Calvinism & General Protestantism: Catholic Critique

Last updated on: July 19, 2025 at 10:32 am By Dave Armstrong

[book and purchase information] ***** TABLE OF CONTENTS *** * Calvinism * I. REPLIES TO REFORMED BAPTIST GAVIN ORTLUND * II. REPLIES TO STEVE HAYS * III. CALVINISM AND ST. AUGUSTINE * IV. SACRAMENTS: ESPECIALLY BAPTISM AND THE EUCHARIST * V. PREDESTINATION, SUPRALAPSARIANISM, SOVEREIGNTY, JUDGMENT, UNCONDITIONAL ELECTION * VI. “TULIP”: TOTAL DEPRAVITY / LIMITED ATONEMENT / IRRESISTIBLE GRACE / PERSEVERANCE OF THE SAINTS * VII. REPLIES TO FRANCOIS TURRETIN (1623-1687) * VIII. ZWINGLI AND OTHER CALVINISTIC “REFORMERS” / MARIOLOGY... Read more

Deity of Jesus: Called “Lord” (“Kurios”) and “God” (“Theos”)

Last updated on: May 29, 2017 at 3:37 pm By Dave Armstrong

Christ Carrying the Cross, by Anthony van Dyck (1599-1641) [public domain / Wikimedia Commons] ***** (10-24-11) *** [all Bible passages: RSV. Kurios is Strong’s word #2962 and Theos is Strong’s word #2316] *** “I have no problem calling Jesus my Lord and my God, in the qualified sense in which the Bible presents him as a divine being. But Thomas may not have addressed Jesus as such (see my book for details). You are the one who has the problem,... Read more

Dialogue with a Calvinist: Was Paul a “Lone Ranger”?

Last updated on: May 29, 2017 at 3:41 pm By Dave Armstrong

St. Paul (c. 1611), by Peter Paul Rubens (1577-1640) [public domain / Wikimedia Commons] *** (10-24-11) * * * This is an exchange I had today with Neil Shenvi, a chemist; in a thread on my friend Alan Sides’ Facebook page. Neil’s words will be in blue. * * * * * . . . I haven’t actually been arguing for Sola Scriptura, as I commented to Heather. In fact, it is completely compatible with my argument to claim that... Read more

Reply to William Whitaker’s “Sola Scriptura” Arguments

Last updated on: May 29, 2017 at 3:44 pm By Dave Armstrong

. . . Absurd Alleged Biblical Indications Against Apostolic Tradition [see book information including purchase options] *** (10-20-11) * * * I am utilizing a copy of the book available at Internet Archive. *** Whitaker’s words will be in blue. Page numbers will correspond to the above book version. * * * I come now to another argument, the last of those touched upon by Bellarmine, and derived from various passages of scripture wherein traditions are condemned: as, Matth. xv.... Read more

Biblical Evidence for the Oral Torah & Oral Apostolic Tradition

Last updated on: May 29, 2017 at 3:45 pm By Dave Armstrong

Page from a medieval Jerusalem Talmud manuscript [public domain / Wikimedia Commons] * * (10-18-11) * * * I drew the following information from a fabulous article by a Messianic Jew, Reb Yhoshua, entitled, The Oral Torah and the Messianic Jew. I have been curious about this for some time, and found this article in a search. It’s a goldmine. The arguments are fascinating: agree or disagree. All Bible passages are RSV (and not directly cited from the article above, since he... Read more

Dialogue with a Lutheran: Rule of Faith / Fathers / Ecclesiology

Last updated on: May 29, 2017 at 3:50 pm By Dave Armstrong

(vs. Nathan Rinne) Lutheran church in Wittenberg, Germany where the Protestant Revolt began, with Martin Luther [Wikimedia Commons / Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license] * * * (10-17-11) * * Nathan’s words will be in blue. * * * * * I concede that just because an early church father argues from Scripture this does not necessarily mean “that only Scripture has authority to rebuke error and bind people…”. Not necessarily. But – do we find the church fathers consistently... Read more

Dialogue with a Lutheran: Salvation and Miscellany

Last updated on: May 30, 2017 at 3:14 pm By Dave Armstrong

(vs. Nathan Rinne) Lutheran church in Wittenberg, Germany where the Protestant Revolt began, with Martin Luther [Wikimedia Commons / Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license] * * * (10-14-11) * * Nathan’s words will be in blue. * * * Dave, I appreciate your approach and your clarity with which you write, but at the same time, it seems to me that right from the get-go you have not been nuanced enough in your presentation. You have, I believe unintentionally, misrepresented Chemnitz’s true position. ... Read more

Dialogue with a Lutheran: Church Fathers & “Sola Scriptura”

Last updated on: May 30, 2017 at 3:24 pm By Dave Armstrong

(vs. Nathan Rinne) Lutheran church in Wittenberg, Germany where the Protestant Revolt began, with Martin Luther [Wikimedia Commons / Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license] * * (10-13-11) * * * Nathan’s words will be in blue. * * * * * First, I understand your frustration about Chemnitz questioning the sincerity of RCs, especially as regards their love for the Scriptures and their concern to interpret it properly. He does seem rather harsh, even if in his day he was not, and... Read more

Dialogue with a Lutheran: Introductory Matters

Last updated on: May 30, 2017 at 3:28 pm By Dave Armstrong

(vs. Nathan Rinne) Lutheran church in Wittenberg, Germany where the Protestant Revolt began, with Martin Luther [Wikimedia Commons / Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license] * * * (10-12-11) * * Nathan Rinne (words in blue in this paper) is a friendly and able Lutheran apologist, with whom I have been having cordial discussions. He first showed up on my blog with a comment under a post of mine about Luther. Nathan then started expressing interest in replying to my (five) critiques of Martin... Read more

Debate with Lutherans Regarding Luther’s Mariology

Last updated on: May 30, 2017 at 3:32 pm By Dave Armstrong

. . . Including my Citation Mistake from 1994 (Clarification and Retraction) Posthumous Portrait of Martin Luther as an Augustinian Monk (after 1546), from the workshop of Lucas Cranach the Elder (1472-1553) [public domain / Wikimedia Commons] * * (10-2-11) * * * I am not “anti-Luther.” I am opposed to tenets of Luther’s theology that I deem to be erroneous from a Catholic perspective. Catholics argue for Catholic theology; Lutherans for Lutheran theology. That’s not rocket science. But honest differences do... Read more