Poetry Friday: “To Jenya on First Noticing the Dog’s Bowl of My Imagination”

I was first drawn to this poem by Carol Ann Davis because of its long and curious title. Who is Jenya? How does imagination correspond to a dog’s bowl? The peculiarity of these details led me into a surprising poem of weighty questions and deep meditation. Davis asks, “My emptiness/loves yours. Can you hear it?” [Read More...]

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http://www.patheos.com/blogs/goodletters/2017/04/poetry-friday-jenya-first-noticing-dogs-bowl-imagination/

Expressing gratitude makes us healthier: Who wouldn’t be grateful for that?

Gratitude journals, #grateful quotes, appreciation lists, oh my! Expressing gratitude seems to be a growing trend right now, but are these seemingly small practices of expressing gratitude enough to have an impact on our overall well-being? New research by Stephen Yoshimura and Kassandra Berzins for the National Communication Association’s Review of Communication shows that, “Gratitude [Read More...]

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http://www.patheos.com/blogs/faithonthecouch/2017/04/expressing-gratitude-makes-us-healthier-wouldnt-grateful/

Brunelleschi’s Balancing Act

The story goes that one day Filippo Brunelleschi, the goldsmith who would go on to become the most important architect in Europe and arguably the originator of the Renaissance, devises a practical joke he and his buddies play on their mutual friend, Manetto the woodworker. The gist of it is that they contrive to convince [Read More...]

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http://www.patheos.com/blogs/goodletters/2017/04/brunelleschis-balancing-act/

When Art Disrupts Religion: An Interview with Philip Salim Francis

Just released by Oxford University Press, When Art Disrupts Religion: Aesthetic Experience and the Evangelical Mind has received praise from such leading scholars as David Morgan and Randall Balmer. Image editor Gregory Wolfe recently interviewed the author, Philip Salim Francis. Image: Your book has the provocative title When Art Disrupts Religion: Aesthetic Experience and the [Read More...]

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http://www.patheos.com/blogs/goodletters/2017/04/art-disrupts-religion-interview-philip-salim-francis/

This Place is an Altar

Pastor David—strong, sincere, and confident in his pressed shirt and polished shoes—greets me in the doorway. “This place,” he pauses, looking me in the eye, “is an altar.” He seems genuinely glad to have an American in attendance, but I am in an entirely different sort of mood. I’m in Kampala attempting to conduct research [Read More...]

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http://www.patheos.com/blogs/goodletters/2017/04/this-place-is-an-altar/

Praying for a Hurricane on an Ordinary Wednesday Afternoon

“It is easier to survive a category five hurricane than it is to get through an ordinary Wednesday afternoon.” That paraphrase of Walker Percy (from his essay, “Diagnosing the Modern Malaise”) was suggested to me by my friend Caroline Langston Jarboe. I was wondering out loud why I would give anything to have back a [Read More...]

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http://www.patheos.com/blogs/goodletters/2017/04/praying-hurricane-ordinary-wednesday-afternoon/

Cause of the Big Bang: Atheist Geologist Challenged

Image by “geralt” (8-20-14) [Pixabay / CC0 public domain] ***** An atheist geologist who goes by the nickname of “ButILikeCaves” (he must be a spelunker) showed up on one of my posts at Patheos: ***** I place my confidence in the centuries of research, billions of man-hours, millions of pages of documentation, and mountains (literally, mountains) [Read More...]

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http://www.patheos.com/blogs/davearmstrong/2017/04/big-bang-exchange-atheist-geologist.html

“DagoodS” Deconversion Story: Critique & Truncated Dialogue

Photograph by “||read||” (5-28-09) [Flickr / CC BY 2.0 license] *** (9-20-07) *** “DagoodS” is a friendly atheist with whom I have had many enjoyable dialogues in the past (usually about alleged biblical contradictions) [later we met in person several times]. Recently on his blog I asked him if he could write out his “deconversion” [Read More...]

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http://www.patheos.com/blogs/davearmstrong/2017/04/dagoods-deconversion-story-critique-truncated-dialogue.html

Poetry Friday: “Sewing Box”

We don’t think enough—or at least I don’t—about how objects can contain memory. But Murray Bodo’s poem “Sewing Box” shows us how: in this box in which memory is literally contained. Each of the four stanza takes us deeper into the box. At first it’s just “the busy / sewing box I’d organize on visits [Read More...]

