When I first began to study Calvin in earnest, I was puzzled by what seemed a glaring omission in his writings and sermons. He never counseled his readers and listeners to be “Born Again.” This struck me as odd because I knew our denomination (PCA) considered Calvin to be our true founder. I also knew that the evangelical doctrine of “New Birth” (regeneration), understood as the moment of personal, conscious conversion, was the linchpin, the central dogma of our congregation. As an Evangelical Presbyterian, I had grown up constantly hearing these exhortations to be “Born Again.” My pastors and teachers revered evangelistic luminaries like Billy Graham and Bill Bright right along with the great Lion of Geneva. Continue Reading…
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Here I consider two questions. The first question is whether defending the legal recognition of marriage as exclusively between a man and a woman is imposing one’s religious views on others. The second is whether Christians should seek through the political process to maintain or change civil laws.
A number of people are understandably concerned that becoming Catholic means neglecting the Bible, with many being taught by their Pastors or teachers that the Catholic Church either forbids the reading of the Bible or, at the very least, does not encourage it. Many former Catholics, due either to poor formation or indifference, often perpetuate the story that the Church encourages only the priest or bishop to read and interpret the Bible for Catholics. Even some Evangelical scholars present Catholic teaching this way: some because they are truly ignorant about such things and others because it helps them score “beauty points.” These caricatures are not helpful, but they do live in the minds of many who are outside the Church and, I must admit, even inside the Church. If you are thinking about the Church, this is a legitimate concern. Certainly, if the Catholic Church did teach that we should neglect the Bible, or even more, forbade the reading of the Bible, or only encouraged the clergy to read the Bible for us, that would be a problem, to say the least, and you would be right to question becoming Catholic. The fact, however, is the Church teaches no such thing, as demonstrated by the following quotation, “Our one desire for all the Church’s children is that, being saturated with the Bible, they may arrive at the all surpassing knowledge of Jesus Christ” (Spiritus Paraclitus #69). Here Pope Benedict XV states that it is the prayer of the Church that her children be completely nourished by the Bible and so come to a deeper knowledge and intimacy with Jesus Christ. The Pope’s words call us to read Scripture not just to learn about Jesus Christ, but to know Jesus Christ as He is revealed to us on the Sacred Text. (Continue Reading…)
This is a guest post by Michael Rennier. Michael received a BA in New Testament Literature from Oral Roberts University in 2002 and a Master of Divinity from Yale Divinity School in 2006. He served the Anglican Church in North America as the Rector of two parishes on Cape Cod, Massachusetts for five years. After discerning a call to conversion, Michael and his family moved to St. Louis. On October 16th, 2011, he and his wife were received into full communion with the Catholic Church by the Most Rev. Robert Carlson, Archbishop of St. Louis. Michael tells the story of his conversion in “Into the Half-Way House: The Story of an Episcopal Priest.” He now works for the Archdiocese of St. Louis.
Sadly, leading Protestants such as John Piper and Wayne Grudem are ready to bring scissors to the Apostles Creed:
On Good Friday, Jesus told the Good Thief crucified alongside him that “today you will be with me in paradise,” according to Luke’s Gospel. “That’s the only clue we have as to what Jesus was doing between death and resurrection,” John Piper, a prominent evangelical author and pastor from Minnesota, has said. “I don’t think the thief went to hell and that hell is called paradise.”
Wayne Grudem, a former president of the Evangelical Theological Society, says the confusion and arguments could be ended by correcting the Apostles’ Creed “once and for all” and excising the line about the descent.
“The single argument in its favor seems to be that it has been around so long,” Grudem, a professor at Phoenix Seminary in Arizona, writes in his “Systematic Theology,” a popular textbook in evangelical colleges. “But an old mistake is still a mistake.”
