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By Faith Alone: The Conversion of Martin Luther by Susan Verstraete     It was the moment he had been waiting for. His father was in the audience watching, as were his fellow monks. It was time for Martin to offer his first mass, and he was overwhelmed with the solemnity of the event. He led the congregation, saying, “We offer unto Thee, the living, the true, the eternal God.” Suddenly Martin froze. He couldn’t go on. He later wrote:“At these words I was utterly stupefied and terror-stricken. I thought to myself, ‘With what tongue shall I address such...

Just got back from "Do You Believe?". It is excellent. There were so few people in the theatre though, and that was sad but I'm hoping that word will spread and people will pack the theatres to see it. It is so worth it! I was struck by some pretty good names, in the scheme of things, that appeared in the movie. Maybe not A list stars but not no names either. Gives me a little hope that Hollyweird is not completely hopeless. Mira Sorvino, Cybill Shepard, Ted McGinley, Brian Bosworth.... Also, the trailers had some good previews of other...

[1]A crowd of naysayers that ranged from her cousin in the state of Washington, to Buddhist leaders in Boise, Colo., to a rabbi in Nevada has called on Idaho Sen. Sheryl “Sherry” Nuxoll (R) to apologize for calling Hinduism a “false faith with false gods.”While the self-described mother, housewife and co-manager of a farm/ranch in Cottonwood, Idaho, has admitted she could have turned a better phrase, she has refused to say the words many people want to hear: “I’m sorry.”Senators Not Happy with Decision to Open with Hindu Prayer Nuxoll and two other Republicans refused to attend the opening...

Christianity is a dying relic of an ancient past. The Internet is killing it. Science is killing it. Western sophistication is killing it. Right? [correct] Wrong. [incorrect] In many ways, Christianity is on the rise as never before—worldwide, and in America [disagree]. Here are the ways we can tell: 1. Christianity is growing by leaps and bounds worldwide. The research shows Christian numbers rising, not falling worldwide. "Christianity should enjoy a worldwide boom in the coming decades, but the vast majority of believers will be neither white nor European, nor Euro-American," writes Philip Jenkins of Baylor University, author of "The...

What a wonderfully faithful girl. That doesn’t mean that we shouldn’t destroy evil when it threatens innocents, we should, but we should always remember to pray for our enemies for all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. Let’s hope and pray they get some relief from the.....

The New Testament is clear about the nature of saving faith. “For we maintain that a man is justified by faith apart from works of the Law” (Romans 3:28). “A man is not justified by the works of the Law but through faith in Christ Jesus . . . since by the works of the Law no flesh will be justified” (Galatians 2:16). “But when the kindness of God our Savior and His love for mankind appeared, He saved us, not on the basis of deeds which we have done in righteousness, but according to His mercy, by the washing...

The claim that justification comes sola fide was central to the debates of the Reformation. When the matter of sola fide is raised, however, attention tends to focus on the first of these words: alone. We remember that the reformers taught that justification is by faith alone while Roman Catholics countered that justification is by faith and good works. Thus, it may seem, both sides affirmed the importance of faith, but disagreed simply on whether anything had to be added to faith in order to secure justification. This is true in a sense-both sides did speak of the necessity of...

Faith God's Truth in Our Souls  Perhaps you remember how back when we were discussing the Cardinal Virtues, the first on the list was Prudence, because it was the virtue of knowledge, and knowledge must always come before all other activities. You have to know what to do before you can do it. The same is true on the supernatural level: you have to have a supernatural perspective before you can live a supernatural life. That supernatural perspective is faith.  -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Faith as Belief  -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The notion of faith is hard to get a handle on initially, so to start out...

"in purgatory the souls of those 'who died in the charity of God and truly repentant, but who had not made satisfaction with adequate penance for their sins and omissions,' are cleansed after death with punishments designed to purge away their debt." - Second Vatican Council, "Sacred Liturgy", "Apostolic Constitution on the Revision of Indulgences", no. 3 "For Christ also died for sins once for all, the just for the unjust, in order that He might bring us to God" - 1 Peter 3:18 The Roman Catholic Church teaches that Christians may have to suffer in Purgatory before going to...

Fr. Terry is a priest in the Diocese of Arlington, Virginia. Raised in the Baptist Church, he was later very active in the Assembly of God church before finding his way home to the Catholic Church at the age of 26. He graduated from Virginia Tech in 1986 with a B.S. degree in Electrical Engineering. In 1995 he graduated from St. Charles Borromeo Seminary, Overbrook, PA, with a Master of Divinity and a Master of Arts. That same year he was ordained a priest for the Arlington Diocese. He is the brother of Catholic apologist Tim Staples.

