St. Augustine’s Eucharistic Doctrine and Protestant “Co-Opting”

Last updated on: August 18, 2017 at 2:20 pm By Dave Armstrong

The Consecration of St Augustine, by Jaume Huguet (1412-1492) [public domain / Wikimedia Commons] *** (9-25-10) *** “Sola Scriptura‘s” words will be in blue; my cited words will be in green. *** This came about as a result of a vocal Protestant at the Catholic Answers forum (in the thread: “SPLIT: The Real Presence”). Randy Carson, a Catholic regular there, cited several of my papers, and then informed me of the thread. I then posted (through him) material from my older papers, and add now some largely... Read more

Vatican II on Effectively Sharing the Fullness of Catholic Faith

Last updated on: August 17, 2017 at 6:38 pm By Dave Armstrong

St. Peter’s Basilica at sunset (Vatican City) (Photograph by Livioandronico2013: 4-14-15) [Wikimedia Commons / Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license] (2-18-08) *** Words of anti-Catholic polemicist Steve Hays will be in blue. *** Vatican II urges Catholics to speak in terms that Protestants can understand (when talking to them): We must get to know the outlook of our separated brethren. To achieve this purpose, study is of necessity required, and this must be pursued with a sense of realism and good will. Catholics,... Read more

Internet Evangelism & Apologetics: Catholic Church Approval

Last updated on: August 16, 2017 at 5:16 pm By Dave Armstrong

Pope St. John Paul II in Cali, Colombia (June 1986) [Wikimedia Commons / Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license] ***** (compiled by Dave Armstrong on 12-26-05) ***** PONTIFICAL COUNCIL FOR SOCIAL COMMUNICATIONS: The Church and Internet (link) 22 February 2002 [for all three sources below: footnotes removed: consult the link for further documentation] 1. . . . Quoting Pope Pius XII’s 1957 encyclical letter Miranda Prorsus, the Pastoral Instruction on the Means of Social Communication Communio et Progressio, published in 1971, underlined that point: “The Church sees... Read more

Us Weird Catholic Apologists & the “Real Jobs” We Oughtta Get!

Last updated on: August 16, 2017 at 2:07 pm By Dave Armstrong

Workers on the first moving assembly line put together magnetos and flywheels for 1913 Ford autos in Highland Park, Michigan [public domain / Wikimedia Commons] ***** (3-23-06) *** This is loosely based on an exchange with a Catholic. The words of the usual criticisms heard in this regard will be in blue. * * * * * Apologetics shouldn’t be a full-time profession or primary wage-earning income. Why should the apologetic profession be any different than any other? Does anyone... Read more

Mary’s Assumption: Brief Explanation, with a New (?) Biblical Parallel

Last updated on: August 15, 2017 at 12:33 pm By Dave Armstrong

Photograph by “dimitrisvetsikas1969” (3-31-17) [Pixabay / CC0 Creative Commons] *** (3-1-07) *** A Protestant (words in italics henceforth) asked: Now, if you believe that Scripture is the highest authority, why do believe in the bodily assent of Mary? It is not in Scripture. First of all, it is an assumption, not an “assent” (proper spelling: “ascent”). Jesus ascended to heaven on His own power. Mary was bodily assumed by God’s power. The Assumption is not explicitly in Scripture, but neither... Read more

Blessed Virgin Mary & Revelation 12: Debate with a Protestant

Last updated on: August 15, 2017 at 12:10 pm By Dave Armstrong

Coronation of the Virgin (c. 1636), by Diego Velázquez (1599-1660) [public domain / Wikimedia Commons] *** (5-28-12) *** This was on a public Facebook discussion thread. Greg Still describes himself as a “”skeptical Pentecostal” and is a former Catholic. His words will be italicized. ***** The Bible does mention the “woman clothed with the sun” in heaven (Rev. 12:1). Her child is clearly Jesus (Rev 12:5). It doesn’t take a rocket science to figure out that this is Mary, and she is... Read more

Luther’s 1522 Blast Against Henry VIII: Extreme Anti-Traditionalism

Last updated on: August 14, 2017 at 7:37 pm By Dave Armstrong

Luther posting his 95 theses in 1517 (1872), by Ferdinand Pauwels (1830-1904) [public domain / Wikimedia Commons] ***** (6-17-09) *** Recently I discovered an entire online translation of Martin Luther’s tract, Against Henry [VIII], King of England (15 July 1522), translated by E. S. Buchanan, and published in New York by Charles A. Swift in 1928. It is hosted on the Project Canterbury Anglican website. This is great news, since it is a fun, interesting piece (from the few quotes I had seen from it), and... Read more

Dialogue w Friendly Atheist #3: Music, Longing, & Mysticism

Last updated on: August 14, 2017 at 4:55 pm By Dave Armstrong

Brünnhilde (1910), by Arthur Rackham (1867-1939) [public domain / Wikimedia Commons] ***** This is from a private correspondence with a very friendly and fair-minded atheist, who goes by the nickname, “Comrade Carrot-Blog Vegetarian.” He has agreed that it would be made public. Unlike the vast majority of atheists I have met online, he is actually curious about my spiritual journey and Christian viewpoint, minus any hint of condescension or the usual atheist views of Christians (that we are ignorant, anti-science, given to following... Read more

Catholic Conversion: Classic Analyses (Chesterton, Belloc, Pelikan)

Last updated on: August 12, 2017 at 5:48 pm By Dave Armstrong

George Bernard Shaw, Hilaire Belloc, & G. K. Chesterton [public domain / Wikimedia Commons] ***** [originally compiled in 1991] Gilbert Keith Chesterton (1874-1936), a famous convert to Catholicism, wrote brilliantly about three phases of conversion, which seem to be fairly typical of many, if not most, converts (including myself): The convert commonly passes through three stages or states of mind. The first is when he imagines himself to be entirely detached . . . that of the young philosopher who feels... Read more

Classic Anti-Catholic Polemicists (Chick, Boettner, & Hislop)

Last updated on: August 12, 2017 at 1:04 pm By Dave Armstrong

Cover of a 1919 edition of Hislop’s The Two Babylons [public domain / Wikimedia Commons] (1-25-91) The Two Babylons, by Alexander Hislop, is a particularly venomous and well-known book simply teeming with ignorance and falsehood. This “scholarly” work, published in 1858 (Neptune, New Jersey: 1959, 2nd American edition, 330 pages), gives its “thesis” in the Introduction: It has been known all along that Popery was baptized Paganism . . . the very Paganism which prevailed in the ancient literal Babylon .... Read more