{"id":77411,"date":"2023-11-16T11:46:46","date_gmt":"2023-11-16T15:46:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/?p=77411"},"modified":"2026-06-06T00:49:59","modified_gmt":"2026-06-06T04:49:59","slug":"the-indefectibility-of-the-church","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/2023\/11\/the-indefectibility-of-the-church.html","title":{"rendered":"The Indefectibility of the Church"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

\n<\/p>

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

Chapter 3 (pp. 31-35) of my book, Reflections on Radical Catholic Reactionaries<\/em><\/a> (December 2002; revised second edition: 17 August 2013; slightly revised again in December 2023 for the purpose of the free online version). Anyone who reads this book should first read the following three introductory articles, in order to fully understand the definitions and sociological categories I am employing:<\/p>\n

Introduction (on the book page<\/a>)<\/p>\n

Definitions: Radical Catholic Reactionaries, Mainstream \u201cTraditionalists,\u201d and Supposed \u201cNeo-Catholics\u201d\u00a0<\/a>[revised 8-6-13]<\/span><\/p>\n

Radical Catholic Reactionaries: What They Are\u00a0Not<\/em><\/a>\u00a0[9-28-21]<\/p>\n

If you\u2019re still confused and unclear as to my meanings and intent after that, read one or more of these articles:<\/p>\n

Rationales for My Self-Coined Term, \u201cRadical Catholic Reactionaries\u201d<\/a>\u00a0[8-6-13]<\/p>\n

My Coined Term, \u201cRadical Catholic Reactionary\u201d: Clarifications<\/a>\u00a0[10-5-17]<\/p>\n

Clarifying My Coined Term, \u201cRadical Catholic Reactionary\u201d<\/a>\u00a0[4-3-20]<\/p>\n

This book is modeled after the method and structure of the French mathematician and Catholic apologist Blaise Pascal\u2019s classic,\u00a0Pens\u00e9es<\/em> (\u201cthoughts\u201d). Catholic apologist and philosopher Peter Kreeft described this masterpiece\u00a0<\/i>as \u201craw pearls\u201d and \u201cmore like \u2018sayings\u2019 than a book . . . \u2018Sayings\u2019 reflect and approximate the higher, the mode of Christ and Socrates and Buddha. That\u2019s why Socrates is the greatest philosopher, according to St. Thomas (S.T.<\/i> III, 42, 4).\u201d<\/p>\n

I am not intending to compare myself or my own \u201cthoughts\u201d or their cogency or import in\u00a0any<\/i> way, shape, or form, to those of Pascal, let alone to Socrates or our Lord Jesus! I am merely utilizing the unconventional structure of the Pens\u00e9es<\/i>, which\u00a0 harmonizes well, I believe, with the approach that I have taken with regard to the present subject. I have sought to analyze (minus\u00a0<\/i>proper names, a la Trent) the premises, presuppositions, logical and ecclesiological \u201cbottom lines\u201d and (in a word), the\u00a0spirit\u00a0<\/i>of a false and divisive radical Catholic reactionary strain of thought held by a distinctive sociological sub-group of Catholics.<\/div>\n

