{"id":6317,"date":"2016-03-01T13:26:33","date_gmt":"2016-03-01T17:26:33","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/?p=6317"},"modified":"2020-02-27T12:15:52","modified_gmt":"2020-02-27T16:15:52","slug":"lenten-meditation-nt-on-suffering-with-christ","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/2016\/03\/lenten-meditation-nt-on-suffering-with-christ.html","title":{"rendered":"Lenten Meditation: New Testament on Suffering with Christ"},"content":{"rendered":"<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC \"-\/\/W3C\/\/DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional\/\/EN\" \"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/TR\/REC-html40\/loose.dtd\">\n<html><head><meta http-equiv=\"content-type\" content=\"text\/html; charset=utf-8\"><meta http-equiv=\"content-type\" content=\"text\/html; charset=utf-8\"><\/head><body><div style=\"text-align: center;\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-6319 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/572\/2016\/03\/Jesus22.jpg\" alt=\"Jesus22\" width=\"480\" height=\"600\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"color: #0000ff;\"><em>Christ with Thorns<\/em>, by Carl Heinrich Bloch (1834-1890)<\/span> [public domain \/ <a href=\"https:\/\/commons.wikimedia.org\/wiki\/File:ChristandThorns.jpg\" class=\" decorated-link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">Wikimedia Commons<\/a>]<\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: center;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: center;\">* * * * *<\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: center;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: center;\">From my book, <i><a href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/2006\/07\/books-by-dave-armstrong-biblical.html\" class=\" decorated-link\" target=\"_blank\">A Biblical Defense of Catholicism<\/a><\/i>, pp. 158-161.<\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: center;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: center;\">* * *<\/div>\n<blockquote class=\"tr_bq\"><p><b>Matthew 10:38 \/ 16:24 <\/b>[RSV]<b>\u00a0<\/b>And he who does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me.<\/p>\n<p>Then Jesus told his disciples, \u201cIf any man would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>(see also Mark 8:34-35)<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>The disciple of Christ is called to suffer (Matthew 10:22; Mark 10:37-39; Luke 6:22; Acts 14:22; Romans 5:3-5; 2 Corinthians 12:7-10; Philippians 1:29; 1 Thessalonians 3:3; 2 Timothy 1:8; 2:3; 3:12; Hebrews 5:8; James 1:2-4, 12; 1 Peter 1:6-7; 2:20-21; 4:12-19; Revelation 1:9).<\/p>\n<p>No biblically informed Christian would dispute that. Controversy only arises over whether such sufferings can improve one\u2019s estate vis-a-vis salvation, or help anyone else in the Body of Christ. Catholics believe that all our sufferings can be a source of grace for the one experiencing them as well as helpful with regard to the spiritual graces of another (Romans 15:1, 1 Corinthians 12:24-26), to whom these penitential sufferings are applied (as in intercessory prayer), thus giving suffering the highest possible purpose and meaning.<\/p>\n<p>Furthermore, the painful experience of being corrected by God, as parents discipline their children (Leviticus 26:23-24; Deuteronomy 8:2, 5; 2 Samuel 7:14; Job 5:17-18; Psalm 89:30-34; 94:12; 103:9; 118:18; 119:67, 71, 75; Proverbs 3:11-12; Isaiah 48:10; Jeremiah 10:24; 30:11; 31:18; Zechariah 13:9; Malachi 3:3; 1 Corinthians 11:32; Hebrews 12:5-11; Revelation 3:19), is quite similar to the Catholic notion of temporal punishments for sin, which can be lessened by penance.<\/p>\n<p>St. Paul explicitly expounds the Catholic doctrine of penance, suffering, and vicarious atonement in the following sixteen passages:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p><b>Romans 8:13, 17 <\/b>For if you live according to the flesh you will die, but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body you will live . . . and if children, then heirs, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him.<\/p>\n<p>(see also 1 Corinthians 15:31; 2 Corinthians 6:9; 1 Peter 4:1, 13)<\/p>\n<p><b>1 Corinthians 11:27, 30<\/b> Whoever, therefore, eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of profaning the body and blood of the Lord . . . That is why many of you are weak and ill, and some have died.<\/p>\n<p>(see also 11:31-32; 1 Corinthians 5:5)<\/p>\n<p><b>2 Corinthians 4:10<\/b> Always carrying in the body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in our bodies.<\/p>\n<p>(see also 2 Corinthians 1:5-7)<\/p>\n<p><b>Philippians 2:17<\/b> Even if I am to be poured out as a libation upon the sacrificial offering of your faith, I am glad and rejoice with you all.