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http://www.patheos.com/blogs/goodletters/2017/04/poetry-friday-sewing-box/

Young Earth Creationism of Notable Anti-Catholic Protestants

Photograph by Alex Beynon (5-16-14) [Flickr / CC BY-ND 2.0 license] *** (9-18-10) ***** TAO (The Anonymous One; aka Turretinfan) A plain reading of the Old Testament and the Gospels makes it clear that the world was created supernaturally by God in the space of a week, and more particularly, in six days each consisting [Read More...]

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http://www.patheos.com/blogs/davearmstrong/2017/04/young-earth-creationism-notable-anti-catholic-protestants.html

Gregory of Nyssa (d. c. 395) vs. Sola Scriptura as the Rule of Faith

St. Gregory of Nyssa: Hosios Loukas Monastery, Boeotia, Greece (early 11th century Byzantine) [public domain / Wikimedia Commons] *** (2-6-07) *** St. Gregory of Nyssa lived from 331 to 395. The Lutheran “Joel” (I don’t know what his last name is) argued that he was an advocate of sola Scriptura (the Protestant “pillar” and rule [Read More...]

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http://www.patheos.com/blogs/davearmstrong/2017/04/gregory-of-nyssa-d-c-395-vs-sola-scriptura.html

The Eye Behind the Camera: Kirsten Johnson’s Cameraperson

When we first see the close-up of the dead bird on the ground, we wonder why. It’s only a few scenes later that we return to the site of the bird to see two young children, twin brother and sister, asking their mother and grandfather if they can go outside to bury the dead bird. [Read More...]

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http://www.patheos.com/blogs/goodletters/2017/04/eye-behind-camera-kirsten-johnsons-cameraperson/

Always Becoming

The following is adapted from an address given at the Seattle Pacific University MFA in Creative Writing commencement ceremony last month. For centuries, wise men and women of various traditions have troubled the terms being and becoming, without arriving at anything like conclusion. We affirm the beauty and joy of being—being writers, being Christians, being [Read More...]

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http://www.patheos.com/blogs/goodletters/2017/04/always-becoming/

Jewish and OT Views of Hell and Eternal Punishment

“Hell”: photograph by “Hans” (6-28-13) [Pixabay / CC0 public domain] *** (4-14-04) *** Many doctrines develop from the Old to the New Testament. The inclusion of the Gentiles into the Covenant People of God is a development. The New Testament (particularly, Pauline) understanding of the relationship of the Law, Jewishness, and grace to salvation is [Read More...]

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http://www.patheos.com/blogs/davearmstrong/2017/04/jewish-ot-views-of-hell-eternal-punishment.html

Psalm 110: Jewish Commentators Who Regard it as Messianic

+ Reply to Rabbi Tovia Singer’s Charges of Christian “Tampering” With the Text [Wikimedia Commons /  Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License] (9-14-01) *** One doesn’t have to believe that Messiah is God or be a Christian to accept this passage as messianic, because many Jewish exegetes throughout history have done so. Alfred Edersheim offers documentation, [Read More...]

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http://www.patheos.com/blogs/davearmstrong/2017/04/psalm-110-jewish-commentators-who-regard-it-as-messianic.html

Taking Relationships from Stressed to Supportive

Relationships are meant to be sources of support and love, yet sometimes in the craziness of life, some relationships end up causing more stress or become “one more thing we have to attend to.” This feeling may be a sign that it’s time examine and possibly readjust the way we approach these relationships. Theology of [Read More...]

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http://www.patheos.com/blogs/faithonthecouch/2017/04/taking-relationships-stressed-supportive/

What is the Gospel? Catholic-Protestant Agreement

The Preaching of St Paul at Ephesus (1649), by Eustache Le Sueur (1617-1655) [public domain / Wikimedia Commons] *** (12-3-96 and 1-4-97) *** In response to the opinion of many Protestants that Catholics are not Christians (which word I define in an “orthodox,” “creedal,” “confessional,” “doctrinal” sense, not in the “wheat and tares,” individual commitment [Read More...]

