John Bugay speaks about the history of Roman Catholicism

Here’s a link to the Agora Forum talk I did Friday night (November 21, 2014). There were about a dozen people in attendance, and the discussion lasted a good while. My thanks to Dr. David Snoke for the invitation, and to all who attended and took part in the discussions. I had a great time. …

Trajectories in Aristotelianism and Rationalism in Early Reformed Orthodoxy

I am often asked, “at a time when there is a flood of people leaving Roman Catholicism, why does it seem that so many intellectuals seem to be moving in the opposite direction?” There are a number of reasons for this – some Anglicans are converting because of the rampant liberalism and decline in morality …

Lutheran Theologians in American history

When I was leaving Roman Catholicism, I was looking for the history of others who had left it as well. Most of the historical writings I was finding were coming out of the Reformed tradition – in this podcast, Jordan Cooper provides some good information about why there weren’t many Lutheran theologians, and it provides …

Natural Theology 2: Calvin’s Conception of the Knowledge of God

Jacob Aitken writes, “Any discussion of the imago-dei (“Image of God” in man) is better served, not by speculating on essences and accidents, but on man’s role as priest-king-prophet in creation and New Creation”. Down below, you’ll see much the same conclusion from Muller regarding Calvin’s understanding of the imago dei: it must be informed …

The entire church is polluted by the papacy

Over the last several days, I’ve become enmeshed in several discussions, following my decision to re-post something that Stephen Wolfe first commented upon. The three blog posts that have spun off from this are, in chronological order: Historical Roman Catholicism is the cradle, enabler, and teacher of radical Islam today Roman crusading “fossilized Islam into …

“Dogma Appreciation 101”

This is just a personal note, but I’ve found Mike Taylor from NTRMin. He’s been blogging, for a time under the pseudonym Miguel Sastre (though he explains why he used that pseudonym). I would heartily commend his blog to anyone who wants to try to understand what Roman Catholicism is all about. I have some …

Fudging Aristotle: A Digression (Part 7): Logic and Categories

[Subtitle: How Aquinas Fudged Aristotle to Settle Transubstantiation]: In recent posts, I’ve cited Willem van Asselt with an overview of the Works of Aristotle, and also Arthur Lovejoy noting that “the God of Aristotle had almost nothing in common with the God of the Sermon on the Mount”. But that doesn’t mean that Aristotle didn’t …

God’s Living Word

I’m following up on this comment, and Joseph’s response to it. * * * Hi Joseph – no, I didn’t read your entire post – I’m very busy these days, preparing to do some business travel, and I have to skim more than read carefully. I saw that my name was mentioned and I wanted …

Hyper-certainty as overcoming creaturely being

That’s as good a continental philosophy title as one could find.  There is a valid point, though. This morning I was listening to James K. A. Smith’s lecture on contingency and relativism (given at the Horton Wiley talks, available on ItunesU).   He raises a good point that we often forget when facing claims by …

Roman Catholicism on Trial: Evidence and Assumptions

Protestants who engage Roman Catholics often leave the discussion in frustration. It seems that Roman Catholic apologists have an answer for everything. At times,  Roman Catholicism appears to lack falsifiability. The idea of falsifiability will be in the background of this article, but my primary purpose will be to show that, given its theological system, …