Tag: apologetics

Ah, But What About the Eastern Orthodox?

On one of my older posts, Chris Donato, who is senior associate editor for Tabletalk magazine (put out by R.C. Sproul’s Ligonier Ministries), asked: Briefly, even if one does accept the infallibility of the ecumenical creeds, the “fact” that no ecumencial creed has been formulated since the Great Schism leaves us in kind of a… Continue reading Ah, But What About the Eastern Orthodox?

A Dark New Era Has Begun

You know those paranoid Christians who talk about how the government is going to start rounding people up for preaching the Gospel? Well…. it, uh, turns out that they’re not so crazy. A couple days ago, a British street preacher was arrested for preaching that homosexuality was a sin. And what’s even more shocking about… Continue reading A Dark New Era Has Begun

Unwritten Tradition, Birth Control & Abortion

I’ve got a final tomorrow, so this post will be short and sweet.  Actually, it’s a modified version of a comment I left on Roderick’s blog. He was skeptical about what we Catholics call “unwritten Tradition,” so I tried to respond with a concrete example of why the (admittedly confusing) term means: The short answer… Continue reading Unwritten Tradition, Birth Control & Abortion

Did Irenaeus Believe in Sola Scriptura?

I. Background Last Monday, I wrote a post explaining as succinctly as I know how to the two types of sola Scriptura. Long story short, Tradition 0 (associated typically with Evangelicals like Independent Baptists and other “low-church” people) gives virtually no weight to the Early Church Fathers, and is sometimes rather hostile to them, while… Continue reading Did Irenaeus Believe in Sola Scriptura?

Answering a Smart Defense of Sola Scriptura

This is from a comment which I left at Nick’s Catholic Blog. I think my response makes it pretty clear what the original argument had been. If not, check out JoeyHenry’s comment here. Joey, Very well-written and thoughtful reply. As I understand it, there are three possible ways of defending sola Scriptura: (A)The Bible says… Continue reading Answering a Smart Defense of Sola Scriptura

Top Five Books on All Things Catholic

So on Nick’s blog, I was asked for “5 essential, academically oriented works on all things Catholic” from a classist interested in the Catholic Church. It was a thought-provoking question. Here are the Five I came up with: The first two are obvious choices: the Catechism, and the Summa Theologica. The Catechism is written more… Continue reading Top Five Books on All Things Catholic

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St. Paul Summarizes the Old Testament

I. Acts 13Today’s First Reading, from Acts 13, finds St. Paul and his companions in the synagogue on the Jewish Sabbath. After “the reading of the law and the prophets,” the men are asked if any of them has “a word of exhortation” to share. Paul then gets up, motions with his hand, and says… Continue reading St. Paul Summarizes the Old Testament

Catholicism and Arizona’s Recent Immigration Law

The Bible is pretty clear in its posture on immigration: we should be welcoming to those strangers in our lands, those “sojourners” among us: or, to use the language of Genesis 15:13 (and Psalm 39:12, etc.), “strangers.” In the Old Covenant, from Exodus 22:21 to the even more striking Leviticus 19:34, onwards, we’re told repeatedly… Continue reading Catholicism and Arizona’s Recent Immigration Law

Two Things to Consider Regarding Sola Scriptura

Nick responded to my last post, and pointed me to his blog post on the subject. There were two parts which I liked enough that I think that they’re worth mentioning here. 1. Sola Scriptura Wasn’t True When the Bible Was Written. These aren’t Nick’s words, these are James White’s. White, if you’re not familiar,… Continue reading Two Things to Consider Regarding Sola Scriptura