{"id":74936,"date":"2023-07-17T11:16:01","date_gmt":"2023-07-17T15:16:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/?p=74936"},"modified":"2026-06-06T00:02:24","modified_gmt":"2026-06-06T04:02:24","slug":"bible-on-imitating-saints-vs-t-l-kauffman","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/2023\/07\/bible-on-imitating-saints-vs-t-l-kauffman.html","title":{"rendered":"Bible on Imitating Saints (vs. T.F. Kauffman)"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Timothy F. Kauffman<\/a>\u00a0was raised Catholic, converted to Protestantism in 1990, and is now a Presbyterian (PCA). He\u00a0has written<\/a>,\u00a0\u201cI was saved\u00a0out<\/em>\u00a0of Roman Catholicism, and\u00a0into<\/em>\u00a0Christianity, . . . Roman Catholicism was out of accord with the Gospel of Jesus Christ.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0Timothy is author of the books,\u00a0Quite Contrary: Biblical Reconsiderations of the Apparitions of Mary<\/span><\/a><\/em>\u00a0(1994),\u00a0<\/span>Graven Bread: The Papacy, the Apparitions of Mary, and the Worship of the Bread of the Altar<\/span><\/a><\/em>\u00a0(1995), and is co-author with Robert M. Zins, of\u00a0<\/span>A Gospel Contrary!: A Study of Roman Catholic Abuse of History and Scripture to Propagate Error<\/em><\/span><\/a>\u00a0(April 24, 2023). He has been blogging about theology and Catholicism since 2014. His words will be in\u00a0blue<\/span>.<\/span><\/p>\n

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

I will be responding to one portion of Timothy\u2019s article, \u00a0\u201d \u2018We Don\u2019t Worship Mary\u2019 Part 2\u2033<\/a>\u00a0(6-15-14).<\/p>\n

It should go without saying that Roman Catholic saints are intentionally held up as examples for the flock to imitate. . . . \u201cSaints\u201d are examples with whom we ca<\/span>n identify, and who we aspire to imitate. Indeed, the Roman church has held saints up for \u201cimitation by all\u201d precisely\u00a0because<\/em> we can identify with them. The Roman Catholic web site,<\/span>\u00a0Catholic Legate<\/a>, emphasizes this, listing it as one of the three pillars of the doctrine of the communion of saints:<\/span><\/p>\n

\n
\u201cThe second pillar of this doctrine rests on\u00a0the imitation of virtuous people<\/strong>.\u00a0M<\/span>any Protestants \u2026 do not accept that we are to imitate anyone but Jesus [but] it is not a biblical teaching to refuse imitation of the saints.\u201d<\/span><\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Another Roman Catholic apologetics<\/span>\u00a0web site<\/a>, explains that part of the canonization process through which saints are officially recognized, is to determine whether their lives can be held up \u201cas examples to be imitated.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

We repeat this principle for a reason. Saints are considered necessary to inspire the flock, encourage obedience, and to offer real life examples for the sheep to imitate. . . .\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Rome\u2019s saints model for us a veneration that is indistinguishable from worship. . . .\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

We must understand that the saints are people who are very much like us in their humanity, and so their \u201choliness\u201d is held out by Rome as an example to us that we might imitate it.<\/span><\/p>\n

Timothy doesn\u2019t like the notion and practice of imitating exceptionally holy and righteous people. Moreover, he argues that such imitation reduces or collapses to veneration, which in turn<\/span> \u201cis indistinguishable from worship.\u201d If that\u2019s true (it isn\u2019t<\/em>), then according to Timothy\u2019s reasoning, the Bible<\/em> teaches that human beings are to be worshipe<\/em>d. But of course it doesn\u2019t<\/em>. <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Holy Scripture teaches (just like Catholics do) that God alone is to be worshiped and adored, and that saintly human beings ought to be imitated, honored and venerated, because, after all, God shares His glory with them<\/a>. Paul commands his followers to imitate him, just as he, in turn, imitates Christ (1 Cor 11:1; 1 Thess 1:6). <\/span><\/span>The motif of imitation is found in at least sixteen passages of the New Testament:
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

