“Official” Catholic Use of “Convert” to Describe New Catholics

This was originally posted on the Coming Home Network board, where I was head moderator from 2007-2010. My esteemed friend and fellow moderator, David W. Emery wrote: You will see me speaking of becoming Catholic, for instance, or better, entering into full communion with the Catholic Church. To avoid confusion, I try to reserve the […]

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Potential Catholic Converts: My “Hands Off” Approach

It seems that I am sometimes unjustly associated with others who do not share my ecumenical approach to possible conversions from non-Catholic brands of Christianity. It is a rather well-known fact, after all (for anyone who has followed my work to any appreciable degree) that I never pester people about their possible or actual conversions, […]

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A Conversation with Karin Coonrod

The current issue of Image (#96) features a profile of innovative theater director Karin Coonrod, whose projects range from Shakespeare and medieval mystery plays to adaptations of Flannery O’Connor. Her latest play, now running in New York, is an adaptation of the classic Isak Dinesen short story “Babette’s Feast” (famous for the 1987 film version), […]

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Agree & Be Loved / Think for Yourself & Disagree & Be Hated

In our postmodern culture today, the notions of “tough love” or a rebuke done in love for the good of another, are almost incomprehensible. To disagree with someone now is to “hate” them. It can’t possibly be otherwise, because now people are their opinions (x = y); not separate from them (x has opinion y). The people […]

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Lawler Hypocritically Acts Like He Claims Pope Francis Does

. . . That is, He Deliberately Sows Confusion, When it Need Not Be So At All Phil Lawler has engaged yet again in condescending rhetoric regarding Pope Francis, in his latest hit-piece: “Yes, the Pope is a Catholic. But he’s confusing other Catholics.” (4-26-18). Recently (15 days ago), I announced a self-imposed moratorium on articles about […]

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Dialogue: Contraception & Natural Family Planning (NFP)

This is a follow-up discussion with “Grubb” (Reformed Baptist), concerning my previous post, Biblical Evidence Against Contraception. Grubb’s words will be in blue. Words from an older paper of mine that Grubb cites, will be in green. *** I didn’t hear good teaching about having lots of children until about two years ago Which, of course, gives indication […]

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Use of “Anti-Catholic” in Non-Catholic Scholarly Works

Many Protestant polemicists (themselves not coincidentally also often anti-Catholic) have contended that the use of this term is completely arbitrary and essentially a defensive invention of Catholic apologists and polemicists, for their own ends. In fact, the term has a long pedigree in scholarly circles. I aim here to document its use amongst non-Catholic scholars […]

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Poetry Friday: “hydrangea”

This is the time of year when I anxiously wait for flowers to reappear. Our valley’s famous tulip fields that are now in full bloom, the show-stopping roses by the front door, and the dramatic yet fleeting peonies that outline our garden beds. We also have a hydrangea outside the living room window and I […]

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Mary’s Death Before Her Assumption: Required Belief?

Short answer: no. I explain why, and why I personally believe that she did die. Words of Chris Scerpella will be in blue. *** We are free as Catholics to believe that she died or that she didn’t die. I personally think she did, since Our Lord did. Ludwig Ott classifies the belief, “Mary suffered […]

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Mary’s Immaculate Conception: Necessary or “Fitting”?

This is a follow-up to my article for National Catholic Register: “Was Mary’s Immaculate Conception Absolutely Necessary?” (12-8-17). *** Of course it was necessary for God to perform a special act of grace in order for the Blessed Virgin Mary to be sinless (because of original sin). I’m not questioning that at all. The sense in which […]

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Do I Have Anything Left to Say?

