“Once Saved, Always Saved” and Three Cups of Tea: Cup 3

This is the third (and final) part of a three-part guest post by David Bates of the blog Restless Pilgrim, on the topic of the doctrine of eternal security, better known as “Once Saved, Always Saved”: In the last two blog posts I critiqued the Scripture interpretations of Mack, a commentator on my Once Saved, Always Saved post. Mack had responded… Continue reading “Once Saved, Always Saved” and Three Cups of Tea: Cup 3

“Once Saved, Always Saved” and Three Cups of Tea: Cup 2

This is the second part of a three-part guest post by David Bates of the blog Restless Pilgrim, on the topic of the doctrine of eternal security, better known as “Once Saved, Always Saved”: In the last post I began to examine the responses of Mack, a recent commentator on my Once Saved, Always Saved post who offered some… Continue reading “Once Saved, Always Saved” and Three Cups of Tea: Cup 2

“Once Saved, Always Saved” and Three Cups of Tea: Cup 1

David Bates David Bates, on his blog Restless Pilgrim, has written a three-part analysis of “Once Saved, Always Saved,” the Protestant notion that “the elect” can never lose their salvation. He gave me permission to cross-post here.  (By the way, if you’re wondering about all the references to tea, he is a Brit living in… Continue reading “Once Saved, Always Saved” and Three Cups of Tea: Cup 1

Ten Great Quotes from Pope Francis

Pope Francis is a gifted orator, and an effective evangelist, proclaiming the Gospel from the world’s largest pulpit. In the short time that he’s been pope, he’s had a lot to say. Today, I want to highly ten quotations from Pope Francis that you might have missed. These are taken from ten different occasions, on… Continue reading Ten Great Quotes from Pope Francis

The Catholic Church Against the Bible?

One of the most frequent criticisms of the Catholic Church is that She teaches Her members to trust Her, instead of the Sacred Scriptures: that the Bible and the Catholic Church sometimes disagree, and that Catholics are forced to choose the Church over the Bible. Other variations of this argument are that we take “the Church… Continue reading The Catholic Church Against the Bible?

Congratulations, Shane Dunlevy!

On Saturday, the Eastern Province Dominicans announced their 2013 Novitiate Class, including my good friend Shane Dunlevy. Here is Shane’s vocation story: Shane Dunlevy I was born in Columbus, Ohio and raised 30 minutes south east of the city on 2-1/2 acres surrounded by cornfields and forests. As the youngest, I would often adventure off… Continue reading Congratulations, Shane Dunlevy!

The Time Machine Challenge

There are certain Church Fathers (mostly St. Augustine) that are loved by both Protestants and Catholics. And we Catholics are inclined to point out that these Church Fathers were Catholics then, and if they were roaming the earth these days, would be Catholics now. They were members of the Catholic Church, and they held to… Continue reading The Time Machine Challenge

Turning the Problem of Evil On Its Head

The existence of evil is one of the most powerful arguments against theism (and particularly Christianity): how can an all-powerful, all-loving God permit evil in His Creation? I think that there are two important responses to make to this. First, that Christianity can answer this problem. Second, this argument requires the existence of God, because… Continue reading Turning the Problem of Evil On Its Head

How to Treat the Church Fathers (According to the Church Fathers)

Yesterday, we looked at three common ways of misusing the Church Fathers: (1) ignoring or fearing them; (2) exploiting them; (3) treating them as individually infallible. These may seem like simple points, but a large number of Christians (Catholics and Protestants alike) fall into at least one of these three camps. Given this, what does… Continue reading How to Treat the Church Fathers (According to the Church Fathers)

Three Ways You Shouldn’t Treat the Church Fathers

Woodcut, The Nuremberg Chronicle (1493) What should we Christians make of the Early Church Fathers, the early Christians who preserved orthodox Christianity? After all, these are the men who compiled the Scriptures, organized the early Ecumenical Councils, and warded off dozens of heresies. How much attention should we pay to their writings, and how much… Continue reading Three Ways You Shouldn’t Treat the Church Fathers