![\"\"](\"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/572\/2021\/12\/Matthias.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\nActs 1:20-26<\/strong> (RSV) For it is written in the book of Psalms, `Let his habitation become desolate, and let there be no one to live in it\u2019; and `His office let another take.\u2019 [21] So one of the men who have accompanied us during all the time that the Lord Jesus went in and out among us, [22] beginning from the baptism of John until the day when he was taken up from us \u2014 one of these men must become with us a witness to his resurrection.\u201d [23] And they put forward two, Joseph called Barsab\u2019bas, who was surnamed Justus, and Matthi\u2019as. [24] And they prayed and said, \u201cLord, who knowest the hearts of all men, show which one of these two thou hast chosen [25] to take the place in this ministry and apostleship from which Judas turned aside, to go to his own place.\u201d [26] And they cast lots for them, and the lot fell on Matthi\u2019as; and he was enrolled with the eleven apostles.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
I\u2019ve made many biblical arguments for apostolic succession (see the section on my Church web page<\/a>). The above passage is central in the Catholic (as well as Orthodox and traditional Anglican) argument for that concept. I was just \u201changin\u2019 out\u201d today and the following additional, more specific argument occurred to me (I love when that happens!).<\/p>\n
It is, I submit, an additional argument for the infallible authority of the Church, which in turn becomes one of many biblical arguments against the man-made Protestant tradition that is its rule of faith: sola Scriptura<\/em>, which denies the infallibility of Church and tradition alike and reserves it for Scripture alone.<\/p>\n
This argument has to do with how<\/em> Matthias was chosen. The time came to replace Judas as an apostle, so what did the remaining eleven original disciples \/ apostles do<\/em>? Somehow they narrowed down the candidates to two men: Barsabbas and Matthias. So this \u201cstage one\u201d procedure was purely human selection, much as Catholics (through high-ranking Cardinals) vote for a pope or like how many Christian denominations hold votes for President, etc.<\/p>\n
They then appeal directly to God, to make known His will for the person whom He<\/em> \u201chast chosen\u201d. It\u2019s casually assumed that the choice has already been made by God and is a function of His providence and ultimate, supreme rule of His Church (Peter and the popes being the human rulers).<\/p>\n
In fact, it is Peter above who initiated this process, and did so by citing Old Testament Scripture. But of course this Scripture was of no avail in actually choosing the God-ordained man for the job. That had to come from a direct word of God: an answer to prayer. Thus, in its very nature, this is an \u201cunbiblical\u201d procedure.<\/p>\n
The process of choosing the \u201cnew\u201d apostle was not<\/em> achieved by applying sola Scriptura<\/em>. It came, rather, through Church authority and direct guidance by God (what we call special revelation). And such divine guidance, I submit, must be infallible<\/em> by its very nature (God not being able to be mistaken, in His providence and omniscience). Moreover, they didn\u2019t simply collectively discern what they believed to be God\u2019s answer through prayer. They cast lots<\/em>, and this method selected Matthias, and was thought to reflect God\u2019s infallible choice.<\/p>\n
One article noted<\/a> that the great Anglican evangelist John Wesley cast lots to make important decisions, and that Baptists in particular were most uncomfortable with this. Ironically, it never mentions Acts 1:26, which is the explicitly biblical basis for this practice. Once again, then, no doubt these protesting Baptists thought of themselves as \u201cBible only\u201d folks, yet seem to have overlooked the relevant biblical text.<\/p>\n
The passage above in Acts 1 doesn\u2019t show the slightest disapproval of casting lots, through which God\u2019s specific will would become known. Certainly if it was intrinsically wrong, the text would make note of it. Instead, we have eleven of the original disciples of Jesus, led by Peter, using this method to choose an apostle.<\/p>\n
This is a God, after all, Who struck Uzzah dead on the spot for simply trying to prevent the ark of the covenant from falling on the ground. He reached out to steady it and was struck dead (2 Sam 6:1-7; 1 Chr 13:9-12). And in two incidents in the book of Acts, both involving St. Peter, God, or Peter speaking as a representative of Him, express divine disapproval without any ambiguity whatever.<\/p>\n
Acts 5:1-11 tells the story of Ananias and Sapphira, who \u201csold a piece of property, and . . . kept back some of the proceeds, and brought only a part and laid it at the apostles\u2019 feet\u201d (5:1-2). St. Peter described this as a \u201cSatan\u201d-influenced \u201clie to the Holy Spirit\u201d (5:3). Consequently, Ananias \u201cfell down and died\u201d (5:5), followed three hours later by his wife Sapphira (5:7, 10).<\/p>\n
The second incident involved Simon the former sorcerer, who desired to pay money to the apostles to receive the power of being able to lay hands on people so that they could receive the Holy Spirit (8:9, 17-19). St. Peter rebuked this in no uncertain terms:<\/p>\n