When the email came in from my editor, I wasn’t sure how to answer. What do you want to do next? After years—a decade, really—of what felt like pushing a boulder up a mountain, sitting down every night to write no matter if my family was watching a movie or there was ice cream being […]

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Crusades Controversy & “Discussion” (?) w Orthodox

OrthodoxChristianity.Net had a field day with this meme about the Crusades, posted on my Facebook Author page: I’m just going to say that Dave Armstrong should take a course in history sometime. Dave Armstrong… that there is a blast from the past. Though I suppose he was somewhere, doing something, in the meantime. Etc. [Quite right: […]

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Difficulty of Catholic-Protestant Marriage: Some Thoughts

It’s very difficult to be in this situation, because both sides have heartfelt beliefs and feel that they can’t compromise. The party in a formerly all-Protestant marriage who feels led to Catholicism can always attend Mass on Saturdays and continue to worship with the Protestant spouse at his or her service. The Protestant may feel […]

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Catholic Fundamentalism & “Insufficiently Converted Catholics”

[chapter 7 of my book, Reflections on Radical Catholic Reactionaries] *** 130. There is a certain sort of Catholic convert from Protestantism who has been insufficiently converted from the outset. The “fundamentalist” mindset was received and nurtured from his Protestant days, and indicates a deep epistemological and theological / spiritual problem. Such a person has […]

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God’s Calling and American Idol: Part 2

If you’re a contestant on American Idol, you may have the holy desires to uplift your fans through your singing and to earn a living for your family. But if you sabotage another entrant to better your chances of prevailing, your holy desires have become warped. While many desires prompt goodness, others trigger evil and […]

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Todd Baker’s “Exodus from Rome” (Attack on My Conversion)

Exodus From Rome, Volume 2: A Biblical and Historical Critique of Roman Catholicism (The Scofield Institute Press, 8 April 2018), by Todd D. Baker, is the latest of a long line of anti-Catholic critiques of Catholicism (i.e., from the perspective that Catholicism isn’t a species of Christianity, and is a “false gospel). Dr. Todd Baker is […]

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God’s Call and American Idol: Part 1

I love American Idol and could hardly wait until this spring when the show was revived after a two-year hiatus. I’d watched it all through the previous seasons: those judged by Paula Abdul, Simon Cowell, and Randy Jackson; those when Kara DioGuardi stepped in; the stints of Steven Tyler, Mariah Carey, and Nicki Minaj; the reigns of […]

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Todd Baker’s “Exodus from Rome” (Tradition, Mary, Sola Fide)

Exodus From Rome, Volume 2: A Biblical and Historical Critique of Roman Catholicism (The Scofield Institute Press, 8 April 2018), by Todd D. Baker, is the latest of a long line of anti-Catholic critiques of Catholicism (i.e., from the perspective that Catholicism isn’t a species of Christianity, and is a “false gospel). They’re utterly predictable […]

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A Sky of Parchment Made

Leaving work the other evening—a cold, blustery twilight that belied the spring it’s supposed to be—I drove down D.C.’s North Capitol Street and passed the usual crowds that give the neighborhood its shady reputation. Things are “trending” in these parts—new restaurants have arrived and townhouses are being renovated—but you still have a lot of people […]

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Primacy of St. Peter Verified by Protestant Scholars

[From the 1994 early manuscript (750 page) version of my first book, A Biblical Defense of Catholicism] **** 1. Peter as the “Rock” (Matthew 16:18) Matthew 16:18 “And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.” […]

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Anti-Newman Rhetoric in Anti-Catholic Polemics

Anti-Catholic author David T. King has tried to cast aspersions on Cardinal Newman, by citing his former anti-Catholic opinions and suggesting (ever so subtly) that he “should have known better” (wink, wink) than to convert. He does this in a paper called “A Discussion on Newman’s Pre- and Post-Conversion Positions on the Historical Legitimacy of […]

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Sacrifice of the Mass: A Biblical Overview

I. DEFINITION OF SACRIFICE OF THE MASS The re-presentation, re-enactment, and effective application of the merits gained by Jesus by His one sacrifice at Calvary on the Cross. Jesus’ death in past history is present to God (e.g., Rev 5:6; 13:8). In each Mass, His sacrifice is made real and present to us, transcending space […]

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Poetry Friday: “The Years Were Patient with Me”

I love this poem because it mirrors the passing of time, patiently guiding readers through the speaker’s perspectives on truth. The structure of the poem resembles a list, providing four metaphors for how truth moves in the world. The poem’s relationship with truth is a relationship characterized by time and movement. Even before we reach […]

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On Descriptive Adjectives for “Catholic”

