Lucas Banzoli’s “Answer” to My Critique of His Caricatured “Mary”

Last updated on: February 21, 2023 at 4:31 pm By Dave Armstrong

Textbook Anti-Catholic Sophistry Tactics [originally posted on 12-7-22 on Facebook; slight changes added on 12-26-22] Lucas Banzoli is a very active Brazilian anti-Catholic polemicist, who holds to basically a Seventh-Day Adventist theology, whereby there is no such thing as a soul that consciously exists outside of a body, and no hell (soul sleep and annihilationism). This leads him to a Christology which is deficient and heterodox in terms of Christ’s human nature after His death. He has a Master’s degree in... Read more

Jesus at Twelve in the Temple & Mary’s Perpetual Virginity

Last updated on: December 26, 2022 at 11:48 am By Dave Armstrong

The Nature & Force of Arguments from Silence, Plausibility, Probability, & Cumulative Effect Explained [words of questioners in blue. The first may have been an atheist; the second a Protestant evangelical] * “We don’t see a word about any other children, who certainly would have gone with Joseph and Mary to observe the Passover in Jerusalem.” So the argument from silence is okay when you use it? * The argument from silence has limitations, but it’s not all bad. We... Read more

Was the Star of Bethlehem a Natural Celestial Event?

Last updated on: December 21, 2022 at 6:03 pm By Dave Armstrong

Atheist and anti-theist Bob Seidensticker runs the influential Cross Examined blog. I have critiqued 84 of his articles (no counter-reply as of yet). He was gracious enough to send me a free e-book copy of his new volume, 2-Minute Christianity: 50 Big Ideas Every Christian Should Understand (May 2022), which I critiqued point-by-point. His words will be in blue. ***** See my previous replies in this series (Part 1 / Part 2) This is a reply to Bob’s articles, “Critique of ‘The Star of Bethlehem’ video” (12-9-22) and “Jupiter,... Read more

Beatles’ “Rubber Soul”: Best Remixes (As We Await the Official Remix)

Last updated on: December 21, 2022 at 2:06 pm By Dave Armstrong

Revolver (5 August 1966), the album that followed Rubber Soul(3 December 1965), was released on 28 October 2022 in a state-of-the-art remix by Giles Martin. It’s spectacular and has been receiving rave reviews (including my own). Many believe that Rubber Soul will be brought out of the “audio stone ages” next. It’s the current “buzz” in the gigantic Beatles fans community. * The technology now exists — it’s called “de-mixing” and was developed just in the last few years —... Read more

Star of Bethlehem: Scientific Verification (vs. an Atheist)

Last updated on: December 20, 2022 at 3:31 pm By Dave Armstrong

Atheist and anti-theist Bob Seidensticker runs the influential Cross Examined blog. I have critiqued 83 of his articles, (no counter-reply as of yet). He was gracious enough to send me a free e-book copy of his new volume, 2-Minute Christianity: 50 Big Ideas Every Christian Should Understand (May 2022), which I critiqued point-by-point. His words will be in blue. ***** This is a reply to his articles, “Can the Star of Bethlehem be scientifically verified?” (11-28-22) and “The Star of Bethlehem, a real event?” (12-6-22). The New Testament has two... Read more

Did the Star of Bethlehem Move Like Tinker Bell?

Last updated on: December 19, 2022 at 5:56 pm By Dave Armstrong

+ Discussion of Micah 5:2 (The Prophecy of Jesus’ Birth in Bethlehem) Atheist and anti-theist Bob Seidensticker runs the influential Cross Examined blog. I have critiqued 82 of his articles, (no counter-reply as of yet). He was gracious enough to send me a free e-book copy of his new volume, 2-Minute Christianity: 50 Big Ideas Every Christian Should Understand (May 2022), which I critiqued point-by-point. His words will be in blue. ***** This is a reply to portions of his article, “How did the Star of... Read more

Josephus, “Adelphos,” & James, “Brother of Jesus” (vs. Lucas Banzoli)

Last updated on: February 21, 2023 at 4:34 pm By Dave Armstrong

Lucas Banzoli is a very active Brazilian anti-Catholic polemicist, who holds to basically a Seventh-Day Adventist theology, whereby there is no such thing as a soul that consciously exists outside of a body, and no hell (soul sleep and annihilationism). This leads him to a Christology which is deficient and heterodox in terms of Christ’s human nature after His death. He has a Master’s degree in theology, a degree and postgraduate work in history, a license in letters, and is a... Read more

Reply to Seidensticker’s 50 “2-Minute” Anti-Christian Arguments

Last updated on: December 15, 2022 at 1:42 pm By Dave Armstrong

Atheist and anti-theist Bob Seidensticker runs the influential Cross Examined blog. I have critiqued 80 of his posts, but he hasn’t counter-replied to any of them. Nevertheless, he was gracious enough to send me a free e-book copy of his new volume, 2-Minute Christianity: 50 Big Ideas Every Christian Should Understand (May 2022). He (unsurprisingly) declined to discuss it back-and-forth, but at least we were civil and cordial. Since I have responded to so much of his material, over four-and-a-half years, I decided to see... Read more

Moses Wrote the Torah: 50 External Evidences

Last updated on: January 2, 2024 at 11:45 am By Dave Armstrong

Reply to Atheist “Lex Lata” This is a reply to a guest article on Jonathan MS Pearce’s atheist blog, by “Lex Lata”: a sharp and fairly civil atheist commentator (a professor?), with whom I have had some stimulating dialogue now and then. It’s entitled, “A study in straw: Apologetics, alphabets, and the Torah” (11-30-22). His words will be in blue. ***** The prevailing consensus among modern scholars of the Bible and Semitic philology (the study of structure and history of languages)... Read more

King Hezekiah: Exciting New Archaeological Findings

Last updated on: December 13, 2022 at 10:01 am By Dave Armstrong

My upcoming book is entitled, The Word Set in Stone: How Science, History, and Archaeology Prove Biblical Truth. It will be published probably in the spring of 2023 by Catholic Answers Press (see the table of contents, Introduction, and other information). The editing work on it is done. Currently, I’m checking up on the latest archaeological discoveries that confirm the accuracy of the Bible since the time I wrote my book. They are constantly occurring. Hezekiah, king of Judah (c.... Read more