Grudem, like Piper, has said that he skips the phrase about Jesus’ descent when reciting the Apostles’ Creed. (source)
Zack Hunt of the facetiously titled blog, The American Jesus, gives a provocative twist to the Protestant principle of ecclesial fallibility (otherwise called sola scriptura) in his recent post, You’re a Heretic & So Am I. According to Hunt, all Christians are heretics, and all ecclesial communities are heretical, because every visible society of believers that reckons itself to be in some sense a church is divided from another such body, by way of having departed from another church and/or by dissenting from one or more of the doctrines taught by other denominations or congregations. (Continue Reading…)
Nothing characterized early Calvinism more than the “reform” of liturgy and worship. John Calvin railed against late medieval liturgy and devotion as superstitious and idolatrous, and even called on governments to suppress such “superstition” with the sword. In his mind, “superstition” was any form of worship not prescribed directly by God in Scripture. (Continue Reading…)
I’ve noticed a change of late in how Evangelical and Reformed Protestants interact with history, and I don’t think it bodes well for the coherence of Protestant apologetics. In short, some Protestants have left off restoration or recovery as their primary metaphor and replaced it with development or fruition. The logical results of this move, I contend, are either a slide into liberal skepticism or the eventual embrace of the Catholic doctrine of apostolic succession. (Continue Reading…)
This is a guest post by Brantly Millegan, in which he reviews the recently published book The Unintended Reformation: How a Religious Revolution Secularized Society, authored by University of Notre Dame professor of history Brad Gregory. Such a topic seems fitting on the traditional feast day for St. Benedict in the usus antiquior. We’re very grateful to Brantly for his contribution to Called To Communion. – Eds.
Two weeks ago we posted Devin Rose’s Catholic reflection on John Armstrong’s book Your Church is Too Small. The following week John replied in a post titled “A Catholic Reflection on Your Church Is Too Small: A Brief Reply to a Gracious Former-Atheist I Love and Respect.” Below is Devin’s reply to John’s reply. We hope this dialogue between John and Devin will help us all think more deeply about what still divides us, and help us understand better how we can help effect Protestant-Catholic reunion. Please pray for the success and fruitfulness of the upcoming event titled “A Conversation on Unity in Christ’s Mission,” between John Armstrong and Cardinal George. This event will take place at 7 PM (Central Daylight Time) on March 26, on the Wheaton College campus, and will be live-streamed at this link. – Eds. (Continue Reading…)
In answer to this question we must say “It depends.”
Some folks think that Catholic acceptance of any Protestant Baptism at all is a Vatican II novelty. This is not the case. Here is what the Catechism of the Council of Trent says:
Those who may administer Baptism in case of necessity, but without its solemn ceremonies, hold the last place; and in this class are included all, even the laity, men and women, to whatever sect they may belong. This office extends in case of necessity, even to Jews, infidels and heretics, provided, however, they intend to do what the Catholic Church does in that act of her ministry. These things were established by many decrees of the ancient Fathers and Councils; and the holy Council of Trent denounces anathema against those who dare to say, that Baptism, even when administered by heretics, in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, with the intention of doing what the Church does, is not true Baptism. [source; emphasis added]
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On Monday, March 26, ACT 3 and Wheaton College will be hosting “A Conversation on Unity in Christ’s Mission,” involving a dialogue in Edman Chapel between John Armstrong and Cardinal George, Archbishop of Chicago. The event will be streamed live from the Wheaton.edu website. In light of that forthcoming event, we invited Devin Rose to review Armstrong’s most recent book. Devin is well known to CTC readers. In July of 2010 he wrote a guest post for us titled “Faith and Reason in the Context of Conversion,” in which he recounted his conversion twelve years ago from atheism to faith in Christ. Devin is also the author of the recently published book If Protestantism is True: The Reformation Meets Rome (2011). He blogs at St. Joseph’s Vanguard. We’re grateful to Devin for his thoughtful review of Armstrong’s book. – Eds.
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Readers of Called To Communion will recognize the name Fred Noltie, since in July of last year he wrote a guest post for us titled “The Accidental Catholic.” Recently we invited Fred to join the CTC team, and we’re delighted that he has agreed. Fred was in the Presbyterian Church in America for twenty years, attending both Covenant College and Westminster Theological Seminary in Philadelphia. On the Easter Vigil of 2005 he, his wife Sabryna, and their son were together received into full communion with the Catholic Church at St. Lawrence parish in Monett, Missouri, where they are presently members. In this article Fred tells the story how he and his family became Catholic. Fred, welcome to CTC! -Eds.