<\/p>\n<p>(see also 2 Corinthians 6:4-10)<\/p>\n<p><b>Philippians 3:10<\/b> That I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death.<\/p>\n<p>(see also Galatians 2:20)<\/p>\n<p><b>2 Timothy 4:6<\/b> For I am already on the point of being sacrificed; the time of my departure has come.<\/p>\n<p>(see also Romans 12:1)<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>In this verse and in Philippians 2:17, the Greek word for libation and sacrifice is <i>spendomai<\/i>. In the Septuagint, the Greek translation of the Old Testament which was the Bible of the early Christians, this term is used for a variety of offerings and sacrifices commanded by the Mosaic Law (for example, Genesis 35:14; Exodus 29:12, 38 ff.; Leviticus 4:7 ff.; 23:37).<\/p>\n<p>Most intriguing is its occurrence with reference to the Messiah, Jesus, in Isaiah 53:12: . . . <i>he poured out his soul to death <\/i>. . . It appears, then, that St. Paul is stressing a mystical, profound identification with Jesus even in His death (as also in 2 Corinthians 4:10 and Philippians 3:10 above).<\/p>\n<p>This comparison leads inexorably to the Catholic doctrine of vicarious atonement among members of the Body of Christ. In some mysterious, glorious way God chooses to involve us in the very Redemption (always in a secondary and derivative sense, but actual nonetheless), just as He voluntarily involves us in His Providence by means of prayer and evangelism, and in His Creation by our procreation and childbirth.<\/p>\n<p>Our sufferings become identified with those of Christ (instances of the stigmata, whereby saintly persons \u2014 such as St. Francis of Assisi \u2014 actually receive the wounds of Christ in their bodies, are an extremely graphic image of this scriptural teaching).<\/p>\n<p>Since we are the Body of Christ (1 Corinthians 12:27; Ephesians 1:22-23; 5:30; Colossians 1:24 below), such a \u201cradical\u201d convergence is not to be unexpected. For instance, when St. Paul was converted to Christ, Jesus said to him, <i>I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting <\/i>(Acts 9:5). This couldn\u2019t literally refer to Jesus the Divine Person since He had already ascended to heaven (Acts 1:9-11). Rather, Jesus meant that Christ\u2019s Church really was His Body, whom Paul (Saul) was persecuting (Acts 8:1, 3; 9:1-2).<\/p>\n<p>Jesus also identifies the Church with Himself in Matthew 25:34-45 (25:40 \u2014 <i>brethren<\/i>. Compare Matthew 12:50; 28:10; John 20:17). Thus, Jesus\u2019 sufferings are ours, and ours are His in a very real sense, as St. Paul unmistakably teaches, particularly and most strikingly in Colossians 1:24:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p><b>Colossians 1:24<\/b> Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I complete what is lacking in Christ\u2019s afflictions for the sake of his body, that is, the church.<\/p>\n<p>(see also 2 Corinthians 11:23-30; Galatians 6:17)<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>***<\/p>\n<p>Catholics believe that all our suffering can be a source of grace and helpful with regard to the spiritual graces of another (Rom 15:1, 1 Cor 12:24-26).<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Christ with Thorns, by Carl Heinrich Bloch (1834-1890) [public domain \/ Wikimedia Commons] * * * * * From my book, A Biblical Defense of Catholicism, pp. 158-161. * * * Matthew 10:38 \/ 16:24 [RSV]\u00a0And he who does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me. Then Jesus told his [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2331,"featured_media":6319,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[206,172],"tags":[1898,2107,2105,2106,1728,1894,1895,200,1955,711,1897,1896,710,712],"class_list":["post-6317","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-saints-purgatory-penance","category-trinitarianism-christology","tag-abstinence","tag-asceticism","tag-bodily-mortification","tag-deprivation","tag-fasting","tag-lent","tag-mortification","tag-penance","tag-penitential-practices","tag-redemptive-suffering","tag-sacrifice","tag-self-denial","tag-suffering","tag-suffering-with-christ"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v21.1 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Lenten Meditation: New Testament on Suffering with Christ<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Catholics believe that all our suffering can be a source of grace and helpful with regard to the spiritual graces of another (Rom 15:1, 1 Cor 12:24-26).\" \/>\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\/2016\/03\/lenten-meditation-nt-on-suffering-with-christ.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Lenten Meditation: New Testament on Suffering with Christ\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Catholics believe that all our suffering can be a source of grace and helpful with regard to the spiritual graces of another (Rom 15:1, 1 Cor 12:24-26).