I drew this from an article in The Catholic World Report, of which it was a portion: “The reign of Pope Francis in retrospect: A Catholic World Report symposium” (4-22-25). Dr. Fastiggi is a good friend of mine, and I’ve asked him for his scholarly advice regarding many of my articles. ***** In n. 204 of his Major Catechism (Catechismo Maggiore) of 1905, Pope St. Pius X raises the question: “Come deve comportarsi ogni cattolico verso il Papa” [How should each Catholic... Read more
Lucas Banzoli is a very active Brazilian anti-Catholic polemicist, who holds to basically a Seventh-day Adventist theology, whereby there is no such thing as a soul that consciously exists outside of a body, and no hell (soul sleep and annihilationism). He has a Master’s degree in theology, a degree and postgraduate work in history, a license in letters, and is a history teacher, author of 27 self-published books, as well as blogmaster for six blogs. He has many videos on YouTube. This is my 68th refutation of Banzoli’s... Read more
Charles Gore (1853–1932) was a bishop in the Church of England (at Worcester, Birmingham, and Oxford), one of the most influential Anglican theologians of the 19th century, and author of many books. I am replying to his well-known volume, Roman Catholic Claims (London: Rivingtons, 2nd ed., 1889), specifically to chapter V: “The Promise to St. Peter” (pp. 71-88). His words will be in blue. I use RSV for Bible citations. ***** To this promise of Christ to St. Peter [Matt.... Read more
The following was drawn from my debate / book, Justification: A Catholic Perspective (Aug. 2023), vs. the Brazilian Calvinist Francisco Tourinho. We discussed the book of James at great length, and for some time I’ve been meaning to compile those portions, because the topic often comes up in debates on justification. I will be excerpting my words only, with slight editing. I use RSV for Bible citations. Breaks in the texts / citations will be noted by five asterisks. *****... Read more
Including Two Examples of Luther’s Espousal of Capital Punishment for Wrong or Aberrant Behavior Prior to 1530 It’s commonly thought by students of 16th-century Christianity (who have an adequate knowledge of the historical facts) that Martin Luther advocated tolerance towards belief-systems and behaviors contrary to what he thought was Christian, and prior to 1530 (i.e., in the first twelve years or so of his proclaimed “reformation”); thus was opposed to persecution up to and including execution on these grounds. Many... Read more
Photo credit: Frontispiece of the first English translation of Martin Luther’s Table Talk, edited by Captain Henry Bell and published in London in 1652 [public domain / Wikimedia Commons] Table Talk (in its many forms, of various levels of accuracy) purports to be transcriptions of utterances by Martin Luther, the founder of Protestantism. It’s not, technically, his own writing. All agree on that. I’d like to cite at some length, the Introduction to volume 54 of the 55-volume edition of... Read more
Does “Works of the Law” Refer to All Good Works Whatsoever? Heinrich Bullinger (1504-1575), a Calvinist leader in early Protestantism, or “reformer”, after citing Galatians 2:16, wrote the following in his most significant work, Decades (1551; rep. Cambridge University Press, 1849; first and second decades): This is now the third time that Paul saith, that men are not justified by the works of the law: in the which clause he comprehendeth all manner of works of what sort soever. (p.... Read more
The Anglo-Irish clergyman and scholar Richard Frederick Littledale (1833-1890) wrote a book called Plain Reasons Against Joining the Church of Rome (London: Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge, 1881), which I will critique. His words will be in blue. I use RSV for biblical citations. ***** We have only four examples in the New Testament of acts of reverence being done to Saints, and in all these cases they were promptly rejected and forbidden, showing that they were offensive to the... Read more
Revelation 5:8 (Elders) and Revelation 8:3-4 (Angels) Are Undeniably Involved with “the Prayers of the Saints” Revelation 5:8 (RSV) . . . the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb, each holding a harp, and with golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints; Revelation 8:3-4 And another angel came and stood at the altar with a golden censer; and he was given much incense to mingle with the prayers... Read more
Karl August von Hase (1800-1890) was a German Lutheran theologian and church historian, who was a professor of theology at Jena from 1829 to 1883, and the great-grandfather of Dietrich Bonhoeffer. He wrote many books; his most influential one being A History of the Christian Church (1834; 12th edition, 1900). I will be critiquing one portion of the first volume of von Hase’s two-volume work (one / two), Handbook to the Controversy with Rome (1862; 7th edition, 1900; English translation... Read more
Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In