Luther: “All” Lutherans “Indulge” in “License” & “Vices”

July 10, 2024 By Dave Armstrong

+ Luther’s ignoring of the biblical motif of “You will know them by their fruits” (Matthew 7:16) The following is drawn from The Interpretation of the Second Psalm (March 1532), derived from the transcription of the “indefatigable scribe” Georg Rörer (1492-1557), possibly also from the notes of Veit Dietrich (1506-1549), who prepared it for publication in 1546 (see the Introduction in Luther’s Works, Vol. 12, viii). Since it is included in a set called Luther’s Works, the editors evidently concluded... Read more

Luther Feared Lutherans “Even Worse Than Papists”

July 10, 2024 By Dave Armstrong

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From Martin Luther’s Thirty-Second Sermon, on Matthew 23:14, preached sometime “after March 27 and before September 25, 1538” (Luther’s Works, Vol. 68 [2014], 168-173): Now people do not give anything at all when the Gospel is being preached and people can pray correctly. Now they can find a pastor who does more than all the pope’s bishops, but they give him only about ten gulden. No one wants to give now, and if we did not have the stolen property of... Read more

1 Esdras, Trent, the Canon, & James Swan

July 8, 2024 By Dave Armstrong

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Anti-Catholic Reformed Protestant apologist James Swan is again trying to make polemical and rhetorical hay out of a supposed dispute between myself and a fellow Catholic lay apologist; in this instance, my very good friend, Gary Michuta. He calls this post, “Why the Canon Is Closed According to Roman Catholic Apologists, and Why the Canon is Not Closed According to Roman Catholic Apologists” (3-14-12). Here is most of it: You can’t make this stuff up: The Canon is closed: “Scripture... Read more

Is the Onan Story About Contraception?

July 8, 2024 By Dave Armstrong

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In his article, “Roman Catholic Confusion on Contraception in the Bible” (3-15-12), anti-Catholic Reformed Protestant apologist James Swan observed: You can’t make this stuff up: Genesis 38 is about contraception: Bottom line is that God killed Onan for some reason. The only plausible reason we have from the text itself is contraception. A straightforward reading of the text lends itself readily to that interpretation (though not absolutely of logical necessity).[source] Genesis 38 is not about contraception: “In the case of... Read more

SCOTUS Decision on Homelessness: Highlights

July 6, 2024 By Dave Armstrong

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The decision in the case, City of Grants Pass, Oregon v. Johnson Et Al was written by Justice Gorsuch, joined by the other five legally “conservative” Justices. Note that it wasn’t the Supreme Court’s task to solve the problem of homelessness. It simply overturned a lower court ruling that disallowed enforcement of the prohibition of ongoing occupation of public property. Justice Gorsuch explains why such a prohibition actually helps the homeless, rather than harm them. I won’t bother to add... Read more

James Swan is Clueless Re Purgatory & Development

July 5, 2024 By Dave Armstrong

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Anti-Catholic Reformed Protestant polemicist James Swan (his words in blue below) is up to his old tricks again. This time, he attempts to cynically draw a line between Catholic scholars and lay Catholic apologists (including myself). His argument is that all we apologists do is dogmatically assert with insufficient reason that 2 Maccabees 12:41-46 self-evidently asserts purgatory in its full developed dogmatic meaning or proves that doctrine, whereas Catholic scholars (he provides the example of noted Franciscan theologian and Bonaventure... Read more

Sola Scriptura: Reply #2 to Keith Mathison

July 5, 2024 By Dave Armstrong

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Presbyterian Keith A. Mathison (M.A. Reformed Theological Seminary; Ph.D. Whitefield Theological Seminary) is the author of The Shape of Sola Scriptura (Moscow, Idaho: Canon Press, 2001): a book that many Protestants and Catholics alike believe to be the best recent defense of sola Scriptura. In 2012, I wrote a reply-article, “Solo” Scriptura vs. Sola Scriptura: Reply to Keith Mathison, which was in response to Keith’s article, “A Critique of the Evangelical Doctrine of Solo Scriptura“ (which in turn was taken from his book: pp. 237-253).... Read more

Works & Salvation: Luther vs. Scripture

July 4, 2024 By Dave Armstrong

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Martin Luther, the founder of Protestantism, believed that works played no direct role in salvation or justification. Faith derived from God’s grace is what saves. He also taught at the same time (as I have documented at length) that good works are absolutely necessary in the Christian life, as a verification of authentic faith, and flow out of gratefulness for a justification imputed wholly apart from them. His view is very clear in the following comments, all from one work,... Read more

Pelagian Erasmus? (Fr. McSorley’s False Accusations)

July 2, 2024 By Dave Armstrong

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Anti-Catholic Reformed Protestant James Swan dug up a book, Catholic Scholars Dialogue With Luther (Chicago: Loyola University Press, 1970; edited by Jared Wicks, SJ), and highlighted Harry J. McSorley, C.S.P.’s chapter, “Erasmus versus Luther- Compounding the Reformation Tragedy.” His goal was to “prove” that Erasmus was a Pelagian or Semi-Pelagian (variations of the heresy of “works-salvation”), who supposedly denied the Catholic Church’s official teachings on grace. As usual with Swan and Anything Catholic, he was dead wrong. He cited McSorley... Read more

Did Luther’s Excommunication Misrepresent Him?

July 1, 2024 By Dave Armstrong

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This is what the anti-Catholic Calvinist James Swan claims in his article, “How Accurate was Exsurge Domine in Refuting Martin Luther?” (Boors All, 4-24-10). Martin Luther’s words will be in blue, Hans Hillerbrand’s in green, and Pope Leo X’s in purple. Swan wrote: I’m going to explain why you’re not alone if you’re not sure what was going on in the Ninety Five Theses or what exactly Luther was saying at the time that so infuriated Rome. It appears Rome... Read more