{"id":98357,"date":"2026-04-20T09:22:04","date_gmt":"2026-04-20T13:22:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/?p=98357"},"modified":"2026-04-20T09:22:04","modified_gmt":"2026-04-20T13:22:04","slug":"reply-to-gospel-preaching-directed-to-catholics","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/2026\/04\/reply-to-gospel-preaching-directed-to-catholics.html","title":{"rendered":"Reply to &#8220;Gospel&#8221; Preaching Directed to Catholics"},"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><p><figure id=\"attachment_98396\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-98396\" style=\"width: 500px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/572\/2026\/04\/EverhardMatthew.jpg\" class=\" decorated-link\" target=\"_blank\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-98396\" src=\"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/572\/2026\/04\/EverhardMatthew.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"500\" height=\"750\"><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-98396\" class=\"wp-caption-text\"><strong>Photo credi<\/strong>t: drawing of Presbyterian pastor Matthew Everhard, for the page, \u201cMatthew Everhard \u2014 Sermons &amp; Audio Messages (MP3 Resources)\u201d at Monergism.com.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p><p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">Matthew Everhard is a Presbyterian pastor. His <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/@MatthewEverhard\" class=\" decorated-link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">YouTube channel<\/a>, that goes by his name, has 80,000 subscribers. Today we\u2019ll be taking a look at his video, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=M494m6H7e98\" class=\" decorated-link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">\u201cWitnessing to your Roman Catholic Friends and Family: How to Share the Gospel with Catholics\u201d<\/a> (4-8-26). His words will be in <span style=\"color: #0000ff;\">blue<\/span>. I use RSV for biblical citations.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">*****<\/p>\n<div>\n<div class=\"ytwTimelineItemViewModelContentItems\"><span style=\"color: #0000ff;\"><span class=\"ytAttributedStringHost ytAttributedStringLinkInheritColor\" role=\"text\">0:01: We all have Roman Catholic family and friends that we care for. We want them to be saved. We want them to go to heaven when they die. We want them to know Christ and we want them to know a <\/span>true version, the true version of Christianity and to be saved from a man-made religion that is filled with errors.<\/span><\/div>\n<div>*<\/div>\n<div class=\"ytwTimelineItemViewModelContentItems\">It\u2019s extraordinary \u2014 and I say, historically, logically, and theologically <em>impossible<\/em> \u2014 for any Christian or anyone at all, to sum up Catholicism as a \u201cman-made religion\u201d \u2014 as if it is totally foreign to the Bible. How different was the view of Martin Luther, the founder of Protestantism. He wrote:<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<dl>\n<dd>Christ himself came upon the errors of scribes and Pharisees among the Jewish people, but he did not on that account reject everything they had and thought (Matt. 23[:3]). We on our part confess that there is much that is Christian and good under the papacy; indeed everything that is Christian and good is to be found there and has come to us from this source. For instance we confess that in the papal church there are the true holy Scriptures, true baptism, the true sacrament of the altar, the true keys to the forgiveness of sins, the true office of the ministry, the true catechism in the form of the Lord\u2019s Prayer, the Ten Commandments, and the articles of the creed \u2026 I contend that in the papacy there is true Christianity, even the right kind of Christianity and many great and devoted saints. . . . (<em>Concerning Rebaptism<\/em>, written against the Anabaptists in January 1528; translated by Conrad Bergendoff and published in <em>Luther\u2019s Works<\/em>,\u00a0Vol. 40, pp. 229-262, from the original German in\u00a0WA\u00a0(<em>Weimar Werke<\/em>), Vol. 26:144-174; this quote from pp. 231-232)<\/dd>\n<\/dl>\n<\/div>\n<div>I just went through this argument ten days ago in my article, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/2026\/04\/catholics-r-christians-duh-vs-steve-christie.html\" class=\" decorated-link\" target=\"_blank\">Catholics R Christians! DUH! (vs. Steve Christie)<\/a>. I highly doubt that Pastor Everhard will offer us any new arguments on this score. It\u2019ll be \u2014 I guarantee, even before listening \u2014 the same tired, regurgitated myths, whoppers, and distortions that Catholics have been confronting for over 500 years. There\u2019s nothing new under the sun.