Topic Archives: Roman Catholicism

The following testimony is from Near to God: 9 True Stories of a Wonderful Discovery. The love of Christ compels me to give testimony to my conversion from the Roman Catholic priesthood to the born-again life in Jesus Christ. For twenty-five years I was a Roman Catholic priest, strictly following the rituals of a system […]

On Sunday November 23rd 2013, the bones of St Peter were presented to the world for the first time at a public Mass. According to the Catholic Herald it was ‘wonderful and almost unbelievable . . . a man from Argentina has reintroduced us to his predecessor, a Galilean fisherman born millennia ago’. Eight bone […]

The year 2013 marked the 450th anniversary of the closing of the Council of Trent, one of the most significant series of meetings in Christian history. Here are nine things evangelicals should know about the Council and the decrees1 that it issued. 1. The Council of Trent was the most important movement of the Roman […]

The finances of the Roman Catholic Church tend to be well concealed. But a spate of bankruptcy cases in the US (8 out of 196 dioceses, with Honolulu teetering on the brink) has enabled The Economist to examine the situation in that country in more detail than is usually possible. There are 74 million people […]

The text of a letter written by Charles Hodge of Princeton Theological Seminary on behalf of the two General Assemblies of the Presbyterian Church in the USA, explaining why the Pope’s invitation to Protestants to send delegates to the first Vatican Council of 1869-70 was being declined. To Pius the Ninth, Bishop of Rome, By […]

In 1821 a young clergyman’s son matriculated at Worcester College, Oxford. Amongst the cleverest of his generation, he knew nothing of the wisdom which can only be imparted by the work of the Holy Spirit in the soul. Just previously, another young man, of similar academic capabilities, had graduated with an unexpectedly low third-class degree. […]

The current Pope (Joseph Ratzinger) entered office with a formidable reputation as the Vatican’s arch-conservative ‘enforcer’ of doctrine. In Protestant circles, it was conservative Evangelicals rather than mainline liberals that welcomed his appointment.1 Among those who praised his writings was Michael Horton (of Westminster Theological Seminary, California). While recognising that areas of disagreement exist, he […]

Later this month (September 2010) it is expected that John Henry Newman (1801-90) who was made a cardinal of the Roman Catholic church in 1879, will be ‘beatified’ by Pope Benedict XVI during his visit to England. That is, Newman will be officially ‘the Blessed…’ and on his way to sainthood, Roman style. This must […]

The Spectator magazine organises monthly debates on social and political issues, and on 2nd March, 2010 organised a debate on the subject ‘England should become a Catholic country again’. The speakers for the motion, Cardinal Cormac Murphy O’Connor, Piers Paul Reid and Rev Dom Antony Sutch, were all strong Roman Catholics who made their case […]

Christianity is the religion of the Gospel. The Gospel was defined by William Tyndale, the Bible translator, as ‘good merry, glad and joyful tidings, that maketh a man’s heart glad, and maketh him to dance and sing and leap for joy’. ‘Ransomed, healed, restored, forgiven, evermore his praises sing’, we might add. But as time […]

Introduction Teresa of Avila calls for our consideration on several counts: 1. Her writings are increasingly popular amongst unconverted but professing Protestants who find her ‘mystical spirituality’ attractive in their own ‘pursuit of God.’ We are thus alerted to a dangerous ‘enemy within the gates.’ 2. She is revered by Romanists as ‘a quintessential Catholic’, […]

One The Roman Catholic Church believes that its traditions and teaching are as authoritative as Scripture. The Reformed value tradition, but accept the Bible alone as their authority, and sole rule of faith and practice. Two The Roman Catholic Church believes that the Pope, as successor of Peter and Bishop of Rome, is head of […]

Not many people can say they have been to seminary. I have been to two: the first for two years to train as a Roman Catholic priest in Ireland; the second was a Reformed Seminary in London. Like most young boys growing up in Ireland in the 1980s I was brought up as a Roman […]

The following was posted on the blog of Mauro Meister, Professor of Old Testament in Mackenzie University, Sao Paulo, Brazil. Benedict Pope Benedict XVI recently (May 2007) arrived in Brazil. He brought lots of things in his baggage. I’m not talking about the Popemobile or his Swiss guards. Nor about his clothing, patterned after that […]

THE INSTANT TRACK TO SAINTHOOD – REGENERATION The same strategy is going to be adopted for the present pope after his days are over. He will be canonised through people claiming miracles have been done when they prayed to him and he too will be pronounced a ‘saint’ by Geoff Thomas This word ‘saint’ occurs […]