Venerating & Bowing Before Angels & Men: Biblical?

Last updated on: November 20, 2021 at 2:07 pm By Dave Armstrong

. . . Genesis ch. 18-19 and Revelation ch. 19, 22 [Etc.] (vs. Ken Temple) The Angel Appearing Before the Shepherds, by Thomas Buchanan Read (1822-1872) [public domain / Wikimedia Commons] (11-10-14) Pastor Ken Temple is a Reformed Protestant anti-Catholic polemicist, whom I have engaged numerous times. His words will be in blue. * * * * * I wrote, in the above dialogue: Oftentimes, sadly, yes, because human beings have an endless capacity for self-deception, self-justification, and rationalization. What... Read more

“Is This God?” (Treatise on the Eucharist) [Envoy Magazine]

Last updated on: May 20, 2017 at 2:28 pm By Dave Armstrong

Christ with the Eucharist, late 16th century, by Joan de Joanes (1510-1579) [public domain / Wikimedia Commons] This article was the cover story in Patrick Madrid’s Envoy Magazine, Jan/Feb 2000 issue. Here it is presented in my own original version (before editing). [originally uploaded on 26 June 2000] ***** I held aloft with both my hands the golden chalice, gazing upwards at it, performing one of the central liturgical rituals of the Mass, in which the consecration of the wine takes... Read more

Redemptive Suffering (For the Benefit of Other Persons)

Last updated on: March 23, 2020 at 10:05 am By Dave Armstrong

Crucifixion of St. Peter, by Caravaggio (1571-1610) [public domain / Wikimedia Commons] *** This article has been re-uploaded, under the title, Redemptive Suffering Offers Spiritual Benefit to Others. *** Read more

Searching for the Perfect Beethoven’s 9th Symphony

Last updated on: May 20, 2017 at 2:37 pm By Dave Armstrong

Bust statue from death mask by Hagen, photographed in 1898 [public domain / Wikimedia Commons] [originally written in April 2015, with additional thoughts added on 9-21-15] * * * * * This has been a fun pastime of mine, as of late. Beethoven symphony lovers basically fall into three camps: 1) the classical interpretation, 2) the Romantic interpretation, and 3) the “period instruments” preference. I am firmly in camp #2, as a Wagnerite and Mahlerite, brass lover (I played trombone... Read more

50 Heterodox Beliefs of Luther in 1520

Last updated on: July 9, 2024 at 6:15 pm By Dave Armstrong

Original title: “50 Ways In Which Luther Had Departed From Catholic Orthodoxy by 1520 (and Why He Was Excommunicated)” Portrait of Martin Luther (1528), by Lucas Cranach the Elder (1472-1553) [public domain / Wikimedia Commons] *** (3-29-06) *** Martin Luther’s words will be in green. * * * * * Chris Jones (Lutheran) asked: “So why was Dr Luther excommunicated? In what way was he heterodox?” . . . I must confess that that subject is quite ambitious . . ., but nevertheless... Read more

Martin Luther’s Belief in the “Immaculate Purification” of Mary

Last updated on: June 5, 2026 at 11:41 pm By Dave Armstrong

Lucas Cranach the Elder, Madonna under the fir tree (1509) [pubic domain / Wikimedia Commons] (10-2-10) Martin Luther’s words will be in blue. * * * * * Luther in a 1532 sermon (second sermon on Luke 2:41-52) stated (my italics): 32. This should shut the mouths of vain babblers who exalt the holy Virgin Mary and other saints as if they knew everything and could not err; for you can see here how they err and falter, not only... Read more

The Imitation of the Blessed Virgin Mary (Our Model)

Last updated on: June 18, 2020 at 3:37 pm By Dave Armstrong

This article has been re-uploaded under the title, “The Imitation of the Blessed Virgin Mary.” *** Photo credit: Archetypal Gothic Lady of Sorrows from a triptych by the Master of the Stauffenberg Altarpiece, Alsace c. 1455 [Wikimedia Commons / Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license] *** Read more

“The Butcher and the Hog”: On Relentless Biblical Skepticism

Last updated on: May 20, 2017 at 2:53 pm By Dave Armstrong

Cervantes’ Don Quixote tilting at windmills [Flickr / CC BY-SA 2.0 license] I’ve often said that the atheist or otherwise relentlessly skeptical person who wars against the Bible, approaches Holy Scripture like a butcher approaches a hog. They’ll never understand it by means of such a ludicrous and hostile method. There can be legitimate questions, on a certain level, and sincerely inquiring people, of course, but in the final analysis, skepticism as a sort of overriding “spirit” is nonsense from... Read more

Martin Luther and Mary’s Virginity During Childbirth

Last updated on: May 20, 2017 at 2:56 pm By Dave Armstrong

. . . the Miraculous Birth of Jesus (“in Partu”) Without Pain Madonna and Child with Book, Raphael, c. 1503 [public domain / Wikimedia Commons] (10-12-11; additions on 9-19-15) * * * * * Elsewhere I have documented how Luther (along with virtually all of the Protestant founders) firmly believed in the perpetual virginity of Mary (see separate papers regarding the same belief of Calvin [one / two / three], Bullinger, and Turretin), and that the in partu virginity of... Read more

Arbitrary Bias in the NIV Bible Translation Against “Tradition”

Last updated on: June 6, 2026 at 12:27 am By Dave Armstrong

Abandoned Bible (photograph by Patrick Feller, 4-20-09) [Flickr / CC BY 2.0 license] It was brought to my attention today by a friend, that the NIV may be injecting its usual strong evangelical Protestant bias into Bible passages having to do with “good” and “bad” tradition. The first chapter of my latest book, Proving the Catholic Faith is Biblical, is entitled, “Tradition is Not Always a Bad Word in Scripture.” It shows how the Bible uses “tradition” in two ways:... Read more

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