Immaculate Conception (c. 1505), by Piero di Cosimo (1462-1521) [public domain / Wikimedia Commons] *** (7-16-08) *** Here are some excerpts from my book, Catholic Church Fathers *** St. Athanasius . . . pure and unstained Virgin . . . (On the Incarnation of the Word, 8; Gambero, 102) O noble Virgin, truly you are greater than any other greatness. For who is your equal in greatness, O dwelling place of God the Word? To whom among all creatures shall I... Read more
(The Latria / Dulia Distinction) Veneration of Our Lady of the Gate of Dawn in Lithuania. Photograph by Fczarnowski, August 2009 [Wikimedia Commons / Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license] ***** (8 March 1999) *** An evangelical Protestant asked me: “Could you find me a definition and word etymology of latria and dulia?” * * * * * Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church (2nd ed., edited by F. L. Cross & E. A. Livingstone, Oxford Univ. Press, 1983, p.... Read more
[Up until 2010, when he suddenly departed the Internet, Svendsen was a leading online anti-Catholic polemicist] Mighty Mouse [Flickr / CC BY 2.0 license] *** These are old Blogspot papers of exchanges with Eric Svendsen: drawn from Internet Archive. Be sure to allow a minute or two for them to load, and select versions from July 2015 or earlier. *** Dialogue on the Alleged “Perspicuous Apostolic Message” as a Proof of the Quasi-Protestantism of the Early Church [May-June 1996] Debate... Read more
Anti-Catholic cartoon depicting the Church and the Pope as a malevolent octopus. From Jeremiah J. Crowley, The Pope: Chief of White Slavers High Priest of Intrigue (1913) [public domain / Wikimedia Commons] ***** Use of the Term “Anti-Catholic” in Protestant and Secular Scholarly Works of History and Sociology (vs. “Romans 45”) [10-7-02; revised 5-17-03] Eric Svendsen’s & Other Anti-Catholics’ Inconsistent Use of Anti-Evangelical as a Description of Catholics [6-4-04] Ironies of Anti-Catholic Reformed / The Loaded Term “Papalism” (Revised) [11-19-04] On the Objectionable Use... Read more
(vs. Ken Temple) Relic of the True Cross, Decani Monastery, Serbia [Wikimedia Commons / Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license] ***** (6-3-08) Ken’s words will be in blue. * * * * * Paul Hoffer noted: The Martyrdom of Saint Polycarp, written in 155-157 AD clearly shows that the Church practiced the veneration of relics very early in Church history: Accordingly, we afterwards took up his [St. Polycarp’s] bones, as being more precious than the most exquisite jewels, and... Read more
Image by “Geralt” [Pixabay / CC0 public domain] ***** I have linked to Internet Archive versions of my old Blogspot papers. Be sure to allow a minute or two for the posts to load, and make selections from July 2015 or earlier. “CPA” is a very friendly Lutheran professor of history, with whom I’ve enjoyed many fun dialogues. He stated in unsolicited remarks (7-12-05), that I was “blessedly free of the kind of ‘any enemy of Protestantism is a friend of... Read more
Image by “tswedensky” [Pixabay / CC0 public domain] ***** This is an exchange from my Facebook page today. Brent Robbins‘ words will be in green; Steven D. Greydanus‘ words will be in blue. They are both Catholics. ***** Wow…you are voting for Trump, Dave? Such a wide variety of opinion. You are proactively voting Trump while many Catholics are voting 3rd party. Mark Shea basically considers Trump the worst ever as does Steven D. Greydanus. Of course. I vote for... Read more
Condign and Congruous Merit, Prevenient Grace, Etc. Pixabay image [CC0 public domain] ***** (2-2-09) ***** Someone wrote on the Coming Home Network Internet forum (where I was moderator from 2007-2010): Apologist John Martignoni recently wrote: “The Catholic Church teaches that one’s works are of absolutely no avail, unless one is already in a state of justification.” Apologetics for the Masses, #107 Apologist Jimmy Akin recently wrote: “. . . Catholic theology holds, it is impossible for man to do anything... Read more
Martin Luther (1532), by Lucas Cranach the Elder (1472-1553) [public domain / Wikimedia Commons] *** 21 papers about Martin Luther: the founder of Protestantism and key early figure, from Catholic apologist Dave Armstrong, dating from 2004-2011. *** These are old Blogspot papers of mine, retrieved from Internet Archive. Be sure to allow a minute or two for them to load, and select archived versions from July 2015 or earlier. ***** On “Controversial” Issues Concerning Martin Luther (My Motivations and Opinions)... Read more
The Book of Concord and the Catholic Mass Colored version of the Whore of Babylon illustration from Martin Luther’s 1534 translation of the Bible, from the Workshop of Lucas Cranach [public domain / Wikimedia Commons]. (4-26-05) The following dialogue with Lutheran “BWL” occurred in comments below. Since I did a little work in my reply, I thought it would be appropriate to make it a new paper of its own. His words will be in blue. Citations from the Book... Read more
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