Tag Archives: protestant

The Myth of Catholic and Orthodox Tradition?

Cameron Porter, of Earnestly Contending, posts the following quote (apparently a favorite of his).

"Furthermore, that the body of tradition is not of divine origin nor apostolic is proven by the fact that some traditions contradict others. The church fathers repeatedly contradict one another. When a Roman Catholic priest is ordained he solemnly vows to interpret the Scriptures only according to 'the unanimous consent' of the fathers. But such 'unanimous consent' is purely a myth. The fact is they scarcely agree on any doctrine. They contradict each other, and even contradict themselves as they change their minds and affirm what they previously had denied. Augustine, the greatest of the fathers, in his later life wrote a special book in which he set forth his Retractions. Some of the fathers of the second century held that Christ would return shortly and that he would personally reign in Jerusalem for a thousand years. But two of the best known scholars of the early church, Origen (185-254) and Augustine (354-430) wrote against that view. The early fathers condemned the use of images in worship, while later ones approve such use. The early church almost unanimously advocated the reading and free use of the Scriptures, while later ones restricted such reading and use. Gregory the Great, bishop of Rome and the greatest of the early bishops, denounced the assumption of the title of Universal Bishop as anti-Christian. But later Popes even to the present have been very insistent of using that and similar titles which assert universal authority. Where, then, is the universal tradition and unanimous consent of the fathers to papal doctrine?"

– Loraine Boettner, Roman Catholicism (Phillipsburg, NJ: Presbyterian and Reformed, 1962), pp. 78-79

Thoughts?

No Accounting For Taste

Rand, of A Pattern of Sound Works, has posted a scathing criticism of C.S. Lewis,
one of my favorite authors and someone partially responsible for my return to faith. NOTA BENE: The following fisk is not personal. Rand comments a lot at Christian Conservative and seems to be a nice guy. From what I’ve seen, he comments intelligently and politely. He’s just kinda off his nut about Lewis. 😉

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Not Quite an Emmy, a Grammy, a Tony, or even a Bloggie

A Warnie?Adrian Warnock, a prominent God-blogger, is seeking to shed some much-deserved light on some little-known blogs.

I have often thought that prominent bloggers have a responsibility to help deserving bloggers from what is often called the "tail" get there share of the limelight….

Today I announce my latest iniative to give a little back "the warnies". i will issue a warnie whenever i feel that a particular blog or blogpost is worthy of special honor. Entrys should be via email and since this is a totally subjective competition judged by me a link to my site on your blog is likely to have some influence on the outcome! To be honest, if you dont like my blog enough to link to it then you probably wouldnt enter for a warnie anyway!

Today, he awarded his first Warnie to Dr. John Mark Reynolds.

Covering the war on terror, philosophy, creation, Star Trek and a host of other subjects I love it. Dr Reynolds is a professor of philosophy and I can't recommend his blog enough.

Please do mention his award on your own blog, and submit your own blog for the next "Warnie" award ceremony which will happen as and when I feel that a worthy candidate has arrived.

I've submitted my blog for consideration and anxiously await possible scraps from the master's table. 😉

The Blind Leading the Blind

ELCARecently, the ELCA (the denomination in which I was raised) has announced the recommendations of their task force for the studies on sexuality. The basic gist, as I understand it, is that each congregation must decide for themselves how accepting of homosexual behavior will be. Apparently, the task force cares more about group unity than orthodoxy. I suspect that the ELCA, which has been developing close ties to the ECUSA in recent years, will follow the Episcopalians into chaotic heterodoxy and ultimately disintegrate.

Here are some reactions from around the blogosphere.

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