blue<\/span>.<\/p>\n*****<\/p>\n
One of the erroneous teachings of the Roman Catholic Church is the doctrine of praying to the saints. Catholicism teaches that it is okay to offer prayers not only to God but also to creatures such as Mary, Joseph, and others who have entered heaven. Is it biblical to pray to anyone other than God? We firmly hold that it is not biblical and that to pray to anyone other than God is idolatrous. . . .\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nThere is no biblical teaching at all that states we are to pray to those who once were alive on earth and are now in heaven. . . .\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nWorship includes prayer.\u00a0 Therefore, no one should pray to any created thing.<\/span><\/p>\nBiblically, prayer is always offered to God and is a form of worship.\u00a0 All religions view prayer as an act of worship to their god(s) since they contain petitions, confession of sin, requests of intercession, etc.,\u2013things which are received and answered by God and not by created things. Also, prayer is not the same thing as talking to someone face-to-face.\u00a0 Prayer is a humble petition to the Lord and not to a friend who\u2019s in the same room with you or on the other end of the phone\u2013or in heaven.\u00a0 Prayer is offered to God\u2013never to any created thing.\u00a0 To do so is to offer worship that should only be directed to God, which is idolatry.\u00a0 Prayer should be offered only to God, and the Roman Catholic Church needs to repent of its false and idolatrous practice of praying to the saints.<\/span><\/p>\nThat\u2019s odd. Pastor Slick must read a different Bible than I do. Jesus\u2019 story (not technically a parable, because they don;t have proper names) of Lazarus and the rich man (traditionally known as \u201cDives\u201d) is found in Luke 16:19-31. It\u2019s a remarkable argument for the Catholic belief in invocation of saints and asking saints to intercede. And it goes directly\u00a0against<\/em>\u00a0Protestantism, which strongly upholds the following two propositions:<\/span><\/p>\n\n- It is improper to \u201cpray\u201d to anyone but God, and<\/span><\/li>\n
- It is improper to ask anyone but God to\u00a0fulfill<\/em>\u00a0(i.e., have the\u00a0power<\/em>\u00a0and ability to bring\u00a0about<\/em>) an intercessory request. By definition, no one but God can do so.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
These are exactly the sorts of considerations concerning which the Luke 16 passage is relevant. The rich man literally\u00a0prays<\/em>\u00a0to Abraham in the passage and asks him to send someone to warn his five brothers, so they can repent and not end up in his miserable state (on the \u201cbad\u201d side of the two divisions in Hades described in the passage). Here is the entire passage:<\/span><\/p>\nLuke 16:19-31<\/strong> (RSV)\u00a0\u201cThere was a rich man, who was clothed in purple and fine linen and who feasted sumptuously every day.\u00a0[20] And at his gate lay a poor man named Laz\u2019arus, full of sores,\u00a0[21] who desired to be fed with what fell from the rich man\u2019s table; moreover the dogs came and licked his sores.\u00a0[22] The poor man died and was carried by the angels to Abraham\u2019s bosom. The rich man also died and was buried;\u00a0[23] and in Hades, being in torment, he lifted up his eyes, and saw Abraham far off and Laz\u2019arus in his bosom.\u00a0[24] And he called out, `Father Abraham, have mercy upon me, and send Laz\u2019arus to dip the end of his finger in water and cool my tongue; for I am in anguish in this flame.\u2019 [25] But Abraham said, `Son, remember that you in your lifetime received your good things, and Laz\u2019arus in like manner evil things; but now he is comforted here, and you are in anguish.\u00a0[26] And besides all this, between us and you a great chasm has been fixed, in order that those who would pass from here to you may not be able, and none may cross from there to us.\u2019\u00a0[27] And he said, `Then I beg you, father, to send him to my father\u2019s house,\u00a0[28] for I have five brothers, so that he may warn them, lest they also come into this place of torment.\u2019\u00a0[29] But Abraham said, `They have Moses and the prophets; let them hear them.\u2019\u00a0[30] And he said, `No, father Abraham; but if some one goes to them from the dead, they will repent.\u2019\u00a0[31] He said to him, `If they do not hear Moses and the prophets, neither will they be convinced if some one should rise from the dead.'\u201d<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\nIt matters not if both men are dead; the rich man still can\u2019t\u00a0do<\/em>\u00a0what he\u00a0did<\/em>, according to Protestant categories of thought and theology. And how is it that the rich man prays to Abraham, when supposedly no one can pray to or ask to fulfill a request to anyone but God? The rich man actually makes\u00a0two<\/em>\u00a0such requests, and then repeats the second, after Abraham refused it:<\/span><\/p>\n\n- Luke 16:24<\/strong>\u00a0And he called out, `Father Abraham, have mercy upon me, and send Laz\u2019arus to dip the end of his finger in water and cool my tongue; for I am in anguish in this flame.\u2019<\/span><\/li>\n