Acts 8:20-23<\/strong> \u00a0. . . \u201cYour silver perish with you, because you thought you could obtain the gift of God with money! [21] You have neither part nor lot in this matter, for your heart is not right before God. [22] Repent therefore of this wickedness of yours, and pray to the Lord that, if possible, the intent of your heart may be forgiven you. [23] For I see that you are in the gall of bitterness and in the bond of iniquity.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Both of these incidents involved false or unethical opinions or practices that were immediately judged: one of them with a judgment of death from God. Peter was central in both. Therefore, it makes no sense whatsoever to think that Peter would have missed something so inherently wrong and wicked as casting lots: if indeed<\/em> this was<\/em><\/strong> (in God\u2019s eyes) a wicked and impermissible thing.<\/p>\n
Peter shows no such awareness; nor does the larger narrative of the text from Luke, who had no qualms about condemning (through the words of Peter) the improprieties of Ananias and Sapphira and Simon. The Bible never hesitates to expose sinful actions, including, famously, Peter\u2019s own lapse (three denials of the Lord). If Peter was mistaken here, certainly the inspired Bible would make it plain<\/em> that he was.<\/p>\n
In fact, there was a long Old Testament history of approved use of the casting of lots. God Himself commanded Moses to have his brother Aaron cast lots regarding an offering to Him on the Day of Atonement (Yom Kippur<\/i>):<\/p>\n
Leviticus 16:7-10<\/b> Then he shall take the two goats, and set them before the LORD at the door of the tent of meeting; [8] and Aaron shall cast lots upon the two goats, one lot for the LORD and the other lot for Aza\u2019zel. [9] And Aaron shall present the goat on which the lot fell for the LORD, and offer it as a sin offering; [10] but the goat on which the lot fell for Aza\u2019zel shall be presented alive before the LORD to make atonement over it, that it may be sent away into the wilderness to Aza\u2019zel.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Joshua divided up the Promised Land based on the use of lots:<\/p>\n
Joshua 18:6-11<\/b>\u00a0And you shall describe the land in seven divisions and bring the description here to me; and I will cast lots for you here before the LORD our God. [7] The Levites have no portion among you, for the priesthood of the LORD is their heritage; and Gad and Reuben and half the tribe of Manas\u2019seh have received their inheritance beyond the Jordan eastward, which Moses the servant of the LORD gave them.\u201d [8] So the men started on their way; and Joshua charged those who went to write the description of the land, saying, \u201cGo up and down and write a description of the land, and come again to me; and I will cast lots for you here before the LORD in Shiloh.\u201d [9] So the men went and passed up and down in the land and set down in a book a description of it by towns in seven divisions; then they came to Joshua in the camp at Shiloh, [10] and Joshua cast lots for them in Shiloh before the LORD; and there Joshua apportioned the land to the people of Israel, to each his portion. [11] The lot of the tribe of Benjamin according to its families came up, and the territory allotted to it fell between the tribe of Judah and the tribe of Joseph.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Temple duties were determined in the same manner (24 different appointments!):<\/p>\n
1 Chronicles 24:5-8, 18-19<\/b>\u00a0They organized them by lot, all alike, for there were officers of the sanctuary and officers of God among both the sons of Elea\u2019zar and the sons of Ith\u2019amar. [6] And the scribe Shemai\u2019ah the son of Nethan\u2019el, a Levite, recorded them in the presence of the king, and the princes, and Zadok the priest, and Ahim\u2019elech the son of Abi\u2019athar, and the heads of the fathers\u2019 houses of the priests and of the Levites; one father\u2019s house being chosen for Elea\u2019zar and one chosen for Ith\u2019amar. [7] The first lot fell to Jehoi\u2019arib, the second to Jedai\u2019ah, [8] the third to Harim, the fourth to Se-o\u2019rim, . . . [18] the twenty-third to Delai\u2019ah, the twenty-fourth to Ma-azi\u2019ah. [19] These had as their appointed duty in their service to come into the house of the LORD according to the procedure established for them by Aaron their father, as the LORD God of Israel had commanded him.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
See also:<\/p>\n
Nehemiah 10:34\u00a0<\/b>We have likewise cast lots, the priests, the Levites, and the people, for the wood offering, to bring it into the house of our God, according to our fathers\u2019 houses, at times appointed, year by year, to burn upon the altar of the LORD our God, as it is written in the law. (cf. 11:1)<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
So we\u2019re back to the bottom-line question of casting lots to determine who would replace Judas as an apostle. There are three choices in interpreting it, or so it seems to me:<\/p>\n
1) It was intrinsically evil. The argument I just made by analogy and the examples from the Old Testament destroy this option.<\/p>\n
2) It was sheer chance or happenstance. This is implausible because it runs contrary to the expressed desire for God\u2019s will to be made known, and His providential control over the affairs of men. God made His will known. Technically, in Christian theology, there is<\/em> no such thing as mere chance in the overall scheme of things. I\u2019m not saying that God controls every throw of the dice in a Monopoly<\/em> game, but in the \u201clarger things\u201d He does.<\/p>\n
