{"id":6572,"date":"2016-03-19T14:29:58","date_gmt":"2016-03-19T18:29:58","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/?p=6572"},"modified":"2017-03-24T14:00:50","modified_gmt":"2017-03-24T18:00:50","slug":"abstinence-on-fridays-meat-doctrine-or-discipline","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/2016\/03\/abstinence-on-fridays-meat-doctrine-or-discipline.html","title":{"rendered":"Abstinence on Fridays & Meat: Doctrine or Discipline?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>
\"DavidPenance\"<\/div>\n
The reproach of Nathan and the penance of King David (Paris Psalter, folio 136v, 10th century)<\/span> [public domain \/ Wikimedia Commons<\/a>]<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
\n

(4-11-11)<\/p>\n

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

My friend \u201cPilgrimsarbor\u201d (Presbyterian: OPC) was commenting on the anti-Catholic<\/span> Reformed Apologist<\/a> site, in the combox for the post,<\/span> \u201cCarl Trueman and A Need For A Contemporary Polemic Against Romanism\u201d<\/a>. I responded. \u201cPilgrimsarbor\u201d\u2018s words will be in<\/span> blue<\/span>.<\/p>\n

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

\n

Regarding a need for a contemporary polemic against Romanism, as much as my Catholic friends would protest, things do and have changed within that communion. If certain practices have changed, for example, not eating meat on Fridays, there would have to be a constituent doctrinal basis for the change, wouldn\u2019t that be true? . . .<\/span><\/p>\n

Well, as I said, what is the doctrine that dictates that one should not eat meat on Friday?<\/span><\/p>\n

It\u2019s not a doctrine at all. It is simply a penitential requirement that once held and has now been relaxed. It would be like a Protestant pastor requiring all his congregants to attend a Wednesday night Bible study, and then later saying they were no longer required to do so. No doctrine is involved. It is strictly a practice of one\u2019s faith.<\/span><\/p>\n

My point is, since that practice has changed, doesn\u2019t it follow that the doctrine which gives birth to that practice has changed?<\/span><\/p>\n

Not at all. Fasting, for example, is a quite explicitly biblical concept. Jesus did it, Paul did it, and we are to imitate them. Therefore, various Christian belief-systems might develop various ways to implement a program for fasting, especially if they observe Lent (Anglicans, Methodists; I believe Lutherans also). How is that doctrinal? No doctrine is involved whatever. Same thing for us \u201cRomanists.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

I realize that a Catholic would not call it a change in doctrine, but it must be so nonetheless.<\/span><\/p>\n

Really<\/span>? Why \u201cmust\u201d it be? What is so difficult about the distinction between religious practice and doctrine? An example of another Protestant practice would be the \u201caltar call.\u201d In some circles (evangelical, Baptist, pentecostal: and I have been part of all of these) this is a virtual requirement in order to be \u201csaved.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

But it may not be so in other contexts (Reformed, Presbyterian, Methodist, etc.). All these groups believe in salvation by grace alone (as do we). But the practice is different. But that is already more \u201cdoctrinal\u201d than abstaining from meat.<\/span><\/p>\n

I should also note, however, that the underlying, presuppositional requirement to practice some sort of penance<\/span> on Fridays has not<\/span> changed: only the specific requirement of no meat has been relaxed.<\/span><\/p>\n

It is a binding discipline, to practice penance on Fridays. Disciplines are practices (usually devotional or contemplative in nature) recommended or required by the Church, as opposed to doctrines and dogmas that have to do with theological belief. If one doesn\u2019t abstain from meat it is required that they practice some form of penance. I myself abstain from meat (well, in my case, poultry, since I don\u2019t eat red meat), since it is easy to remember, and was the traditional abstinence requirement.<\/span><\/p>\n

Or perhaps, they would say that it was not infallible dogma.<\/span><\/p>\n

Of course it is not. It\u2019s not even a doctrinal <\/span>matter, let alone dogmatic<\/span>, or a question of infallibility. The celibacy of priests in the Latin rites is a similar example. That\u2019s not doctrinal either. It is a disciplinary requirement that doesn\u2019t even apply to non-Roman rite Eastern Catholics, based on 1 Corinthians 7 (the single person can be more devoted to God, since there are not divided allegiances with family) and Jesus\u2019 noting that there are voluntary eunuchs for the sake of the kingdom.<\/span><\/p>\n

