Tuesday, May 05, 2009

Arguments Roman Catholics Should Not Use

Sometime just last week, the good folks over at Pugio Fidei have posted a list of 18 arguments Roman Catholics should not use against Protestants. I find it rather interesting (not to mention relieving) that some Roman Catholic apologists are honest enough to finally admit that some of the arguments that they used to use in order to attack Protestantism are not at all as sound as they hoped they would be. Personally, I think this will be a great spring board so that more meaningful dialogue could take place between Evangelical Christians and Roman Catholics.

Of course, not everyone sees things the same way. In particular, Mr. Arthur Sippo does not like this list at all, as can be seen by the recent comments that he has posted on Patrick Madrid's Speak Your Mind forums:

You know, I wish that alleged "Catholics" would stop doing the work of the enemies of the Church and telling us what we should not do. I find the list puerile and frankly ludicrous.


White likes the list because it absolves him of having to deal with some arguments that he doesn't like.


Protestantism is false religion. Every bit of it. None of it is valid. Even the parts where they try to emulate Historic Christianity are done so tritely and with poor results. What is the use of declaring that Jesus was really God and really man when you refuse to believe it when he said "This is my body...This is my blood?" I have no need of any such list and I advise the person who put it up to take it down and mind his own business. (link)


Ironically, for Mr. Sippo to say that every bit of Protestantism is false would contradict the Second Vatican Council's Lumen Gentium, which states that there are "elements of sanctification and of truth" even in non-Catholic churches. (link)

Anyway, I find Mr. Sippo's post hilarious for the reason that he seems to think he somehow has the authority to determine who's "Catholic" and who's not. Funny, you would think that having an infallible teaching magisterium would prevent them from having vehement disagreements such as these. Ahh well... I think I shall leave it to my good friends at Rome to sort their internal issues out for themselves.

UPDATE (May 7, 2009)
As a response to the list that has been given above, TurretinFan (an associate of Alpha and Omega Ministries), has posted a list of arguments Protestants should avoid using against Roman Catholics, dubbed "Avoiding Landmines in Roman Catholic Apologetics".

I personally agree with most (if not all) of what TurretinFan has presented in his blog, and would wholeheartedly encourage Protestants to heed the list given above. Admittedly, I do think that I have been guilty of using one or two of the arguments listed in his list in the past, and I hope that I will be able to avoid using them in the future.

2 comments:

  1. I thought Sippo's arguments were way off base, also. But, what do you expect him to say? "Gosh, I guess my boat is all full of holes and sinking, after all!"? Logic and honesty are not what Art Sippo is known for, after all.

    ~Squirrel

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  2. Good point. I find it funny that I've heard people saying that Art is "one of the most knowledgeable Catholic apologists on the internet today", whose "breadth and depth of knowledge are virtually unmatched among active e-pologists". I can respect the more honest Roman Catholic apologists like Ben Douglass and Fr. Pacwa, but Art... oh man, now there's an example of how NOT to debate.

    (I found that quote here, by the way,)

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