Romans 4:12<\/strong> (RSV) . . . follow the<\/span> example<\/span> of the faith<\/span> which our father Abraham had before he was circumcised.<\/p>\n

1 Corinthians<\/strong>\u00a04:16<\/strong>\u00a0I urge you, then, be imitators of me<\/span>.<\/p>\n

1 Corinthians 11:1<\/strong>\u00a0Be imitators of me<\/span>, as I am of Christ<\/span>.<\/p>\n

Philippians 3:17\u00a0<\/b>Brethren, join in imitating me<\/span>, and mark those who so live as you have an example in us<\/span>.<\/p>\n

Philippians 4:9<\/strong>\u00a0What you have learned and received and heard and seen\u00a0in me, do<\/span>; and the God of peace will be with you.<\/p>\n

1 Thessalonians 1:6-7<\/strong>\u00a0And you became imitators of us and of the Lord<\/span>, for you received the word in much affliction, with joy inspired by the Holy Spirit; [7] so that you became an example<\/span> to all the believers in Macedo\u2019nia and in Acha\u2019ia.<\/p>\n

1 Thessalonians 2:14<\/strong>\u00a0For you, brethren, became imitators of the churches of God in Christ Jesus which are in Judea<\/span>; for you suffered the same things from your own countrymen as they did from the Jews,<\/p>\n

1 Thessalonians 4:1<\/strong>\u00a0Finally, brethren, we beseech and exhort you in the Lord Jesus, that as you learned from us how you ought to live and to please God<\/span>, just as you are doing, you do so more and more.<\/p>\n

2 Thessalonians 3:7-9<\/strong>\u00a0For you yourselves know how you ought to imitate us<\/span>; we were not idle when we were with you, [8] we did not eat any one\u2019s bread without paying, but with toil and labor we worked night and day, that we might not burden any of you. [9] It was not because we have not that right, but to give you in our conduct an example to imitate<\/span>.<\/p>\n

1 Timothy 4:12<\/strong>\u00a0set the believers an example in speech and conduct, in love, in faith, in purity<\/span>.<\/p>\n

Titus 2:7<\/strong> Show yourself in all respects a\u00a0model\u00a0of good deeds<\/span>, and in your teaching show integrity, gravity,<\/p>\n

Hebrews 6:12<\/strong>\u00a0so that you may not be sluggish, but imitators of those who through faith and patience inherit the promises<\/span>. (cf. Hebrews, ch. 11: \u201cthe heroes of the faith\u201d)<\/p>\n

Hebrews 13:7<\/strong>\u00a0Remember your leaders, those who spoke to you the word of God; consider the outcome of their life, and imitate their faith<\/span>.<\/p>\n

James 5:10-11<\/strong>\u00a0As an example of suffering and patience<\/span>, brethren, take the prophets<\/span> who spoke in the name of the Lord. [11] . . . You have heard of the steadfastness of Job . . .\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

1 Peter 5:3<\/strong>\u00a0not as domineering over those in your charge but being examples to the flock<\/span>.<\/p>\n

3 John 1:11<\/strong>\u00a0Beloved, do not imitate evil but\u00a0imitate good<\/span>. He who does good is of God; he who does evil has not seen God.<\/p>\n

John Calvin, commenting on Hebrews 12:1<\/a>, concurs:<\/span><\/p>\n

This conclusion is, as it were, an epilogue to the former chapter, by which he shows the end for which he gave a catalogue of the saints who excelled in faith under the Law, even that every one should be prepared to imitate them; and he calls a large multitude metaphorically a\u00a0cloud,<\/i> for he sets what is dense in opposition to what is thinly scattered.\u00a0Had they been a few in number, yet they ought to have roused us by their example; but as they were a vast throng, they ought more powerfully to stimulate us.<\/p>\n