<\/div>\n<div>*<\/div>\n<div>The anti-Catholic Protestant never goes after other Protestant denominations.\u00a0 You never see a video or articles called, \u201cHow to Share the Gospel with Lutherans\u201d or \u201cHow to Evangelize Non-Denominational Pentecostals.\u201d They\u2019re all in the fold, no matter how many disagreements they have. But Catholicism is relegated to a sub-Christian category. It\u2019s not true. Luther himself knew this as well as anyone, since he wrote that \u201ceverything that is Christian and good\u201d in the Catholic Church was inherited by the fledgling Protestants. So how could Catholicism not be Christian? Good question! If Protestantism is Christian, Catholicism cannot possibly <em>not<\/em> be Christian.<\/div>\n<div>*<\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"ytwTimelineItemViewModelContentItems\"><span style=\"color: #0000ff;\"><span class=\"ytAttributedStringHost ytAttributedStringLinkInheritColor\" role=\"text\">0:27 Roman Catholics can be saved. They can know <\/span>Christ. They can trust in Christ. Martin Luther was a Roman Catholic and he got saved.\u00a0 And John Calvin was a Roman Catholic and he got saved.<\/span><\/div>\n<div>*<\/div>\n<div>This is the obligatory disclaimer. But it\u2019s not accurate with regard to Luther, because he acknowledged the validity of Catholic baptism (as we see in the quotation above; he never got \u201cre-baptized\u201d), and believed in baptismal regeneration and regarded baptism as essentially the same as justification. Therefore he was <em>already<\/em> saved according to his own theology; he didn\u2019t have to \u201c<em>get<\/em> saved\u201d after he was no longer a Catholic. The same was true of John Calvin. He wrote:<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<blockquote>\n<div>Catabaptists . . . deny that we are duly baptised, because we were baptised in the Papacy . . .; hence they furiously insist on anabaptism. Against these absurdities we shall be sufficiently fortified if we reflect that by baptism we were initiated not into the name of any man, but into the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit; and, therefore, that baptism is not of man, but of God, . . . But if baptism was of God, it certainly included in it the promise of forgiveness of sin, mortification of the flesh, quickening of the Spirit, and communion with Christ. (<em>Institutes of the Christian Religion<\/em>, IV, 15:16)<\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n<div>\n<blockquote><p>We ought to consider that at whatever time we are baptised, we are washed and purified once for the whole of life. Wherefore, as often as we fall, we must recall the remembrance of our baptism, and thus fortify our minds, so as to feel certain and secure of the remission of sins. For though, when once administered, it seems to have passed, it is not abolished by subsequent sins. (<em>Inst<\/em>., IV, 15:3)<\/p>\n<p>God, regenerating us in baptism, . . . (<em>Inst<\/em>., IV, 17:1)<\/p>\n<p>The last advantage which our faith receives from baptism is its assuring us not only that we are ingrafted into the death and life of Christ, but so united to Christ himself as to be partakers of all his blessings. . . . Paul proves us to be the sons of God, from the fact that we put on Christ in baptism (Gal. 3:27). (<em>Inst<\/em>., IV, 15:6)<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n<div>If Calvin thought he was regenerated in his Catholic baptism, received forgiveness of sins, quickening of the Spirit, communion with Christ, a state of being united to Christ, became a partaker of all his blessings and a son of God, and put on Christ (all his own words), then he couldn\u2019t possibly have <em>not<\/em> been a Christian when he was a Catholic. Therefore, he didn\u2019t have to get \u201csaved\u201d before or after leaving Catholicism, either. And none of this is harmonious with the ludicrous claim that Catholicism at some point ceased to be a Christian system and became merely \u201c<span style=\"color: #0000ff;\">a man-made religion that is filled with errors.<span style=\"color: #000000;\">\u201c<\/span><\/span><\/div>\n<div>\n<div>*<\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"ytwTimelineItemViewModelContentItems\"><span style=\"color: #0000ff;\"><span class=\"ytAttributedStringHost ytAttributedStringLinkInheritColor\" role=\"text\">0:35 But the <\/span>problem is this. When we get saved, we want to know what the true Bible truly teaches about God, faith, salvation, grace, heaven, hell, and so forth.