The REAL Diet of Augsburg (1530) vs. the Protestant Myth

From my review of the movie Luther: The movie ended with the Diet of Augsburg in 1530 between Protestants and Catholics, and the Protestant “triumph” — as their “case” was allowed to be presented (announced on the hilltops by jubilant Protestants to the surprised Luther). Then writing appears on the screen to the effect that these momentous […]

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Indefectibility: Does God Protect His Church from Doctrinal Error?

(11-1-05; abridged and reformulated a bit on 2-14-17) ***** Critics of Catholic claimed infallibility and indefectibility, have to, it seems to me, contend for one of these two things: 1) God is unable to preserve Christian doctrine without error throughout history by means of (in and of themselves, without His aid) fallen, imperfect, fallible men […]

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Poetry Friday: “Underwhelmed”

Put on your hiking books and grab your compass, magnifying glass, and shovel: this poem is taking you on an exploratory adventure. What the poem is tracking down is  the manifold concepts in the word “under.” Some of the poem’s “unders” are recognizable: like “under the splay-handed palms,“ “under the coral’s forest of horn,” “under […]

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Radical Reactionary Affinities in “Filial Correction” Signatories

I’ve been studying and critiquing radical Catholic reactionaries (my own coined term in 2013) for over twenty years, have written not just one, but two books on the topic, and have a very large web page devoted to it. I know who these people are, and how they think. It’s part of my job as a […]

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Philip Melanchthon’s Agony Over Protestant Sectarianism

*** (2-8-06) *** [Melanchthon’s words will be in blue] ***** Philip Melanchthon (1497-1560) was Protestant founder Martin Luther’s right-hand man and successor as the leader of Lutheranism. He had a much milder temperament than Luther (a fact widely noted in biographies and studies of the period), and is properly classified as a “Christian humanist.” Melanchthon […]

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I Am Not Your Negro

Near the beginning of Raoul Peck’s documentary, I Am Not Your Negro, James Baldwin says that in 1957 he couldn’t stop thinking about a photograph he saw at every newspaper kiosk in Paris. It was of the fifteen-year-old black girl Dorothy Counts, who was surrounded by a white crowd filled with revulsion at the sight […]

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My Kite Boy

This post originally appeared at Good Letters on June 5, 2012. I woke at one thirty with a start. My heart pounded in my ears. My wife was warm under the covers beside me, in the heavy rhythm of sleep. Through the hiss of the white noise machine I could hear the wet clicks of […]

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Papal Answers Would Only Help Resolve the Growing Crisis

This is from dialogues taking place on my Facebook page today, from four who basically agree with my position, two who don’t. It occurred underneath a link to Fr. Dwight Longenecker’s article, “Why Doesn’t the Pope Answer His Critics?” Participants will be identified by name and/or color of text. ***** I continue to believe that […]

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Why Write “Bad” Stuff About Protestant “Reformers”?

*** (5-22-06) *** This little controversy of sorts came up again after I posted my paper, “The Strong Enthusiasm For Astrology of Early Lutheran Leader Philip Melanchthon”. Though I have written about this time and again, every once in a while it is good to reiterate my reasonings and motivation in such papers. A traditional […]

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Painting Brings the Ancestors Around

On a November evening last year, I walked to my rosemaling class and sat around a table of women. We represented a wide range of ages and backgrounds, but we were all raised with rosemaling—breadboards and spoons and carved horses and Välkommen plaques all made of basswood. We were all trying to invoke the people […]

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Word “Protestant” Stemmed from Intolerance of Catholic Worship

(2-8-06) *** Philip Melanchthon’s words will be in blue. ***** Concerning the Diet of Speyer (1529) [called “Spires” below], and Melanchthon’s relationship to it, historian of Germany Johannes Janssen wrote: On April 19, in full assembly of the Diet, the imperial commisionares announced that . . . they now, in their own and the Emperor’s […]

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My Conversion: Apathy, Occult, Evangelicalism, & Catholicism (Pt. 4)

Part Four: Apologetics, Abundant Evangelical Blessings, and Protestant Evangelistic Campus Ministry (1983-1989) This is the ten-part story of my complete religious history, from nominal Methodism (1958-1967), to the occult and practical atheism (1968-1976), through evangelical Protestantism, counter-cult, pro-life, evangelistic, and apologetics work (1977-1990), and finally on to the fullness of the Catholic faith  in 1991. It […]

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Unsupported? Simple Tips to Get The Help You Need