He says that we are so surrounded by this dense throng, that wherever we turn our eyes many examples of faith immediately meet us. The word\u00a0witnesses<\/i>\u00a0I do not take in a general sense, as though he called them the martyrs of God, and I apply it to the case before us, as though he had said that faith is sufficiently proved by their testimony, so that no doubt ought to be entertained; for the virtues of the saints are so many testimonies to confirm us, that we, relying on them as our guides and associates, ought to go onward to God with more alacrity.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Protestants today usually argue that great Christian figures of the past can provide inspiration and example for us in our Christian walk today, but they will deny that we ought to venerate them. They say this because they have drawn a false dichotomy between the worship and adoration of God himself and the veneration of those children of God who show forth His glory by displaying the grace that He gave them to be what they are.<\/p>\n

***<\/p>\n

Practical Matters<\/em><\/strong>: Perhaps some of my 4,300+ free online articles (the most comprehensive \u201cone-stop\u201d Catholic apologetics site) or\u00a0fifty-three books<\/a>\u00a0have helped you (by God\u2019s grace) to decide to\u00a0become Catholic<\/a>\u00a0or to\u00a0return to the Church<\/a>,\u00a0or better understand some doctrines and\u00a0why<\/em>\u00a0we believe them<\/a>.<\/div>\n
*<\/div>\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.<\/div>\n
*<\/div>\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!<\/div>\n
\n
\n
\n

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

Photo credit:<\/strong> Saint Paul Writing His Epistles<\/i>\u00a0(c. 1620), attributed to Valentin de Boulogne (1591-1632)<\/span>\u00a0[public domain \/\u00a0Wikimedia Commons<\/a>]<\/p>\n

