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Sola Scriptura Today, even as in the time of the Reformation, thousands of Catholics worldwide are leaving Roman Catholicism for biblical Christianity. And once again, the rallying cry of the sixteenth century, Sola Scriptura, Scripture Alone, is being heard. Roman Catholic defenders have responded to this challenge by going on the offen­sive. A typical argument sounds something like this: The Bible cannot be the sole rule of faith, because the first Christians didn’t have the New Testament. Initially, Tradition, the oral teachings of the apostles, was the Church’s rule of faith. The New Testament came later when a portion of...

President Obama, during his National Prayer Breakfast speech, Thursday: "No god condones terror. No grievance justifies the taking of innocent lives or the oppression of those who are weaker of fewer in number." All people at all times and locations have the right to defend themselves from terror. Despite Obama's words that have clearly angered people, we can see the following as an example: Christians within the confines of the Byzantine Empire had a right to defend themselves from Muslims who terrorized them, but we all know that Pope Urban II could in no way possible know that anyone who...

October 3, 2014 Restless till We Rest in You by Mike Riccardi Many Christians recognize the name of Augustine of Hippo from his valiant defense of the biblical doctrine of divine sovereignty against the man-centered heresy of the British monk Pelagius. And we know that the Reformers made exceedingly frequent references to Augustine’s work as they fought against the man-centeredness of the Roman Catholic Church. But what many don’t know about Augustine was his consistent emphasis on the centrality of the affections—and particularly joy—in the believer’s life. In fact, he even defined love for God in terms of enjoying...

Rebutting the "Historical" Argument for the Roman Catholic Church By Timothy G. Enloe      Perhaps the most important aspect of the continuing controversies between Protestants and Catholics is the area of epistemology, or how we human beings know things--in this case, how we know divine truth.  The question "How do you know?" is central to the Catholic polemic as it is presented to Protestants by some of the former's ablest contemporary defenders. 1  Unfortunately, these apologists not only commit a fundamental error in the target they direct this attack against, but they also miss a fatal flaw in their...

Just before the Lord Jesus gave up His spirit upon the cross, He cried out, "It is finished!" (John 19:30). His sacrificial work of redemption was done. The Greek verb here is in the perfect tense. "It implies a process, but views that process as having reached its consummation and existing in a finished state." [1] In other words, the saving work of Christ was completed on the cross and continues in a state of completion. The verse can be translated: "It has been finished and stands complete" (John 19:30). [2]Roman Catholicism misrepresents the finished work of Christ on the...

Ooh,ooh, he said ‘chair’” – “Florilegia” (“assertions of authority”) vs. the Reformation discipline of Textual Criticism When you’ve been involved with the sort of Protestant-vs-Roman-Catholic argumentation that we deal with on a daily basis, it’s easy to discern some patterns. As Turretin noted in the 17th century, the Roman Catholic method of defending itself is to make a claim of over-arching authority; this claim is asserted and re-asserted, as if the re-assertion carries more weight than the original assertion. This method of argument-by-authority was very common in the early medieval years. In fact, the long lists of patristic citations that...

Since then we have a great high priest who has gone through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession –HEBREWS 4:14 This is a valuable text to consider. Its value is that it summarizes much of the teaching of the book of Hebrews. It enables us, in other words, to get a handle on the whole of Hebrews. Further, it provides us with this summary, not in a remote, academic way, but in a way that bears very directly on our lives. In particular, we will see, it has a crucial bearing on the...

The Protestant Reformation threw the Christian world into chaos. At the beginning of the 1400’s the Pope’s authority was absolute and the only means of salvation were the sacraments given under his auspices. There was a secular/sacred distinction that was ironclad, meaning that the priests and laity lived in practically two separate worlds. There was no concept of church membership, corporate worship, preaching, or Bible reading in the churches. And as far as doctrine was concerned, there was no debate—the creeds and declarations from Rome (and soon to be Avignon) were the law.Things had been this way for six hundred...

The articles in this series have surveyed church history from the book of Acts through the early Middle Ages, asking the question, “What did church leaders from the apostles through the church fathers believe about the essence of the gospel?” Time after time, we have found a common theme repeated: that sinners are justified before God by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone. That was the fundamental message recaptured during the Protestant Reformation. But how did this message get lost in history, such that the Reformation was necessary? The answer to that question is complex—because the shift took...

http://www.reformed.org/webfiles/antithesis/index.html?mainframe=/webfiles/antithesis/v1n5/ant_v1n5_why.html Why I Left Protestantism for Catholicism Jeffrey A. Tucker I am no fan of "conversion" essays, which are sometimes pompous and self-serving. My purpose is to achieve a greater spirit of mutual respect. How rare are Protestant conversions to Catholicism? More rare than reverse, but I know enough cases, including my own, to make the subject worth exploring. J.I. Packer recently wrote in Christianity Today (May 1989) that the contrast between the "zany wildness" of Protestantism and the "at-homeness" of Catholicism alone is sufficient to explain conversions to Catholicism. It is the only Church that can, and does, claim...

