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...]
A Few Early Fathers on Peter, The Rock, and Matthew 16:18
There has been a flurry of Evangelical conversions to Roman Catholicism recently (I did it once when I was young and foolish) in the Blogosphere. That seems as good an occasion as any to return to the early fathers of the Christian Church between which and the current RCC there is a great gulf fixed. Far from having any real consensus, at times, the consensus of the fathers … [Read more...]
From the Middle Ages to Michele Bachmann: The Papacy and Anti-Christian Accusations
Last year American presidential candidate Michele Bachmann was attacked because the confessions of her church declared that the office of the papacy was Antichristian / The Pope was Antichrist. This position is hardly shocking to those familiar with the history of the churches of the Protestant Reformation. Declaring the Pope as antichrist was not merely a tradition of … [Read more...]
Why I Cannot Be A Protestant Christian (Part 3): Petrine Supremacy
I was going to write a lengthly post on Petrine Supremacy, but I found online this short essay on the subject by Pope Benedict XVI, St. Peter's current successor, and he does a much better job than I could. Here it is:"In recounting Jesus' first meeting with Simon, the brother of Andrew, John the Evangelist records a unique event: Jesus "looked at him and said, 'So you are … [Read more...]
Why I Cannot Be A Protestant Christian (Part 2) Galatians 2 Response
I would like to offer a defence of the Papacy and another explanation of Galatians 2."...when James and Cephas [Peter] and John, who were acknowledged pillars, recognized the grace that had been given to me, they gave to Barnabas and me the right hand of fellowship" - (2.9)clearly St. Paul who although he had been given a gift from God, also had to have it acknowledged by the … [Read more...]