In The Accidental Catholic I described how I realized that Protestantism’s proposed means for discerning revealed truth in the Bible do not afford us any basis for certainty about what that truth actually is. This fact, which struck me like a bolt out of the blue, forced me to realize that I could not remain a Protestant. But on the day that I decided that I was no longer Protestant I was equally certain that I would never become Catholic. I was just not interested in that at all, because – after all – it was the Catholic Church, and I just “knew” it was wrong! Why did I change my mind? (Continue Reading…)
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Please welcome our first of two newly added authors at Called To Communion, Jason Stewart. Jason was an ordained minister in the Orthodox Presbyterian Church (OPC) before he and his wife Cindy entered into full communion with the Catholic Church in January of 2011. He earned his Master of Divinity from Mid-America Reformed Seminary (Dyer, IN) in 2005, and subsequently served for 5 1/2 years as pastor of Trinity OPC in eastern Pennsylvania. Jason and Cindy live in Rockford, IL, and have four children. He is currently completing a two year course of study with the Diocese of Rockford’s Diaconal Program. Jason wrote the following narrative about his conversion. We are blessed to have him aboard. (Our other new addition, Fred Noltie, will be properly introduced shortly!) -Eds.
I hope to tell my story simply, because it is genuinely uncomplicated. Complex, yes. Multi-layered, sure. Who’s journey in the Christian faith isn’t? But I do promise to keep the telling of it simple by concentrating on the main catalysts that gave my wife Cindy and me the courage to approach the doors of the Catholic Church and with confidence begin to knock. (Continue Reading…)
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There are some ancient Christian doctrines that only the Catholic Church has retained. One such doctrine is her teaching on contraception, which was the unanimous teaching of the Church Fathers, and which all Christians shared for nineteen centuries until the Lambeth Conference of 1930. At that conference the Anglican Church decided to permit the use of contraceptives, and were soon followed by all other Protestant denominations. Another such doctrine is the Catholic Church’s teaching concerning the indissolubility of marriage, and thus the impossibility of remarriage while the spouse lives.1
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Yesterday (May 24) was the feast day of St. Vincent of Lérins, a soldier who became a monk at the monastery in Lérins, and wrote his famous Commonitory in AD 434, three years after the third Ecumenical Council at Ephesus, and seventeen years before the Ecumenical Council of Chalcedon. Because Protestants generally accept both those councils, St. Vincent’s Commonitory provides a window into Catholic thought during a period treated by Protestants as still orthodox, prior to any ‘great apostasy.’
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Readers of this website are by now thoroughly familiar with Keith Mathison’s book The Shape of Sola Scriptura. His thesis has already received ample criticism (see articles by Cross & Judisch, Liccione, and Judisch), and I do not wish to add to that particular discussion. In this post, I would like instead to grant Mathison his thesis for the sake of argument and then ask, “Given the doctrine of authority proposed by Mathison, do we have good reason to believe that the Reformation interpretation of Scripture is substantially correct?” (Continue Reading…)
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I.
About a decade ago, Keith Mathison wrote a book called The Shape of Sola Scriptura. In this book he specified a distinction between
Solo Scriptura: The Bible is the Christian’s only authority,
and
Sola Scriptura: The Bible is the Christian’s only infallible authority; however, the Church, the true bishops, the regula fidei, possess real but fallible and derivative authority for Christians as well.