- Luke 16:27-28\u00a0<\/strong>And he said, `Then I beg you, father, to send him to my father\u2019s house,\u00a0for I have five brothers, so that he may warn them, lest they also come into this place of torment.\u2019<\/span><\/li>\n
- Luke 16:30<\/strong>\u00a0And he said, `No, father Abraham; but if some one goes to them from the dead, they will repent.\u2019<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
How can that\u00a0be<\/em>\u00a0within Protestant theology? No one has ever adequately explained this to me, and I\u2019ve written about this passage many times on my blog and in my books. Abraham appears in the story to be able to fulfill prayer requests by his own powers.\u00a0Why is the whole story about Dives asking Abraham for requests, rather than going directly to God and asking Him? God is never even\u00a0mentioned\u00a0<\/em>in the entire story (!). Because it\u2019s not a parable, Abraham doesn\u2019t represent God (no one represents anybody); he is literally the same Abraham of the Old Testament.<\/span><\/p>\n\n
Abraham\u2019s double refusal to fulfill Dives\u2019 prayer request doesn\u2019t\u00a0prove that he shouldn\u2019t have been prayed to in the first place. If that were the case, then he certainly would have said something like, \u201cYou can\u2019t pray to\u00a0me<\/em>!\u00a0Pray only to\u00a0God<\/em>!\u201d \u2013 just as apostles and angels alike refused worship that was appropriate only for God. Remember, this is\u00a0Jesus\u00a0<\/em>telling the story, and He didn\u2019t rebuke any false theology in it.<\/span><\/div>\n*<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
This just\u00a0isn\u2019t<\/em>\u00a0how it\u2019s\u00a0supposed<\/em>\u00a0to be, from a Protestant perspective, and Pastor Slick\u2019s specific (rather typical) argument above. All the emphases are wrong, and there are serious theological errors, committed by Jesus Himself (i.e., from their perspective). It creates huge problems for Protestant theology and biblical inspiration alike; even for Christology (if Jesus Himself is dead wrong about something so central to faith as prayer).<\/span><\/p>\nNor is this the only instance of biblically and God-sanctioned prayer to the dead, or (more specifically) asking them to intercede:<\/span><\/p>\n1 Samuel 28:15-16\u00a0<\/strong>Then Samuel said to Saul, \u201cWhy have you disturbed me by bringing me up?\u201d Saul answered, \u201cI am in great distress; for the Philistines are warring against me, and God has turned away from me and answers me no more, either by prophets or by dreams; therefore\u00a0I have summoned you to tell me what I shall do.\u201d And Samuel said, \u201cWhy then do you ask me, since\u00a0the LORD has turned from you\u00a0and become your enemy?\u201d<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\nThe principle \/ scenario here is the same as in the rich man Dives praying to Abraham, above: Samuel\u00a0could<\/em>\u00a0properly be petitioned or, in effect, \u201cprayed to\u201d but he also could\u00a0refuse<\/em>\u00a0the request, and he did so. As Samuel explained, he didn\u2019t question the asking as wrong and sinful, but rather, refused because the request to save Saul was\u00a0against God\u2019s expressed will<\/em>: which Samuel also\u00a0knew<\/em>\u00a0about, as a departed saint. Moreover, Samuel knew (after his death) that Saul was to be defeated in battle the next day and would die (1 Sam 28:18-19).<\/span><\/p>\nAnd there is a third biblical proof:<\/span><\/p>\nMatthew 27:46-50<\/strong>\u00a0And about the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, \u201cEli, Eli, la\u2019ma sabach-tha\u2019ni?\u201d that is, \u201cMy God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?\u201d [47] And some of the bystanders hearing it said, \u201cThis man is calling Eli\u2019jah.\u201d [48] And one of them at once ran and took a sponge, filled it with vinegar, and put it on a reed, and gave it to him to drink. [49] But the others said, \u201cWait, let us see whether Eli\u2019jah will come to save him.