Catholic “Three-Legged Stool”: Scripture, Tradition, & Church

Last updated on: December 2, 2017 at 1:46 pm By Dave Armstrong

Dialogue with an Anglican on the Catholic Rule of Faith (vs. Jon Jacobson) (10-31-02) [Jon’s words will be in blue] *** I do think Scripture is largely clear PROVIDED people are willing to follow it wherever it leads. Sounds like you have evolved from a believer in the perspicuity of Scripture to a believer in the semi-perspicuity of Scripture. It is largely clear, but not quite enough for hermeneutical and doctrinal unity to be achieved without authoritative Tradition and a Church.... Read more

The Freedom of the Catholic Biblical Exegete / Interpreter

Last updated on: December 2, 2017 at 1:53 pm By Dave Armstrong

+ Bible Passages that the Church has Definitively Interpreted [I wrote 44 apologetics inserts one-page articles for this: my best-selling book. They are available separately on my e-booksite, for $2.99] *** (9-14-03) *** Contrary to the bogus claims of some anti-Catholic Protestant polemicists I have run across, Catholics are not at all obliged to read the New American Bible translation (nor the revised English Vulgate, such as the Ronald Knox translation). My own preferred translation is the Revised Standard Version (RSV),... Read more

1 Corinthians 4:6: Is it a Prooftext for Sola Scriptura?

Last updated on: December 1, 2017 at 2:31 pm By Dave Armstrong

[Book and purchase information] *** (5-7-13; expanded on 12-1-17) *** [This analysis was part of my discontinued book, 501 Biblical Arguments Against Sola Scriptura and didn’t make it into the revised, much more compact 100 Biblical Arguments Against Sola Scriptura (Catholic Answers, 2012). I had also dealt with it in A Biblical Defense of Catholicism (Sophia Institute Press, 2003), pp. 16-18: which I will cite below. ] *** RSV: I have applied all this to myself and Apol’los for your benefit, brethren, that you... Read more

Bibles & Catholics, Sunday School?, Memorization, Etc.

Last updated on: December 1, 2017 at 1:53 pm By Dave Armstrong

[Book and purchase information] (9-25-08) *** These thoughts of mine come from a (requested) critique I did today of a zealous friend’s proposals for Catholic Bible Study and “Sunday School” sorts of methods, that he would like to present to bishops for consideration. I disagreed in some emphases and presuppositions, though I agreed overall, in a broad sense. Though they will appear a bit random and scattered, this material gives readers an idea of how a Catholic (at least this... Read more

John Calvin’s Erroneous Mystical View of the Eucharist

Last updated on: November 30, 2017 at 4:02 pm By Dave Armstrong

(4-9-04, 9-7-05, abridged and re-edited on 11-30-17) *** [see the original series of three debates (one / two / three) with Reformed Protestants] [John Calvin’s words will be in blue] *** Either Jesus’ body and blood are substantially present or not. If they are, then they are really there! You can’t deny that the elements are transformed (Catholic view) or joined by the true body and blood (Lutheranism) and still hold that there is substantial or “real” presence. Why? Because this is... Read more

Are We Allowed to Rebuke and/or Mock the Devil?

Last updated on: November 30, 2017 at 2:53 pm By Dave Armstrong

I received some comments regarding my article for National Catholic Register: “Satan is Highly Intelligent—and an Arrogant Idiot” (11-27-17). These are my replies. *** John Hickey: Hmmm! Perhaps some meditation upon the Letter of Jude is called for – – – verses 8-10. Here is that passage (RSV): Yet in like manner these men in their dreamings defile the flesh, reject authority, and revile the glorious ones. [9] But when the archangel Michael, contending with the devil, disputed about the body... Read more

Pope St. Pius V Claimed to be God (Say Anti-Catholics)

Last updated on: November 22, 2021 at 1:47 pm By Dave Armstrong

(2-11-11) *** “The Pope and God are the same. So he has all [the] power in Heaven and earth.” — Pope Pius V, quoted in Barclay. [seen on a Facebook page tonight, but obviously gotten from somewhere else off the Internet. “The” in brackets is added from the usual “quotation” used, seen below] *** Here are examples of many anti-Catholic sites using the botched citation, without checking it for accuracy (a basic, rudimentary, elementary requirement of all serious research). No... Read more

Limited Atonement, Free Will, & Failed Prayers of Jesus

Last updated on: November 30, 2017 at 11:49 am By Dave Armstrong

(Book and purchase information) (7-18-14) *** I was informed in correspondence that James White (the Reformed Baptist king of the anti-Catholics) made the following argument: Christ is our Great High Priest. Also, Christ is all-knowing. If in fact Christ died for all men and not just the Elect, wouldn’t that result in Christ interceding as High Priest in Heaven on behalf of those He already knows will ultimately reject His sacrifice on the cross and go to Hell? Because we... Read more

Did I Take St. Irenaeus Out of Context (Rule of Faith)?

Last updated on: November 30, 2017 at 2:28 pm By Dave Armstrong

(Book and purchase information) *** Ken Temple is an anti-Catholic polemicist, whom I have debated many times in the past. He knows full well that I don’t waste my time wrangling with anti-Catholic zealots in debates about theology. This has been my policy since 2007, with very few exceptions (for special reasons; in fact, the very paper he critiqued was one such exception). This reply is not arguing theology. It’s merely setting certain facts straight about what I have defended... Read more

“Catholicism Refuted”? (Kevin Cauley): Pt. V: Salvation

Last updated on: November 28, 2017 at 1:40 pm By Dave Armstrong

(Book and purchase information) *** (12-11-04) *** This is a counter-reply to a response to my best-selling pamphlet for Our Sunday Visitor, Top Ten Questions Catholics Are Asked, by Church of Christ preacher Kevin Cauley. His words will be in blue. Words from my pamphlet will be in green. *** Complete Five-Part Series: Part I: Introduction and Church of Christ Information Part II: Tradition / Papacy Part III: “Father” / Purgatory / Statues / Confession Part IV: Mary / Eucharist Part V: Salvation (+... Read more

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