Call the thesis that there is a principled distinction between Solo Scriptura and Sola Scriptura the “Distinction Thesis.” (Continue Reading…)
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This article is intended to be a resource showing the support for the doctrine of Transubstantiation in the Church fathers, and not a robust defense of the doctrine as defined by the Council of Trent.1 The Church fathers did not believe in a mere spiritual presence of Christ alongside or in the elements (bread and wine). This can be shown by three different types of patristic statements. The first and most explicit type is a statement that directly affirms a change in the elements. The second type is a simple identification of the consecrated species with the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ. Because unconsecrated bread is not called the Body, and consecrated is called the Body, this directly implies a belief that a supernatural change has taken place at the point of consecration. The third and final type is a statement which attributes or demands extraordinary reverence for the consecrated species itself, and not merely the solemnity of communion in this sacrament. (Continue Reading…)
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In February of this year Ryan Glomsrud, the Executive Editor of Modern Reformation, invited me to participate in a roundtable discussion on the subject of sola scriptura, with Michael Horton, editor-in-chief of Modern Reformation, a co-host of the White Horse Inn, and the J. Gresham Machen Professor of Systematic Theology and Apologetics at Westminster Seminary California. The article containing our discussion was just published in the November/December 2010 issue of Modern Reformation, and is titled “Sola Scriptura: A Dialogue between Michael Horton and Bryan Cross.” (Continue Reading…)
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According to PCA pastor Wes White, the doctrine of baptismal regeneration is “impossible in the Reformed system.”1 By noting this, he intends to show that we should reject the doctrine of baptismal regeneration. But if the evidence for the truth of the doctrine of baptismal regeneration is stronger than the evidence for the truth of the “Reformed system,” then the incompatibility of the doctrine of baptismal regeneration and the Reformed system serves as evidence against the Reformed system. Here I present both Patristic and Scriptural evidence for the truth of the doctrine of baptismal regeneration. (Continue Reading…)
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“Open Forum for Non-Catholics”
David Anders on Catholic Answers, Monday, February 13, 2012.
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Stephen Beck was raised Evangelical, but read his way into the Reformed world. He became a member of the Orthodox Presbyterian Church and then the Presbyterian Church in America. Stephen and his family were received into the Catholic Church on the Easter Vigil of 2011 at St. Andrew’s by the Bay Catholic Church in Annapolis, Maryland. He has a Master’s degree from St. John’s College in Annapolis and is currently pursuing a Ph.D. in Greek and Latin at the Catholic University of America. Stephen is a brilliant thinker with a deep love for Jesus Christ and the Catholic Church. In this episode, Stephen’s personal friend and regular CTC contributor, Jeremy Tate, interviews him to find out the reasons behind his conversion.
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On Friday, July 8, I was the guest on the Catholic Answers Live radio program, taking calls and questions from non-Catholics. The one-hour broadcast featured the following questions and discussions:
7′ A discussion of John Calvin’s view of his relation to the Catholic Church, the Catholic positions he affirmed, and his rejection of denominationalism.
15′ A discussion of the Catholic doctrine of communion of the saints, and whether the saints can hear our prayers.
22′ A discussion of legalism and scrupulosity among Catholics.
28′ Why is it difficult for Protestant leaders who recognize the truth of the Catholic Church to become Catholic? Wouldn’t remaining Protestant, in order to hold on to reputation, livelihood, etc. be contrary to Protestant theology?
33′ What are some resources for non-Catholics who want to understand the differences between Calvinism and Catholicism?
36′ What is the Catholic understanding of the relation between divine sovereignty and human freedom?
41′ How does the Catholic understanding of justification address the Reformed claim that the scriptural evidence supports the Protestant notion of justification by the imputation of the alien righteousness of Christ to the believer?
51′ What is the Catholic position on eternal security and the possibility of apostasy, and what is the support for that position?
Listen to the program:
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In this episode, Tom Riello, former PCA minister, interviews Annie Witz, a convert from the OPC (Orthodox Presbyterian Church). Annie’s father is an elder in the OPC church and serves on the board of Westminster Seminary California. Annie shares her personal conversion story from being a devout OPC member to a Catholic in the Melkite Greek Catholic Church (an Eastern Catholic Church). Of particular interest is the role that the women saints, especially the Blessed Virgin Mary, played in her conversion. We are thrilled to have our first female guest on the show!
To download the mp3, click here.