Should Catholics ever add anything to the title “Catholic” in our self-identifications? *** Deacon Raymond Moon Sr.: Actually, it should only read Catholic [rather than “Traditional Catholic” from the meme]. In Church speak, there is no Traditional, Liberal, Conservative, Neo, Geo, Leo….there only is. I agree; however, in an age where “Catholic” oftentimes means little […]

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This “Old” Pro-Lifer [Mostly] Agrees with “New” Ones

Sarah Babbs is a fellow writer at Patheos. She wrote an article entitled, “Pro-Life: Have You Earned It?”, which is  largely a critique of what is called the “old” pro-life movement. As a proud member of that group since 1982, I thought I would highlight that our agreements are far greater and significant than any differences. I […]

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Abortion in the Bible?: Debate w Zealous Agnostic

[Agnostic Ed Babinski’s words will be in blue] *** In an earlier paper I made note of my post and portion of a book of mine (about 100 passages): “The Bible’s Teaching on Abortion.” [ME, in the last dialogue] Psalm 51:5 Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me. [What was […]

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My Mother, My Daughter, Myself

My daughter Anna Maria was born on Orthodox Easter Sunday—Pascha—in 2009. That year, the date fell on April 19. While her brother had blasted his way into the world at the very bottom of the night, in a delivery that was swift and surreal and unmedicated, my daughter arrived in the late afternoon as the […]

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Mary Was a Virgin During Jesus’ Birth (“In Partu”)

[for the necessary background, see my paper, Mary’s Perpetual Virginity “In Partu” (a Miraculous, Non-Natural Childbirth) is a Binding Catholic Dogma. The comments below were my related thoughts in a vigorous Facebook thread] *** 1. An intact hymen was how virginity was historically defined; not as simply the absence of intercourse. 2. An intact hymen means […]

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Virgin Birth & Perpetual Virginity: “Anti-Sex”?

[this started on a thread under an article of mine on the perpetual virginity of Mary. I paraphrase the words of my Protestant critic (first two exchanges). Then I had further public exchanges (below)] *** Protestant: It bothers me that perpetual virginity indicates an opinion that sex is sinful. I see. So you are equally […]

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On the Path to Freedom

First seder, Passover 5778. Esther recalls climbing Mt. Pisgah in the early ’80s. She was in her fifties. Visiting her daughter and son-in-law at the time and first grandchild. What did I know about climbing a mountain? she says. I was from Driggs Avenue, Brooklyn. We were walking behind some other hikers, women older than […]

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Dialogue on the Logic of Catholic Infallible Authority

Eric Svendsen is a prominent anti-Catholic polemicist. This discussion took place on Bishop “Dr.” [???] James White’s sola Scriptura discussion list, on 1 and 4 June 1996. Eric’s words will be in green; my older cited words in blue. *** I believe in inerrancy (always have). Is this your idea of an answer? Yes, Eric. Sorry if the honesty of […]

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Church Fathers on God & Emotions, & Anthropomorphism

[see the related paper, Anthropopathism and Anthropomorphism: Biblical Data] *** St. Ignatius of Antioch (50 – c. 110) * Look for Him who is . . . impalpable and impassible, yet who became passible on our account; and who in every kind of way suffered for our sakes . . . (Epistle to Polycarp, 3, 2; ANF, vol. 1; cf. Epistle […]

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The Skirt of God

Dear Saint Francis, I imagined I saw you today out of the upstairs window. Your cowl had slipped off your head, and you were fighting uselessly with the wind to put it back up again. The recently fallen leaves around your feet likely understood the inevitability of your struggle. Your habit, patched and torn and […]

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Church Fathers: God is Immutable, Simple, & Outside of Time

God the Father is Immutable (Unchangeable) and Doesn’t Change His Mind Aristides of Athens (fl. c. 140) . . . God, who is incorruptible and unchangeable and invisible, but who sees all things and changes them and alters them as He wills. (Apology, 4; in JUR-1, 49) St. Justin Martyr (100-165) * For they proclaim our madness […]

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Thoughts on God’s Omniscience, Immutability, & Timelessness

Foreknowledge and determination are two different things. I have a pretty good knowledge that the sun will rise tomorrow, but I don’t cause it. I am pretty sure that my three sons will rise out of bed tomorrow, and that they will play outside if it is nice. But I don’t cause that. So God […]