\u201d [50] And Jesus cried again with a loud voice and yielded up his spirit. (cf. Mk 15:34-36)<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\nThe \u201cbystanders\u201d are presented as allies of Jesus, since one of them gave Him a drink, in the next verse (Matthew 27:48). The next verse (27:49) again shows that this was common belief at the time: \u201cBut the others said, \u2018Wait, let us see whether Eli\u2019jah will come to save him.\u2019\u201d<\/span><\/p>\nThus, it was believed that one could pray to a dead person such as Elijah (who had already appeared with Jesus at the transfiguration), and that he had power to come and give aid; to \u201csave\u201d a person (in this case, Jesus from a horrible death).\u00a0It\u2019s not\u00a0presented<\/em>\u00a0as if they are wrong, and in light of other related Scriptures it is more likely that they are\u00a0correct<\/em>\u00a0in thinking that this was a permitted scenario.<\/span><\/p>\nJesus, after all , had already referred to Elijah, saying that he was the prototype for John the Baptist (Mt 11:14; 17:10-13; cf. Lk 1:17 from the angel Gabriel), and it could also have been known that Elijah and Moses appeared with Jesus at the transfiguration (Mt 17:1-6), if these were His followers.<\/span><\/p>\nAngels are also creatures, and the Bible shows us that they can be prayed to, and answer<\/em> prayer, as well. In the Old Testament, Lot makes such a request of two angels, who were sent by God to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah (Gen 19:13):<\/span><\/p>\nGenesis 19:20\u00a0<\/strong>\u201cBehold, yonder city is near enough to flee to, and it is a little one. Let me escape there . . . and my life will be saved!\u201d<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\nOne of them grants his \u201cprayer\u201d (19:21): \u201cBehold, I grant you this favor also, that I will not overthrow the city of which you have spoken.\u201d Someone might say, \u201cbut the angel wasn\u2019t in heaven.\u201d Location makes no difference: the angel still fulfilled an intercessory request.\u00a0Angels can talk to us from heaven. For example:\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nGenesis 21:17-18\u00a0<\/strong>And God heard the voice of the lad; and the angel of God called to Hagar from heaven, and said to her, \u201cWhat troubles you, Hagar? Fear not; for God has heard the voice of the lad where he is. [18] Arise, lift up the lad, and hold him fast with your hand; for I will make him a great nation.\u201d<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\nAnd we know that angels pray to God for us:<\/span><\/p>\nZechariah 1:12-13\u00a0<\/strong>Then the angel of the LORD said, `O LORD of hosts, how long wilt thou have no mercy on Jerusalem and the cities of Judah, against which thou hast had indignation these seventy years?\u2019 [13] And the LORD answered gracious and comforting words to the angel who talked with me. (cf. Rev 8:3-4)\u00a0<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\nWhen Jacob wrestled with the angel (Gen 32:24-29), he asked him to bless him (32:26), and the angel did so (32:29). Moreover, when Jacob (Israel) blessed his sons Joseph and Manasseh, he not only asked God to bless them, but also an angel (\u201cthe angel who has redeemed me from all evil, bless the lads\u201d: Gen 48:16).\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nThese four express biblical proofs present a host of problems for the stated position of Pastor Slick, above: which is the standard Protestant position for virtually all except for high Church Anglicans or Anglo-Catholics. He not only said that no one could or should be prayed to but God, and certainly not dead men and saints (which the above passages decisively refute); he also claimed that such prayer or petition is part and parcel of worship<\/em>, and that to do this to anyone besides God is, therefore,<\/span> \u201cnot biblical\u201d<\/span> and<\/span> \u201cidolatrous.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\nBut it\u2019s not<\/em>\u00a0worship, anymore than our asking others on earth to pray for us is worship. So Pastor Slick is in a very uncomfortable position of having to explain the above passages and synthesize them with his false tradition of men. If we can\u2019t and ought not pray to anyone but God, why does Jesus Himself teach that Abraham could be prayed to? <\/span><\/p>\nWhy does the Old Testament teach that the dead prophet Samuel could be prayed to and petitioned by King Saul? Why does the New Testament not rebuke the reported opinion that Jesus might have been calling to (praying to) the prophet Elijah from the cross? And why does Lot pray to an angel and even get a request fulfilled by the angel?