Feeling overwhelmed is something that we all experience all too often. Our “to-do” lists are seemly endless between work, home life, family life, relationships, and every other commitment or obligation we may have. Because of this, it becomes very easy for us to fall into the mindset of “I have to get everything done!” and […]

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Astonishing Hostility to Higher Education in Early Protestantism

*** (1991) *** Martin Luther In 1522 Luther poured out his ire on the “asinine coarseness of the Thomists,” on “the Thomist hogs and donkeys,” on the “stupid audacity and thickheadedness of the Thomists.” (Grisar, I, 163; WA, X-2, 188-190, 206)  In my opinion dialectics can only be harmful to theologians . . . In theology […]

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Early Protestant Antipathy Towards Art (+ Iconoclasm)

*** (1991) *** Summary Since the middle of the 16th century religious art had come entirely to an end in all the Protestant parts of Germany . . . Nothing but sectarian narrowness could deny that German . . . art stood higher before the Reformation than after it. For nearly two centuries architecture, sculpture, […]

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Questions for the One Who Waits

I wait only for you. –Psalm 27, translated by Norman Fischer Psalm 27 is read by Jews from the beginning of the Jewish month of Elul through the Jewish High Holidays: Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year; and Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement. It is a psalm about how fearlessness and fearfulness come and […]

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Sacramentarian Controversies (Calvin vs. Luther vs. Zwingli)

(3-29-04) *** This is an “outtake” from my 2004 book: The Catholic Verses. It was too historical, and the emphasis of the book is biblical (“the editor hath spoken!”). But this is interesting historical information, I think (at least for a history buff / nut like me), so I saved it for “blog consumption”: * * * […]

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Is Pope Francis Wrong? Thoughts on the “Filial Correction”

My position has not changed in the last nine months. On 1 December 2016 I wrote a post entitled, “Pope Francis: Please Answer Cardinal Burke Et Al.”  My reasoning was fairly simple and straightforward. Summarized, it was as follows: 1. “This is a big reason why we have the pope in the Church: to give the […]

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Intense Immigration Dialogue (w John Cavanaugh-O’Keefe)

See the previous installment. We had a little blow-up, but we reconciled (which was a beautiful thing). So here we are again. He first wrote these words on his Facebook page, and I respond here. His words will be in blue. * * * * * A few days ago, I started an exploration of […]

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Martin Luther Condemns Masturbation (“Secret Sin”)

  (6-2-10) *** The fashionable zeitgeist now present in Protestantism (especially, but not exclusively, of the liberal variety), is to increasingly sanction divorce, cohabitation, homosexual acts, abortion, contraception, and masturbation. The latter was surprisingly condoned even by the usually traditional moralist and family advocate Dr. James Dobson, and, with extraordinarily ridiculous and scandalous argumentation, by anti-Catholic Reformed […]

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On Feminine Metaphors, Pronouns, & Attributes of God

This is a discussion that took place on Scott Eric Alt’s Facebook page (public post). Henry Karlson’s words will be in blue, Sam Urfer’s in green; that of all others in brown. My words are in regular black. ***** [Rebecca Bratten Weiss; henceforth “RBW”] I was attacked for referring to the HS as “she.” These folks […]

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Poetry Friday: “Cellar Door”

I love poems that stitch together memories from opposite ends of a lifetime, connecting them to our collective story in surprising ways. This poem feels dreamlike in its skill at just this kind of stitchwork. How simple Stelmach makes it look: take a phrase from poetry (commonly, arbitrarily) held as the most beautiful, and test […]

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“Absurd” Protestant Divisions: Calvin’s Revealing Lament to Melanchthon

*** (2-6-06) *** Letter of John Calvin (1509-1564): the second most important leader of the Protestant Revolt or so-called “Reformation” to Philip Melanchthon (1497-1560): Protestant founder Martin Luther‘s right-hand man and successor; dated 28 November 1552: But it greatly concerns us to cherish faithfully and constantly to the end the friendship which God has sanctified […]

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Eucharistic Real Presence: Luther’s Magnificent Defense

*** From my 2004 book, The Catholic Verses: 95 Bible Passages That Confound Protestants [two alternate renderings of Luther quotations used] *** . . . [Martin Luther] believed in the Real Presence, although he denied transubstantiation and rejected the Sacrifice of the Mass. Luther (according to his nominalistic, anti-Scholastic leanings) didn’t want to speculate about metaphysics and […]

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Secret Mercies

Ours is a confessional age, a time in which telling all is not only customarily practiced but also routinely lauded. To do less than unbosom oneself in the most candid of ways is both to endanger one’s mental and emotional health (a distinction I’ve never been quite clear on) and to frustrate the kind of […]

