We tend to think of today as an age of apostasy where priests and bishops will compromise the faith at the drop of a hat. To a large extent many bishops are like that but was it always like that? It’s been like this largely for the last 700 years. Religion started to decline around 1300 and it has never been the same since. I’ll give two prime examples. One from the Catholic Church and one from the Eastern Orthodox Church.
Category Archives: Uncategorized
Adam, Iblis, and the Cross
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One feature of both the Quran and the Bible is that they narrate certain things multiple times. This is good for historical study because we can look at certain events from multiple angles and learn more about it. A good example is Mark 8: 27 – 33 and Matthew 16: 13 – 23. Both narrate the same event but Matthew gives more details.
Allah Loves the Bible
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We keep hearing from our Muslim friends that the Bible is corrupt. I’ve got an exercise for anyone reading this post. Read the first three Surahs of the Quran. Surah 1 will take you about 15 seconds to read but 2 and 3 will take a while. Each time you see the previous scriptures referenced, record the verse mentioned and write positive, neutral, or negative beside it depending on how it talks about the previous scriptures.
Bart Ehrman Refuted: The Gospels Aren’t Anonymous
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P4 with the title Gospel of Matthew on it
Many liberal scholars like to claim that the four Gospels of the New Testament are anonymous; that the names Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John were written much later and by different people. Bart Ehrman likes to beat this drum and Muslims seem to uncritically accept these conclusions.
Pope Liberius and Socrates of Constantinople
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During the quarantine, I’ve been on a Church history binge. I’ve really gone about reading primary sources. This includes major histories from the patristic era but not only. There seem to be four main sources of the pre-Chalcedonian Church. These are Eusebius, Theodoret, Socrates, and Sozomen. Eusebius’ historical account goes from Jesus Christ to just before the Council of Nicaea. The other three didn’t feel a need to repeat the good work of Eusebius. Instead they continued from where he left off.
James White, Mitch Pacwa, and the big Catholic book collection
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Back in the day, James White had a debate with a Jesuit named Fr. Mitch Pacwa. This particular debate was on the doctrine of Sola Scriptura. I didn’t watch the debate but I’ve seen other Sola Scriptura debates with White on this same topic; mainly his debates with Gerry Matatics. In other words, I know his material on the subject.
Quote St. Paul to the Muslims
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I recently tried a new debating technique with a Muslim and it worked quite well. I’m wondering if this is a unique situation. Now it has to be with a Muslim who is somewhat educated about Christianity which is almost none though internet apologists like Ijaz Admad would fall into this category. They especially need to know who St. Paul is and how he’s the standard fall guy for traditional Christianity. Since the Quran doesn’t explicitly name him as a Muslim, unlike Jesus, Mary, and the apostles, the blame for Christianity looking the way it does falls almost exclusively on him.
Book Review: Ausburg and Constantinople by George Mastrantonis
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I can’t remember why I decided to read this book. That’s odd because I ordered it only recently. Basically in the late 16th century the Lutheran Church of Germany had some religious discussion with the Greek Orthodox Church of Constantinople. While I was reading it I realized that this would have been important to my ancestors. My dad is a Lutheran and my mom is a Uniate. While Uniates aren’t Orthodox, my mom’s Uniate group came into existence in 1596 at the Union of Brest. They were Orthodox but became Byzantine Catholic with this agreement. In other words, this is the theological duel of my ancestry! How exciting! I’m descended from peasants on both sides so this probably went right over their heads.
Happy Easter Under Quarantine
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Easter morning breakfast – It was all about the bacon
Happy Easter! Our Lord is Risen! I never thought that I’d have to celebrate Easter through a global pandemic. I’m guessing that 99% of Catholics didn’t have access to a mass this Easter. I made use of online Latin Masses through Sensus Fidelium, which is a great YouTube channel.
Seven Questions for Educated Muslims
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I’ve made up a list of seven questions for educated and well read Muslims. They’re based on my research over the last several years. I think these are strong points that relate to Islamic historical and theological claims.