Tag: deuterocanon

Jim Crow and the Protestant Bible

In the past, I’ve argued against Protestant special pleading on Tradition.  I asked, “if an individual Christian declares that all (or virtually all) Christians on Earth misunderstand core elements of the Gospel, but that he understands it correctly, could he be right?”  The answer appears to be no, unless he’s one of the Reformers. Today, I want… Continue reading Jim Crow and the Protestant Bible

The Catholic Connection to Hanukkah

Last night marked the first night of the Jewish holiday of Hanukkah (or Chanukah).  What you may not know is the connection between Hanukkah and Catholicism.  Namely, the festival of lights celebrates the events of 1 and 2 Maccabees, which Catholics and Orthodox consider Scripture, but Protestants and Jews don’t.  I’ll let Professor Jon Levenson, professor of… Continue reading The Catholic Connection to Hanukkah

John the Baptist and the Canon of Scripture

Busy day today, but you should check out Devin Rose’s most recent blog post, in which he points out something that I’d never thought of.  Protestantism typically views the prophetic age of the Old Covenant as ending long before Jesus, with a lengthy “intertestamental period” of about four hundred years.  They claim that the ancient Jews… Continue reading John the Baptist and the Canon of Scripture

Total Apostasy: the Big Issue Dividing Mormons and Catholics

I’ve been meaning for days to write a comprehensive response to all of the comments raised in last week’s two–part series on Mormonism, but find myself getting further and further behind.  As it stands, there are over a hundred comments between the two posts, and a couple dozen people, including Catholics, Mormons, and Protestants, have… Continue reading Total Apostasy: the Big Issue Dividing Mormons and Catholics

Prayers for the Dead: Memorial Day in 2 Maccabees

Since this Monday is Memorial Day, I thought it would be fitting to talk briefly about prayers for the dead.  This is particularly so since the most explicit Scriptural depiction of prayers for the dead involves praying for the souls of dead soldiers.  It comes from 2 Maccabees 12:38-46: Judas rallied his army and went to… Continue reading Prayers for the Dead: Memorial Day in 2 Maccabees

Jesus Christ and the Old Testament Canon

Yesterday, I argued that you cannot derive an accurate Old or New Testament canon from simply following the sources used by New Testament authors.  They quote approvingly of Enoch and Epimenides, while failing to mention Esther, yet of the three, only Esther is considered inspired. But there’s a reason that the New Testament isn’t a reliable way… Continue reading Jesus Christ and the Old Testament Canon

Can You Establish the Canon of Scripture from New Testament Citations?

I raised, to a Protestant seminarian friend of mine, the two basic problems with sola Scriptura (“Scripture Alone”): namely, that you can’t rely upon Scripture alone to prove the doctrine of “Scripture alone,” meaning that it’s self-refuting; and that you can’t even rely upon Scripture alone to determine which Books properly form the canon of… Continue reading Can You Establish the Canon of Scripture from New Testament Citations?

The Prophetic Book of Tobit, Revisited

On Wednesday, I posted about how the Book of Tobit (considered Scripture by Catholics but not Protestants) is clearly prophetic, in that it accurately describes the inner sanctum of the Throne of God, information a non-inspired writer obviously wouldn’t have. Namely, the Book of Tobit quotes the angel Raphael as describing himself as one of… Continue reading The Prophetic Book of Tobit, Revisited

The Prophetic Book of Tobit

Tobit is one of the seven books which Protestants omit from the Bible, and which they consider Apocrypha. But if you pay close attention, you’ll see that the New Testament proves Tobit to be prophetic. If you’re not familiar with the book, the short version is that the Archangel Raphael appears to Tobit disguised as… Continue reading The Prophetic Book of Tobit