February 2, 2015 Let me start by saying that it’s not wrong for a new believer to be immature any more than it’s wrong for a child to be childish.Puerility is only annoying in an adult. When a four year old dons a cape and wears his underwear over his pants, claiming x-ray vision it’s cute. When his dad does that it’s concerning (or certifiable).When you’ve been a believer for many years though, lack of these indicators should be concerning.Mature believers possess these 5 indicators…1. An Appetite for MeatIt’s good to enjoy the milk of the gospel with every meal....

February 3, 2015In what way was Jesus ‘made sin’ on the cross? by Nathan Busenitz Yesterday, as I was reading through portions of Martin Luther’s commentary on Galatians, I came across the following:“Christ took upon Himself our sins, not by constraint, but of His own good will, in order to bear the punishment and wrath of God: not for the sake of His own person (which was just and invincible, and was not in any way guilty), but for our person. So by means of a joyous substitution, He took upon Himself our sinful person, and gave to us His innocent and victorious person: with which we, being now clothed,...

The Benefits of the Cross As believers in Christ, we know that Jesus Christ died on the cross for people’s sins. But many do not know that the forgiveness of our sins is not the end of the story. The benefits of the cross are much more: Not only has Jesus freed believers from all condemnation, but we have a whole new identity, according to John 1:12 and 2 Corinthians 5:17. He has given us purpose, power, and hope to live here on Earth now!Eternal life is not just about Heaven; it starts as soon as you accept Christ. Jesus’ purpose was to preach and...

In Part 5 of this series, we considered the testimony of thirteen early Christian leaders—from Clement of Rome to Augustine of Hippo—each of whom affirmed the doctrine of justification by faith alone. This installment will pick up where we left off, surveying another dozen historical church leaders on this important topic.We will begin with Jerome, the foremost scholar of the late-fourth, early-fifth century. As a noted linguist and Bible translator (whose work on the Latin Vulgate is still highly regarded today), Jerome’s testimony represents the height of Christian scholarship before the medieval period. 14.  Jerome (347–420): We are saved by...

Morning and Evening Charles H. Spurgeon February 6, 2015 Morning Reading Praying always. —Ephesians 6:18 What multitudes of prayers we have put up from the first moment when we learned to pray. Our first prayer was a prayer for ourselves; we asked that God would have mercy upon us, and blot out our sin. He heard us. But when He had blotted out our sins like a cloud, then we had more prayers for ourselves. We have had to pray for sanctifying grace, for constraining and restraining grace; we have been led to crave for a fresh assurance of faith,...

A Missouri church that recently voted to leave Presbyterian Church (USA) over the mainline Protestant denomination's stance on homosexuality is facing a legal battle to keep its property, which is estimated to be worth over $6 million. Bonhomme Presbyterian Church of Chesterfield decided to disaffiliate from its PCUSA regional body, the Presbytery of Giddings Lovejoy, last October. Tom Pfizenmaier, senior pastor of Bonhomme Presbyterian Church, told The Christian Post that the decision was made due to "longstanding theological differences with the denomination." "The denominational drift away from our biblical, confessional and reformed understanding of Christ's person and work, coupled with...

VESTAVIA HILLS, Ala. (WIAT) — Wade Griffith was terrified and visibly nervous when he stood in front of his congregation on September 15th, 2013. “I was physically shaking, but I was compelled by what God had put on my heart to do,” Griffith said. “It was a situation where I didn’t really have any other choice.” Griffith, who is the pastor at Liberty Crossings United Methodist Church, was speaking to his congregation about homosexuality, and more specifically, how he didn’t view it as a sin. “Out of concern for integrity, I shared with the congregation my heart,” he said. “They...

2,579 Catholic priests, seminarians, and religious were deported from across Europe to the Dachau concentration camp, according to a newly published French book. 1,034 of them, 868 of whom were Polish, died there. According to Guillaume Zeller’s La Baraque des prêtres, Dachau, 1938-1945, the priests included German priests who spoke out against euthanasia, Polish priests who were considered part of Poland’s elite, French priests who resisted the Nazis, and a French bishop who aided the Jews. “The Dachau camp remains the largest cemetery of Catholic priests in the world,” said Zeller in an interview with Le Figaro. They “maintained their...

While Benedict XVI made it easier for Anglicans in disagreement with the “liberal” direction of their Church to enter into the Catholic Church, Francis is not, he prefers that they remain where they are. The revelations of two Anglican friends of the popeROME, February 2, 2015 – The ordination of the first female bishop of the Church of England, carried out in York last week (see photo), brought lively reactions from those who did not did not accept the breach and for this reason might even abandon the Anglican Communion and enter the Catholic Church, as others of them have...

Shortly after the Reformation began, in the first few years after Martin Luther posted the Ninety-Five Theses on the church door at Wittenberg, he issued some short booklets on a variety of subjects. One of the most provocative was titled The Babylonian Captivity of the Church. In this book Luther was looking back to that period of Old Testament history when Jerusalem was destroyed by the invading armies of Babylon and the elite of the people were carried off into captivity. Luther in the sixteenth century took the image of the historic Babylonian captivity and reapplied it to his era...