We know what happens when Scott Walker musters an “I don’t know” about Barack Obama’s religious faith. The wrath of the media comes down howling “how dare you!” But what happens when Scott Walker’s faith is the subject of ridicule by a prominent left-wing publication and a former staffer for Russ Feingold and the Democratic Party of Wisconsin?

Godly sorrow produces repentance leading to salvation… —2 Corinthians 7:10 Conviction of sin is best described in the words:My sins, my sins, my Savior, How sad on Thee they fall.Conviction of sin is one of the most uncommon things that ever happens to a person. It is the beginning of an understanding of God. Jesus Christ said that when the Holy Spirit came He would convict people of sin (see John 16:8). And when the Holy Spirit stirs a person’s conscience and brings him into the presence of God, it is not that person’s relationship with others that bothers him...

Political Wire publisher Taegan Goddard got a lot of flack on Twitter after mocking Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker for claiming he could discern God’s will, only to admit that he had no idea Christians believed they could communicate with God through prayer. It all began with a rather snarky tweet about Walker’s comments that he was still waiting for “God’s calling” before he announced a presidential run. [snip] As Goddard received criticism from religious followers, he shot back at critics by claiming that he wasn’t showing disdain for people of faith, even as his tone became more and more sarcastic....

 “[Mankind] is under condemnation: ‘As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one: there is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God. They are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable; there is none that doeth good, no, not one’ (Rom. 3:10-12). Man is not on trial; he is a culprit under sentence. No pleading will avail; no excuses will be accepted. The present issue between God and the sinner is, will man bow to God’s righteous verdict?This is where the Gospel meets us. It comes to us as to...

Whether President Barack Obama is truly a Christian has been a hot topic for debate recently, especially after the mainstream media attempted to trip up pro-life Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker on the question. The question of whether anyone is truly a Christian person has more to do with faith than anything else. Does the person in question truly have an authentic relationship with Jesus Christ and acknowledged the fact that he died on the cross to save humanity from our sins and bridge the gap sin caused between ourselves and God. While that question has more to do with worldview...

O despairing souls, the arms of mercy are open to receive a Manasseh, a monster, a devil incarnate; he caused that gospel prophet Isaiah to be sawed in the midst with a saw, as some rabbis say; he turned aside from the Lord to commit idolatry, and caused his sons to pass through the fire, and dealt with familiar spirits, and made the streets of Jerusalem to overflow with innocent blood, 2 Chron. 33:1-15.The soul of Mary Magdalene was full of devils ; and yet Christ cast them out, and made her heart his house, his presence chamber, Luke 7:47....

Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered up Isaac his son on the altar? You see that faith was working with his works, and as a result of the works, faith was perfected; and the Scripture was fulfilled which says, “And Abraham believed God, and it was reckoned to him as righteousness,” and he was called the friend of God. You see that a man is justified by works and not by faith alone. (2:21–24) As noted in the Introduction, the first phrase of verse 21 was a severe stumbling block to Martin Luther. He...

Most people understand that doing evil can keep us out of heaven. But few realize the Bible also teaches that doing good cannot get us in. None of us could ever gain enough merit to deserve heaven. We are sinful, and God's standard is utter perfection. Jesus said, "Unless your righteousness exceeds the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven" (Matthew 5:20). He added, "you are to be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect."Then who can be saved?The disciples asked Jesus this same question (Matthew 19:25). His answer? "With...

“Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.” —Acts 4:12J.C. Ryle,No one can be saved from sin, its guilt, power, and consequences,—excepting by Jesus Christ…No one can have peace with God the Father,—obtain pardon in this world, and escape wrath to come in the next,—excepting through the atonement and mediation of Jesus Christ.In Christ alone God’s rich provision of salvation for sinners is treasured up: by Christ alone God’s abundant mercies come down from Heaven to earth. Christ’s blood alone, can cleanse us; Christ’s righteousness...

HELL by R.C. Sproul We have often heard statements such as “War is hell” or “I went through hell.” These expressions are, of course, not taken literally. Rather, they reflect our tendency to use the word hell as a descriptive term for the most ghastly human experience possible. Yet no human experience in this world is actually comparable to hell. If we try to imagine the worst of all possible suffering in the here and now we have not yet stretched our imaginations to reach the dreadful reality of hell.Hell is trivialized when it is used as a common curse...