[originally posted on 8-11-22 on Facebook] Protestants on the whole are certainly more familiar with the Bible than Catholics. I don’t think anyone who has interacted with them much (or has been one, like myself) will disagree with that. It’s unarguable. * I will be forever grateful for the great love of the Bible that I learned while I was an evangelical. It has been a thing of immeasurable use in my ministry. Largely because of that, one of my... Read more
[slightly revised version of a post originally dated 12-15-22 on Facebook] Writing at atheist Jonathan MS Pearce’s blog underneath an article entitled, A study in straw: “Apologetics, alphabets, and the Torah,” by guest writer “Lex Lata” (12-1-22) — one that I thoroughly replied to, “BensNewLogIn” stated: “Moses writing Genesis would not have been an eyewitness account.” No kidding? He figured that out, huh? This is not exactly a huge revelation (no pun intended). Obviously, Moses wasn’t present at the Garden... Read more
+ Legitimate Biblical & Spiritual Reasons for His Not Directly Answering Particularly Accusatory, Ill-Willed, & Wrongminded Critics If we’ve heard it once, we’ve heard it a thousand times; something along the lines of: “the pope must answer the five dubia [questions concerning doctrine] that have been put to him, and if he doesn’t, he is encouraging severe doctrinal confusion and/or [in the eyes of his severest critics], heresy.” This has been a key mantra and “slogan” among many such unfortunate... Read more
As I did with the prophets Isaiah and Jeremiah, I will now take a look at the twelve “minor prophets” (Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi) and see whether their theology of salvation (soteriology) is closer in spirit and substance to Catholic or Protestant soteriology. I’ve never done this before, so I look forward to what will certainly be an exciting journey of discovery. To briefly recap the differences: the Protestant idea is... Read more
Protestants have a quite annoying tendency to select “pet verses” and to ignore many other relevant passages along the same lines. I wrote a whole book about this; one of my own favorites, called The Catholic Verses: 95 Bible Passages That Confound Protestants (Aug. 2004). For example, frequently cite like a mantra, Isaiah 64:6 (which I recently posted about): “all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags” (KJV). They think this proves that (supposedly) no good works are meritorious, that “faith alone” is... Read more
Protestants have a very prominent and quite annoying tendency to select “pet verses” and to ignore many other relevant passages along the same lines (I think — speculating — because they realize down deep that the other passages contradict their view). I wrote a whole book about this; one of my own favorites, called The Catholic Verses: 95 Bible Passages That Confound Protestants (Aug. 2004). One of these Bible verses is from the book of the prophet Jeremiah: Jeremiah 17:9 (RSV,... Read more
Does Isaiah 64:6 (“even our best actions are filthy through and through”: GNB) Prove That All Works Whatsoever, Done by Regenerated Persons in Faith and By Grace, Are Absolutely Worthless? [originally posted on Facebook on 6-30-23] **** Isaiah 64:6 is about one particular instance in time where the Israelites had become profoundly, societally corrupt. It’s not saying that all works whatsoever are worthless. That’s eisegesis. God explained how all this works in Isaiah 1: * Isaiah 1:4, 13-19 (RSV) Ah,... Read more
Including Documentation of His Stated Views & Mindless Smears Sent My Way in a Catholic World Report Combox The background of this latest incident where Dr. Williams (his words will be in blue below) has taken it upon himself to personally attack my work and myself in a very public venue (The Catholic World Report) is the dispute between Catholic philosopher Dr. Ed Feser (words in green below) and Catholic apologist Michael Lofton (which I have dealt with at length... Read more
Several “why didn’t they use these terms?” arguments [originally posted on Facebook on 8-31-22] * We see such arguments used to deny Mary’s perpetual virginity, so why not the other way around, too? * For example, Jesus’ “brethren” in Scripture are never called the children of Mary, and Mary is never called their mother, as in the case of Jesus: * John 2:1 (RSV) On the third day there was a marriage at Cana in Galilee, and the mother of... Read more
Including a Listing of Many Biblical Passages About Sin, Holiness, Blamelessness, Righteousness, Godliness, Perfection, and Sanctity Lots of people (and angels) have been without sin: if not always, at least for a time or season. Adam and Eve before they fell were sinless; had never sinned until they rebelled. If we consider all creatures, two-thirds of the angels are not only sinless now, but always have been so. Even Satan and the fallen angels were sinless before they rebelled. Some... Read more
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