<\/span><\/p>\nMoreover, Pastor Slick argues:<\/span> \u201cprayer . . . contain[s] petitions, . . . requests of intercession, etc.,\u2013things which are received and answered by God and not by created things.\u201d Really<\/em>? This is simply untrue as well. We have seen that both Abraham (as taught and sanctioned by Jesus) and Samuel received petitionary or intercessory requests after they were dead, and did not rebuke the askers for requesting them (as they would have to do if Pastor Slick were right, just as creatures refused worship (Slick himself gave the example of this in Revelation 19:10, in his article). <\/span><\/span><\/p>\nAnd we saw how the notion of Jesus asking Elijah for help was commonplace and also not rebuked as wrong by the author of the Gospel of Matthew. Lot not only made a request of an angel, but received an answer.\u00a0<\/span><\/span>So Pastor Slick\u2019s additional assertion is also false.<\/span><\/p>\n***<\/p>\n
Photo credit:<\/strong>\u00a0Lot Entertaining the Two Angels<\/em>, by Rutilio Manetti (1571-1639)<\/span> [public domain \/ Web Gallery of Art<\/a>]<\/p>\n***<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
This is a reply to Matt Slick: Presbyterian pastor and head of the large and influential anti-Catholic Protestant CARM discussion forum. I am responding to his article, \u201cIs praying to the saints biblical?\u201d\u00a0His words will be in blue. ***** One of the erroneous teachings of the Roman Catholic Church is the doctrine of praying to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2331,"featured_media":51865,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[231,206],"tags":[4836,201,198,2397,1263,2396,372,4835,195,12115,9705,9708,9711,9702],"class_list":["post-51853","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-anti-catholicism","category-saints-purgatory-penance","tag-carm","tag-communion-of-saints","tag-intercession","tag-intercession-of-angels","tag-intercession-of-saints","tag-invocation-of-angels","tag-invocation-of-saints","tag-matt-slick","tag-prayer","tag-prayer-to-creatures","tag-revelation-58","tag-revelation-69-10","tag-revelation-83-4","tag-saints-in-heaven"],"yoast_head":"\n
Prayer to Creatures Proven from Holy Scripture Prayer to Creatures Proven from Holy Scripture<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"This is a reply to Matt Slick: Presbyterian pastor and head of the large and influential anti-Catholic Protestant CARM discussion forum. I am responding Anti-Catholic apologist Pastor Slick is in a very uncomfortable position of having to explain four explicit biblical passages that expressly sanction prayer to creatures and to angels.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Prayer to Creatures Proven from Holy Scripture Prayer to Creatures Proven from Holy Scripture\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"This is a reply to Matt Slick: Presbyterian pastor and head of the large and influential anti-Catholic Protestant CARM discussion forum. 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Formerly a campus missionary, as a Protestant, Dave was received into the Catholic Church in February 1991, by the late, well-known catechist and theologian, Fr. John A. Hardon, S. J. Dave\u2019s articles have appeared in many influential Catholic periodicals, including \\\"This Rock\\\" (now called \\\"Catholic Answers Magazine\\\"), \\\"Envoy Magazine\\\" (Patrick Madrid), \\\"The Catholic Answer,\\\" \\\"The Coming Home Journal,\\\" \\\"Gilbert Magazine\\\" (American Chesterton Society), and \\\"The Latin Mass.\\\" He also writes a featured column for every issue of \\\"The Michigan Catholic\\\": published by the archdiocese of Detroit, and was editor for most of the apologetics tracts published by the St. Paul Street Evangelization apostolate. Dave\u2019s apologetics and writing apostolate was the subject of a feature article in the May 2002 issue of \\\"Envoy Magazine.\\\" He served as the staff moderator at the Internet discussion forum for The Coming Home Network, from 2007-2010. Dave has been interviewed on many nationally syndicated Catholic radio shows, including \\\"Catholic Answers Live\\\" (twice), \\\"Faith and Family Live\\\" (Steve Wood), \\\"Kresta in the Afternoon,\\\" \\\"Son Rise Morning Show,\\\" \\\"Catholic Connection\\\" (Teresa Tomeo), and \\\"The Catholics Next Door.\\\" His large and popular website, \\\"Biblical Evidence for Catholicism,\\\" was online from March 1997 to March 2007, and received the 1998 Catholic Website of the Year award from \\\"Envoy Magazine.