Summary<\/em>: Presbyterian critic of Catholicism Timothy F. Kauffman doesn\u2019t like the notion of imitation of holy people. The NT, on the other hand, provides sixteen prooftexts for it.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Timothy F. Kauffman\u00a0was raised Catholic, converted to Protestantism in 1990, and is now a Presbyterian (PCA). He\u00a0has written,\u00a0\u201cI was saved\u00a0out\u00a0of Roman Catholicism, and\u00a0into\u00a0Christianity, . . . Roman Catholicism was out of accord with the Gospel of Jesus Christ.\u201d\u00a0Timothy is author of the books,\u00a0Quite Contrary: Biblical Reconsiderations of the Apparitions of Mary\u00a0(1994),\u00a0Graven Bread: The Papacy, the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2331,"featured_media":74942,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[231,206],"tags":[15167,3596,2673,17906,17903,263],"class_list":["post-74936","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-anti-catholicism","category-saints-purgatory-penance","tag-imitating-paul","tag-imitating-saints","tag-imitation-of-saints","tag-saintly-examples","tag-venerating-saints","tag-veneration-of-saints"],"yoast_head":"\nBible on Imitating Saints (vs. T.F. Kauffman) Bible on Imitating Saints (vs. T.F. Kauffman)<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Timothy F. Kauffman\u00a0was raised Catholic, converted to Protestantism in 1990, and is now a Presbyterian (PCA). He\u00a0has written,\u00a0\u201cI was saved\u00a0out\u00a0of Roman Presbyterian critic of Catholicism Timothy F. Kauffman doesn't like the notion of imitation of holy people. The NT, on the other hand, provides sixteen prooftexts for it.\" \/>\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\/2023\/07\/bible-on-imitating-saints-vs-t-l-kauffman.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Bible on Imitating Saints (vs. T.F. Kauffman) Bible on Imitating Saints (vs. T.F. Kauffman)\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Timothy F. Kauffman\u00a0was raised Catholic, converted to Protestantism in 1990, and is now a Presbyterian (PCA). He\u00a0has written,\u00a0\u201cI was saved\u00a0out\u00a0of Roman Presbyterian critic of Catholicism Timothy F. Kauffman doesn't like the notion of imitation of holy people. The NT, on the other hand, provides sixteen prooftexts for it.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/2023\/07\/bible-on-imitating-saints-vs-t-l-kauffman.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=\"2023-07-17T15:16:01+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-06-06T04:02:24+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/572\/2023\/07\/Paul2.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"640\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"471\" \/>\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\/2023\/07\/bible-on-imitating-saints-vs-t-l-kauffman.html\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/2023\/07\/bible-on-imitating-saints-vs-t-l-kauffman.html\",\"name\":\"Bible on Imitating Saints (vs. T.F. Kauffman) Bible on Imitating Saints (vs. T.F. Kauffman)\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2023-07-17T15:16:01+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-06-06T04:02:24+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/#\/schema\/person\/471eaa20e441eca4bb1ea50393cf632e\"},\"description\":\"Timothy F. Kauffman\u00a0was raised Catholic, converted to Protestantism in 1990, and is now a Presbyterian (PCA). He\u00a0has written,\u00a0\u201cI was saved\u00a0out\u00a0of Roman Presbyterian critic of Catholicism Timothy F. Kauffman doesn't like the notion of imitation of holy people. The NT, on the other hand, provides sixteen prooftexts for it.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/2023\/07\/bible-on-imitating-saints-vs-t-l-kauffman.html#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/2023\/07\/bible-on-imitating-saints-vs-t-l-kauffman.html\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/2023\/07\/bible-on-imitating-saints-vs-t-l-kauffman.html#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Bible on Imitating Saints (vs. T.F. Kauffman)\"}]},{\"@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":"Bible on Imitating Saints (vs. T.F. Kauffman) Bible on Imitating Saints (vs. T.F. Kauffman)","description":"Timothy F. Kauffman\u00a0was raised Catholic, converted to Protestantism in 1990, and is now a Presbyterian (PCA). He\u00a0has written,\u00a0\u201cI was saved\u00a0out\u00a0of Roman Presbyterian critic of Catholicism Timothy F. Kauffman doesn't like the notion of imitation of holy people. The NT, on the other hand, provides sixteen prooftexts for it.","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\/2023\/07\/bible-on-imitating-saints-vs-t-l-kauffman.html","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Bible on Imitating Saints (vs. T.F. Kauffman) Bible on Imitating Saints (vs. T.F. Kauffman)","og_description":"Timothy F. Kauffman\u00a0was raised Catholic, converted to Protestantism in 1990, and is now a Presbyterian (PCA). He\u00a0has written,\u00a0\u201cI was saved\u00a0out\u00a0of Roman Presbyterian critic of Catholicism Timothy F. Kauffman doesn't like the notion of imitation of holy people. The NT, on the other hand, provides sixteen prooftexts for it.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/2023\/07\/bible-on-imitating-saints-vs-t-l-kauffman.html","og_site_name":"Biblical Evidence for Catholicism","article_author":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/dave.armstrong.798","article_published_time":"2023-07-17T15:16:01+00:00","article_modified_time":"2026-06-06T04:02:24+00:00","og_image":[{"width":640,"height":471,"url":"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/572\/2023\/07\/Paul2.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\/2023\/07\/bible-on-imitating-saints-vs-t-l-kauffman.html","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/2023\/07\/bible-on-imitating-saints-vs-t-l-kauffman.html","name":"Bible on Imitating Saints (vs. T.F. Kauffman) Bible on Imitating Saints (vs. T.F. Kauffman)","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/#website"},"datePublished":"2023-07-17T15:16:01+00:00","dateModified":"2026-06-06T04:02:24+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/#\/schema\/person\/471eaa20e441eca4bb1ea50393cf632e"},"description":"Timothy F. Kauffman\u00a0was raised Catholic, converted to Protestantism in 1990, and is now a Presbyterian (PCA). He\u00a0has written,\u00a0\u201cI was saved\u00a0out\u00a0of Roman Presbyterian critic of Catholicism Timothy F. Kauffman doesn't like the notion of imitation of holy people. The NT, on the other hand, provides sixteen prooftexts for it.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/2023\/07\/bible-on-imitating-saints-vs-t-l-kauffman.html#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/2023\/07\/bible-on-imitating-saints-vs-t-l-kauffman.html"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/2023\/07\/bible-on-imitating-saints-vs-t-l-kauffman.html#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Bible on Imitating Saints (vs. T.F. Kauffman)"}]},{"@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\/74936","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=74936"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/74936\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/74942"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=74936"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=74936"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=74936"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}