\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/2016\/03\/lenten-meditation-nt-on-suffering-with-christ.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=\"2016-03-01T17:26:33+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2020-02-27T16:15:52+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/572\/2016\/03\/Jesus22.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"480\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"600\" \/>\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=\"4 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\/2016\/03\/lenten-meditation-nt-on-suffering-with-christ.html\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/2016\/03\/lenten-meditation-nt-on-suffering-with-christ.html\",\"name\":\"Lenten Meditation: New Testament on Suffering with Christ\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2016-03-01T17:26:33+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2020-02-27T16:15:52+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/#\/schema\/person\/471eaa20e441eca4bb1ea50393cf632e\"},\"description\":\"Catholics believe that all our suffering can be a source of grace and helpful with regard to the spiritual graces of another (Rom 15:1, 1 Cor 12:24-26).\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/2016\/03\/lenten-meditation-nt-on-suffering-with-christ.html#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/2016\/03\/lenten-meditation-nt-on-suffering-with-christ.html\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/2016\/03\/lenten-meditation-nt-on-suffering-with-christ.html#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Lenten Meditation: New Testament on Suffering with Christ\"}]},{\"@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":"Lenten Meditation: New Testament on Suffering with Christ","description":"Catholics believe that all our suffering can be a source of grace and helpful with regard to the spiritual graces of another (Rom 15:1, 1 Cor 12:24-26).","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\/2016\/03\/lenten-meditation-nt-on-suffering-with-christ.html","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Lenten Meditation: New Testament on Suffering with Christ","og_description":"Catholics believe that all our suffering can be a source of grace and helpful with regard to the spiritual graces of another (Rom 15:1, 1 Cor 12:24-26).","og_url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/2016\/03\/lenten-meditation-nt-on-suffering-with-christ.html","og_site_name":"Biblical Evidence for Catholicism","article_author":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/dave.armstrong.798","article_published_time":"2016-03-01T17:26:33+00:00","article_modified_time":"2020-02-27T16:15:52+00:00","og_image":[{"width":480,"height":600,"url":"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/572\/2016\/03\/Jesus22.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Dave Armstrong","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Dave Armstrong","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/2016\/03\/lenten-meditation-nt-on-suffering-with-christ.html","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/2016\/03\/lenten-meditation-nt-on-suffering-with-christ.html","name":"Lenten Meditation: New Testament on Suffering with Christ","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/#website"},"datePublished":"2016-03-01T17:26:33+00:00","dateModified":"2020-02-27T16:15:52+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/#\/schema\/person\/471eaa20e441eca4bb1ea50393cf632e"},"description":"Catholics believe that all our suffering can be a source of grace and helpful with regard to the spiritual graces of another (Rom 15:1, 1 Cor 12:24-26).","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/2016\/03\/lenten-meditation-nt-on-suffering-with-christ.html#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/2016\/03\/lenten-meditation-nt-on-suffering-with-christ.html"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/2016\/03\/lenten-meditation-nt-on-suffering-with-christ.html#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Lenten Meditation: New Testament on Suffering with Christ"}]},{"@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\/6317","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=6317"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6317\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6319"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6317"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6317"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6317"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}