Christian Authority: Who Gets to Define It? (TLR’s Opening)

September 3, 2024 By Dennis Knapp

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

God’s Icon – The Shroud of Turin

September 2, 2024 By Dennis Knapp

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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

Authority in the Christian Life: Opening Statement (Luppold)

August 31, 2024 By Dennis Knapp

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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

Authority in the Christian Life: Written Dialogue

August 31, 2024 By Dennis Knapp

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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

If God Forgives Sins Without Sacrifice, Why Did Jesus Do It?

August 20, 2024 By Dennis Knapp

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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

The Protestant Appeal for Religious Autonomy

August 15, 2024 By Dennis Knapp

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***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

Salvation Freely Received Can Be Freely Rejected

August 7, 2024 By Dennis Knapp

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In my previous article on justification, I shared the Catholic view as explained through the Council of Trent (1547). After analyzing justification, Trent moves on to the relationship between justification and sanctification, and the possibility of Christians losing their salvation. As with the other article, I quote Trent at length, provide hyperlinks to Scriptural support, and give a quick summary. Thank you. Chapter 10: The Increase of the Justification Received Having, therefore, been thus justified and made the friends and... Read more

Welcome to the New “Weird”

August 2, 2024 By Dennis Knapp

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Am I weird? Are you? Well, if you live a traditionally normal life, a life like vice presidential nominee JD Vance (and billions of others), you now find yourself in the realm of the weird. Yep! If you value family, and especially children, you are WEIRD. Some readers may find this difficult to understand, as family and children have represented the definition of societal normalcy since time immemorial. Now, your intellectual betters (who cannot seem to define the word woman)... Read more

Never Assume: Trent, Faith Alone, and the Sin of Presumption

July 30, 2024 By Dennis Knapp

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In a recent article, I addressed the Protestant doctrine of faith alone, which many believe reflects the source of “doctrinal harmony.” In that article, I showed this position holds some issues, as some Protestants (Unitarians) accept faith alone AND reject the Trinity and Incarnation. To me, this appears as the epitome of disharmony—but I digress. For this article, I layout the Catholic doctrine of justification by faith as affirmed in the Sixth Session of the Council of Trent (1547). For... Read more