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Dialogue on Rebecca Bratten Weiss’ Teaching on Sexuality

I have written three articles on the controversy swirling around Rebecca Bratten Weiss, and her dismissal as an adjunct professor from Franciscan University of Steubenville (for supposedly not being “pro-life enough”). Today, I talked about something a little different. It was said that she denied Church doctrine, and I repeatedly pressed her critic and it moved […]

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Conniving Dirt-Gatherers & Gossips vs. Rebecca Bratten Weiss

I wrote an initial defense of “leftist” pro-lifer and English professor Rebecca Bratten Weiss, taking on the LifeSiteNews hit piece against her. Then I wrote a second, pondering seemingly unsavory (and related?) aspects of her dismissal as an adjunct professor from Franciscan University of Steubenville. I reiterate again that it’s not my intent at all […]

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From Sophocles to Twin Peaks: What Killed Laura Palmer?

This post originally appeared at Good Letters on June 1, 2012. One of the toughest and most important jobs I have as an English professor at a small, women’s liberal arts college, is teaching students to write well. I would love to hold forth on Flannery O’Connor—my lifelong literary crush—but getting students to care about […]

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Pope St. Leo the Great (r. 440-461) and Papal Supremacy

Pope St. Leo the Great, who reigned from 440 to 461, considered by many Protestant and secular historians as the first pope, and revered as a saint by the Orthodox, spoke perhaps more clearly than anyone up to that time concerning Roman primacy and papal duties, prerogatives, and supremacy, yet his views were merely the […]

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New Info on Bratten Weiss Controversy (National Catholic Reporter)

I recently wrote a post on this blog entitled, “Defending Rebecca Bratten Weiss at LifeSiteNews” (9-16-17). My perspective was not to defend everything she writes about and  believes. To me, that was quite beside the point. Indeed, we have many profound disagreements, and I’ve written several critiques of the New Pro-Life Movement and leftist pro-life outlook […]

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Are Cola Wars Killing YOUR Marriage?

We all have our preferred brands: Our favorite kind of soda, our favorite brand of ice cream, or even our favorite type of laundry detergent. But did you know that our personal brand preferences can have a serious effect on our relationships and even cause divorce? It’s not as silly as it sounds. A new […]

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The Spirit’s Indwelling

Beside me this morning is a child at the breakfast table vigorously chewing a Fuji apple and explaining to me the mutative abilities of a small vehicle based on the particular placement of a certain Lego brick. Sometimes the vehicle is a plow, sometimes a combine, depending on whether that brick is before it, behind […]

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My Conversion: Apathy, Occult, Evangelicalism, & Catholicism (Pt. 3)

Part Three: Evangelical “Born-Again” (?) Experience, More Lukewarmness, and Personal Revival (1977-1982) This is the ten-part story of my complete religious history, from nominal Methodism (1958-1967), to the occult and practical atheism (1968-1976), through evangelical Protestantism, counter-cult, pro-life, evangelistic, and apologetics work (1977-1990), and finally on to the fullness of the Catholic faith  in 1991. It […]

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Immigration & the Bible (w John Cavanaugh-O’Keefe)

John Cavanaugh O’Keefe’s words will be in blue.  Patti Sheffield’s words will be in green. They are both Catholics. ***** [replying to the article I shared, which reported that a wall in Hungary reduced illegal immigration by over 99 per cent] Which refugees did Hungary exclude? Where are they now? What is Hungary doing to help […]

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Parenting by Politics

The moment is freeze-framed in my mind: My eldest, Milo, red-faced with anger, his eyes hard but wild, a look I know means he feels both out of control and desperate to re-exert it. The yellow light of the floor lamps casts dark shadows over the couch and his face. Shoot it in black and […]

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Defending Rebecca Bratten Weiss at LifeSiteNews

Full disclosure: I happen to think that Rebecca Bratten Weiss (fellow Patheos writer and co-founder of the left-leaning New Pro-Life Movement) is a very brilliant writer and thinker (and have told her so), which is (mind you!) different from agreement with her on any given social or political issue. I think she (unlike others) is […]

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Did Pope Gregory the Great Deny Papal Primacy & Supremacy?

