catholic Church. *** 1) There will always be sinners in the Church (see Corinthians, Galatians, seven “churches” of Revelation). 2) Protestants institutionalize sin by making it all of a sudden permissible and fine and dandy, in documents and explanations of “What we believe” etc. Catholics do not (though we assuredly have just as many hypocrites in our ranks). At least we know that the Catholic... Read more

Dialogue on Annulment & Divorce: Essentially Different?

Last updated on: March 5, 2018 at 1:07 pm By Dave Armstrong

Very in-depth discussion with Orthodox and Protestant dialogue opponents. *** The following exchanges were with Orthodox and Baptist friends of mine. Their words are in blue. Eastern Catholic William Klimon’s words are in green. He agrees with my view. *** Let me ask you this David, aside from the fact that we call a divorce a divorce, and you call it an annulment, how is your position morally superior? Suppose our bishops decided to play it your way: A case that... Read more