St. Paul: Far More of an “Insulter” Than Pope Francis

Last updated on: April 11, 2018 at 4:58 pm By Dave Armstrong

One hears this theme again and again from critics of Pope Francis. For example, my friend Fr. Peter Stravinskas stated about the pope’s Apostolic Exhortation, Gaudete et Exsultate, that “he can’t resist broadsides on his real/perceived enemies and goes on the attack”, and he decries “his dismissive attitude toward” the Catholic “Right.” I replied to him as follows: I don’t see that he is attacking people; rather, false ideas and tendencies. He’d have a long, long way to go to equal the... Read more

Olson’s Nitpicking, Persnickety Guide to Gaudete et Exsultate

Last updated on: April 11, 2018 at 3:12 am By Dave Armstrong

Carl E. Olson is the editor of The Catholic World Report and Ignatius Insight. I like his writing a lot. He’s written several great books. And he seems to have liked my work as well (e.g., a glowing review of my One-Minute Apologist). But I’m not very fond of this effort of Carl’s. Nothing personal . . . Today we are blessed with both pope bashers (the usual suspect reactionaries and also non-reactionaries like Phil Lawler and Ross Douthat), and... Read more

Pope Francis: All Life: Preborn and Born, is “Equally Sacred”

Last updated on: April 10, 2018 at 12:49 am By Dave Armstrong

Pope Francis, in his Apostolic Exhortation, Gaudete et Exsultate, dated 3-19-18, stated: 101. The other harmful ideological error is found in those who find suspect the social engagement of others, seeing it as superficial, worldly, secular, materialist, communist or populist. Or they relativize it, as if there are other more important matters, or the only thing that counts is one particular ethical issue or cause that they themselves defend. Our defence of the innocent unborn, for example, needs to be clear, firm... Read more

Satan Referenced 24 Times in Gaudete et Exsultate

Last updated on: April 9, 2018 at 2:31 pm By Dave Armstrong

The following words, up to the five asterisks (with my blue highlighting), are all from Pope Francis’ Apostolic Exhortation, Gaudete et Exsultate, dated 3-19-18: *** 117. . . . Saint John of the Cross proposed a different path: “Always prefer to be taught by all, rather than to desire teaching even the least of all”.[96] And he added advice on how to keep the devil at bay: “Rejoice in the good of others as if it were your own, and desire... Read more

Council of Constance (1414-18): Triumph or Death of Conciliarism?

Last updated on: April 6, 2018 at 4:32 pm By Dave Armstrong

Did the popes in fact ratify, confirm, accept, approve the conciliarist decrees of the council of Constance? They did not. Here is the council of Constance’s decree Haec sancta (also known as Sacrosancta), promulgated on April 6, 1415: This holy synod of Constance, forming a general council for the extirpation of the present schism and the union and reformation, in head and members, of the Church of God, legitimately assembled in the Holy Ghost, to the praise of Omnipotent God,... Read more

“Everything Saved”: More Dim-Witted Bashing of Pope Re Hell

Last updated on: April 7, 2018 at 11:44 am By Dave Armstrong

In October 2017, papal critic Sandro Magister wrote an article in L’Ezpresso Magazine (reprinted at the reactionary LifesiteNews site on 10-27-17 and the reactionary One Peter Five site on 10-20-17). He noted that the atheist Eugenio Scalfari, with whom the pope (inexplicably) keeps granting interviews, stated that the pope allegedly “has abolished the places where souls were supposed to go after death: hell, purgatory, heaven.” Recognizing the essential silliness and absurdity of such a claim, Magister writes: “It is seriously doubtful... Read more

Perpetual Virginity of Mary Mocked by James White

Last updated on: April 5, 2018 at 7:19 pm By Dave Armstrong

Don’t stretch the truth to the breaking point, or make it the reverse of what it is, Bishop White! In August or September 2007, someone who was close to becoming a Catholic, expressed to Bishop “Dr.” [???] James White (the most influential and well-known anti-Catholic polemicist of our time): “I would not have slept with the woman who carried the Christ in her womb if I were Joseph.” The good bishop, in his infinite wisdom and piety, retorted: “An amazingly absurd thing... Read more

William Lane Craig’s Christological Errors (Monothelitism +)

Last updated on: April 5, 2018 at 1:13 pm By Dave Armstrong

Also: Biblical Evidence Against Monothelitism (Denial of Jesus’ Possession of Both Human and Divine Wills) For lengthy historical and theological background information, see: Catholic Encyclopedia: “Monothelitism and Monothelites,” written by John Chapman. Monothelitism was condemned as Christological heresy by the sixth ecumenical council at Constantinople, in 680-681. Pope Leo II confirmed (in 683) the conciliar decrees against the heresy. Today, my attention was directed to a piece written by prominent Protestant philosopher and apologist, Dr. William Lane Craig: a very able... Read more

Baptismal Formula: Trinitarian or in Jesus’ Name Only?

Last updated on: April 5, 2018 at 12:12 pm By Dave Armstrong

It is often argued by those who deny the Trinity (groups such as the United Pentecostal Church or so-called “apostolic” Protestant denominations, corresponding to their Sabellian or “Oneness” Christology); also by a few trinitarian denominations that adopt a “Jesus only” baptismal formula, that Acts 2:38 provides us with the correct baptismal formula (i.e., the words pronounced by the person performing the sacrament). Others contend that Acts 2:38 contradicts Matthew 28:19. Some higher critics of the Bible have argued (typical of... Read more

Conversion to Catholicism: Reflections on its Complexity

Last updated on: April 4, 2018 at 1:19 pm By Dave Armstrong

Rationales for conversions might be consistent and even quite respectable, but (now I speak as a Catholic partisan) can be attacked on the presuppositional level. This is why I write so often about sola Scriptura and the Church and the crucial role of tradition. Every Christian must grapple with those issues one way or another. If the roles were reversed and I was analyzing a Catholic conversion to Protestantism, I could surely grant that a person sincerely believed that sola... Read more

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