The starting points of polemical apologetics is an awareness of the opponents' working assumptions and their biblical justifications. Most Evangelicals operate within a myopic Fundamentalist thought Ghetto that is blissfully ignorant of the case for Christian perspectives outside their Ghetto. Honest apologetics must begin with an effort to grasp how such rival perspectives might ground their distinctive beliefs and practices in Scripture and self-authenticating experience. Evangelical forums are notorious for their frequent mindless slander of Catholic distinctives. So this thread is devoted to a discussion of how informed Catholic apologists might defend their distinctives with the support of biblical teaching. My goal in starting this thread is to demonstrate how critical engagement with Catholic apologetics can help you leave your comfort zone and discover helpful new insights into biblical teaching.
The thread will focus on the 7 Catholic distinctives listed below one at a time:
(1) Purgatory
(2) praying to the saints (including Mary)
(3) sprinkling with holy water
(4) Eucharistic Transubstantiation
(5) the authority of Catholic tradition
(6) the role of good works in salvation
(7) the redemptive role of baptism
To avoid chaos, I ask that you stick to each topic until I shift the focus to the next of the 7 topics. Please demonstrate that you know what you're talking about by addressing your initial comments to Catholic biblical justifications for that topic.
(1) The first topic is Purgatory. So let's begin with these 2 questions: (a) How might an informed Catholic apologist ground their belief in Purgatory biblically?
(b) What famous Evangelical apologist has been won over by the doctrine of Purgatory?
The thread will focus on the 7 Catholic distinctives listed below one at a time:
(1) Purgatory
(2) praying to the saints (including Mary)
(3) sprinkling with holy water
(4) Eucharistic Transubstantiation
(5) the authority of Catholic tradition
(6) the role of good works in salvation
(7) the redemptive role of baptism
To avoid chaos, I ask that you stick to each topic until I shift the focus to the next of the 7 topics. Please demonstrate that you know what you're talking about by addressing your initial comments to Catholic biblical justifications for that topic.
(1) The first topic is Purgatory. So let's begin with these 2 questions: (a) How might an informed Catholic apologist ground their belief in Purgatory biblically?
(b) What famous Evangelical apologist has been won over by the doctrine of Purgatory?