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Getting Lost on Good Friday

My Good Friday plans got hijacked by 11:00 a.m. I’d forgotten the big “marshmallow drop” (don’t ask), and suddenly we were rushing around the house finding shoes and coats and plastic bags so we could join several hundreds of our fellow Evanstonians at the park. While there, we ran into friends, who invited us to […]

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Chappaquiddick: Four Theories Briefly Considered

I’ve already seen the film. It was good. As an eleven-year-old in 1969 (when I was apolitical) I remember thinking that “the Kennedys have already suffered so much [RFK’s assassination was only a year earlier]. He had an unfortunate accident. We should have mercy on him!” Apparently the people in his state felt the same, […]

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Perpetual Virginity: Not “Intuitive” But Still True

The perpetual virginity of Mary “matters” because it was fitting and proper, and preserved the miracle of the virgin birth and the uniqueness of the incarnate God. If she had had other children, then that miracle would be doubted. And would anyone really want a brother Who was God? Talk about sibling conflicts and an inferiority […]

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Are Pope-Critics Evil? Reply to Karl Keating

This exchange with my friend Karl Keating: the father of the modern Catholic apologetics movement, occurred on my Facebook page, under my recent article, “Pope’s Chilean Abuse Apology Troubles Simcha Fisher.” Karl’s words will be in blue. *** The only good thing (if there is any) is that the true colors of the pope bashers are […]

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Poetry Friday: “The Sea Here, Teaching Me”

Moira Linehan’s powerful poem scarcely needs commentary; “The Sea Here, Teaching Me” becomes the experience it describes. Linehan turns familiar biblical images of comfort into images of desolation. The reader overhears the sea teaching how to pray, not to a god who is the Psalmist’s rock of refuge and protective fortress but to a “rock […]

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Pope’s Chilean Abuse Apology Troubles Simcha Fisher

Simcha writes in her article, “Pope Francis’ troubling apology” (4-11-18): The Pope’s apology is encouraging, but also troubling. He sets an irreplaceable example of how to respond humbly when confronted with personal error, but he also appears to deflect personal responsibility. We look forward to clarification, after he meets with the Chilean victims, about why […]

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Revisiting Moonrise Kingdom

“It’s the rhythm in rock music that summons the demons,” said the church community of my childhood. So I took my musical thrills where I could find them. In front of my grandfather’s turntable, I air-conducted Ferde Grofé’s “Grand Canyon Suite,” Prokofiev’s “Peter and the Wolf,” and Benjamin Britten’s “The Young Person’s Guide to the […]

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Replies to Critiques of Pope Francis (Dave Armstrong)

I have written a book defending Pope Francis as well, called Pope Francis Explained: Survey of Myths, Legends, and Catholic Defenses in Harmony with Tradition. That was published relatively early in his papacy (January 2014), but I think I still amply illustrate the false premises, dubious “facts” and inadequate logic and faulty interpretation often utilized in […]

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St. Paul: Far More of an “Insulter” Than Pope Francis

One hears this theme again and again from critics of Pope Francis. For example, my friend Fr. Peter Stravinskas stated about the pope’s Apostolic Exhortation, Gaudete et Exsultate, that “he can’t resist broadsides on his real/perceived enemies and goes on the attack”, and he decries “his dismissive attitude toward” the Catholic “Right.” I replied to him as […]

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The Problem with Spiritual Fruits

The band quit playing at church because our priest asked them to sing from the choir loft rather than the altar of St. Joseph in front of the sanctuary. They not only refused, they left the parish. At the music ministry meeting, the guitarist had said, “We get energy from the audience. If we are […]

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Singing Silence in A Far Country Near

“Without the traffic, silence / itself would sound red birdsong…” As I’m reading these lines in the poem “Seeing in Silence” in Murray Bodo’s latest volume, A Far Country Near: Poems New and Selected, I pause and ponder. How can silence “sound”? I could get literal and say that without traffic’s noise we can hear […]

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Pope Francis: All Life: Preborn and Born, is “Equally Sacred”