<\/span><\/div>\n<div>*<\/div>\n<div>There is virtually no difference between Catholics and Protestants with regard to the nature of God, heaven, and hell. So I don\u2019t know why Pastor Everhard includes those things. And we\u2019re not as far apart on faith, salvation, and grace as he thinks, but there are real differences there, at least. If he wants to find a denial of eternal hell, then that\u2019s found in the Seventh-Day Adventists, who are Protestants, and an increasing number of professed \u201cevangelicals\u201d like John Stott and Kirk Cameron, who have started denying hellfire because it\u2019s now the fashionable and \u201ccool\u201d thing to do.<\/div>\n<div>*<\/div>\n<div><span style=\"color: #0000ff;\">0:50 And so we want people who are Roman Catholic to come out of the man-made innovations that are the corruptions to true biblical Christianity.\u00a0<\/span><\/div>\n<div>*<\/div>\n<div>We can hardly do that if we\u2019re given no biblical reasons to do so, and ignore our biblical reasons for why we believe these true doctrines that Pastor Everhard calls <span style=\"color: #0000ff;\">\u201cinnovations\u201d<\/span> and<span style=\"color: #0000ff;\"> \u201ccorruptions.\u201d<\/span><\/div>\n<div>*<\/div>\n<div><span style=\"color: #0000ff;\">4:06 You\u2019re going to try to define your terms and to clarify what you mean by the gospel. And you\u2019re going to try to elicit from them a definition of what they think they mean by the gospel.\u00a0<\/span><\/div>\n<div>*<\/div>\n<div>And I\u2019m gonna do what <em>everyone<\/em> should do: see what the <strong><em>BIBLE <\/em><\/strong>states about what the gospel is (what a <em>novelty<\/em>, huh?), and see if Catholics are outside of the circle of those who believe it and follow it.<\/div>\n<div>*<\/div>\n<div><span style=\"color: #0000ff;\">6:55 they\u2019re going to have a ton of human-made doctrines that are nowhere in the Bible.\u00a0<\/span><\/div>\n<div>*<\/div>\n<div>He obviously has never been to my blog (see relevant links below). :-)<\/div>\n<div>*<\/div>\n<div><span style=\"color: #0000ff;\">7:03 faith alone is the mechanism of salvation, not by works or by religiosity.<\/span><\/div>\n<div>*<\/div>\n<div>That\u2019s not biblical teaching, which is that we are saved by grace through faith, and that this faith contains within it works, without which it is dead. The Bible doesn\u2019t exclude works from the equation of justification and salvation. See:<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div>*<br>\n<a class=\" decorated-link decorated-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/2024\/08\/bible-vs-faith-alone-90-proofs.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Bible vs. \u201cFaith Alone\u201d: 120 NT &amp; 30 OT Proofs [from 26 out of the 27 NT Books]<\/a>\u00a0[8-26-24; revised and expanded on 1-18-26]<\/div>\n<div>*<\/div>\n<div><a class=\" decorated-link decorated-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/2024\/10\/salvation-caused-by-actions-80-bible-passages.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Salvation Caused by Actions: 80 Bible Passages (. . . Proving That \u201cFaith Alone\u201d is a False Doctrine)<\/a>\u00a0[10-5-24]<\/div>\n<div>*<\/div>\n<div><a class=\" decorated-link decorated-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/2026\/03\/nt-70-specific-good-works-contribute-to-salvation.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">NT: 70 Specific Good Works Contribute to Salvation<\/a>\u00a0[3-6-26]<\/div>\n<div>*<\/div>\n<div><a class=\" decorated-link decorated-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/2026\/02\/50-unanswerable-nt-passages-against-faith-alone.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">50 Unanswerable NT Passages Against \u201cFaith Alone\u201d<\/a>\u00a0[2-21-26]<\/div>\n<div>*<\/div>\n<div><a class=\" decorated-link decorated-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/2024\/10\/meritorious-works-38-biblical-proofs.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Meritorious Works: 50 Biblical Proofs (Bible Passages On God\u2019s Rewarding and Being Pleased by Grace-Originated Meritorious Works of the Regenerate)<\/a>\u00a0[10-4-24]<\/div>\n<div>*<\/div>\n<div><a class=\" decorated-link decorated-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/2025\/11\/do-in-the-nt-vs-faith-alone-40-passages.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">\u201cDo\u201d in the NT vs. \u201cFaith Alone\u201d (40 Passages)<\/a>\u00a0[11-16-25]<\/div>\n<div>*<\/div>\n<div><span style=\"color: #0000ff;\">9:12 Romans chapter 3:21-26 which has very clear language about what the gospel means what it entails and what is it what it promises.