There are a lot of ways of establishing that the Catholic Church is correct. One way is to show that the New Testament Scriptures describe a single, visible, authoritative Church capable of settling disputes. When we find that governance in the Church was headed by the Apostles, with one Apostle (Peter) guiding the other Eleven, that’s… Continue reading The Catholic Argument from History
Tag: sola scriptura
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?
Luther and Sola Scriptura
Robert Ritchie said on my latest post on sola Scriptura: Reading through your Sola Scriptura tagged posts, the thing that has most struck me is that the official doctrine of Sola Scriptura (i.e. a denial of (2)) is so obviously problematic that the most thoughtful of Protestants–people like C.S. Lewis, Alvin Plantinga, and Timothy Keller–would… Continue reading Luther and Sola Scriptura
Why “Scripture Alone” is Wrong In All Its Formulations
I know I’ve written on the sola Scriptura debate many times before, but I think there might be a simpler way of explaining the Catholic view than I’ve done in the past. The difference between the Evangelical formulation of sola Scriptura, the classic Reformed formulation of sola Scriptura, and the Wesleyan notion of prima Scriptura… Continue reading Why “Scripture Alone” is Wrong In All Its Formulations
Fr. Most and St. Paul on Justification and OSAS
Fr. William Most wrote a sharp but very insightful piece on Luther, entitled “Luther Writes Obituary of His Own Church.” What makes it worth the read is his use of Luther’s own writings, showing that Luther still clearly struggled with the question that perhaps he was wrong and the Church was right, long after he… Continue reading Fr. Most and St. Paul on Justification and OSAS
How Do We Know Which Traditions Are Apostolic?
In response to my post on the NIV’s skewed translation (namely, that the translate bad paradosis as “tradition” and good paradosis as “teachings,” even though it’s the exact same word), a blogger calling himself “The 27th Comrade” raised a number of arguments. He noted at the beginning of his second comment, “While this comment here may… Continue reading How Do We Know Which Traditions Are Apostolic?
All Things Mormon
A reader by the name of Seth R. commented on Friday’s post about Evangelicalism, Catholicism and Mormonism. He made a lot of points, which I’d like to give full responses to. Since these are common LDS arguments, it might be worth your while to read them, whether you’re Mormon or not.I. Mormonism, Sola Scriptura, and… Continue reading All Things Mormon
Catholicism v. Sola Scriptura
What I’ve done in this post (which wasn’t ready by yesterday afternoon, sorry) is outline the Scriptural support for the Catholic position on Scripture and Tradition, and then explained the two best arguments against sola Scriptura, the “Self-Refuting” Argument, and the Canon Argument. The post is long (about 4,000 words), but I think it’s worth… Continue reading Catholicism v. Sola Scriptura
Scripture, Tradition, and the Church
As promised, the post for this afternoon is about a critique of Catholicism which Keith Mathison offers from his book The Shape of Sola Scriptura, available in full here. On page 183, he lays out a pretty concise summary of his general thesis: The typical evangelical view, Tradition 0, does not allow for any real… Continue reading Scripture, Tradition, and the Church
Why I Care About “The Shape of Sola Scriptura”
I know I’ve taken Keith Mathison’s book, The Shape of Sola Scriptura, to task on numerous occasions. There are five primary reasons for this: First, this book is all the rage right now amongst certain Reformed circles, and I’ve heard it recommended numerous times. If the book were obscure, it wouldn’t be worth addressing. But… Continue reading Why I Care About “The Shape of Sola Scriptura”