The commonly heard polemic of Pope St. Gregory the Great (c. 540-604) allegedly eschewing the universal jurisdiction of the papacy (the famous “universal bishop” polemic) is easily disposed of. One must examine context and the rest of a person’s works and actions, if possible (just as with biblical exegesis). When that is done in this […]

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My Conversion: Apathy, Occult, Evangelicalism, & Catholicism (Pt. 2)

Part Two: Nature Mysticism, Romanticism, Bible Movies, and the “Great Depression” (1968-1977) This is the ten-part story of my complete religious history, from nominal Methodism (1958-1967), to the occult and practical atheism (1968-1976), through evangelical Protestantism, counter-cult, pro-life, evangelistic, and apologetics work (1977-1990), and finally on to the fullness of the Catholic faith  in 1991. It […]

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Luther’s Attitudes on Religious Liberty (Roland H. Bainton)

*** (2-16-06) *** The following is an edited, abridged edition of the chapter by the same name (with a few additional non-chapter citations), by Protestant church historian Roland Bainton, who is most well-known for his famous biography of Martin Luther, Here I Stand (1950). It comes from the book, Studies on the Reformation (Boston: Beacon Press, 1963). The chapter […]

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Poetry Friday: “Medieval Miniatures: Entry into Jerusalem”

Dan Murphy has written a series of poems inspired by medieval miniatures: those marvelously detailed paintings crammed full with colorful life. In this poem, Murphy uses the miniature of Christ’s Entry into Jerusalem to multiply images for our human need to reach for the beyond. I love the variety of these images: someone climbing a […]

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My Conversion: Through Apathy, Occult, & Evangelicalism to Catholicism

Part One: Nominal Methodism, Occult, and the Seeds of a Serious Christian Commitment (1958 – early 1970s) This is the ten-part story of my complete religious history, from nominal Methodism (1958-1967), to the occult and practical atheism (1968-1976), through evangelical Protestantism, counter-cult, pro-life, and campus evangelist work (1977-1990), and finally on to the fullness of the Catholic faith […]

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Protestant Inquisitions: “Reformation” Intolerance & Persecution

(originally written in 1991. Revised: 10-31-03 and 3-7-07. Greatly abridged and re-typeset on 9-14-17) * * * * * Disclaimer and statement of intent: Unfortunately, the religious “scandal score” needs to be evened up now and then, and the lesser-known “skeletons in the closet” need to be rescued from obscurity, surveyed, and exposed. I take no […]

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Why I’m Writing a Death Penalty Book for Teens

1. I was standing in the kitchen of a rental house in the middle of forty acres of woods deep in the Willamette Valley of Oregon, when I told my agent I wanted to write about the death penalty, a topic that had chased me for over a decade. I’d only recently sold my first […]

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Why Peter’s Marriage Doesn’t Disprove Catholicism: A Dialogue

*** (January 1999) * * * The following exchanges took place on a public, Protestant Internet discussion list. All of my opponents were evangelical Protestants. Their words are in blue. * * * * *  1 Corinthians 9:5 Don’t we have the right to take a believing wife along with us, as do the other apostles […]

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Forbidding Marriage? Consecrated Virginity & the Catholic “Both / And”

1 Timothy 4:1-4 (RSV) Now the Spirit expressly says that in later times some will depart from the faith by giving heed to deceitful spirits and doctrines of demons, [2] through the pretensions of liars whose consciences are seared, [3] who forbid marriage and enjoin abstinence from foods which God created to be received with […]

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There is Only This Present Moment

­I’m trying to trust in God. My husband has had chronic fatigue and chest pain for the five years since his quadruple bypass open-heart surgery. Sometimes less discomfort, sometimes more, but always there. His various doctors have tried everything to relieve his distress…but nothing works. He is suffering, and it naturally pains me to see […]

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Zwingli, Bucer, Oecolampadius: Luther & Lutherans Not Christians

* * *  (1-10-08) * * * I’ve noted in the past, Martin Luther’s utter disdain for the “sacramentarians”: people who denied the Real Presence in the Eucharist: folks like Zwingli and Oecolampadius. He thought they were damned. I just discovered today something I hadn’t noticed before: these Swiss “reformers” (along with comrade Martin Bucer) […]

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16th Century Theft of Church Properties (vs. Lutheran Historian)

* * * (2-22-06) * * * “CPA”‘s words will be in blue. Martin Luther’s words will be in green. He wrote about me (7-12-05): “Dave Armstrong is a former Protestant Catholic who is in fact blessedly free of the kind of “any enemy of Protestantism is a friend of mine” coalition-building . . . […]

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American Fool: The Theology of Denis Johnson

Guest Post Denis Johnson died this past summer at the age of sixty-seven. Many have said that he was the single greatest writer of his generation, and the praise is warranted. Johnson, in a class with Kafka, Babel, Hamsun, and Lowry, wrote impossible novels: a dream-writer whose vision blended plain-prose with the arabesque, comedy with […]

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Clerical Celibacy: Hostile Protestant Commentary & Catholic Replies

Photograph by Ally Aubrey (4-26-08) [Flickr / CC BY 2.0 license] * * * (2-21-04) * * * * * The frequent argument of Protestants on this score is that the Catholic Church makes a requirement out of something that Paul merely recommends. Catholics — so we are told — are guilty (once again) of […]

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Remembering 9/11 in Washington D.C.