<\/span><\/div>\n<div>*<\/div>\n<div>Catholics believe all that Paul teaches there (as we believe everything in the Bible). So if this is the gospel it doesn\u2019t have to be preached to us: we already believe it (i.e., as a Church). Paul here teaches 1) faith in Jesus Christ, 2) we\u2019re all fallen and in need of salvation, 3) salvation by grace alone, 4) made possible by Jesus redemption on the cross. No disagreement there. What is neglected is that Paul also repeatedly teaches that faith includes works within itself:<\/div>\n<blockquote>\n<div><strong>Romans 2:6-10<\/strong> For he will render to every man according to his works: [7] to those who by patience in well-doing seek for glory and honor and immortality, he will give eternal life; [8] but for those who are factious and do not obey the truth, but obey wickedness, there will be wrath and fury. [9] There will be tribulation and distress for every human being who does evil, the Jew first and also the Greek, [10] but glory and honor and peace for every one who does good, the Jew first and also the Greek.<\/div>\n<div>*<\/div>\n<div><strong>Romans 2:13<\/strong> For it is not the hearers of the law who are righteous before God, but the doers of the law who will be justified.<\/div>\n<div>*<\/div>\n<div><strong>Romans 6:22<\/strong>\u00a0But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God, the return you get is sanctification and its end, eternal life.<\/div>\n<div>\n<p><strong>Romans 8:13<\/strong>\u00a0for if you live according to the flesh you will die, but if\u00a0by the Spirit\u00a0you\u00a0put to death the deeds of the body\u00a0you will live.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Romans 8:17<\/strong>\u00a0. . . 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><strong>Colossians 3:23-25<\/strong> Whatever your task, work heartily, as serving the Lord and not men, [24] knowing that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward; you are serving the Lord Christ. [25] For the wrongdoer will be paid back for the wrong he has done, and there is no partiality.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div><strong>2 Thessalonians 1:7-8\u00a0<\/strong>. . . when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with his mighty angels in flaming fire, [8] inflicting vengeance upon those who do not know God and upon those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. . . .<\/div>\n<div>*<\/div>\n<div><strong>1 Timothy 6:11-12\u00a0<\/strong>But as for you, man of God, shun all this; aim at righteousness, godliness, faith, love, steadfastness, gentleness. [12] Fight the good fight of the faith; take hold of the eternal life to which you were called . . .<\/div>\n<div>*<\/div>\n<div><strong>1 Timothy 6:18-19<\/strong>\u00a0They are to do good, to be rich in good deeds, liberal and generous, [19] thus laying up for themselves a good foundation for the future, so that they may take hold of the life which is life indeed.<\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n<div>\n<div class=\"x14z9mp xat24cr x1lziwak x1vvkbs xtlvy1s x126k92a\">\n<div dir=\"auto\">St. Paul defines the gospel in Acts 13:16-41 as the resurrection of Jesus:<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"x14z9mp xat24cr x1lziwak x1vvkbs xtlvy1s x126k92a\">\n<blockquote>\n<div dir=\"auto\"><strong>Acts 13:30-33<\/strong>\u00a0But God raised him from the dead; [31] and for many days he appeared to those who came up with him from Galilee to Jerusalem, who are now his witnesses to the people. [32] And we bring you the GOOD NEWS that what God promised to the fathers,\u00a0[33] this he has fulfilled to us their children by raising Jesus; as also it is written in the second psalm, \u2018Thou art my Son, today I have begotten thee.\u2019<\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n<div dir=\"auto\">And to the Corinthians Paul reiterates that the gospel is His death, burial, and resurrection:<\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\">\n<blockquote>\n<div dir=\"auto\"><strong>1 Corinthians 15:1-8<\/strong>\u00a0Now I would remind you, brethren, in what terms I preached to you THE GOSPEL, which you received, in which you stand, [2] by which you are saved, if you hold it fast \u2014 unless you believed in vain. [3] For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received, that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the scriptures, [4] that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the scriptures, [5] and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. [6] Then he appeared to more than five hundred brethren at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have fallen asleep. [7] Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles. [8] Last of all, as to one untimely born, he appeared also to me.<\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n<div dir=\"auto\">This is why it\u2019s so absurd when anti-Catholic Protestants accuse Catholics of denying the gospel. We completely agree with them on\u00a0<em>all the things that the Bible itself proclaims as the gospel<\/em>. It\u2019s not a mere [novel Protestant] soteriological theory. It has to do with what God did for us, so that we can be saved, and about how we must necessarily receive it and respond to it. The explicit scriptural proclamations and definitions of the gospel strikingly exclude \u201cfaith alone,\u201d while other actions by Jesus and the apostles contradict it by force of example. The gospel is \u2013 as Paul teaches \u2013 the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus. This is the \u201cgood news\u201d (which is what <em>gospel<\/em> means).