Pope Francis, in his Apostolic Exhortation, Gaudete et Exsultate, dated 3-19-18, stated: 101. The other harmful ideological error is found in those who find suspect the social engagement of others, seeing it as superficial, worldly, secular, materialist, communist or populist. Or they relativize it, as if there are other more important matters, or the only thing that […]

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Satan Referenced 24 Times in Gaudete et Exsultate

The following words, up to the five asterisks (with my blue highlighting), are all from Pope Francis’ Apostolic Exhortation, Gaudete et Exsultate, dated 3-19-18: *** 117. . . . Saint John of the Cross proposed a different path: “Always prefer to be taught by all, rather than to desire teaching even the least of all”.[96] And […]

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Prayer and the Reality of Distraction

Guest post by Deacon Dominic Cerrato, Ph.D. Director of the Pastoral Solutions Institute Spiritual Direction services If you’re anything like me, you’re easily distracted in prayer. I don’t think a day goes by when, praying the Divine Office, my mind doesn’t wander somewhere between the psalms and the reading. At times like these it’s not […]

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Stepping into the Virtual Realities of Ready Player One and God’s Not Dead

The best way to write about the third installment of God’s Not Dead is to write first about Steven Spielberg’s Ready Player One. Their unexpected but undeniable tie is the desire to see yourself onscreen and what that representation reveals. In Ready Player One, people spend their time in the virtual reality called the OASIS […]

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Council of Constance (1414-18): Triumph or Death of Conciliarism?

Did the popes in fact ratify, confirm, accept, approve the conciliarist decrees of the council of Constance? They did not. Here is the council of Constance’s decree Haec sancta (also known as Sacrosancta), promulgated on April 6, 1415: This holy synod of Constance, forming a general council for the extirpation of the present schism and […]

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“Everything Saved”: More Dim-Witted Bashing of Pope Re Hell

In October 2017, papal critic Sandro Magister wrote an article in L’Ezpresso Magazine (reprinted at the reactionary LifesiteNews site on 10-27-17 and the reactionary One Peter Five site on 10-20-17). He noted that the atheist Eugenio Scalfari, with whom the pope (inexplicably) keeps granting interviews, stated that the pope allegedly “has abolished the places where souls […]

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Poetry Friday: “To Begin With”

Wakefield’s poem presents the metaphor of a peach as the speaker’s body: “I’ll let the sun singe the peach, / my flesh, luxurious, ruined.” The image of the body as a soft fruit blurs the boundaries between human and nature, planting identity within context. In this way, “To Begin With” reminds me of Mark Strand’s […]

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Perpetual Virginity of Mary Mocked by James White

Don’t stretch the truth to the breaking point, or make it the reverse of what it is, Bishop White! In August or September 2007, someone who was close to becoming a Catholic, expressed to Bishop “Dr.” [???] James White (the most influential and well-known anti-Catholic polemicist of our time): “I would not have slept with the […]

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William Lane Craig’s Christological Errors (Monothelitism +)

Also: Biblical Evidence Against Monothelitism (Denial of Jesus’ Possession of Both Human and Divine Wills) For lengthy historical and theological background information, see: Catholic Encyclopedia: “Monothelitism and Monothelites,” written by John Chapman. Monothelitism was condemned as Christological heresy by the sixth ecumenical council at Constantinople, in 680-681. Pope Leo II confirmed (in 683) the conciliar decrees […]

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Baptismal Formula: Trinitarian or in Jesus’ Name Only?

It is often argued by those who deny the Trinity (groups such as the United Pentecostal Church or so-called “apostolic” Protestant denominations, corresponding to their Sabellian or “Oneness” Christology); also by a few trinitarian denominations that adopt a “Jesus only” baptismal formula, that Acts 2:38 provides us with the correct baptismal formula (i.e., the words […]

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Poetry at the Goodwill

When I was a soccer-obsessed fifteen-year-old, I had no use for poetry. I endured my school hours like a crated dog, waiting to get out on the field. One afternoon in the library, I picked up a random book of English verse and flipped through it. Eventually I landed on a song from Charles Kingsley’s […]

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http://www.patheos.com/blogs/goodletters/2018/04/poetry-at-the-goodwill-2/

