When people talk about the reformation in the 16th century they’re eager to find photo-Protestants who lived in centuries prior who had similar ideas. The names that usually come up are Huss, Wycliffe, and Gottschalk. There have been attempts to make St. Augustine and St. Thomas Aquinas into proto-Protestants but anyone familiar with their theology can debunk these claims in a second. So who was the true proto-Protestant?
Category Archives: Catholicism
I was on Reason and Theology
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On Saturday I made an appearance on the show Reason and Theology. They invited me on to talk about the early Roman episcopate. As some of you may know, there is a revisionist theory that there was no early monarchial bishop at the Church of Rome. I have written several articles in the last six weeks in support of this position. This was in preparation for the interview.
The Soteriology of Clement of Rome
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I’ve been reading a lot of the apostolic fathers recently as I’m doing research on the early ecclesiology of the Catholic Church. As you know, many Protestants looking into 19th century pseudo-scholarship have fallen into the trap of thinking that the Roman episcopate didn’t exist until the mid 2nd century. This includes Jerry Walls and James White. However, I noticed something else in Clement’s soteriology that I hadn’t caught before. Let me share it with you.
The Ballad of Anthony Buzzard….and Agency
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I remember the first time that I heard Anthony Buzzard talk about Unitarianism. I won’t lie, I was impressed. He seemed like a worthy opponent. If anyone was going to refute the Trinity, it wasn’t the JWs, it was him. Now I listen to him and I shake my head at how bad his arguments are. Even his old arguments that seemed powerful really don’t carry that much weight.
James White’s beliefs are in the Early Church
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When we look back at Church history we see that the 16th century often brought beliefs back that had been discarded. James White would be proud of this. However, who held these beliefs? Was it the early Catholic Church or was it the heretical sects? Let’s look at three examples using the early Church historian Socrates of Constantinople.
Musings on Valid Baptisms, Protestantism, and Eastern Orthodoxy
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Christianity received a large influx of converts in the fourth century. At the beginning of the fourth century the Roman Empire was majority pagan but by the end it was majority Christian. At the same time, the fourth century was going through the Arian crisis. Many of the pagan converts into Christianity initially came in as Arians and became Catholic when the crisis was over. Did they have to get re-baptized? Here is what Pope Siricius said in his letter to Himerius:
Pope Leo the Great – The only good Pope according to Ken Temple
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We have good news ladies and gentlemen. Protestant apologist Ken Temple has admitted that there was a good Pope. A couple posts ago he said the following in the comments section:
The only good bishop of Rome was Leo 1, because of his Tome on the 2 natures of Christ.
Dr. Bill Warner’s Thesis Confirmed
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I recently listened to a podcast with an Ex-Muslim who is now Catholic. Praise God that she rejected Muhammad and replaced him with Jesus Christ. In her story, she talked about how her friend knew a priest was going to visit her country which is in the Middle East. They arranged to meet the priest but he discouraged them from baptism and conversion.
Apostasy: Trent or Constantinople?
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I often have debates on Twitter with a reformed Baptist named Ken Temple. He often comments on this blog as well. It’s all in good fun. One thing that he has pointed out is that the Catholic Church went apostate during the Council of Trent. This is because the doctrine of Sola Fide was officially condemned at this ecumenical council.
Why Didn’t St. Ignatius Mention the Bishop of Rome?
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This will be a follow up to my last article where I deal with St. Ignatius. As everyone knows, there are seven early epistles of St. Ignatius to various churches in the Roman Empire. In his letter to the Church of Rome, he doesn’t address the bishop at the beginning of his letter. He addresses the bishop of the city in his other letters. Why didn’t he mention the bishop of the Church of Rome?