{"id":56027,"date":"2021-04-10T19:19:44","date_gmt":"2021-04-10T23:19:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/?p=56027"},"modified":"2021-04-10T19:19:44","modified_gmt":"2021-04-10T23:19:44","slug":"madison-malarkey-46-how-can-mary-verify-the-virgin-birth","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/2021\/04\/madison-malarkey-46-how-can-mary-verify-the-virgin-birth.html","title":{"rendered":"Madison Malarkey #46: How Can Mary Verify the Virgin Birth?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

\"\"<\/p>\n

Dr. David Madison<\/strong>\u00a0is an atheist who was a Methodist minister for nine years: with a Ph.D. in Biblical Studies from Boston University.\u00a0\u00a0I have replied<\/a>\u00a0to his videos or articles\u00a045 times<\/strong>\u00a0as of this writing.\u00a0Thus far, I haven\u2019t heard\u00a0one peep<\/em>\u00a0back from him\u00a0 (from 8-1-19 to 4-10-21). This certainly doesn\u2019t suggest to me that he is very\u00a0confident<\/em>\u00a0in his opinions. All I\u2019ve seen is\u00a0expressions of contempt from Dr. Madison<\/a>\u00a0and from his buddy, the atheist author, polemicist, and extraordinarily volatile\u00a0John Loftus<\/a>, who runs the ultra-insulting\u00a0Debunking Christianity<\/em><\/a>\u00a0blog. Dr. Madison made his cramped, insulated mentality clear in a\u00a0comment from 9-6-19<\/a>:<\/p>\n

\n
\n
[T]he burden of the apologist has become heavy indeed, and some don\u2019t handle the anguish well. They vent and rage at critics, like toddlers throwing tantrums when a threadbare security blanket gets tossed out. We can smell their panic. Engaging with the ranters serves no purpose\u2014any more than it does to engage with Flat-Earthers, Chemtrail conspiracy theorists, and those who argue that the moon landings were faked. . . . I prefer to engage with NON-obsessive-compulsive-hysterical Christians, those who have spotted rubbish in the Bible, and might already have one foot out the door.<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Only preaching to the choir from Dr. Madison! One can\u2019t be too careful in avoiding any criticism or challenge. John\u00a0\u201cyou are an\u00a0idiot<\/em>!\u201d<\/a>\u00a0Loftus even went to the length of\u00a0changing his blog\u2019s rules of engagement<\/a>, so that he and Dr. Madison could avoid replying to yours truly, or even see\u00a0notices<\/em>\u00a0of my substantive replies (er, sorry,\u00a0rants<\/em>, rather). He wrote in part:<\/p>\n

Some angry Catholic apologist has been tagging our posts with his angry long-winded responses. . . . If any respectful person has a counter-argument or some counter-evidence then bring it. State your case in as few words as possible and then engage our commenters in a discussion. . . . I talked with David Madison who has been the target of these links and he\u2019s in agreement with this decision. He\u2019s planning to write something about one or more of these links in the near future.<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Needless to say, I still<\/em> await these long-promised replies to any of my critiques from good ol\u2019 Dr. Madison.\u00a0His words will be in\u00a0blue<\/span>.<\/p>\n

Presently, I am replying to his article, \u201cBible Blunders & Bad Theology, Part 6\u2033<\/a> (11-27-20).<\/p>\n

*****<\/p>\n

Question Two: How Would Anyone Acquire Knowledge of a Miraculous Conception?<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWell, God told the authors, didn\u2019t he?\u201d This works for those who believe the Bible is God\u2019s inspired word. But they react with proper skepticism when other religions claim the same thing for the Qur\u2019an and Book of Mormon\u2014which they don\u2019t accept for a moment. Historians know very well that \u201cGod told them\u201d doesn\u2019t work; it\u2019s faith-bias out of control, claiming far more than can be objectively known. John Loftus pointed this out in his Christmas day post in 2016:\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

How might anonymous gospel writers, 90 plus years later, objectively know Jesus was born of a virgin? Who told them? The Holy Spirit? Why is it God speaks to individuals in private, subjective, unevidenced whispers? Those claims are a penny a dozen.<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