\u00a0 The prophets foretold these events, not a fine-tuned theory of application of those events to the believer. How could a mere theological abstract reasonably be called \u201cgood news\u201d?<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\">*<\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\">So if the Catholic Church already teaches the gospel, according to Paul, then if a Protestant evangelist runs across an ignorant Catholic who doesn\u2019t know this, and doesn\u2019t know what the gospel is according to the Bible, the evangelist ought to read to him 1 Corinthians 15:1-8, tell him that his own Church agrees with it and send him on his merry way, rather than tell him that his Church doesn\u2019t preach the gospel and that he has to come out of it as a consequence, which is a lie and bad and unnecessary advice. Anti-Catholicism has to always be based on lies and misrepresentations, which is why it\u2019s a tiny part of overall Protestantism.<\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\">\u00a0*<\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\">And while we\u2019re talking about what saves us, it\u2019s good and helps folks to get saved, to discover that the Bible also has <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ncregister.com\/blog\/14-bible-verses-that-show-we-re-saved-through-baptism\" class=\" decorated-link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">14 passages that assert baptismal regeneration<\/a>, or salvation through baptism, and six verses about salvation by partaking of the Holy Eucharist (Jn 6:48-58).<\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\">*<\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\">*****<\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\"><\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\"><strong>Photo credit<\/strong>: <span style=\"color: #0000ff;\">drawing of Presbyterian pastor Matthew Everhard, for the page,<\/span> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.monergism.com\/matthew-everhard-%E2%80%94-sermons-audio-messages-mp3-resources\" class=\" decorated-link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">\u201cMatthew Everhard \u2014 Sermons &amp; Audio Messages (MP3 Resources)\u201d<\/a> <span style=\"color: #0000ff;\">at <em>Monergism.com<\/em>.<\/span><\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\">*<\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\"><em>Summary<\/em>: I go through the biblical definition of \u201cgospel\u201d and explain why it\u2019s absurd and self-defeating for anti-Catholic Protestants to think it needs to be preached to Catholics.<\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\"><\/div>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>\u00a0 Matthew Everhard is a Presbyterian pastor. His YouTube channel, that goes by his name, has 80,000 subscribers. Today we\u2019ll be taking a look at his video, \u201cWitnessing to your Roman Catholic Friends and Family: How to Share the Gospel with Catholics\u201d (4-8-26). His words will be in blue. I use RSV for biblical citations. [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2331,"featured_media":98396,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[231,50],"tags":[1213,2342,2352,1123,2344,243],"class_list":["post-98357","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-anti-catholicism","category-salvation-justification","tag-faith-works","tag-faith-alone","tag-gospel","tag-imputed-justification","tag-justification","tag-soteriology-2"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v21.1 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Reply to &quot;Gospel&quot; Preaching Directed to Catholics<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"I go through the biblical definition of &quot;gospel&quot; and explain why it&#039;s absurd and self-defeating for anti-Catholic Protestants to think it needs to be preached to Catholics.\" \/>\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\/2026\/04\/reply-to-gospel-preaching-directed-to-catholics.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Reply to &quot;Gospel&quot; Preaching Directed to Catholics\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"I go through the biblical definition of &quot;gospel&quot; and explain why it&#039;s absurd and self-defeating for anti-Catholic Protestants to think it needs to be preached to Catholics.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/2026\/04\/reply-to-gospel-preaching-directed-to-catholics.