That they [Romanists] cry up a private, unproved, unwritten tradition of their own, as of equal authority with this safe and full rule, which is contained in this written Word of God. Their crime and fault may be considered, partly with respect . . . Continue reading →
Romanism
Francis Does Not Understand The Gospel
To reduce this verse to material poverty is to fail to grasp the significance of Christ’s incarnation. Money has nothing to do with the gospel. When Francis says material poverty is integral to the gospel, he is robbing people of the true . . . Continue reading →
Pietists And Romanists Together
In 1994 a notable collection of Evangelicals and Roman Catholics, or Romanists, signed the first in a series of documents known as “Evangelicals and Catholics Together.” In a couple of places, Reformation 21 and First Things the beginning of those discussions are . . . Continue reading →
Heidelberg 54: We Confess A Holy Catholic Church
In Heidelberg Catechism 54 we say: 54. What do you believe concerning the “Holy Catholic Church”? That, out of the whole human race, from the beginning to the end of the world, the Son of God, by His Spirit and Word, gathers, . . . Continue reading →
How To Avoid Rome’s Gnostic Response To Gnosticism
… like Augustine, we do not disparage the value of the witness of the people of God to the canon. We value the ministry of the church in this as in all things. But we deny that the church in its offices . . . Continue reading →
What Do We Mean When We Say “Holy Catholic Church”?
Clinton writes to ask what we mean when we say, in the Apostles’ Creed, “I believe a holy catholic church.” He reports that some of his friends will not read the Apostles’ Creed, the Athanasian Creed, or the Heidelberg Catechism because they . . . Continue reading →
Rick Warren And Catholics Together
Darryl Hart has a thought-provoking post today on Rick Warren’s recent comments about what Rome and Protestants have in common. Warren’s comments are a sterling reminder of the importance of knowing our church history. Yes, Christians of all the major traditions receive . . . Continue reading →
Imputation Works Both Ways
Even so, the magisterium has some explaining to do if you can swallow the idea that humans come into the world with the guilt of Adam’s sinful estate and then object to Protestants drawing a line between the imputation of Adam’s sin . . . Continue reading →
Honoring But Not Venerating
Obj. 1. The saints, on account of their virtues, are to be honored with the worship either of adoration (λατρεια) or of veneration (δουλεια). But it is not in the former sense that they are to be worshipped; because this form of . . . Continue reading →
Heidelberg 29–30: No Other Name (3): All Or Nothing
Since the garden humans have faced the temptation to listen to an authority claiming to compete with God’s authority. Since the beginning voices have questioned, “has God really said?” Since the beginning voices have raised doubts about whether there is really one . . . Continue reading →
The Babylonian Captivity Of The Papacy
On February 28, 2013, Pope Benedict XVI abdicated the papacy. Six days later, Jorge Mario Bergoglio, a Jesuit priest and archbishop of Buenos Aires, was elected by the College of Cardinals and installed as Pope Francis I, bringing to a conclusion a remarkable series . . . Continue reading →
The Cadaver Synod
“…this see of St. Peter always remains unblemished by any error”—Vatican I, Session 4 (July, 1870), cap. IV.6. …A man of exceptional intelligence, exemplary life, and strict asceticism (the only fault alleged against him was ambition), Formosus had bitter and relentless foes . . . Continue reading →
John Paul II, Sister, & Billy Sunday
Yet with Rome, the grandeur and spectacle of it all somehow overwhelms and masks the fact that its trading on fundamentally the same motive that drives TMZ. It’s easy to make fun of the extremes of Americana religion, with Sister Aimee riding . . . Continue reading →
Calvin: Who Is Faithful To The Church Fathers?
Moreover, they unjustly set the ancient fathers against us (I mean the ancient writers of a better age of the church) as if in them they had supporters of their own impiety. If the contest were to be determined by patristic authority, . . . Continue reading →
The Pope’s Magic Beads
Pope Francis confessed Thursday that he took the rosary cross of his late confessor from his casket and wears it to this day in a fabric pouch under his cassock. He said he did so telling the late priest, “Give me half . . . Continue reading →
Rome: “Pay Now Or Pay Later”
(HT: Dabney Olguin) More On This Topic Selling Indulgences In Case You’re Worried About Purgatory Indulgences Are Back Has The Roman Doctrine of Justification Changed? The Treasury Of The Church
Justification And Sanctification: Conjoined, Coherent, But Distinct
For he means, that not an individual among mankind will be found in whom the promise of salvation may be accomplished, if it involves the condition of innocence; and that faith, if it is propped up by works, will instantly fall. This . . . Continue reading →
Telling The Truth To A Skeptical Millennial Village
Most of the students I teach are so-called Millennials. A few generations ago Americans were raised by parents. Then they were raised by the television. This generation was raised by the computer and related (mostly mobile) media. As Thomas de Zengotita has . . . Continue reading →
Calvin: Rome Is A Bird With Borrowed Feathers
Having ascertained Paul’s meaning, let us return to the Papists. First, by applying this eulogium to themselves, they act wickedly; because they deck themselves with borrowed feathers. For, granting that the Church were elevated above the third heaven, I maintain that it . . . Continue reading →
Christ Is The Mark
…Christ is the mark whereat faith must aim; and, therefore, men’s minds do nothing else but wander when they turn aside from him. Therefore, no marvel if all the divinity of Popery be nothing else but an huge lump and horrible labyrinth; . . . Continue reading →