You may fervently believe within your heart, but there are no data by which virgin birth can be confirmed; it is a feature of ancient folklore. . . .\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

How many Catholics have paused their adoration of Mary long enough to ask: How do theologians know what was happening in the womb of a first century Galilean teenager? . . .\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

This theology thrives among those who never ask\u2014who have been taught\u00a0not<\/em>\u00a0to ask\u2014How do you know all this?\u00a0<\/em><\/strong>All this is fueled by theological imagination, and a fair amount of craftiness too, that is, digging for texts that can be construed to support flights of fantasy. Why do people take it seriously?\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

I doubt that theology can be grounded in reality; objective evidence for god(s) has never been found. . . .\u00a0superstitious folklore that gods use virgins to beget human children.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Wow. Really<\/em>? Is Dr. Madison truly this<\/em> fantastically clueless and, well, stupid? Just a moment\u2019s thought (no more) will provide any sentient being with an IQ higher than a rusty nail enough time to figure this<\/em> one out. It\u2019s not rocket science, but it is science of a rather obvious, straightforward type: the science of biology and specifically reproduction<\/em>, to be exact.<\/span><\/p>\n

How would anyone know that they were the carriers of a baby who was not conceived by man, but by God? Here\u2019s how it works (perhaps Dr. Madison \u2014 i.e., if he ever read<\/em> any opposing opinions ever \u2014 and his equally zealous buddy John Loftus will have to read this three times to grasp it):<\/span><\/p>\n

1) Mary is visited by an angel (the Annunciation: recorded in Luke 1:26-38).<\/span><\/p>\n

2) This angel (Gabriel) informs her that \u201cyou will conceive in your womb and bear a son\u201d (Lk 1:31).<\/span><\/p>\n

3) Mary asks the logical and reasonable question: \u201cHow shall this be, since I have no husband?\u201d (Lk 1:34). She was a farm girl. She knew how babies came about in both animals and human beings.<\/span><\/p>\n

4) The angel explained to her that she would bear the Messiah and the Son of God \/ God the Son (Lk 1:32-33, 35) by means of a miraculous virgin birth: \u201cThe Holy Spirit will come upon you,\u00a0and the power of the Most High will overshadow you\u201d (Lk 1:35).<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Now, how could anyone possibly<\/em> find out about such a miracle? Well, we can by listening to Mary\u2019s own testimony<\/em> about it, which got to Luke either directly, or through oral tradition.<\/span><\/p>\n

How can we possibly verify<\/em> such a miracle? How can we<\/span> \u201cknow\u201d<\/span>? After all, Dr. Madison in his infinite wisdom, has informed us that<\/span> \u201cthere are no data by which virgin birth can be confirmed\u201d and that it\u2019s mere<\/span> \u201cfolklore\u201d and is simply<\/span> \u201cimagination\u201d and<\/span> \u201ccraftiness\u201d and<\/span> \u201cflights of fantasy.\u201d Why (Dr. Madison passionately inquires), would anyone<\/span> \u201ctake it seriously\u201d?<\/span> It\u2019s not<\/span> \u201cgrounded in reality.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Now, we all realize that we\u2019re dealing with an atheist (and apostate) who rejects all biblical texts as inaccurate and untrustworthy: especially if they express a supernatural event that the atheist redefines out of existence before even fairly examining it. But that\u2019s rather beside<\/em> the point. Here, as in all his innumerable bashings of the Bible and Christianity, Dr. Madison is making the point that it is internally incoherent<\/em>, and ought not be believed by any rational and \u201cscientific\u201d person.<\/span><\/p>\n