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

    \n
  1. Many radical Catholic reactionaries believe that the \u201cbitter fruits\u201d of Vatican II have all but \u201cdestroyed\u201d the Church. This is \u201cquasi-defectibility.\u201d The reactionary rarely \u2013 in mixed company \u2014 wants to assert this outright (according to their incessant doublethink), but how close they habitually come! It becomes an Orwellian situation wherein the Church can\u2019t defect, yet it can come so close that the observer is tempted to opine that it is a distinction without a difference. Meanwhile, \u201ctraditionalist\u201d some reactionary pessimists continue their exodus from the \u201cmiddle position\u201d (relatively speaking) to the more logically consistent but less orthodox formally schismatic positions of sedevacantism and other similar groups. Faithful Catholics believe that God will not let the Church in any way, shape, or form be \u201cdestroyed.\u201d<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
      \n
    1. G. K. Chesterton observed: \u201cAt least five times, . . . with the Arian and the Albigensian, with the Humanist sceptic, after Voltaire and after Darwin, the Faith has to all appearance gone to the dogs. In each of these five cases it was the dog that died.\u201d(The Everlasting Man<\/em>, Garden City, New York: Doubleday Image, 1925, 254)<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
        \n
      1. History offers ample illustration that the heretics always eventually disappear, or at least greatly diminish in influence. The Church will survive. In fact, the beginning signs of coming revival are plain already, if one would simply maintain a little hope and optimistic faith that God is in control.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
          \n
        1. The present crisis is the most serious the Church has ever faced, per Pope St. Pius X\u2019s summation of the evils of modernism. At the same time (in contrast to reactionaries), orthodox Catholics remain total optimists as to eventual outcome \u2014 through faith, reading the signs of the times and of positive developments, and the knowledge of previous crises in Church history. We vehemently deny that the Church has defected or has been taken over by the forces of evil, and all the other pessimistic, scandalous, and pathetic scenarios that reactionaries suggest concerning causes of the crisis and institutional demise, \u201cauto-demolition,\u201d etc.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
            \n
          1. Reactionaries think that the Church will eventually wake up and abandon the great \u201cliberal experiment\u201d of Vatican II. But this is the atrocious and exceedingly un-Catholic belief that a validly convoked ecumenical council, ratified by a pope, could be so heretical as to necessitate \u201cabandonment,\u201d as if we were talking about the Robber Council of 449. This is defectibility and nonsense \u2014 a pure hybrid of a certain strain of a-historical Protestantism and \u201cCatholic\u201d liberalism.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
              \n
            1. The Church, we are told, has institutionally defected (or almost so). Never before (so reactionaries claim) has rampant (institutionalized, proclaimed) error run roughshod over orthodoxy for so many years after a council. Obviously, then, according to reactionaries, the Church is in dire straits. As in the view of Martin Luther, the Church has descended into darkness, and brave prophets have now been raised to bring it back to life. Luther seemed to think of himself as some sort of prophet-figure, too. As reactionaries seem to follow his example in many other ways, why not this one, also?<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
                \n
              1. Reactionaries contend with a straight face that the Church has collapsed, apparently mainly because of the New Mass, ecumenism, and religious liberty. If they want to see a real collapse, they should go look at the various liberalized Protestant denominations, such as the Episcopalians or the United Church of Christ. Even the Orthodox (who pride themselves on their strict traditionalism and immunity from modernism) accept contraception and divorce. One can\u2019t fail to note the striking contrast. All these groups have institutionalized theological errors and immorality, and now \u2013 in some instances \u2014 call evil good, and heresy, orthodoxy. I don\u2019t think reactionaries have the slightest inkling of what real <\/em>\u201cnear-spiritual death\u201d looks like.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
                  \n
                1. Obviously, modernism has filtered down to reactionaries also, since they are so pessimistic about the Church, just like the most liberal, skeptical German higher critics of the 19th century. They doubt the council; they doubt the pope. The Church is practically in shambles; almost in the grips of Antichrist himself . . . What better success could the modernists achieve than to get a committed, devout Catholic to doubt those things, even while he bashes the modernists who have assisted in the promulgation of such loss of belief (though not through the council itself)?! The entire reactionary argument about the virtual downfall of the Church is based on a subjective house of cards. Once logic and consistency are introduced to it, it collapses. It has more holes in it than a pin cushion. The opposing view is based on objective facts of Church history, and the analogy of earlier councils and crises (following Newman\u2019s methodology in his Essay on the Development of Christian Doctrine<\/em>). Pre-conciliar authorities and popes express views diametrically opposed to those espoused by reactionaries.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
                    \n
                  1. \u201cAuto-demolition\u201d is a favorite reactionary expression for the alleged institutional demise of the Church. Yet is this term applied to any other troubled period of Church history? It is not. Since the Church always revived itself from very deep pits of decadence and heretical outbreaks in the past, according to the principle of indefectibility and the guidance of the Holy Spirit, it obviously would make no sense to do so. But as many reactionaries apparently aren\u2019t sure of the outcome of this<\/em> crisis, seemingly lacking faith in God\u2019s designs in the worst of circumstances (we call that providence<\/em> and sovereignty<\/em> in theology), they utilize a phrase that would be patently ludicrous in other historical circumstances. Malcolm Muggeridge wrote about \u201cThe Great Liberal Death Wish.\u201d I guess many reactionaries believe that Christ\u2019s own Church \u2014 His Body \u2014 is rapidly committing suicide as well. How sad . . .<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
                      \n
                    1. If the council and popes are positively promulgating \u201cgrave\u201d heretical error, then surely the Satanic conspiracy to overthrow the Church is complete, and the \u201cgates of hell\u201d have prevailed against the Church, contrary to our Lord\u2019s promises (Matthew 16:18). This would, of course, raise further thorny difficulties for orthodox Christology.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
                        \n
                      1. We need not start believing that the Church has self-destructed now because of the modernist crisis, since it isn\u2019t much worse than the Arian crisis, or the \u201cReformation\u201d crisis, or the Great Schism, or the rupture of 1054, or recurring periods of moral decadence.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
                          \n
                        1. G. K. Chesterton:<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

