Bishop Irenaeus (1923), by Uroš Predić (1857-1953) [public domain / Wikimedia Commons] *** (8-1-03) *** The following was offered as “proof” that St. Irenaeus believed in something akin to sola Scriptura: They [heretics] gather their views from other sources than the Scriptures…We have learned from none others the plan of our salvation, than from those through whom the Gospel has come down to us, which they did at one time proclaim in public, and, at a later period, by the will... Read more
St. Justin Martyr (c. 1546), by Theophanes the Cretan (1490-1559) and his son Symeon [public domain / Wikimedia Commons] *** (8-1-03) *** Justin Martyr wrote: And now, if I say this to you, although I have repeated it many times, I know that it is not absurd so to do. For it is a ridiculous thing to see the sun, and the moon, and the other stars, continually keeping the same course, and bringing round the different seasons; and to... Read more
[see full book and purchase information; the material below is not part of this book] ***** This is a somewhat modified condensation of general portions of a huge debate that I engaged in with Protestant anti-Catholic polemicist Jason Engwer in July 2003. Particular Church fathers and their pro-tradition / “anti-sola Scriptura” views will be dealt with individually and separately. ***** Sola Scriptura simply cannot be found in the Fathers, as the many historians I cite (mostly Protestant) repeatedly affirm. All my... Read more
Photograph by “MemoryCatcher” (6-14-13) [Pixabay / CC0 public domain] ***** Erik is a thoughtful, amiable Calvinist who commented under my blog paper, Total Depravity (“None is Righteous”): Reply to James White. His words will be in blue. ***** I honestly cannot comprehend your intentions here. That’s extraordinary, since I laid them out in the most painstaking detail. No one could possibly misunderstand my intent. But somehow you manage to do so. Strong presuppositions cause that to happen. Are you saying there are... Read more
Image by “jalandas0” (3-23-16) [Pixabay / CC0 public domain] ***** Erik is a thoughtful, amiable Calvinist who claims he has never had a constructive theological discussion with a Catholic. Hopefully, this will be his first time. I enjoyed it on my end! He commented under my blog paper, “Reply to Calvin” #3: Synergism, Grace Alone, & the Elect. His words will be in blue. ***** I believe you are correct that Calvinism and Catholicism (especially Thomism) have a virtual overlap in... Read more
Historical mixed media figure of John Calvin produced by artist/historian George S. Stuart and photographed by Peter d’Aprix: from the George S. Stuart Gallery of Historical Figures archive [Wikimedia Commons / Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license] *** This is an installment of a series of replies (see the Introduction and Master List) to much of Book IV (Of the Holy Catholic Church) of Institutes of the Christian Religion, by early Protestant leader John Calvin (1509-1564). I utilize the public domain translation of... Read more
Historical mixed media figure of John Calvin produced by artist/historian George S. Stuart and photographed by Peter d’Aprix: from the George S. Stuart Gallery of Historical Figures archive [Wikimedia Commons / Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license] *** This is an installment of a series of replies (see the Introduction and Master List) to much of Book IV (Of the Holy Catholic Church) of Institutes of the Christian Religion, by early Protestant leader John Calvin (1509-1564). I utilize the public domain translation of... Read more
[PublicDomainPictures.Net / CC0 public domain] ***** Fellow Patheos writer David Russell Mosley wrote in his thoughtful piece, “Is Patheos Catholic Liberal?” (4-1-17): “Many of the authors who write about politics at Patheos Catholic do not come from a politically ‘conservative’ point of view.” Precisely. The question is: what is their view? Is David saying that they are left-of-center or that their political views transcend the entire left-right schema for categorizing political views? I’m certainly one of the more “conservative” bloggers here, but... Read more
Photograph by Jessica Flavin (2-6-08) [Wikimedia Commons / Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license] ***** I ran across a typical [former Catholic] “angry atheist” sub-type on my blog (note that I’m not saying that all atheists are angry and anti-theist, but there is a large group that is). I immediately banned him when I saw his comment (which — needless to say — made not the slightest attempt to interact with my article) because it broke my discussion rules and... Read more
+ Documentation That White Accepts the Scholarship of the Protestant Church Historians I Cite (J. N. D. Kelly and Philip Schaff) Assumption of the Virgin (1637), by Guido Reni (1575-1642) [public domain / Wikimedia Commons] *** (9-7-05) *** James White wrote a book called, Mary — Another Redeemer? His words will be in blue. *** Evidence of the Mary Mediatrix doctrine in a primitive, relatively undeveloped sense, is seen in aspects of St. Irenaeus’ teaching. St. Irenaeus (130-202), in his famous Against Heresies (bet. 180-199)... Read more
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