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http://www.patheos.com/blogs/davearmstrong/2017/04/what-is-the-gospel.html

“Why Desire Salvation?” Reply to a Non-Christian Inquirer

The Baptism of the Eunuch (1623), by Pieter Lastman (1583-1633) [public domain / Wikimedia Commons] *** (12-7-09) *** A person on the Coming Home Network forum (not a Christian) commented as follows: I’ve asked this to people I’ve encountered over the years and I’ve not heard anything thus far that has struck a cord with [Read More...]

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http://www.patheos.com/blogs/davearmstrong/2017/04/desire-salvation-reply-non-christian-inquirer.html

Finding My Sister in Young Adult Novels

Lately all I want to read are young adult novels about sisters. Young adult (YA) lit has a simplicity that creeps up on you. It’s about falling in love and obligations to the world outside of our daily concerns. And it’s usually disturbing as hell, reflective of how, though we say we lose innocence, as [Read More...]

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http://www.patheos.com/blogs/goodletters/2017/04/finding-sister-young-adult-novels/

The Messiah: Jewish / Old Testament Conceptions

Jews Praying in the Synagogue on Yom Kippur (1878), by Maurycy Gottlieb (1856-1879) [public domain / Wikimedia Commons] ***** (1982; revised somewhat on 19 February 2000) *** Way back in 1982, when I was an evangelical Protestant highly interested in Judaism (an interest I retain today, as a Catholic), I did a study of the Jews [Read More...]

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http://www.patheos.com/blogs/davearmstrong/2017/04/messiah-jewish-old-testament-conceptions.html

Isaiah 53: Ancient & Medieval Jewish Messianic Interpretation

Ancient and Medieval Jewish Commentators Portrait of a Rabbi (1635), by Rembrandt (1606-1669) [public domain / Wikimedia Commons] (1982; revised 9-14-01) *** Isaiah 52:13 – Isaiah 53 (RSV)13 Behold, my servant shall prosper, he shall be exalted and lifted up, and shall be very high. 14 As many were astonished at him–his appearance was so [Read More...]

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http://www.patheos.com/blogs/davearmstrong/2017/04/isaiah-53-jewish-messianic-interpretation.html

Praying the Art of Sean Scully: The Match of Prose and Visual Art

When I finished reading Paul Anel’s article on the chapel art of Sean Scully, in the current Image (#91), I was moved to close my eyes in prayer. It wasn’t verbal prayer. It was a sitting within a sense of the sacred. Both Scully’s art and Anel’s graced account of it had drawn me into [Read More...]

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http://www.patheos.com/blogs/goodletters/2017/04/praying-art-sean-scully-match-prose-visual-art/

“The Harvest is Ready”: Tips on Catholic Evangelism

Yours truly sharing the gospel and Christian message with Mormons as an evangelical Protestant apologist / evangelist at the Ann Arbor Art Fair (University of Michigan campus) in 1989: the only photo ever taken of me street witnessing. *** (7-21-10) *** I wrote the following (by her request) to a zealous young Catholic lady who [Read More...]

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http://www.patheos.com/blogs/davearmstrong/2017/04/harvest-ready-tips-catholic-evangelism.html

God’s “Valentine” to Us

Bible Passages on God’s Love, Mercy, and Compassion Photograph by Ronnie Macdonald (4-14-11). See Matthew 23:37 below. [Wikimedia Commons /  Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license] *** (2-13-11) *** [all passages: RSV] *** Deuteronomy 7:8 but it is because the LORD loves you, and is keeping the oath which he swore to your fathers, that [Read More...]

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http://www.patheos.com/blogs/davearmstrong/2017/04/gods-valentine-us.html

Jesus’ Soul, Two Natures, & “Worship” of the Father

Christ in the Wilderness (1872), by Ivan Nikolaevich Kramskoi (1837-1887) [public domain / Wikimedia Commons] *** (3-28-08) *** From the Coming Home Network board. I’ll paraphrase the initial questions in blue. * * * * * March 25 The Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin Mary Commonly called Lady Day from Butler’s Lives of the Saints for [Read More...]