3) It was a means for God to concretely express His will as regards the question of the choice of Judas\u2019 replacement. This option alone makes sense, all things considered.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
This being the case, it is also an infallible exercise of God-guided government in the Church. The apostles exercised infallible authority through casting lots, which revealed God\u2019s infallible will. In a similar but not totally analogous way, the apostles and elders at the council of Jerusalem exercised equally profound infallible and binding authority and issued a decree that St. Paul went around proclaiming to all and sundry to observe (Acts 16:4).<\/p>\n
They had declared \u201cit has seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us\u201d (15:28), thus invoking obviously infallible authority, as it came from the Holy Spirit, Who is God.<\/p>\n
The choosing of Matthias is a further instance of divine infallible guidance, exercised through Church authority and authoritative persons in the Church, appointed by Jesus Himself (the remaining eleven apostles), or by these eleven (Matthias).<\/p>\n
Anyway one looks at it, this is not<\/em><\/strong> a sola Scriptura<\/em> rule of faith. It\u2019s the furthest thing<\/em> from it.<\/p>\n
***<\/p>\n
Practical Matters<\/em><\/strong>: Perhaps some of my 3,900+ free online articles (the most comprehensive \u201cone-stop\u201d Catholic apologetics site) or\u00a0fifty books<\/a>\u00a0have helped you (by God\u2019s grace) to decide to\u00a0become Catholic<\/a>\u00a0or to\u00a0return to the Church<\/a>, or better understand some doctrines and\u00a0why<\/em>\u00a0we believe them<\/a>.<\/p>\n
Or you may believe my work is worthy to support for the purpose of apologetics and evangelism in general. If so, please seriously consider a much-needed financial contribution. I\u2019m always in need of more funds: especially\u00a0monthly<\/em>\u00a0support. \u201cThe laborer is worthy of his wages\u201d (1 Tim 5:18, NKJV). 1 December 2021 was my 20th anniversary as a\u00a0full-time Catholic apologist<\/a>, and February 2022 marked the 25th anniversary of my blog.<\/p>\n
PayPal donations<\/a>\u00a0are the easiest: just send to my email address: apologistdave@gmail.com. You\u2019ll see the term \u201cCatholic Used Book Service\u201d, which is my old side-business. To learn about the different methods of contributing, including 100% tax deduction, etc., see my page:\u00a0About Catholic Apologist Dave Armstrong \/ Donation Information<\/a>.\u00a0Thanks a million<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0from the bottom of my heart!<\/p>\n
***<\/p>\n
Photo credit:<\/span> <\/strong>Lawrence OP<\/a> (4-21-08). Stained glass from St Mary\u2019s church in Buckland, depicting Matthias\u2019 selection<\/span> [Flickr<\/a> \/ CC BY-NC-ND 2.0<\/a> license]<\/p>\n
***<\/p>\n
Summary<\/em>: How the eleven apostles chose the successor of Judas, Matthias (by casting lots after asking God\u2019s guidance) provides a fascinating argument against sola Scriptura<\/em>.<\/p>\n
***<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Acts 1:20-26 (RSV) For it is written in the book of Psalms, `Let his habitation become desolate, and let there be no one to live in it\u2019; and `His office let another take.\u2019 [21] So one of the men who have accompanied us during all the time that the Lord Jesus went in and out […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2331,"featured_media":62165,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[131],"tags":[3231,598,1168,164,1029,1420,2028,1531,3232,3233,140,1142,15575,2464,813,32,36,625],"class_list":["post-62163","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-church-ecclesiology","tag-apostolic-church","tag-apostolic-succession","tag-catholic","tag-catholic-authority","tag-church-authority","tag-church-government","tag-church-infallibility","tag-conciliar-infallibility","tag-hierarchical-church","tag-hierarchy","tag-infallibility","tag-magisterium","tag-matthias","tag-papal-authority","tag-papal-infallibility","tag-rule-of-faith","tag-three-legged-stool","tag-visible-church"],"yoast_head":"\n
"New" Apostle Matthias: Proof of Church Infallibility "New" Apostle Matthias: Proof of Church Infallibility<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Acts 1:20-26 (RSV) For it is written in the book of Psalms, `Let his habitation become desolate, and let there be no one to live in it'; and `His office How the eleven apostles chose the successor of Judas, Matthias (by casting lots after asking God's guidance) provides a fascinating argument against sola Scriptura.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/2021\/12\/new-apostle-matthias-proof-of-church-infallibility.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\""New" Apostle Matthias: Proof of Church Infallibility "New" Apostle Matthias: Proof of Church Infallibility\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Acts 1:20-26 (RSV) For it is written in the book of Psalms, `Let his habitation become desolate, and let there be no one to live in it'; and `His office How the eleven apostles chose the successor of Judas, Matthias (by casting lots after asking God's guidance) provides a fascinating argument against sola Scriptura.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/2021\/12\/new-apostle-matthias-proof-of-church-infallibility.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Biblical Evidence for Catholicism\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:author\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/dave.armstrong.798\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2021-12-31T22:04:55+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2022-01-04T16:56:42+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/572\/2021\/12\/Matthias.