For Scott Simon, and for Bill Craven September 11, 2001 has been one of two signal public events of my adulthood. The other was the inauguration day of President Obama. The minutes and hours of each were suffused with a sense of historical moment: on one, I was a thirtyish new bride; on the other, I […]

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John Calvin: Ludicrous Anti-Protestant Sodomy Charge

Portrait of John Calvin (1509–1564); anonymous, 1854 [public domain / Wikimedia Commons] * * * * * (4-23-07) * * * A Catholic on my blog first brought this issue up in a combox thread. To his credit he later retracted the line of inquiry and accusation after I presented the material presented below (“let me say […]

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Eight Ways in Which the Devil Successfully Divides Catholics

Photograph by “aitoff” (April 2017) [Pixabay / CC0 Creative Commons license] * * * Luke 11:17 (RSV) “. . . Every kingdom divided against itself is laid waste, and a divided household falls.” * * * * * Putting on my “sociological” hat for a moment . . . 1. Orthodox vs. Liberal For some 150 […]

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Poetry Friday: “Russian Bell”

In this stirring poem by Anya Silver, the bell becomes a blueprint. First, the bell shape is transposed on her own body dangling freely in the “arc and blur” of a rope swing. Then, it becomes her open mouth and uvula. And, finally, we see the heart as a shattered peony (“unpeeling, pealing”) dropping petals […]

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Debate on the Nature of the Church & Catholicism (vs. Eric Svendsen)

  Strasbourg Cathedral, Germany. Photograph by Matthias Zirngibl (11-3-08).  [Wikimedia Commons /  Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license] * * * (7-5-96) * * * The following series of dialogues with leading anti-Catholic apologist Dr. Eric Svendsen, took place on Bishop James White’s Sola Scriptura discussion list, between 27 May and 5 July 1996. Dr. Svendsen’s words will be in blue; my older […]

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Sensible Immigration Policies: Agreement with Puerto Rican Friend

Immigrant children, Ellis Island, New York (1908). [public domain / Wikimedia Commons] * * * (7-30-12) *** The words of Édgar Alexánder Márquez, from Puerto Rico, will be in blue. * * * * * Happy birthday Dave Armstrong! From Puerto Rico. Look, like I said before, I’m a Republican. But I tend to side with Democrats […]

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Still on the Line

I will not claim credit for many things, but one virtue I own is that you can’t make me disloyal to that which I’ve grown attached. Even in my youth, when it was very important to me that I like what everyone else liked, I would not detach myself from that to which I had […]

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http://www.patheos.com/blogs/goodletters/2017/09/still-on-the-line/

Judgment of Nations: Biblical Commentary & Reflections

The fall of Babylon; Cyrus the Great defeating the Chaldean army (1831), by John Martin (1789-1854) [Wikimedia Commons /  Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license] * * * (9-21-01) * * * [see, for necessary background information: “Judgment of Nations: A Collection of Biblical Passages”] * * * * * God used (among others) the Babylonians and Nebuchadnezzar […]

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Judgment of Nations: A Collection of Biblical Passages

The Siege and Destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans Under the Command of Titus, A.D. 70 (1850), by David Roberts (1796-1864) [public domain / Wikimedia Commons] *** (9-21-01) * * * * * Biblical passages (Revised Standard Version) teaching divine judgment or chastisement of nations (as opposed to individuals): * * * * * Leviticus […]

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Five Key Ways to Prepare for Spiritual Direction

Guest post by Deacon Dominic Cerrato, Ph.D. Spiritual direction is a great way to grow closer to Jesus Christ and His Church. This is particularly true when there is a good “fit” between the director and directee. That said, simply going to spiritual direction for its own sake is not enough.  Spiritual direction is not […]

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http://www.patheos.com/blogs/faithonthecouch/2017/09/five-key-ways-prepare-spiritual-direction/