                          I suspect that we should find several occasions when Christendom was thus to all appearance hollowed out from within by doubt and indifference, so that only the old Christian shell stood as the pagan shell had stood so long. But the difference is that in every such case, the sons were fanatical for the faith where the fathers had been slack about it. This is obvious in the case of the transition from the Renaissance to the Counter-Reformation. It is obvious in the case of a transition from the eighteenth century to the many Catholic revivals of our own time . . . Just as some might have thought the\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Church simply a part of the Roman Empire, so others later might have thought the Church only a part of the Dark Ages. The Dark Ages ended as the Empire had ended; and the Church should have departed with them, if she had been also one of the shades of night. (The Everlasting Man<\/em>, Garden City, New York: Doubleday Image, 1925, 250-252)<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

                            \n
                          1. The liberal frowns upon the institutional Church. The Protestant denies that the One True Church \u201csubsists\u201d in the Catholic Church, or re-defines it as invisible. The quasi-schismatic reactionary believes that the Catholic Church could somehow collapse institutionally (just as many historically sophisticated Protestants think was the case with the late medieval Catholic Church).<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
                              \n
                            1. Do reactionaries think that God will condemn anyone for having too<\/em> much <\/em>faith in His Church and His protection of it from error and defection into heresy?<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

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

                              Related Reading<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

                              \u201cCould the Catholic Church Go Off the Rails?\u201d (Indefectibility)<\/a>\u00a0[1997]<\/p>\n

                              Indefectibility: Does God Protect His Church from Doctrinal Error?<\/a>\u00a0[11-1-05; abridged and reformulated a bit on 2-14-17]<\/p>\n

                              \n

                              \u201cThe Gates of Hell Shall Not Prevail\u201d Against the Church<\/a>\u00a0[11-11-08]<\/p>\n

                              Indefectibility of the One True Church (vs. Calvin #9)<\/a>\u00a0[5-16-09]<\/p>\n

                              Indefectibility & Apostolic Succession (vs. Calvin #10)<\/a>\u00a0[5-18-09]<\/p>\n

                              Sunny Optimism Regarding God\u2019s Guidance of His Church Now and Always (Including Liturgical Discussion)<\/a>\u00a0[7-22-11]<\/p>\n

                              Dialogue with a Lutheran on Ecclesiology & Old Testament Indefectibility Analogies<\/a>\u00a0[11-22-11]<\/p>\n

                              St. Francis de Sales: Bible vs.\u00a0Total Depravity (+ Biblical Evidence for the Indefectibility of the Church, from the Psalms)\u00a0<\/a>\u00a0[11-24-11]<\/p>\n

                              The Bible on the Indefectibility of the Church<\/a>\u00a0[2013]<\/p>\n

                              Salesian Apologetics #1: Indefectibility of the Church<\/a>\u00a0[2-4-20]<\/p>\n

                              Pope Francis Accusers Reject Magisterial Teaching on Popes (The pope\u2019s teaching is indefectible and cannot be judged or \u201coverruled\u201d by any man: or even an ecumenical council)<\/a>\u00a0[7-23-20]<\/p>\n

                              Dialogue #7 w 1P5 Columnist Timothy Flanders (Highlighting Papal Indefectibility,\u00a0Pastor Aeternus<\/em>\u00a0from Vatican I in 1870, & the \u201cCharitable Anathema\u201d)<\/a>\u00a0[12-1-20]<\/p>\n

                              Pastor Aeternus<\/em>\u00a0(1870): Can a Pope Ever Make Heresy Binding?<\/a>\u00a0(Dr. Robert Fastiggi and Ron Conte; edited by Dave Armstrong, in Response to Timothy Flanders) [12-1-20]<\/p>\n