Tom Riello interviews Marc Ayers on the topic of his conversion to the Catholic Church. Marc was a ‘disciple’ of Dr. Greg Bahnsen. Hear him tell how his presuppositional apologetic method helped him see the need for a divinely instituted authority, namely the Catholic Church.
To download the mp3, click here.
In this episode, Tom Riello interviews Tim Troutman on his recent article “Holy Orders and the Sacrificial Priesthood.” Who are the rightful shepherds of Christ’s flock? Is Holy Orders truly a sacrament? These and other questions are addressed in this episode.
Download the mp3 by right clicking here.
In this podcast episode, Tom Riello interviews Called to Communion regular, Jeremy Tate, on his recent conversion to the Catholic Church. Jeremy is currently finishing his degree at Reformed Theological Seminary.
Download the mp3 by right clicking here…
Tom Riello interviews Tom Brown on his recent article on the issue of the canon of scripture. How do we know which books belong in the Bible? Who has the authority to answer such a question? These issues are addressed in this podcast episode.
Download the MP3 here.
In this episode, Tom Riello and Tim Troutman reflect on the past liturgical year at Called to Communion. Topics covered include where CTC has been, where we are now, and where we are headed.
Download the mp3 by right clicking here.
Tim Troutman interviews Taylor Marshall, former Episcopal priest, and Andrew Preslar, formerly studying for Anglican orders, on the subject of the new Anglican Ordinariates and what that means for Christianity and ecumenism.
Download the mp3 here.
Here I consider two questions. The first question is whether defending the legal recognition of marriage as exclusively between a man and a woman is imposing one's religious views on others. The second is whether Christians should seek through the political process to maintain or change civil laws.
A number of people are understandably concerned that becoming Catholic means neglecting the Bible, with many being taught by their Pastors or teachers that the Catholic Church either forbids the reading of the Bible or, at the very least, does not encourage it. Many former Catholics, due either to poor formation or indifference, often perpetuate the story that the Church encourages only the priest or bishop to read and interpret ...
This is a guest post by Michael Rennier. Michael received a BA in New Testament Literature from Oral Roberts University in 2002 and a Master of Divinity from Yale Divinity School in 2006. He served the Anglican Church in North America as the Rector of two parishes on Cape Cod, Massachusetts for five years. After discerning a call to conversion, Michael and his family moved to St. Louis. On October ...
David Anders "Open Forum for Non-Catholics" David Anders on Catholic Answers, Monday, February 13, 2012.
Stephen Beck Stephen Beck was raised Evangelical, but read his way into the Reformed world. He became a member of the ...
On Monday, March 26, ACT 3 and Wheaton College will be hosting "A Conversation on Unity in Christ's Mission," involving a dialogue in Edman Chapel between John Armstrong and Cardinal George, Archbishop of Chicago. The event will be streamed live from the Wheaton.edu website. In light of that forthcoming event, we invited Devin Rose to review Armstrong's most recent book. Devin is well known to CTC readers. In July of 2010 he wrote a guest post for us titled "Faith and Reason in the Context of Conversion," in which he recounted his conversion twelve years ago from atheism to faith in Christ. Devin is also the author of the recently published book If Protestantism is True: The Reformation Meets Rome (2011). He blogs at St. Joseph's Vanguard. We're grateful to Devin for his thoughtful review of Armstrong's book. - Eds.
Readers of Called To Communion will recognize the name Fred Noltie, since in July of last year he wrote a guest post for us titled "The Accidental Catholic." Recently we invited Fred to join the CTC team, and we're delighted that he has agreed. Fred was in the Presbyterian Church in America for twenty years, attending both Covenant College and Westminster Theological Seminary in Philadelphia. On the Easter Vigil of 2005 he, his wife Sabryna, and their son were together received into full communion with the Catholic Church at St. Lawrence parish in Monett, Missouri, where they are presently members. In this article Fred tells the story how he and his family became Catholic. Fred, welcome to CTC! -Eds. In The Accidental Catholic I described how I realized that Protestantism’s proposed means for discerning revealed truth in the Bible do not afford us any basis for certainty about what that truth ...