He\u2019s not asking the question: \u201cwhy should we believe the account of Luke 1 as historical?\u201d He\u2019s asking a much more philosophically<\/em>\u00a0fundamental<\/em> question and an epistemological<\/em> one: how could such a thing as a virgin birth be known<\/em> at all<\/em>, by anyone<\/em>? That\u2019s why he frames it as \u201chow would anyone<\/em> <\/strong>acquire\u201d<\/span> such knowledge? In other words, how it is possible even in a theoretical<\/em> or hypothetical<\/em> sense, to know this and to pass it on to another chronicler like Luke? He thinks the entire thing (believe it or not<\/em> believe it) is impossible and absurd from A to Z: totally ridiculous and nothing but. And so he taunts us Christians to explain this event that to him is utterly inexplicable.<\/span><\/p>\n

With that runaround introduction, let\u2019s get back to the second question:<\/span>\u00a0How can we possibly verify<\/em> such a miracle? Well, again, it\u2019s very simple:<\/span><\/p>\n

1) In due course, it will be physically evident that she is indeed pregnant, and in nine months she delivers the baby Jesus.<\/span><\/p>\n

2) She knows for a fact that she has not been intimate with a man at any time before<\/em> Jesus was born, nor (most Christians through history have believed) at any<\/em> time in her life.<\/span><\/p>\n

3) Therefore, she has rather compelling proof that a miracle did indeed occur. She was impregnated by the Holy Spirit and not a man, precisely as the angel told her.<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

She not only \u201cknows\u201d this for sure, but she knows it with a certainly perhaps as compelling as that for any miracle ever<\/strong><\/em>, since babies can only come about by one natural process, which did not occur in her case.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

So how can we<\/span> \u201cknow\u201d<\/span>? How can anyone \u201cconfirm\u201d<\/span> or<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>\u201ctake\u201d the virgin birth<\/span> \u201cseriously\u201d? I just explained it. It happened to a human being, and the most reasonable explanation is to accept that what the angel told Mary was absolutely true: since the obvious miracle has to be explained somehow.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Once Jesus was born and lived His life, performed many extraordinary miracles, claimed in many ways to be God in the flesh, and ultimately rose from the dead, even visited His followers after His death, then it was also confirmed beyond all reasonable doubt that He was God.<\/span><\/p>\n

The entire process is verifiable and empirical at all stages: the virgin birth is a physical event that\u2019s proven by a pregnancy occurring without intercourse. Jesus proves Who He is by performing verifiable miracles (a lame man walks, a blind man sees, a demon-possessed man is liberated; dead people are raised; Jesus Himself rises from the dead. He meets with His disciples after death and shows that He has a resurrected body, by eating fish and having Thomas feel the wound in His side. 500 people see Him after death. They go out and transform the world with His gospel message of salvation: many of them dying for their faith.<\/span><\/p>\n

What more does one need<\/em>? Nothing except faith. The atheist lacks that and immediately shrugs off all such evidence (usually with accompanying smirks and mockery). There are many possible causes for why they might do so: but none of them derive from a fair, objective examination of Christian claims, or a rational, logical analysis. We see how utterly irrational and laughable this<\/em> objection was.<\/span><\/p>\n

***<\/p>\n

Photo credit:\u00a0<\/strong>The Annunciation<\/em>\u00a0(1644), by\u00a0Philippe de Champaigne (1602-1674)<\/span>\u00a0[public domain \/\u00a0Wikimedia Commons<\/a>]<\/p>\n

***<\/span><\/p>\n

Summary<\/em>: Atheist anti-theist sophist Dr. Madison asks how Jesus\u2019 virgin birth could possibly<\/em> be \u201cconfirmed\u201d? How can anyone \u201cknow\u201d it happened? Very simple: listen to Mary\u2019s own report. This ain\u2019t rocket science. But it is biological science.<\/span><\/p>\n

***<\/span><\/p>\n

Tags<\/em>:\u00a0alleged biblical contradictions, anti-Christian bigotry, anti-theism, anti-theists, Atheism, atheist exegesis, atheist hermeneutics, atheists, Bible \u201ccontradictions\u201d, contradictions in the Bible, critiques of Christianity, David Madison, Debunking Christianity<\/em>, Madison Malarkey, virgin birth, Mariology, Annunciation, Blessed Virgin Mary,\u00a0John Loftus\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

