Is Smoking a Sin?

Last updated on: December 22, 2017 at 4:09 pm By Dave Armstrong

+ Comment on the Inadequacy and Unbiblical Nature of Libertarianism Figure 8-6, page 288, chapter 8 in: Mitchell, Richard Sheppard; Kumar, Vinay; Abbas, Abul K.; Fausto, Nelson Robbins Basic Pathology, Philadelphia: Saunders ISBN: 1-4160-2973-7. 8th edition. Häggström, Mikael. “Medical gallery of Mikael Häggström 2014“. Wikiversity Journal of Medicine 1 (2). DOI:10.15347/wjm/2014.008. ISSN 20018762. [released into public domain / Wikimedia Commons] * * * (2-25-08) * * * * * These are some related thoughts that have come up in different discussions on the CHNI... Read more

Crucifixes: Abominable Idols or Devotional Aids?

Last updated on: March 24, 2017 at 2:17 pm By Dave Armstrong

Dialogue with a Calvinist Cloisters of Essen Minster, Essen, Germany. Photo: Andreas Praefcke (June 2008) [released for public domain / Wikimedia Commons] * * * (11-10-09) * * * * * Calvinist preacher Charles Spurgeon wrote: I. First, let us enquire, WHAT IS THIS CROSS OF CHRIST to which some men are sadly said to be enemies? Of course, it is not the material cross. It is not anything made in the shape of the cross. There are some who can... Read more

Jesus’ Interactions with Mary in Relation to Marian Veneration

Last updated on: March 24, 2017 at 2:19 pm By Dave Armstrong

Istanbul: Chora Church Museum (Kariye Cami). Nartex. A mosaic showing the Virgin Mary beside Jesus. Photograph by Giovanni Dall’Orto, May 29, 2006. Released into public domain by the photographer [Wikimedia Commons] * * * (10-29-08) * * * I was asked on the CHNI board: The passage where Jesus says “who are my mothers and brothers” in answer to someone saying his mother was there. The pastor wonders if we are supposed to show such veneration to Christ’s mother,... Read more

Jesus’ “Brothers” Always “Hangin’ Around” Mary …

Last updated on: March 24, 2017 at 2:24 pm By Dave Armstrong

Is This Proof that They Are His Siblings? Christ in the House of Martha and Mary (1886), by Henryk Siemiradzki (1843-1902) [public domain / Wikimedia Commons] * * * * * (8-31-09) * * * * * This exchange occurred on the CHNI forum. The person who asked the questions is, by his own description, “Raised RC, denominational orphan, post-Protestant.” I suspect that he may have come up with this question through the influence of a Protestant source or direct challenge... Read more

Jesus ALWAYS Knew He Was God (“Young Messiah”)

Last updated on: March 24, 2017 at 2:35 pm By Dave Armstrong

Patristic & Later Catholic Tradition & Contrary Early Heretical Sects’, Protestant, & Modernist Corruptions of It Baptism of Christ (1895), by José Ferraz de Almeida Júnior (1850-1899) [public domain / Wikimedia Commons] * * * * * This post is a follow-up to a controversial piece I wrote two days ago: “Young Messiah” Denies Christological Certainties. See also earlier related papers of mine: Jesus Had to Learn That He Was God? and Biblical Evidence for Jesus’ Omniscience. I will be drawing all of the... Read more

“Young Messiah” Denies Christological Certainties of the Faith

Last updated on: November 20, 2021 at 1:28 pm By Dave Armstrong

Christ in the House of His Parents (1850), by John Everett Millais (1829-1896) [public domain / Wikimedia Commons] * * * The Young Messiah is the latest “Bible movie” to appear. The problem is that it’s not (technically speaking) all that “biblical.” We know very little about Jesus’ childhood, and so the film draws from extrabiblical sources of mostly dubious historical value. For background’s sake, it’s drawn from Anne Rice‘s 2005 novel Christ the Lord: Out of Egypt. Rice has since... Read more

Bible: Some Sins More Serious Than Others

Last updated on: March 24, 2017 at 2:41 pm By Dave Armstrong

“The man with the burden”, illustration from John Bunyan’s dream story (based on Bunyan’s Pilgrim’s Progress); abridged by James Baldwin (1841-1925). Illustrator: Rachael Robinson Elmer (d. 12 February 1919) [public domain / Wikimedia Commons] * * * From my book, Bible Proofs for Catholic Truths (except that the passages are RSV rather than KJV, as in the book; also there are a few minor textual differences from the book). * * * 1 John 5:16-17 If any one sees his brother committing... Read more

Dialogue on Mortal and Venial Sin

Last updated on: March 24, 2017 at 2:44 pm By Dave Armstrong

vs. Ken Temple (Reformed Baptist) St. John the Evangelist, by Vicente Juan Masip (1510-1579) [public domain / Wikimedia Commons] * * * (4-14-06) * * * Ken’s words will be in green. In the “second round,” my older words will be in purple. Ken’s old words will be in blue. * * * * * Your paper fails to distinguish between spiritual final death in hell, (the second death, the lake of fire- Rev. 20:14-15) and physical death. Why do... Read more

“Remnant” Reactionary Michael Matt’s Reading / Logic Disabilities

Last updated on: March 25, 2017 at 3:09 pm By Dave Armstrong

. . . so it Would Sure Seem, Given his Ridiculous Attacks on Fr. Dwight Longenecker Photograph by Ryan Hyde (6-15-10) [Flickr / CC BY-SA 2.0 license] * * * * * Fr. Dwight Longenecker, fellow Patheos blogger and friend, wrote a piece entitled, “Ten Traits of Catholic Fundamentalism” (3-7-16). Michael Matt is the editor of the radical Catholic reactionary organ, The Remnant. Astonished and scandalized by Fr. Dwight’s perfectly reasonable article, Matt replied with an article (3-9-16) demanding that... Read more

Debate: My “Syllabus of 60 Catholic Reactionary Errors”

Last updated on: March 25, 2017 at 3:14 pm By Dave Armstrong

(vs. Mark Cameron) Ruins of St Mary’s Abbey Church in York, England. Photograph by “Kaly99” (5 August 2007) [Wikimedia Commons / Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license] * * * [see my original paper, now being disputed, and my definition of “radical Catholic reactionary”] * * * (24 November 2000. Terminology revised on 7 August 2013 and 9 March 2016) * * Mark’s words will be in blue:* * * * * I was disappointed by your paper on... Read more