-
Thomas Aquinas Misinterprets 1 Timothy 4:10 to Deny the Immaculate Conception
The following selection comes from Thomas Aquinas’ “Treatise on the Incarnation,” a section of Summa Theologica (source). In this selection, Thomas argues from 1 Timothy 4:10 that Jesus would not be the “Saviour of all men” if Mary did not contract original sin. This is one of those interesting cases where Thomas was fairly clearly…
-
There's Something about … Luigi Gambero
Luigi Gambero is one of the leading Mariologists of our time. His book, “Mary and the Fathers of the Church,” (Ignatius Press, 1999 based on the Italian original of 1991) is one of the more exhaustive treatments of the subject that one can find from a Roman Catholic perspective. Sorry to my younger readers for…
-
Clement VI Semon Verified (?)
Clement VI’s Sermon is Sermon 6 in Mollat’s list of the oratorical works of Clement VI. This one is a bit more interesting, because Mollat seemingly mentions Alva, and notes some interesting problems associated with dating this particular sermon. The idea that the sermon is not authentic, however, does ont seem to be on Mollat’s…
-
Innocent III Denies the Immaculate Conception (with more complete citation/sources)
William Albrecht, relying on a secondary source, alleged that the sermons of Innocent III that were quoted in “How Many Popes does it Take to Deny the Immaculate Conception?” (link) were inauthentic. His quotation stated: “John Baptist Posa [t] say those sermons of Innocent III were plucked from apocryphal libraries. Fr. Peter of Alva, and…
-
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…
-
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…