Catholics Never Hear About the Gospel or Jesus at Mass?
Altar of Calvary (Golgotha): the actual site of Jesus’ crucifixion, at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, Jerusalem. Photograph by Ana Ulin: 10-13-07). I was there in October 2014. [Wikimedia Commons /...
View ArticleDialogue w Calvinist Re: Falling from Grace or Salvation
John Calvin (anonymous: 1550s) [public domain / Wikimedia Commons] *** (7-28-09) *** Calvinist “Michael” commented (three typos corrected): If it is God who saves sinners, then who might arise and...
View Article“The Harvest is Ready”: Tips on Catholic Evangelism
Yours truly sharing the gospel and Christian message with Mormons as an evangelical Protestant apologist / evangelist at the Ann Arbor Art Fair (University of Michigan campus) in 1989: the only photo...
View Article“Why Desire Salvation?” Reply to a Non-Christian Inquirer
The Baptism of the Eunuch (1623), by Pieter Lastman (1583-1633) [public domain / Wikimedia Commons] *** (12-7-09) *** A person on the Coming Home Network forum (not a Christian) commented as follows:...
View ArticleWhat is the Gospel? Catholic-Protestant Agreement
The Preaching of St Paul at Ephesus (1649), by Eustache Le Sueur (1617-1655) [public domain / Wikimedia Commons] *** (12-3-96 and 1-4-97) *** In response to the opinion of many Protestants that...
View ArticleMerit & Sanctification: Martin Luther’s Point of View
(11-10-14) *** Merit [L]ove grows by works of love, and man becomes better . . . (The 95 Theses, #44; 31 October 1517; translated by C. M. Jacobs, 1915) Sin and evil inclination must be recognized as...
View ArticleGrace, Faith, Works, & Judgment: A Scriptural Exposition
(12-16-09; reformulated and abridged on 3-15-17) *** Catholics believe in sola gratia, but reject sola fide as an unbiblical innovation. The fact remains that works are profoundly involved in the...
View ArticleCatholicism = “False Gospel”?: Exchange with Anti-Catholic
(3-18-17) *** [words of my anti-Catholic brother in Christ will be in blue] *** [my words were cited, about one of James White’s innumerable swipes at me] “he started making out that I was an ignorant...
View ArticleLuther and the Origin & Nature of “Instant” Salvation
(1991) *** [Martin Luther’s words will be in blue] *** 1. Martin Luther’s Novel Assurance Doctrine (Hartmann Grisar) “In the printed Commentary on Galatians we already have Luther’s new doctrine of the...
View ArticleAssurance of Instant Salvation? / Apostasy / Falling Away
(c. 2000) [Bible Verses: RSV] *** 1 Samuel 18:12 Saul was afraid of David, because the LORD was with him but had departed from Saul. Ezekiel 18:24 But when a righteous man turns away from his...
View ArticleDialogue on Luther’s “Getting to a Gracious God”
Martin Luther struggled with accepting God’s grace, his entire life. “CPA” (a Lutheran historian) wrote a piece: “How Do I Get a Gracious God?” in the Intertestamental Era (5-29-06). I also replied...
View ArticleSalvation, Eternal Security, & Grace: Dialogue w Bethany Kerr
Constructive, amiable Protestant-Catholic discussion on many key aspects of salvation. [see the original, somewhat longer Facebook exchanges, with a few more helpful participants, too] ***** This...
View ArticleCatholics’ Underemphasis on Justification by Faith
It’s true that Catholics have heard this message of justification by faith relatively less than Protestants (a lot less, in fact). I think this is because of the natural human tendency (which I’ve...
View ArticleDialogue on Grace (vs. Anti-Catholic Phil Johnson)
Phil Johnson is the Executive Director of popular Protestant expositor John MacArthur’s Grace to You ministry, and ordained elder and pastor at Grace Community Church. The following dialogue took...
View ArticleGood News: Evangelical & Catholic Gospel Presented
The original part of the following essay dates from June 1982, when I was an evangelical Protestant. I have decided to keep the old paper intact, but to comment (in blue) on portions which — as a...
View ArticleGospel: Defined by the Earliest Christian Preaching
[excerpts from reference sources will be in blue; Bible verses (NASB) will be indented] ***** I. THE WORD The English gospel is derived from the Anglo-Saxon godspell, which meant “good tidings” and...
View ArticleGalatians and the Gospel: Dialogue with a Calvinist
The Calvinist’s words will be in blue. ***** Thanks for writing and for deciding to link to my page. I like your website — it is very classy, visually appealing and well-presented. You asked: On your...
View ArticleTrusting God as an Element of Faith & Discipleship
Trust is an important element of faith, but faith cannot be reduced to it. It is the constant Protestant reductionism and either/or mentality that we object to. See: The Catholic Encyclopedia: “Faith”....
View ArticleSemi-Pelagianism and Arminianism: An Introduction
The position of many Protestants (particularly many Calvinists) on this issue is hopelessly contradictory and incoherent, with regard to the soteriology of Arminianism and/or Pelagianism and...
View ArticleJohn Calvin Misunderstood Trent’s Doctrine of Grace
1 Corinthians 3:9 (RSV) For we are God’s fellow workers; you are God’s field, God’s building. The following is from John Calvin’s commentary on Corinthians: 9. For we are fellow-laborers with God. Here...
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