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http://www.patheos.com/blogs/davearmstrong/2017/04/jesus-soul-omnipresence-worship-father.html

Nestorian Heresy and the Tempting of Jesus

  Christ in Gethsemane (1880), by Carl Heinrich Bloch (1834-1890) [public domain / Wikimedia Commons] *** (4-19-05) *** The following is from a thread on Steve Ray’s Catholic Message Board. The words of the person (“Lojahw”) who asserted Nestorian heresy will be in blue. ***** Whatever Nestorius’ actual opinions (scholars differ), Lojahw’s opinions are indeed heretical. He [Read More...]

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http://www.patheos.com/blogs/davearmstrong/2017/04/nestorian-heresy-tempting-jesus.html

Temple Sacrifice & Offerings Sanctioned by Jesus & Apostles

. . . and Practiced by St. Paul, St. Peter, and St. John After the Death of Jesus First century southern steps of the Temple Mount, Jerusalem (photo by Mark A. Wilson, 5-28-09). Jesus and the apostles walked these. So did I in October 2014. [public domain / Wikimedia Commons] ***** Matthew 5:23-24 (RSV) So [Read More...]

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http://www.patheos.com/blogs/davearmstrong/2017/04/temple-sacrifice-offerings-sanctioned-jesus.html

Isaiah 53: Jewish-Christian Dialogue: Who is the “Servant”?

Is the “Servant” the Messiah (Jesus) or Collective Israel? (vs. Ari G. [Orthodox] ) Image by “LittleGreyCoconut” (3-31-15) [Flickr / CC BY 2.0 license] *** (9-14-01, with incorporation of much research from 1982) ***** The following exchange, which I enjoyed very much, was undertaken on a public Catholic bulletin board in early September 2001 with [Read More...]

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http://www.patheos.com/blogs/davearmstrong/2017/04/isaiah-53-jewish-christian-dialogue-servant.html

Palm Fronds

My daughter held the palm frond as if she’d never seen such a thing. I gave mine a perfunctory wave. We were both visitors, standing in the foyer of an elementary school turned church. The pastor was a friend, but in the ten minutes before a worship service—especially during Holy Week—I wasn’t going to latch [Read More...]

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http://www.patheos.com/blogs/goodletters/2017/04/palm-fronds/

Reply to a Calvinist: Hardening of Pharaoh’s Heart

(vs. Colin Smith) Photograph by Xuan Che (12-30-05) [Flickr / CC BY 2.0 license] *** (10-14-06) ***** Reformed Baptist apologist James White enlisted his fellow Calvinist friend, Colin Smith, to respond to my article concerning who hardened Pharaoh’s heart. “Dr.” [???] White wrote: Yesterday on the DL I mentioned the appearance on Roman Catholic apologist Dave [Read More...]

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http://www.patheos.com/blogs/davearmstrong/2017/04/reply-calvinist-concerning-pharaohs-hard-heart.html

Our Father (Lord’s Prayer): “Debts” or “Trespasses”?

The Lord’s Prayer, by James Tissot (1836-1902) [public domain / Wikimedia Commons] *** (11-7-08) *** A self-described Hebrew Catholic asked on the Coming Home Network board: The Catechism and the RSV translate Gk opheilemata as trespasses in the Lord’s Prayer (Mt 6:12), when it manifestly means debts — both in the NT usage (Rm 4:4) [Read More...]

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http://www.patheos.com/blogs/davearmstrong/2017/04/father-lords-prayer-debts-trespasses.html

Reply to Atheist on Messianic Prophecies (Zech 13:6, Ps 22)

Partial view of the Mandelbrot set. Step 11 of a zoom sequence: Double-spirals with satellites of second order. Analog to the “seahorses” the double-spirals can be interpreted as a metamorphosis of the “antenna”. Created by Wolfgang Beyer with the program Ultra Fractal 3 [Wikimedia Commons /  Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license] *** (7-3-10) *** See [Read More...]

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http://www.patheos.com/blogs/davearmstrong/2017/04/reply-atheist-messianic-prophecies-zech-136-ps-22.html

Reply to Atheist on Isaiah 53 & “Dishonest” Christians

Original manga logo (Shinobu Kaitani: 2005) [public domain / Wikimedia Commons] *** (7-2-10) *** See my previous installment, Reply to Atheist on “Fabricated” OT Messianic Prophecies, to learn more about Mitch / “ProfMTH”: an atheist who loves to try to shoot down the Bible. I’m delighted to have the opportunity to illustrate my longtime contention that atheists [Read More...]