The Tattoo Monologues

Getting a tattoo is not only about deciding what to etch onto one’s body forever, but also about deciding what brief monologue will be uttered any time someone points to the ink and asks: “What does it mean?” The expectation is universal: people want something succinct, a response that suspends their judgment, an answer that […]

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http://www.patheos.com/blogs/goodletters/2017/09/tattoo-monologues/

Apostolic [Quasi-] Protestantism?: Dialogue with Eric Svendsen

The Death of Ananias (1515), by Raphael (1483-1520) [public domain / Wikimedia Commons] * * * [Eric Svendsen’s words will be in blue; another anonymous Protestant’s in green] *** The following series of dialogues took place on James White’s Sola Scriptura discussion list, from 21 May to 26 June 1996. As such they are some of my […]

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http://www.patheos.com/blogs/davearmstrong/2017/09/dialogue-alleged-apostolic-quasi-protestantism-vs-eric-svendsen.html

Sola Scriptura and Private Judgment Are Logically Circular

Image by Chris Searle (9-29-15) [Flickr / Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 2.0 Generic (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)] * * * * * (1-28-04; slight modifications and abridgment on 9-5-17) * * * * * We don’t have to believe either Scripture is perfectly clear or perfectly obscure. Catholics can and do say that Scripture is largely and substantially clear, […]

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http://www.patheos.com/blogs/davearmstrong/2017/09/sola-scriptura-logical-circularity-hidden-premises.html

Dark Forest on Fire

“We’ve got five years, that’s all we’ve got,” sang Ziggy Stardust forty-five years ago. Did people feel a prickling in 1977, as if Bowie might be prophet? It’s not so hard to believe. Do people ever forget to fear burning to death once they’ve imagined burning in their beds, under their desks, in their basements? […]

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http://www.patheos.com/blogs/goodletters/2017/09/dark-forest-fire/

The Singular Wickedness of America & Possible Coming Judgment

The Destruction Of Sodom And Gomorrah (1852), by John Martin (1789-1854) [public domain / Wikimedia Commons] * * * * * We’re already being judged to some extent, I think, but mostly as the natural result of our great sin. If God truly wants to judge us, it’ll be far worse. I don’t know why He […]

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http://www.patheos.com/blogs/davearmstrong/2017/09/singular-wickedness-america-possible-coming-judgment.html

Slavery as America’s Original Sin & Root Cause of the Civil War

Slave market in Atlanta, Georgia in 1864. Photograph by George N. Barnard [public domain / Wikimedia Commons] *** (3-3-04) *** If we ask what was the major issue that divided the states (at least by the time of the Declaration of Independence and the drafting of the Constitution), it was clearly slavery. That’s why I […]

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http://www.patheos.com/blogs/davearmstrong/2017/09/slavery-americas-original-sin-root-cause-civil-war.html

I Highly Recommend Mark Shea’s Apologetics Books

Mark recently recommended mine and stated, “If you are looking for some useful apologetics material and want to help someone whose livelihood comes from serving the gospel, try these [books].” This is not the first time he has graciously recommended my work. He has a long history of it, and I would again like to express […]

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http://www.patheos.com/blogs/davearmstrong/2017/09/highly-recommend-mark-sheas-apologetics-books.html

Refutation of a Satirical “Pauline Papacy” Argument (vs. Jason Engwer)

Christ Handing the Keys to St. Peter (c. 1482) by Pietro Perugino (1448-1523) [public domain / Wikimedia Commons] ***  (9-30-03) * * * * * Jason Engwer and I have quite a dialogical history. This particular larger debate encompasses the following four exchanges, in consecutive order, each (after the first) responding to the previous paper: “50 New Testament Proofs […]

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Reply to Critique of “50 NT Proofs for the Papacy” (vs. Jason Engwer)

Christ Handing the Keys to St. Peter (c. 1482) by Pietro Perugino (1448-1523) [public domain / Wikimedia Commons] *** (3-14-02) *** Jason Engwer’s satirical reply to my 50 New Testament Proofs for Petrine Primacy and the Papacy is entitled 51 Biblical Proofs of a Pauline Papacy and Ephesian Primacy. This is my counter-reply. His words will be in blue. * * […]

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Poetry Friday: “The Psalm of Your Face”

“Lord, let…”: this is how nearly every sentence of Nicholas Samaras’s “The Psalm of Your Face” begins. It’s our own constant plea to God: Lord, let my neighbor be healed of cancer; Lord, let my son be safe in battle. In Samaras’s poem, the pleas “Lord, let…” are first focused on God’s imagined face. But […]

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