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Biblical Evidence for Catholicism\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-04-20T13:22:04+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/572\/2026\/04\/EverhardMatthew.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"600\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"900\" \/>\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=\"8 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\/2026\/04\/reply-to-gospel-preaching-directed-to-catholics.html\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/2026\/04\/reply-to-gospel-preaching-directed-to-catholics.html\",\"name\":\"Reply to \\\"Gospel\\\" Preaching Directed to Catholics\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2026-04-20T13:22:04+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-04-20T13:22:04+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/#\/schema\/person\/471eaa20e441eca4bb1ea50393cf632e\"},\"description\":\"I go through the biblical definition of \\\"gospel\\\" and explain why it's absurd and self-defeating for anti-Catholic Protestants to think it needs to be preached to Catholics.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/2026\/04\/reply-to-gospel-preaching-directed-to-catholics.html#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/2026\/04\/reply-to-gospel-preaching-directed-to-catholics.html\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/2026\/04\/reply-to-gospel-preaching-directed-to-catholics.html#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Reply to &#8220;Gospel&#8221; Preaching Directed to Catholics\"}]},{\"@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).\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/author\/davearmstrong\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Reply to \"Gospel\" Preaching Directed to Catholics","description":"I go through the biblical definition of \"gospel\" and explain why it's absurd and self-defeating for anti-Catholic Protestants to think it needs to be preached to Catholics.","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\/2026\/04\/reply-to-gospel-preaching-directed-to-catholics.html","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Reply to \"Gospel\" Preaching Directed to Catholics","og_description":"I go through the biblical definition of \"gospel\" and explain why it's absurd and self-defeating for anti-Catholic Protestants to think it needs to be preached to Catholics.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/2026\/04\/reply-to-gospel-preaching-directed-to-catholics.html","og_site_name":"Biblical Evidence for Catholicism","article_published_time":"2026-04-20T13:22:04+00:00","og_image":[{"width":600,"height":900,"url":"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/572\/2026\/04\/EverhardMatthew.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Dave Armstrong","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Dave Armstrong","Est. reading time":"8 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/2026\/04\/reply-to-gospel-preaching-directed-to-catholics.html","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/2026\/04\/reply-to-gospel-preaching-directed-to-catholics.html","name":"Reply to \"Gospel\" Preaching Directed to Catholics","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/#website"},"datePublished":"2026-04-20T13:22:04+00:00","dateModified":"2026-04-20T13:22:04+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/#\/schema\/person\/471eaa20e441eca4bb1ea50393cf632e"},"description":"I go through the biblical definition of \"gospel\" and explain why it's absurd and self-defeating for anti-Catholic Protestants to think it needs to be preached to Catholics.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/2026\/04\/reply-to-gospel-preaching-directed-to-catholics.html#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/2026\/04\/reply-to-gospel-preaching-directed-to-catholics.html"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/2026\/04\/reply-to-gospel-preaching-directed-to-catholics.html#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Reply to &#8220;Gospel&#8221; Preaching Directed to Catholics"}]},{"@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).","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/author\/davearmstrong"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/98357","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=98357"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/98357\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/98396"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=98357"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=98357"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=98357"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}