\\\" His blog of the same name (now transferred to Patheos), begun in February 2004, contains more than 1,500 papers, at least 500 debates or dialogues, and over 50 distinct \\\"index\\\" web pages. Unsolicited correspondence has indicated many hundreds of conversions (or returns) to the Catholic faith as a result, by God's grace, of these writings. Dave's conversion story was published in the bestselling book \\\"Surprised by Truth\\\" (edited by Patrick Madrid; San Diego: Basilica Press, 1994). Sophia Institute Press has published six of his books: \\\"A Biblical Defense of Catholicism\\\" (Foreword by Fr. John A. Hardon, S. J., 1996 \/ 2003), \\\"The Catholic Verses\\\" (2004), \\\"The One-Minute Apologist\\\" (2007), \\\"Bible Proofs for Catholic Truths\\\" (2009), \\\"The Quotable Newman\\\" (editor: 2012), and \\\"Proving the Catholic Faith is Biblical\\\" (2015). He is co-author (with Dr. Paul Thigpen) of the inserts for \\\"The New Catholic Answer Bible\\\" (Our Sunday Visitor: 2005), and editor for \\\"The Wisdom of Mr. Chesterton: The Very Best Quotes, Quips, and Cracks from the Pen of G. K. Chesterton\\\" (Saint Benedict Press \/ TAN Books: 2009). \\\"100 Biblical Arguments Against Sola Scriptura\\\" was published by Catholic Answers in May 2012. His \\\"Quotable Wesley\\\" compilation was published by (Protestant \/ Wesleyan publisher) Beacon Hill Press in April 2014. Several of his 49 books are bestsellers in their field. Dave maintains a popular personal Facebook page, a Facebook author page, and has a Twitter account as well. He offers almost all of his books in e-book form on his own Biblical Catholicism site (http:\/\/biblicalcatholicism.com\/), at a permanent deep discount: only $2.99 for ePub, mobi, and AZW, and $1.99 for PDF. His writing has been enthusiastically endorsed or recommended by many leading Catholic apologists, authors, and priests, including Dr. Scott Hahn, Fr. Peter M. J. Stravinskas, Marcus Grodi, Patrick Madrid, Steve Ray, Tim Staples, Devin Rose, Mike Aquilina, Al Kresta, Karl Keating, Fr. Dwight Longenecker, Brandon Vogt, Marcellino D'Ambrosio, and Fr. John A. Hardon, S. J. Dave has been happily married to his wife Judy since October 1984. They have three sons and a daughter, and reside in southeast Michigan (metro Detroit).\",\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/biblicalcatholicism.com\/\",\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/dave.armstrong.798\",\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/@LuxVeritatisApologetics\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/author\/davearmstrong\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Prayer to Creatures Proven from Holy Scripture Prayer to Creatures Proven from Holy Scripture","description":"This is a reply to Matt Slick: Presbyterian pastor and head of the large and influential anti-Catholic Protestant CARM discussion forum. I am responding Anti-Catholic apologist Pastor Slick is in a very uncomfortable position of having to explain four explicit biblical passages that expressly sanction prayer to creatures and to angels.","robots":{"index":"noindex","follow":"follow"},"og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Prayer to Creatures Proven from Holy Scripture Prayer to Creatures Proven from Holy Scripture","og_description":"This is a reply to Matt Slick: Presbyterian pastor and head of the large and influential anti-Catholic Protestant CARM discussion forum. I am responding Anti-Catholic apologist Pastor Slick is in a very uncomfortable position of having to explain four explicit biblical passages that expressly sanction prayer to creatures and to angels.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/2020\/10\/prayer-to-creatures-proven-from-holy-scripture.html","og_site_name":"Biblical Evidence for Catholicism","article_author":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/dave.armstrong.798","article_published_time":"2020-10-01T21:10:01+00:00","og_image":[{"width":640,"height":610,"url":"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/572\/2020\/10\/LotAngels.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Dave Armstrong","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Dave Armstrong","Est. reading time":"12 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/2020\/10\/prayer-to-creatures-proven-from-holy-scripture.html","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/2020\/10\/prayer-to-creatures-proven-from-holy-scripture.html","name":"Prayer to Creatures Proven from Holy Scripture Prayer to Creatures Proven from Holy Scripture","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/#website"},"datePublished":"2020-10-01T21:10:01+00:00","dateModified":"2020-10-01T21:10:01+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/#\/schema\/person\/471eaa20e441eca4bb1ea50393cf632e"},"description":"This is a reply to Matt Slick: Presbyterian pastor and head of the large and influential anti-Catholic Protestant CARM discussion forum. 