-
Thoughts on Blogging at Alpha and Omega Ministries
Apparently as far back as 2004, I was blogging at Alpha and Omega Ministries’ team blog. I really don’t recall it being before 2006 or 2007, but that’s what the time stamps seem to say. For around a decade (give or take), I was a fairly active contributor to the blog. In 2016, after the…
-
Kenneth M. Wilson's "Augustine's Conversion from Traditional Free Choice to 'Non-Free Free Will'" – Calvinism Discussion
Since one vocal contra-Calvinist has been relying on Dr. Wilson’s materials to bash Calvinism, it makes sense to discuss every single place that Dr. Wilson mentions John Calvin in his book. Based on a text search for “Calvin” within the book, there is exactly one hit: Kolakowski argues that the Church’s repeated anathemas on the…
-
Benedetto Plazza's Help(?) in the Immaculate Conception Debate
In Mr. Albrecht’s debate with Tony Costa on the immaculate conception, Mr. Albrecht raised a question as to the popes who denied the immaculate conception during one of the cross-examinations. Tony pointed to Schaff, who in turn pointed to Launoy. Mr. Albrecht followed up by asking if Tony had a citation to where John XXII…
-
Schaff and Launoy Pre-Response
Another area that Mr. William Albrecht may choose to attack in our debate scheduled for tomorrow is the veracity of the historians from whom the list of popes came, Philip Schaff. Schaff is neither omniscient not infallible, and his conclusions and findings (like those of any historian), are open to challenge. That said, he is…
-
"Fundamentals of Catholic Dogma" by Ludwig Ott regarding the Immaculate Conception
In “Fundamentals of Catholic Dogma,” Ludwig Ott describes the historical development of the dogma (link to starting page of discussion). Ott traces the dogma back to Eadmer, a twelfth century British monk. Shortly thereafter, Ott tells us that Bernard of Clairvaux “warned the faithful that this was an unfounded innovation, and taught that Mary was…
-
Pre-Responding to the "Immaculate" => "Immaculate Conception" Argument
It’s hard to know exactly how Mr. Albrecht intends to defend against the fact that so many popes taught contrary to the dogma of the immaculate conception before its definition in the 19th century. In a previous post, I discussed the specific arguments I expect to hear from Albrecht about certain contra-IC quotations, but Albrecht…
-
Pre-Responding to William Albrecht's Position on Popes Leo and Innocent
It’s sometimes hard to pin down one’s debate opponent before the debate, as not everyone has published extensively on a given topic. Thankfully, in a recent debate with an Orthodox opponent, William Albrecht was questioned about the writings of a couple of popes in the list of popes that we hope to discuss in our…
-
How does "Read Your Bible" Translate into "Formal Sufficiency"?
How does Origen teach the formal sufficiency of Scripture? Pastor David King received a hot response to his position that the following quotation supports formal sufficiency: The more one reads the scriptures daily the greater one’s understanding is, the more renewed always and every day. I doubt whether a mind which is lazy towards the…
-
Duns Scotus and the Immaculate Conception
In our recent debate (link), Roman Catholic apologist William Albrecht took the position that the dogma of the immaculate conception was ancient and biblical. The careful listener will note that Mr. Albrecht was unable to provide any patristic quotations that actually affirmed the idea of the immaculate conception, and his rather bizarre exegesis of Galatians…
-
Leo I and Gregory I vs. the Immaculate Conception
In an earlier post (link), I provided evidence that the teachings of Leo I aka Leo the Great and Gregory I aka Gregory the Great at least implicitly contradict the modern dogma of the immaculate conception. Luigi Gambero’s “Mary and the Fathers of the Church” has a section on Leo I (pp. 302-09) and a…