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"436\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"768\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Dave Armstrong\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Dave Armstrong\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"10 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/2021\/12\/new-apostle-matthias-proof-of-church-infallibility.html\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/2021\/12\/new-apostle-matthias-proof-of-church-infallibility.html\",\"name\":\"\\\"New\\\" Apostle Matthias: Proof of Church Infallibility \\\"New\\\" Apostle Matthias: Proof of Church Infallibility\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2021-12-31T22:04:55+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2022-01-04T16:56:42+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/#\/schema\/person\/471eaa20e441eca4bb1ea50393cf632e\"},\"description\":\"Acts 1:20-26 (RSV) For it is written in the book of Psalms, `Let his habitation become desolate, and let there be no one to live in it'; and `His office How the eleven apostles chose the successor of Judas, Matthias (by casting lots after asking God's guidance) provides a fascinating argument against sola Scriptura.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/2021\/12\/new-apostle-matthias-proof-of-church-infallibility.html#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/2021\/12\/new-apostle-matthias-proof-of-church-infallibility.html\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/2021\/12\/new-apostle-matthias-proof-of-church-infallibility.html#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"“New” Apostle Matthias: Proof of Church Infallibility\"}]},{\"@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\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"\"New\" Apostle Matthias: Proof of Church Infallibility \"New\" Apostle Matthias: Proof of Church Infallibility","description":"Acts 1:20-26 (RSV) For it is written in the book of Psalms, `Let his habitation become desolate, and let there be no one to live in it'; and `His office How the eleven apostles chose the successor of Judas, Matthias (by casting lots after asking God's guidance) provides a fascinating argument against sola Scriptura.","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\/12\/new-apostle-matthias-proof-of-church-infallibility.html","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"\"New\" Apostle Matthias: Proof of Church Infallibility \"New\" Apostle Matthias: Proof of Church Infallibility","og_description":"Acts 1:20-26 (RSV) For it is written in the book of Psalms, `Let his habitation become desolate, and let there be no one to live in it'; and `His office How the eleven apostles chose the successor of Judas, Matthias (by casting lots after asking God's guidance) provides a fascinating argument against sola Scriptura.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/2021\/12\/new-apostle-matthias-proof-of-church-infallibility.html","og_site_name":"Biblical Evidence for Catholicism","article_author":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/dave.armstrong.798","article_published_time":"2021-12-31T22:04:55+00:00","article_modified_time":"2022-01-04T16:56:42+00:00","og_image":[{"width":436,"height":768,"url":"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/572\/2021\/12\/Matthias.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Dave Armstrong","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Dave Armstrong","Est. reading time":"10 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/2021\/12\/new-apostle-matthias-proof-of-church-infallibility.html","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/2021\/12\/new-apostle-matthias-proof-of-church-infallibility.html","name":"\"New\" Apostle Matthias: Proof of Church Infallibility \"New\" Apostle Matthias: Proof of Church Infallibility","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/#website"},"datePublished":"2021-12-31T22:04:55+00:00","dateModified":"2022-01-04T16:56:42+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/#\/schema\/person\/471eaa20e441eca4bb1ea50393cf632e"},"description":"Acts 1:20-26 (RSV) For it is written in the book of Psalms, `Let his habitation become desolate, and let there be no one to live in it'; and `His office How the eleven apostles chose the successor of Judas, Matthias (by casting lots after asking God's guidance) provides a fascinating argument against sola Scriptura.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/2021\/12\/new-apostle-matthias-proof-of-church-infallibility.html#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/2021\/12\/new-apostle-matthias-proof-of-church-infallibility.html"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/2021\/12\/new-apostle-matthias-proof-of-church-infallibility.html#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"“New” Apostle Matthias: Proof of Church Infallibility"}]},{"@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\/62163","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=62163"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/62163\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/62165"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=62163"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=62163"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=62163"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}