Today is the feast of St. Irenaeus of Lyons, one of the most important early Christian writers. He was an apologist for the faith and wrote a famous work called "Against Heresies". This lengthy work is very early and so many apologists of modern confession positions (Catholics & Protestants) use it to prove their own system. Just look at one section. In Book III, … [Read more...]
St. Anselm of Canterbury's 'Evangelical' Faith
Wikipedia has been my true alma mater in so many ways, however there are days when something irks me in its endless pages. If we understand Evangelical to mean one who is a Christian and places their faith in the saving life, death, and resurrection of Jesus who meritted their salvation, then Evangelicalism can hardly be said to have emerged in the 17th century. The Middle … [Read more...]
The Freedom of the Will: John Calvin & Justin Martyr & Martin Luther
St. Augustine of Hippo One of the fundamentally differing premises between Catholicism and Protestantism, was the doctrine of the human will. Where Catholics argued that the will was weakened by original sin, but free to do good or evil, Protestants argued that the will was free only to choose between sins; free only to do evil. Here's a quotation from John Calvin's "The … [Read more...]
Monergism and Romans 3:23-28
I was reading my Grandpa's Bible that was given to him in 1946 when he married my Grandma. It's an old King James with all his written notes. I was also listening to Tony Evans tonight who I love, what a great Protestant Preacher. And I've been at the point where I constantly think 'i'm going to hell' so I opened up at Romans. I read this passage:"For all have sinned, and … [Read more...]
Andrew the Reprobate – Why I can never be a Humanist
Although I've read and continue to read alot of the pagan philosophers (Aristotle, Plato, etc) and the Enlightenment thinkers (Tom Paine, Gibbon, Rousseau, etc) I have to say that there's one reason I cannot be a Humanist in the modern sense of the word. I absolutely disagree with the idea that man is inherently good or even neutral. In the words of the genius Karl Barth "Man … [Read more...]