Mary’s Assumption vs. Material Sufficiency of Scripture?

Last updated on: May 21, 2022 at 11:53 pm By Dave Armstrong

Refutation of Anti-Catholic Polemicist & Reformed Protestant Pastor David T. King Photograph by “mintchipdesigns” [Pixabay / public domain: CC0 1.0 Universal (CC0 1.0)] (4-22-07) ***** I would like to challenge Pastor King’s claims that a belief in material sufficiency of Scripture is inconsistent with a belief in the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Pastor King’s lengthy exchange (mostly with a Catholic, David Waltz; this now being the “Three David Discussion”) is posted at James Swan’s blog. His words will be in... Read more

Debates w Anti-Catholic Jason Engwer

Last updated on: May 13, 2020 at 4:39 pm By Dave Armstrong

From the You Tube video: Critical Thinking Part 2: Broken Logic, by “techNyouvids (12-11-11) [Creative Commons license] ***** The papers below are archived versions from Internet Archive. Select from July 2015 or earlier, and allow a minute or two for them to upload. ***** Further Dialogue With an Evangelical Protestant on Various Aspects of Development of Doctrine (Particularly Concerning the Canon of Scripture) [3-19-02] Debate: Church Fathers & Sola Scriptura [8-1-03] Ten Church Fathers & Sola Scriptura: Reply to Jason Engwer’s Catholic... Read more

Virgin Mary: Woman of Revelation 12?

Last updated on: February 27, 2017 at 2:41 pm By Dave Armstrong

. . . According to Popes and Catholic Scholars Immaculate Conception (1630-1635), by Francisco de Zurbarán (1598-1664) [public domain / Wikimedia Commons] *** (4-1-09) *** Revelation 12:1, 5 (RSV) And a great portent appeared in heaven, a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars; . . . She brought forth a male child, one who is to rule all the nations with a rod of iron, but her child... Read more

St. Mary Magdalene: Former Prostitute?

Last updated on: May 1, 2019 at 5:03 pm By Dave Armstrong

. . . and/or the Repentant “Sinner” Woman of Luke 7? Mary Magdalene Reading (1500-1510), by Piero di Cosimo (1462-1521) [public domain / Wikimedia Commons] *** (7-22-09) ***** As I understand it, the notion that Mary Magdalene was a prostitute comes from conflating the woman who anointed Jesus’ feet (Luke 7) with Mary Magdalene. Luke 7:39 seems to imply that the woman described was a harlot (“what sort of woman this is” in RSV). The Bible itself doesn’t make this... Read more

Debates w Anti-Catholic Polemicists

Last updated on: February 27, 2017 at 2:46 pm By Dave Armstrong

These are old Blogspot papers of mine. Allow a minute or two for the Internet Archive versions to upload, and choose scans from July 2015 or earlier. ***** Jack Chick’s Lies: The Real Alberto Rivera (with a letter from an Alberto supporter and counter-reply) [1-1-99] * Debate: The Anti-Catholic “Pope as God” Argument (vs. Paul Mansbacher) [1-1-99] * Dialogue: Double Standards: The Anti-Catholic Definition of “Christian” (vs. Matthew Bell) [1-11-99] * Counter-Reply to Anti-Catholic Baptist Pastor Chris Bayack’s Critique of... Read more

Debates w Anti-Catholic James Swan

Last updated on: February 27, 2017 at 2:47 pm By Dave Armstrong

(aka John Q. “Deadhead” Doe) [public domain / Pixabay] *** Many of the papers below are archived versions from Internet Archive. Select from July 2015 or earlier, and allow a minute or two for them to upload. Mr. Swan is of the Reformed Protestant persuasion, and does quite a bit of research on Martin Luther. ***** Counter-Reply: Martin Luther’s Mariology (Particularly the Immaculate Conception): Has Present-Day Protestantism Maintained the “Reformational” Heritage of Classical Protestant Mariology?(+ Part II | Part III)... Read more

Sola Scriptura: a Fictional Dialogue

Last updated on: February 27, 2017 at 2:48 pm By Dave Armstrong

Gospel of John, beginning, King James Version. Photo by John Snyder, 1-18-14 [Wikimedia Commons / Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license] (mid-1990s) * * * * * Catholics accept Church authority and a reliable, divinely-protected Tradition, whereas Protestants “pick and choose” which traditions are to their own particular denominational taste. This is arbitrary in two ways: 1) There is really no cogent, non-arbitrary method for Protestants to determine which tradition is true (e.g., NT Canon) and which is false (e.g., Marian... Read more

Esther: the Protestant Version Removes God

Last updated on: February 27, 2017 at 2:49 pm By Dave Armstrong

Esther and Mordecai (1675), by Aert de Gelder (1645-1727) [public domain / Wikimedia Commons] ***** I came across a basic form of this argument in a comment on my site by “RoyMix“: “Doesn’t the Catholic Bible include the Prayer of Mordecai? I know Jerome moved it to the end, but it is still there. So only the Protestant Bible has a godless Esther.” He nailed it. The Protestant version is ten chapters, with the tenth chapter containing only three verses.... Read more

Sola Scriptura & the “Either/Or” Mindset

Last updated on: February 27, 2017 at 2:51 pm By Dave Armstrong

Board of Illusion, by Piotr Siedlecki [PublicDomainPictures.net] ***** The following is my post and some of the ensuing Facebook discussion, from 1 July 2012: A person (“Joe”) who is Catholic, but obviously laboring under some serious Protestant remnants in his thought, wrote under Fr. Dwight Longenecker’s review of my book on this topic: “Most Protestants will come around to admit they to honor their own traditions. But what they won’t admit is that any authority is more supreme than Scripture.... Read more

Fictional Dialogue on Eucharistic Real Presence

Last updated on: February 27, 2017 at 2:54 pm By Dave Armstrong

Salvador Dali’s Crucifixion (Corpus Hypercubus) at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. Photograph by Ben Sutherland, 3-24-09 [Flickr / CC BY 2.0 license] (1995) ***** Thomas [Protestant]: Hey Joe, how can you Catholics believe that the communion wafer actually turns into the Body and Blood of Christ? Do you expect me to accept that?! Joe [Catholic]: Because in this case, we are the ones who insist on taking the Bible literally. There is much to suggest the miracle... Read more

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