To deny that, for example, the RCC practice of not eating meat on Friday had no doctrinal basis is, to me, unfathomable.<\/span><\/p>\n

Hopefully, it is fathomable after you read this. This is not rocket science.<\/span><\/p>\n

All church discipline and practice, no matter what it is and from whom, has a doctrinal basis.<\/span><\/p>\n

In an indirect sense, it would have to do with Christ\u2019s work on the cross and the atonement and redemption on our behalf, since we observe it in the first place to recall Good Friday. If that is what you mean by it having a \u201cdoctrinal basis\u201d then we agree. But the practice itself is not \u201cdoctrinal.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Having said that, I still think \u201cchanging doctrines\u201d is not the point as much as perhaps changing emphases<\/i>.<\/span><\/p>\n

Better, but changing requirements and the range of practices for the same penitential notion is more accurate.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
* * * * *\u00a0<\/span><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Additional Clarifications<\/strong>\u00a0(11-9-09)<\/span><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
* * *<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
The current rule about Friday abstinence is explained by Colin B. Donovan, STL, in his article, Fast and Abstinence<\/a>: hosted by EWTN:<\/span><\/span><\/div>\n
*<\/div>\n
It is a binding discipline, to practice penance on Fridays. <\/span><\/span>Disciplines are practices (usually devotional or contemplative in nature) recommended or required by the Church, as opposed to doctrines and dogmas that have to do with theological belief. If one doesn\u2019t abstain from meat (which is not required, at least not in the US) it is required that they practice some form of penance. I myself abstain from meat, since it is easy to remember, and was the traditional abstinence requirement.<\/span><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
*
\nCatholic apologist Jimmy Akin wrote\u00a0in the July\/August 1997 issue of This Rock<\/i>:<\/span><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
*<\/div>\n
Thus the law of abstinence from meat is still<\/i> binding unless<\/i> one\u2019s national bishops\u2019 conference has provided for alternate forms of penance. In the United States, the National Conference of Catholic Bishops has obtained permission from the Vatican for such substitution. Catholics are obliged to do some form of penance on Fridays and keep the day as per canon 1249, but now they can choose the form of penance they wish to do.<\/span><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
\n
*<\/div>\n
David W. Emery, my fellow moderator\u00a0at the Coming Home Network forum, further clarified:<\/span><\/div>\n
*<\/div>\n
The EWTN wording shows that they too accept Friday penance (abstinence during Lent) as obligatory in the United States. The \u201cnot under pain of sin\u201d point is specifically stated in the 1966 [USCCB] document. Previously, by canon law, it was under pain of sin. But this does not, in itself, remove the obligation, since they are separate issues under canon law. A discipline can be obligatory without being additionally under pain of sin.<\/span><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
*
\nHere is a<\/span> link to the 2000 pastoral instruction from the USCCB<\/a>. The relevant phrase for our discussion seems to be:<\/span><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
*<\/div>\n
Fridays Throughout the Year \u2014 In memory of Christ\u2019s suffering and death, the Church prescribes making each Friday throughout the year a penitential day. All of us are urged to prepare appropriately for that weekly Easter that comes with each Sunday.<\/span><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
*
\nThe key word there is \u201cprescribe.\u201d That means that it is obligatory to practice some penance, but it doesn\u2019t have <\/i>to be abstinence from meat.<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The reproach of Nathan and the penance of King David (Paris Psalter, folio 136v, 10th century) [public domain \/ Wikimedia Commons] (4-11-11) * * * * * My friend \u201cPilgrimsarbor\u201d (Presbyterian: OPC) was commenting on the anti-Catholic Reformed Apologist site, in the combox for the post, \u201cCarl Trueman and A Need For A Contemporary Polemic […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2331,"featured_media":6576,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[206],"tags":[1898,2107,2105,2106,1728,2500,1894,1895,2501,200,1955,711,1897,1896,710,712],"class_list":["post-6572","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-saints-purgatory-penance","tag-abstinence","tag-asceticism","tag-bodily-mortification","tag-deprivation","tag-fasting","tag-friday-abstinence","tag-lent","tag-mortification","tag-no-meat-on-fridays","tag-penance","tag-penitential-practices","tag-redemptive-suffering","tag-sacrifice","tag-self-denial","tag-suffering","tag-suffering-with-christ"],"yoast_head":"\nAbstinence on Fridays & Meat: Doctrine or Discipline?