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http://www.patheos.com/blogs/davearmstrong/2017/04/reply-to-atheist-on-dishonest-messianic-prophecies-isaiah-53.html

God is a Wild Old Dog

God is a wild old dog / Someone left out on the highway —Patty Griffin “Wild Old Dog” It is the first week of spring and I sit in the small cemetery on our community property. The bench underneath me is green and mossy from the confusion of a mild winter that left us with [Read More...]

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http://www.patheos.com/blogs/goodletters/2017/04/god-wild-old-dog/

Clonish Choir-Preaching and Orwellian PC Groupthink

. . . Rather Than Fair Dialogue [Pixabay / CC0 public domain] *** Oftentimes today we see people writing about who-knows-who: someone they refuse to name; therefore, we can’t see his or her comments in context and in their entirety. And they can’t respond. You know: that thing that used to be routine: letting someone defend [Read More...]

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http://www.patheos.com/blogs/davearmstrong/2017/04/clonish-preaching-choir-orwellian-groupthink.html

Could Jesus Have Possibly Sinned (Denial of Impeccability)?

Head of Christ, by Rembrandt (1606-1669) [public domain / Wikimedia Commons] *** (1997) *** A Baptist friend of mine stated: Jesus Himself was not unable to sin. I realize that God the Father is unable to sin; however, Jesus, though He was in nature God, was able to sin. This is evident in this verse “For [Read More...]

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http://www.patheos.com/blogs/davearmstrong/2017/04/jesus-possibly-sinned-succumbed-temptation.html

Reply to Atheist on “Fabricated” OT Messianic Prophecies

Mitch / “ProfMTH”‘s Video Jesus Was Not the Messiah – Pt. I  Straw men, on the Tour de France cycling route, in Lautrec. Photograph by Robin Ellis (8-23-10) [Flickr / CC BY-ND 2.0 license] (7-1-10) ***** [Mitch was made aware of my three critiques of his material. He never replied] *** I was made aware (by [Read More...]

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http://www.patheos.com/blogs/davearmstrong/2017/04/reply-atheist-fabricated-ot-messianic-prophecies.html

Take, Eat

I clutch the edge of the cracked leather seat and close my eyes as the van rattles out of the city towards the slum settlement. The three-hour church service in Ludhiana, Punjab, India, left me hoarse and sticky: hoarse from leading the worship; sticky from sitting on a plastic chair in a packed second-story room [Read More...]

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http://www.patheos.com/blogs/goodletters/2017/04/take-eat/

The Holy Spirit, Cornelius, Baptism, & Confirmation

Vision of Cornelius the Centurion (1664), by Gerbrand van den Eeckhout (1621-1674) [public domain / Wikimedia Commons] ***** A friend of mine who is also a Catholic writer and webmaster, who would be known to many if I named him, wrote me a letter, asking: I’ve been dialoguing with a colleague, a fallen away Catholic, and we [Read More...]

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http://www.patheos.com/blogs/davearmstrong/2017/04/holy-spirit-cornelius-baptism-confirmation.html

“The Passion”: Review and Reflections

Flagellation of Christ, by Peter Paul Rubens (1577-1640) [Wikimedia Commons / Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license] *** (2-29-04; abridged and edited on 4-10-17) *** My Review The following is one of the most difficult things I have ever written (and writing comes very easy for me), because words are so utterly inadequate to describe [Read More...]

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http://www.patheos.com/blogs/davearmstrong/2017/04/passion-review-reflections.html

Dancing with Words During National Poetry Month

Here’s your assignment. Choose a poem you’ve written (it could be any piece of writing, really, an email message, a shopping list, a complaint to a cable service provider, a toast for a wedding—you get the idea. If it’s a poem, chose only a few lines. If it’s another piece of writing, choose a portion [Read More...]

