Guest writer: Eric Luppold. Introduction I want to thank Dennis for his response, and I believe that we are drilling down to some key points. If I had to summarize what I believe the issue to be, it is a fundamental disagreement on interpretive authority. That is, Scripture can be said to be fully sufficient, but it does not matter if the message cannot get from God’s book to our brains. Dennis therefore argues that Scripture does not “possess within... Read more
In the first entry of this series, Eric Luppold and I made our cases on the role of authority in the Christian life, one from a Protestant perspective, the other a Catholic. We then responded to each other’s case in a follow-up entry. This entry narrows down the focus to key points of disagreement. For my part, I answer direct questions and observations put to me by Eric. The Church In this debate, Dennis seems to use the word ‘church’... Read more
First, I want to thank Eric for agreeing to this written dialogue. I also hope my readers appreciate the time and effort such a dialogue takes and thank Eric, too. The differences in the concept of authority in the Christian’s life stands at the center of the Protestant/Catholic debate. Below, I address the key points Eric made in his opening statement. I show that he made some major assumptions that an appeal to Scripture alone fails to answer, like interpretive... Read more
Guest writer: Eric Luppold. Introduction When it comes to ultimate authority, the church does not “define” a theological truth, as if it were the source of that truth. It is the recipient of truth. Its job as a pillar of the truth (1 Timothy 3:15) is to obey and proclaim the gospel faithfully. To do this it must receive and interpret God’s message. But this is true for all communication, which involves a speaker, a message, and a receiver. The... Read more
Since I started my blog on Patheos, the role authority in the Christian life remains for me a main topic of exploration. For example: The Protestant Appeal for Religious Autonomy Protestants: When You Speak for God, Be Careful Sola Scriptura Makes All Beliefs into Mere Opinion The True Value of Inaccessible Authority… An Historical Critique of Sola Scriptura How Do Protestants Escape Theological Errors? Sola Scriptura’s Refutation in the 5th Century In the above articles, I focused on what I... Read more
Guest writer: Pilgrim. Introduction As someone who was given an image of Christ’s face from the Shroud of Turin at my Confirmation and treasured it ever since, I have followed the scientific research on the Shroud down the years. Many believe the Shroud is a true relic of the Passion of Christ. Many regard it as a human creation. Others see it as no more than a scam for fleecing gullible pilgrims. For over a hundred years, it has been... Read more
Guest writer: Eric Luppold. In the Fifth Commandment, God requires us to honor our fathers and mothers. While this commandment directly speaks to the family relationship, it sets the foundation for all authority structures within society. This is seen in Israel’s case-laws, such as when the people are prohibited from cursing or reviling one of their rulers (Exodus 22:28). We also observe this when Moses instituted a hierarchical structure of judges over the people of Israel (Exodus 18:24-26). The Nature... Read more
For the month of September, The Latin Right is trying something new. A fellow Norwich graduate (and Protestant) friend of mine, Lt. Colonel Eric Luppold, has agreed to participate in a series of written exchanges in this blog. The topic chosen: Authority in the Christian Life Eric will defend the Protestant position commonly referred to as sola scriptura. Dennis will defend the Catholic position. The format will go as follows: Each writer presents an opening statement of up to 2,000... Read more
I recently got into a debate with a Protestant friend concerning the forgiveness of sins and how God, if He so chooses, can simply forgive sins by declaring it so. This rests on the fact that God, as all-powerful, can divinely decree all sins forgiven. We see Jesus use this power in His forgiveness of sins in the Gospels. This use of divine power eventually led (among other things) to His arrest and ultimate death on the cross. So, why... Read more
***Happy Solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary! The more I study my past Protestantism and dialogue with current Protestants, the more I realize the main appeal of Protestantism is religious autonomy. Now, Protestants will disagree with this assessment. Please, allow me to explain myself. Below, I layout two views on authority, infallibility notwithstanding, that demonstrate the Protestant appeal for religious autonomy. In short, the Protestant view of authority requires the use of their own religious autonomy. Conversely,... Read more
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