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Formerly a campus missionary, as a Protestant, Dave was received into the Catholic Church in February 1991, by the late, well-known catechist and theologian, Fr. John A. Hardon, S. J. Dave\u2019s articles have appeared in many influential Catholic periodicals, including \"This Rock\" (now called \"Catholic Answers Magazine\"), \"Envoy Magazine\" (Patrick Madrid), \"The Catholic Answer,\" \"The Coming Home Journal,\" \"Gilbert Magazine\" (American Chesterton Society), and \"The Latin Mass.\" He also writes a featured column for every issue of \"The Michigan Catholic\": published by the archdiocese of Detroit, and was editor for most of the apologetics tracts published by the St. Paul Street Evangelization apostolate. Dave\u2019s apologetics and writing apostolate was the subject of a feature article in the May 2002 issue of \"Envoy Magazine.\" He served as the staff moderator at the Internet discussion forum for The Coming Home Network, from 2007-2010. Dave has been interviewed on many nationally syndicated Catholic radio shows, including \"Catholic Answers Live\" (twice), \"Faith and Family Live\" (Steve Wood), \"Kresta in the Afternoon,\" \"Son Rise Morning Show,\" \"Catholic Connection\" (Teresa Tomeo), and \"The Catholics Next Door.\" His large and popular website, \"Biblical Evidence for Catholicism,\" was online from March 1997 to March 2007, and received the 1998 Catholic Website of the Year award from \"Envoy Magazine.\" His blog of the same name (now transferred to Patheos), begun in February 2004, contains more than 1,500 papers, at least 500 debates or dialogues, and over 50 distinct \"index\" web pages. Unsolicited correspondence has indicated many hundreds of conversions (or returns) to the Catholic faith as a result, by God's grace, of these writings. Dave's conversion story was published in the bestselling book \"Surprised by Truth\" (edited by Patrick Madrid; San Diego: Basilica Press, 1994). Sophia Institute Press has published six of his books: \"A Biblical Defense of Catholicism\" (Foreword by Fr. John A. Hardon, S. J., 1996 \/ 2003), \"The Catholic Verses\" (2004), \"The One-Minute Apologist\" (2007), \"Bible Proofs for Catholic Truths\" (2009), \"The Quotable Newman\" (editor: 2012), and \"Proving the Catholic Faith is Biblical\" (2015). He is co-author (with Dr. Paul Thigpen) of the inserts for \"The New Catholic Answer Bible\" (Our Sunday Visitor: 2005), and editor for \"The Wisdom of Mr. Chesterton: The Very Best Quotes, Quips, and Cracks from the Pen of G. K. Chesterton\" (Saint Benedict Press \/ TAN Books: 2009). \"100 Biblical Arguments Against Sola Scriptura\" was published by Catholic Answers in May 2012. His \"Quotable Wesley\" compilation was published by (Protestant \/ Wesleyan publisher) Beacon Hill Press in April 2014. Several of his 49 books are bestsellers in their field. Dave maintains a popular personal Facebook page, a Facebook author page, and has a Twitter account as well. He offers almost all of his books in e-book form on his own Biblical Catholicism site (http:\/\/biblicalcatholicism.com\/), at a permanent deep discount: only $2.99 for ePub, mobi, and AZW, and $1.99 for PDF. His writing has been enthusiastically endorsed or recommended by many leading Catholic apologists, authors, and priests, including Dr. Scott Hahn, Fr. Peter M. J. Stravinskas, Marcus Grodi, Patrick Madrid, Steve Ray, Tim Staples, Devin Rose, Mike Aquilina, Al Kresta, Karl Keating, Fr. Dwight Longenecker, Brandon Vogt, Marcellino D'Ambrosio, and Fr. John A. Hardon, S. J. Dave has been happily married to his wife Judy since October 1984. They have three sons and a daughter, and reside in southeast Michigan (metro Detroit).","sameAs":["https:\/\/biblicalcatholicism.com\/","https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/dave.armstrong.798","https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/@LuxVeritatisApologetics"],"url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/author\/davearmstrong"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/51853","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2331"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=51853"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/51853\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/51865"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=51853"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=51853"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=51853"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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