Conversion to Catholicism: Reflections on its Complexity

Rationales for conversions might be consistent and even quite respectable, but (now I speak as a Catholic partisan) can be attacked on the presuppositional level. This is why I write so often about sola Scriptura and the Church and the crucial role of tradition. Every Christian must grapple with those issues one way or another. […]

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http://www.patheos.com/blogs/davearmstrong/2018/04/conversion-to-catholicism-reflections-on-its-complexity.html

“Re-Presentation” vs. “Re-Sacrifice” in the Mass: Doctrinal History

This dialogue with my highly esteemed friend, Lutheran pastor Ken Howes (LCMS), took place on my Facebook page. His words will be in blue. *** The Smalcald Articles are indeed quite hostile to the Catholic Mass. We do reject the doctrine on the sacrifice of the Mass, especially as it used to be expressed–that Christ […]

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http://www.patheos.com/blogs/davearmstrong/2018/04/re-presentation-vs-re-sacrifice-in-the-mass-doctrinal-history.html

Villanelles on Planes

I took several short flights this month, the kind in which going through security takes longer than the flight itself and you wonder if you should have just driven. But what you can’t do behind the wheel, if you want to get to your destination intact, is write poetry. I challenged myself to write a […]

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http://www.patheos.com/blogs/goodletters/2018/04/villanelles-on-planes/

Lutheran View of the Mass / Catholics & Lutheran Worship

Pastor Ben Maton (Lutheran – Missouri Synod [“LCMS”] ) serves at Immanuel Lutheran Church in Charlottesville, Virginia. His words will be in blue. * * * * * At one point, after documenting the Lutheran Confessions’ repudiation of the papistic mass, you claim this “jaded view” of Lutherans puts them “in the incoherent, odd position of agreeing that Catholicism is Christian, […]

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http://www.patheos.com/blogs/davearmstrong/2018/04/lutheran-view-of-the-mass-catholics-lutheran-worship.html

The Nature of the Church: Lutheran-Catholic Dialogue

Pastor Ben Maton (Lutheran – Missouri Synod [“LCMS”] ) serves at Immanuel Lutheran Church in Charlottesville, Virginia. His words will be in blue.  * * * * * Dear Dave (and the rest of cyberbia reading this stuff) — The Lord be with you! And thank-you for your patience in waiting for our reply. Larry [another Lutheran pastor […]

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http://www.patheos.com/blogs/davearmstrong/2018/04/the-nature-of-the-church-lutheran-catholic-dialogue.html

How Can I Speak of Haiti?

There’s nothing to say about Haiti. Even to begin, to start, to try, is to fall into cliches. The cliches of the poverty. The cliches of the beauty. The cliches of the complications. Even the cliche of talking about the cliches. You can’t write about Haiti without overdoing it. You also can’t write about Haiti […]

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http://www.patheos.com/blogs/goodletters/2018/04/how-can-i-speak-of-haiti/

My Coined Term, “Radical Catholic Reactionary”: Clarifications

Jim Brown: Don’t take this personally. But your use of the word “reactionary” seems designed to offend more often than to inform. I hear that every time. And every time I have to dig up my post where I very carefully define it. And then people either don’t read it, or if they do, they […]

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http://www.patheos.com/blogs/davearmstrong/2018/04/my-coined-term-radical-catholic-reactionary-clarifications.html

Lame Reactionary Anti-Francis “No Hell” Argument

I’ve come to expect lame arguments from fundamentalist anti-Catholics and atheists about Scripture: wooden literalism, butchery of context, inability or unwillingness to seek to understand the intent of the writer, cluelessness as to literary genre, eisegesis, etc. What’s sad is that radical reactionary Catholics do the same exact thing to the pope‘s words, and then […]

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http://www.patheos.com/blogs/davearmstrong/2018/04/lame-reactionary-anti-francis-no-hell-argument.html

Blade Runner 2049: Master Copy

For a long time I’ve said that the 1982 film Blade Runner is my favorite motion picture, though I’m really only a small-time devotee of science fiction. I find many examples of the genre fail to achieve its high calling by degenerating into childish self-indulgence. And movies that fit the category often run even further […]

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http://www.patheos.com/blogs/goodletters/2018/04/blade-runner-2049-master-copy/