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http://www.patheos.com/blogs/goodletters/2017/04/dancing-words-national-poetry-month/

On Reducing Abortion (w Atheist Pro-Lifer)

Image by “Clker-Free-Vector-Images” (4-18-12) [Pixabay / CC0 public domain] *** Jon Curry is an atheist friend and very nice guy, whom I know in real life in the metro Detroit area. His wife even teaches my daughter in a homeschooling cooperative. His words will be in blue. ***** If pro-life Republicans really care about women [Read More...]

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http://www.patheos.com/blogs/davearmstrong/2017/04/reducing-abortion-w-atheist-pro-lifer.html

“Lessen Evil” Votes for Hillary? (vs. Mark Shea)

Photograph of Mark Shea from You Tube, posted on his “Books, CDs, and DVDs” web page. ***** This exchange (slightly edited to stick to this immediate subject matter) took place on my Facebook page today. Mark Shea’s words will be in blue. *** [Note: it’s true that in the Facebook discussion I did confuse the [Read More...]

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http://www.patheos.com/blogs/davearmstrong/2017/04/lessening-evil-votes-hillary-vs-mark-shea.html

Poetry Friday: “The Last Supper”

This poem is a meditation on Leonardo da Vinci’s famous painting, “The Last Supper.” But the meditation moves in an unexpected direction. The first stanza stays with the painting, though with a comical interpretation of “torn bread” scattered on the tablecloth. In stanza two, the poet moves to the wine—“or seeming / lack of it.” [Read More...]

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http://www.patheos.com/blogs/goodletters/2017/04/poetry-friday-last-supper/

James White Bogus “Doctorate” Issue Redux

Has No One Ever Interacted With His Self-Defense? / White Takes His Lumps from Baptist Peter Lumpkins  Photograph by “geralt” (3-3-14) [Pixabay / CC0 public domain] ***  (2-20-11) *** For some reason, Rich Pierce, associate of active Reformed Baptist anti-Catholic apologist James White, recently saw fit to bring up this issue on White’s blog. Perhaps [Read More...]

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http://www.patheos.com/blogs/davearmstrong/2017/04/james-white-bogus-doctorate-issue-redux.html

Clement of Alexandria (d. c. 215) vs. Sola Scriptura

St. Clement of Alexandria: icon from before 1800 [public domain / Wikimedia Commons] *** (8-1-03) *** For preliminaries concerning my methodology and the burden of proof for showing if a Church Father believed in sola Scriptura, see my paper, Church Fathers & Sola Scriptura. *** The following passage has been offered as “proof” of Clement’s [Read More...]

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http://www.patheos.com/blogs/davearmstrong/2017/04/clement-alexandria-d-c-215-vs-sola-scriptura.html

Irenaeus (d. c. 200) vs. Sola Scriptura

Bishop Irenaeus (1923), by Uroš Predić (1857-1953) [public domain / Wikimedia Commons] *** (8-1-03) *** The following was offered as “proof” that St. Irenaeus believed in something akin to sola Scriptura: They [heretics] gather their views from other sources than the Scriptures…We have learned from none others the plan of our salvation, than from those through [Read More...]

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http://www.patheos.com/blogs/davearmstrong/2017/04/irenaeus-d-c-200-vs-sola-scriptura.html

Muddy River

It was the summer of Leiby Kletzy, the eight-year-old Hasidic boy kidnapped from his Brooklyn neighborhood in broad daylight and brutally murdered. It was also the summer I almost lost my seven-year-old daughter Camille on a Toronto subway platform. When I turned, from inside the train, to see my daughter—outside, standing alone—my feet became bricks [Read More...]

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http://www.patheos.com/blogs/goodletters/2017/04/muddy-river/

Justin Martyr (d. c. 165) vs. Sola Scriptura

St. Justin Martyr (c. 1546), by Theophanes the Cretan (1490-1559) and his son Symeon [public domain / Wikimedia Commons] *** (8-1-03) *** Justin Martyr wrote: And now, if I say this to you, although I have repeated it many times, I know that it is not absurd so to do. For it is a ridiculous [Read More...]

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http://www.patheos.com/blogs/davearmstrong/2017/04/justin-martyr-d-c-165-vs-sola-scriptura.html

Church Fathers and Sola Scriptura

[see full book and purchase information; the material below is not part of this book] ***** This is a somewhat modified condensation of general portions of a huge debate that I engaged in with Protestant anti-Catholic polemicist Jason Engwer  in July 2003. Particular Church fathers and their pro-tradition / “anti-sola Scriptura” views will be dealt [Read More...]

