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Responding to Patrick Madrid’s Claims about Athanasius and Sola Scriptura
Patrick Madrid in “Envoy for Christ” accuses us of selective patristic quotation. He writes: Sometimes Protestant apologists try to bolster their case for sola Scriptura by using highly selective quotes from Church Fathers such as Athanasius, John Chrysostom, Cyril of Jerusalem, Augustine, and Basil Caesarea. … These quotes, isolated from the rest of what the…
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Sola Scriptura in Athanasius: "On the Incarnation of the Word"
The sequel to “Contra Gentes,” Athanasius’ “On the Incarnation of the Word” picks up where the prior work left off (link to detailed discussion of Sola Scriptura in Contra Gentes). He already has proven the divinity of the Word, but now he’s going to discuss how the Word became flesh. There are 57 sections to…
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Sola Scriptura in Athanasius: Contra Gentes
Athanasius’ first major work “Contra Gentes” begins with the line: “The knowledge of our religion and of the truth of things is independently manifest rather than in need of human teachers, for almost day by day it asserts itself by facts, and manifests itself brighter than the sun by the doctrine of Christ.” (source) Notice…
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Sola Scriptura and Alexander of Alexandria "The Deposition of Arius" (Possibly Athanasius)
Around A.D. 320-324 Alexander of Alexandria sent out a letter regarding “The Deposition of Arius” (available from the CCEL here) As Athanasius was Alexander’s right hand man at the time and because the arguments are similar to Athansius’ own later arguments, it is believed Athanasius may have possibly authored the letter. What does this letter…
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Actually, Jesus Did Ask Someone to Write a Book
About 43 minutes into episode #6838 of Catholic Answers Live, Patrick Coffin, the host of the show, stated: “Jesus never wrote a book, didn’t ask anybody to write a book, or you know – put on kind of memo on the fridges of Nazareth, but he did found a church.” I’ve previously addressed this “Jesus…
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The "Jesus Didn’t Write a Book" Objection
Over the years, I’ve noticed a number of objections to accepting the Scriptures as an authority over the church. One of the oddest objections is “Jesus didn’t write a book” (example from David Meyers). Against certain Muslims who think that Jesus wrote a book called “the Injeel,” this might be an important objection. Against Christians, though,…
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Did Athanasius Say Tradition Plus Scripture?
One oft-quoted passage of Athanaisus comes from his second festal letter: Festal Letter 2, section 6:For not only in outward form did those wicked men dissemble, putting on as the Lord says sheep’s clothing, and appearing like unto whited sepulchres; but they took those divine words in their mouth, while they inwardly cherished evil intentions.…
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Christian Answers to Two Roman Catholic Questions on "Catholic Answers"
The show that calls itself “Catholic Answers,” recently featured a Missouri Synod Lutheran caller as highlighted on a recent Dividing Line. In response to the caller, the hosts began asking him some questions. I wouldn’t be surprised if you get these same questions from some of your Roman Catholic friends and acquaintances, particularly those who…
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Binding and Loosing – a "Matter of Interpretation"?
Roman Catholics have the burden of establishing that there is some rule of faith outside Scripture. One typical appeal (and one I recently heard) is an appeal to the binding and loosing mentioned in Matthew 16 and 18. The problem with such an appeal is that “binding” and “loosing,” do not refer to defining dogma.…
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The "Bind and Loose" Argument Rebutted
Over at GreenBaggins, Scott tried to make an argument for an infallible rule of faith other than the Bible. He wrote: “The fact is that Matthew 16:18-19 and Matthew 18:18 teach that man and/or those men can bind or loose, not just sin, but whatsoever they choose.” Let’s consider this argument piece by piece: “that…