                              Papal Indefectibility: Dr. Fastiggi vs. Fr. Z<\/a>\u00a0[3-11-21]<\/p>\n

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

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

                              Photo credit:<\/span><\/strong> kalhh<\/a> (10-28-17)<\/span> [Pixabay<\/a> \/ Pixabay License<\/a>]<\/p>\n

                              *<\/p>\n

                              \n
                              \n
                              Practical Matters<\/em><\/strong>: Perhaps some of my 4,500+ 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
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                              *<\/div>\n
                              PayPal donations<\/a> are 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, see my page:\u00a0About Catholic Apologist Dave Armstrong \/ Donation Information<\/a>.\u00a0Thanks a million<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0from the bottom of my heart!<\/div>\n
                              <\/div>\n
                              *<\/div>\n
                              ***
                              \n*<\/div>\n
                              Summary<\/em>: Chapter 3 (pp. 31-35) of my book, Reflections on Radical Catholic Reactionaries<\/em>\u00a0(December 2002; revised in December 2023 for the free online version).<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

                              Chapter 3 (pp. 31-35) of my book, Reflections on Radical Catholic Reactionaries (December 2002; revised second edition: 17 August 2013; slightly revised again in December 2023 for the purpose of the free online version). 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Formerly a campus missionary, as a Protestant, Dave was received into the Catholic Church in February 1991, by the late, well-known catechist and theologian, Fr. John A. Hardon, S. J. Dave\u2019s articles have appeared in many influential Catholic periodicals, including \\\"This Rock\\\" (now called \\\"Catholic Answers Magazine\\\"), \\\"Envoy Magazine\\\" (Patrick Madrid), \\\"The Catholic Answer,\\\" \\\"The Coming Home Journal,\\\" \\\"Gilbert Magazine\\\" (American Chesterton Society), and \\\"The Latin Mass.\\\" He also writes a featured column for every issue of \\\"The Michigan Catholic\\\": published by the archdiocese of Detroit, and was editor for most of the apologetics tracts published by the St. Paul Street Evangelization apostolate. 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":"The Indefectibility of the Church The Indefectibility of the Church","description":"Chapter 3 (pp. 31-35) of my book, Reflections on Radical Catholic Reactionaries (December 2002; revised second edition: 17 August 2013; slightly revised Chapter 3 (pp. 31-35) of my book, Reflections on Radical Catholic Reactionaries\u00a0(December 2002; revised in December 2023 for the free online version).","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\/11\/the-indefectibility-of-the-church.html","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"The Indefectibility of the Church The Indefectibility of the Church","og_description":"Chapter 3 (pp. 31-35) of my book, Reflections on Radical Catholic Reactionaries (December 2002; revised second edition: 17 August 2013; slightly revised Chapter 3 (pp. 31-35) of my book, Reflections on Radical Catholic Reactionaries\u00a0(December 2002; revised in December 2023 for the free online version).","og_url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/2023\/11\/the-indefectibility-of-the-church.html","og_site_name":"Biblical Evidence for Catholicism","article_author":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/dave.armstrong.798","article_published_time":"2023-11-16T15:46:46+00:00","article_modified_time":"2026-06-06T04:49:59+00:00","og_image":[{"width":640,"height":395,"url":"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/572\/2023\/11\/ChurchRock.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Dave Armstrong","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Dave Armstrong","Est. reading time":"9 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/2023\/11\/the-indefectibility-of-the-church.html","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/2023\/11\/the-indefectibility-of-the-church.html","name":"The Indefectibility of the Church The Indefectibility of the Church","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/#website"},"datePublished":"2023-11-16T15:46:46+00:00","dateModified":"2026-06-06T04:49:59+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/#\/schema\/person\/471eaa20e441eca4bb1ea50393cf632e"},"description":"Chapter 3 (pp. 31-35) of my book, Reflections on Radical Catholic Reactionaries (December 2002; revised second edition: 17 August 2013; slightly revised Chapter 3 (pp. 31-35) of my book, Reflections on Radical Catholic Reactionaries\u00a0(December 2002; revised in December 2023 for the free online version).","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/2023\/11\/the-indefectibility-of-the-church.html#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/2023\/11\/the-indefectibility-of-the-church.html"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/2023\/11\/the-indefectibility-of-the-church.html#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"The Indefectibility of the Church"}]},{"@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\/77411","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=77411"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/77411\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/77777"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=77411"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=77411"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=77411"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}