<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The underlying, presuppositional requirement to practice penance on Fridays has not changed: only the specific requirement of no meat has been relaxed.\" \/>\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\/abstinence-on-fridays-meat-doctrine-or-discipline.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Abstinence on Fridays & Meat: Doctrine or Discipline?\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The underlying, presuppositional requirement to practice penance on Fridays has not changed: only the specific requirement of no meat has been relaxed.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/2016\/03\/abstinence-on-fridays-meat-doctrine-or-discipline.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=\"2016-03-19T18:29:58+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2017-03-24T18:00:50+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/572\/2016\/03\/DavidPenance.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"554\" \/>\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=\"6 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\/abstinence-on-fridays-meat-doctrine-or-discipline.html\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/2016\/03\/abstinence-on-fridays-meat-doctrine-or-discipline.html\",\"name\":\"Abstinence on Fridays & Meat: Doctrine or Discipline?\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2016-03-19T18:29:58+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2017-03-24T18:00:50+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/#\/schema\/person\/471eaa20e441eca4bb1ea50393cf632e\"},\"description\":\"The underlying, presuppositional requirement to practice penance on Fridays has not changed: only the specific requirement of no meat has been relaxed.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/2016\/03\/abstinence-on-fridays-meat-doctrine-or-discipline.html#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/2016\/03\/abstinence-on-fridays-meat-doctrine-or-discipline.html\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/2016\/03\/abstinence-on-fridays-meat-doctrine-or-discipline.html#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Abstinence on Fridays & Meat: Doctrine or Discipline?\"}]},{\"@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":"Abstinence on Fridays & Meat: Doctrine or Discipline?","description":"The underlying, presuppositional requirement to practice penance on Fridays has not changed: only the specific requirement of no meat has been relaxed.","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\/abstinence-on-fridays-meat-doctrine-or-discipline.html","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Abstinence on Fridays & Meat: Doctrine or Discipline?","og_description":"The underlying, presuppositional requirement to practice penance on Fridays has not changed: only the specific requirement of no meat has been relaxed.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/2016\/03\/abstinence-on-fridays-meat-doctrine-or-discipline.html","og_site_name":"Biblical Evidence for Catholicism","article_author":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/dave.armstrong.798","article_published_time":"2016-03-19T18:29:58+00:00","article_modified_time":"2017-03-24T18:00:50+00:00","og_image":[{"width":554,"height":600,"url":"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/572\/2016\/03\/DavidPenance.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Dave Armstrong","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Dave Armstrong","Est. reading time":"6 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/2016\/03\/abstinence-on-fridays-meat-doctrine-or-discipline.html","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/2016\/03\/abstinence-on-fridays-meat-doctrine-or-discipline.html","name":"Abstinence on Fridays & Meat: Doctrine or Discipline?","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/#website"},"datePublished":"2016-03-19T18:29:58+00:00","dateModified":"2017-03-24T18:00:50+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/#\/schema\/person\/471eaa20e441eca4bb1ea50393cf632e"},"description":"The underlying, presuppositional requirement to practice penance on Fridays has not changed: only the specific requirement of no meat has been relaxed.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/2016\/03\/abstinence-on-fridays-meat-doctrine-or-discipline.html#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/2016\/03\/abstinence-on-fridays-meat-doctrine-or-discipline.html"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/2016\/03\/abstinence-on-fridays-meat-doctrine-or-discipline.html#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Abstinence on Fridays & Meat: Doctrine or Discipline?"}]},{"@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\/6572","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=6572"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6572\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6576"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6572"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6572"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6572"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}