Tuesday, February 15, 2011

Upcoming debate

On March 18th, I will be debating Dale McAlpine of PeriloustimesUK blog on the doctrine of purgatory. The debate will be on our blog talk radio show. I am hoping for a civil, rational debate but after reading this on his blog, my optimism has waned dramatically.

Please note that each of the numbered and highlighted statements is a demonstrable, factual falsehood. Not an opinion, a factual lie. Granted, these are Mr. McArthur's remarks, not his. However, that he associates himself with these remarks is outrageous. In each of the numbered, highlighted remarks, McArthur erects a straw man- a non existent Catholic position. These are not the only errors in this piece but certainly the most egregious;


"In the long war on the truth, the most formidable, relentless and deceptive enemy has been Roman Catholicism. This is a logical fallacy called poisoning the well. It is a particular type of Ad Hominem attack, conspicuously lacking in anything that can be responded to.

It is an apostate, corrupt, heretical, false Christianity, it is affront for the kingdom of Satan.

This is known as a parade of horribles. Notice the deliberate use of hyperbole for shock value and, again, no substantive support.

The true church of the Lord Jesus Christ has always understood this.

Argumentum ad populum. Literally; an appeal to the masses. "everybody knows that". Here the debater argues that proposition "A" is true because all the truly smart people say it is. A totally fallacious argument.

And even through the Dark Ages from 400 to 1500, prior to the Reformation, genuine Christian believers set themselves apart from that system, and were brutally punished and executed for their rejection of that system....those believers throughout those centuries along with genuine and discerning believers today understand this is a false system.

This is the fallacy of the unestablished premise. You must take the writer's word that they were A) The true believers B) the system was false. C) They were punished because of the false system. D) As true believers, they share the same faith as protestants today.

McArthur does not even attempt to establish any of these premises on factual evidence.

It has a false priesthood. It has a false source of revelation, tradition and the magisterium. It has illegitimate power granted to it by this magisterium, this papal curia.

see above

1 It engages in idolatry by the worship of saints and the veneration of angels


That is a lie. The Catholic church worships the Father, Son and the Holy Spirit alone. We hold the angels and Saints as created beings who exemplified the faith in a way we may emulate.


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2 It conducts a horrific exaltation of Mary above Christ and even God

That is such a grotesque slander it is hardly worthy of a response. We hold Mary to be the single most blessed and holy of God's fully created mortal humans. However, to accuse us of elevating her above God, calls into question Mr McArthur's sanity.

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3 It conducts a twisted sacrament of the Mass by which Jesus is sacrificed again and again

Another despicable lie. Christ died once and for all. There is no resacrifice of Christ in Catholicism. The sacrifice is once. It is the offering that is perpetual- as it has been from the very start-

Malachi 1

11 For from the rising of the sun to its setting my name is great among the nations, and in every place incense is offered to my name, and a pure offering; for my name is great among the nations, says the LORD of hosts.


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4 It offers false forgiveness through the confessional.

Baloney! Again, confession to a Priest goes all the way back to the Levitical Priesthood of Aaron. It is reaffirmed in John 20:23. There is nothing false about it.There is nothing in Scripture to indicate that this precept has ended.

It calls for the uselessness of infant baptism and other sacraments.

Useless? A Sacrament instituted by Christ HIMSELF is USELESS!? The Bible is very clear that baptism was performed on whole families. (1 Corinthians 1:16, Acts 16:33) John received the Holy Spirit (something that happens at Baptism in His mother's womb! (Luke 1:15)

Calling Baptism a useless Sacrament is nothing short of blasphemy.

5Motivated by money, it has invented Purgatory.

The doctrine of Purgatory has existed since the start of the church and has too many Biblical proofs to count. Here is just one

1 Corinthians 3
12 Now if any one builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw-- 13* each man's work will become manifest; for the Day will disclose it, because it will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test what sort of work each one has done. 14 If the work which any man has built on the foundation survives, he will receive a reward. 15* If any man's work is burned up, he will suffer loss, though he himself will be saved, but only as through fire.

The Biblical basis for purgatory is very sound and the assertion that the doctrine was created for money is absurd and untenable.


And by the way, Purgatory is what makes the whole system work. Take out Purgatory and it's a hard sell to be a Catholic. People hang in there because of the deception of Purgatory. 6Purgatory is the safety net, when you die, you don't go to hell. You go there and get things sorted out and finally get to heaven if you've been a good Catholic.


Rubbish. Purgatory is not a safety net. Any soul not saved in this life will not be saved in purgatory either. Purgatory is a place where some of the saved must go first to atone for non mortal sin by temporal punishment.

Take away that safety net, that's a hard sell because7 in the Catholic system you can never know you're saved, you can never know you're going to heaven.

Baloney! Any Catholic not in a state of mortal sin can be assured that he/she is going to heaven- either immediately after death or after a time of atonement in purgatory. It is the protestant who can never be sure of this fact. His assurance is one of delusion. There is no evidence of a person going to heaven by the heretical doctrines of protestantism.


You just keep trying and trying.." ~John Macarthur


The abject hatred and dishonesty in this piece is beyond appalling. I have just shown you 7 outright, demonstrable, bald-faced lies.

Your comments welcome.


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