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http://www.patheos.com/blogs/davearmstrong/2017/04/church-fathers-sola-scriptura.html

The Beauty Dialogues, Part 4

The following is a response to Morgan Meis’s letter posted yesterday. Dear Morgan: I’m enjoying this conversation but at times I worry that you’re playing Glaucon to my Socrates. In other words, just egging the “master” on. I want to be sure you’re not just tossing up softballs for me to take a swing at. [Read More...]

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http://www.patheos.com/blogs/goodletters/2017/04/beauty-dialogues-part-4/

Total Depravity & Salvation Outside the Church (vs. Calvinist)

Photograph by “MemoryCatcher” (6-14-13) [Pixabay / CC0 public domain] ***** Erik is a thoughtful, amiable Calvinist who commented under my blog paper, Total Depravity (“None is Righteous”): Reply to James White. His words will be in blue. ***** I honestly cannot comprehend your intentions here. That’s extraordinary, since I laid them out in the most painstaking detail. [Read More...]

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http://www.patheos.com/blogs/davearmstrong/2017/04/dialogue-calvinist-total-depravity.html

Reply to a Calvinist on Faith Alone & Works [of God Only?]

Image by “jalandas0” (3-23-16) [Pixabay / CC0 public domain] ***** Erik is a thoughtful, amiable Calvinist who claims he has never had a constructive theological discussion with a Catholic. Hopefully, this will be his first time. I enjoyed it on my end! He commented under my blog paper, “Reply to Calvin” #3: Synergism, Grace Alone, & [Read More...]

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http://www.patheos.com/blogs/davearmstrong/2017/04/dialogue-w-calvinist-faith-alone-works-god.html

The Beauty Dialogues, Part 3

Today Morgan Meis continues his periodic exchanges with Image founder Gregory Wolfe. Dear Greg, Thanks for your response to my latest “challenge,” as you put it, on the question of beauty. I love all the things you have to say and find myself both moved and convinced by the nuanced, complicated version of beauty you’ve [Read More...]

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http://www.patheos.com/blogs/goodletters/2017/04/beauty-dialogues-part-3/

“Reply to Calvin” #4: “Primary” & “Secondary” Doctrines

Historical mixed media figure of John Calvin produced by artist/historian George S. Stuart and photographed by Peter d’Aprix: from the George S. Stuart Gallery of Historical Figures archive [Wikimedia Commons / Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license] *** This is an installment of a series of replies (see the Introduction and Master List) to much of [Read More...]

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http://www.patheos.com/blogs/davearmstrong/2017/04/reply-calvin-4-primary-secondary-doctrines.html

“Reply to Calvin” #3: Synergism, Grace Alone, & the Elect

Historical mixed media figure of John Calvin produced by artist/historian George S. Stuart and photographed by Peter d’Aprix: from the George S. Stuart Gallery of Historical Figures archive [Wikimedia Commons / Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license] *** This is an installment of a series of replies (see the Introduction and Master List) to much of [Read More...]

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http://www.patheos.com/blogs/davearmstrong/2017/04/reply-calvin-3.html

God’s Acquaintances

They say God won’t let you go under; but it seems he will let your hair get pretty wet. Most trials, if they’re worthy of the name, don’t let you get away without a good scare, maybe even a rent garment and some scratches, if not scars. The less lucky might have to surrender more. [Read More...]

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http://www.patheos.com/blogs/goodletters/2017/04/gods-acquaintances/

Are Patheos Catholic Writers Overwhelmingly “Liberal”?

[PublicDomainPictures.Net / CC0 public domain] ***** Fellow Patheos writer David Russell Mosley wrote in his thoughtful piece, “Is Patheos Catholic Liberal?” (4-1-17):  “Many of the authors who write about politics at Patheos Catholic do not come from a politically ‘conservative’ point of view.” Precisely. The question is: what is their view? Is David saying that they are [Read More...]

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http://www.patheos.com/blogs/davearmstrong/2017/04/are-patheos-catholic-writers-overwhelmingly-liberal.html