***<\/span><\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Dr. David Madison\u00a0is an atheist who was a Methodist minister for nine years: with a Ph.D. in Biblical Studies from Boston University.\u00a0\u00a0I have replied\u00a0to his videos or articles\u00a045 times\u00a0as of this writing.\u00a0Thus far, I haven\u2019t heard\u00a0one peep\u00a0back from him\u00a0 (from 8-1-19 to 4-10-21). This certainly doesn\u2019t suggest to me that he is very\u00a0confident\u00a0in his opinions. 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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. 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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":"Madison Malarkey #46: How Can Mary Verify the Virgin Birth? Madison Malarkey #46: How Can Mary Verify the Virgin Birth?","description":"Dr. David Madison\u00a0is an atheist who was a Methodist minister for nine years: with a Ph.D. in Biblical Studies from Boston University.\u00a0\u00a0I have replied\u00a0to Atheist anti-theist sophist Dr. Madison asks how Jesus' virgin birth could possibly be \"confirmed\"? How can anyone \"know\" it happened? Very simple: listen to Mary's own report.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/2021\/04\/madison-malarkey-46-how-can-mary-verify-the-virgin-birth.html","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Madison Malarkey #46: How Can Mary Verify the Virgin Birth? Madison Malarkey #46: How Can Mary Verify the Virgin Birth?","og_description":"Dr. David Madison\u00a0is an atheist who was a Methodist minister for nine years: with a Ph.D. in Biblical Studies from Boston University.\u00a0\u00a0I have replied\u00a0to Atheist anti-theist sophist Dr. Madison asks how Jesus' virgin birth could possibly be \"confirmed\"? How can anyone \"know\" it happened? Very simple: listen to Mary's own report.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/2021\/04\/madison-malarkey-46-how-can-mary-verify-the-virgin-birth.html","og_site_name":"Biblical Evidence for Catholicism","article_author":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/dave.armstrong.798","article_published_time":"2021-04-10T23:19:44+00:00","og_image":[{"width":608,"height":600,"url":"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/572\/2021\/04\/MaryAnnunciation2.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Dave Armstrong","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Dave Armstrong","Est. reading time":"9 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/2021\/04\/madison-malarkey-46-how-can-mary-verify-the-virgin-birth.html","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/2021\/04\/madison-malarkey-46-how-can-mary-verify-the-virgin-birth.html","name":"Madison Malarkey #46: How Can Mary Verify the Virgin Birth? Madison Malarkey #46: How Can Mary Verify the Virgin Birth?","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/#website"},"datePublished":"2021-04-10T23:19:44+00:00","dateModified":"2021-04-10T23:19:44+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/#\/schema\/person\/471eaa20e441eca4bb1ea50393cf632e"},"description":"Dr. David Madison\u00a0is an atheist who was a Methodist minister for nine years: with a Ph.D. in Biblical Studies from Boston University.\u00a0\u00a0I have replied\u00a0to Atheist anti-theist sophist Dr. Madison asks how Jesus' virgin birth could possibly be \"confirmed\"? How can anyone \"know\" it happened? Very simple: listen to Mary's own report.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/2021\/04\/madison-malarkey-46-how-can-mary-verify-the-virgin-birth.html#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/2021\/04\/madison-malarkey-46-how-can-mary-verify-the-virgin-birth.html"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/2021\/04\/madison-malarkey-46-how-can-mary-verify-the-virgin-birth.html#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Madison Malarkey #46: How Can Mary Verify the Virgin Birth?"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/","name":"Biblical Evidence for Catholicism","description":"Catholic biblical apologetics","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/#\/schema\/person\/471eaa20e441eca4bb1ea50393cf632e","name":"Dave Armstrong","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/820e6db89734ae7a9e5dac8d498f5ac7?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/820e6db89734ae7a9e5dac8d498f5ac7?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Dave Armstrong"},"description":"Dave Armstrong is a Catholic author and apologist, who has been actively proclaiming and defending Christianity since 1981, and Catholicism in particular since 1991 (full-time since December 2001). 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\/56027","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=56027"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/56027\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/56032"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=56027"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=56027"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=56027"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}