Scott Eric Alt is a Catholic convert and blogger. He has an M.A. in English literature (1998) from Southern Illinois University, and in a past life taught introductory college composition and literature. In 2011, after many years of Protestant church-hopping, he was received into the Catholic Church. He is a Third Degree Knight of Columbus and Benedictine oblate of St. Meinrad Archabbey. He currently lives near Cincinnati, Ohio, and blogs mainly about apologetics here.
This post begins a series addressing arguments against papal infallibility. The first of them is fairly easy to refute, but it is worth mentioning because of how common it is. The argument goes like this: “The pope is a sinner, like everyone else, and so therefore can hardly claim to be infallible.” Now, you will …
The Worst Arguments Against Papal Infallibility – Part 1 Read More »
A commonplace argument among Catholic apologists, whenever the topic of sola scriptura arises, is that without an authority external to the Bible, one can not know which books belong in the Bible in the first place. No Protestant would argue that the table of contents is infallible, and yet somehow one must know that Galatians …
Last week I made several points to counter the anti-Catholic believe that the Catholic priesthood somehow replaces the priesthood of Christ. Read that here. To the point, I clarifies the mistakes John Clavin made hermeneutically: “If “Christ being immortal,” as Calvin says, “had not the least occasion to have a vicar substituted for him,” then …
The Catholic Priesthood Does Not Replace Christ’s (Part 2) Read More »
A common proof-text to which Protestants will go when trying to argue against the Catholic priesthood is Hebrews 7:23-24, which reads (in the KJV): “And they truly were many priests, because they were not suffered to continue by reason of death: But this man, because he continueth ever, hath an unchangeable priesthood.” The error in …
The Catholic Priesthood Does Not Replace Christ’s. Here’s Why. Read More »
On October 16, 2002, Pope St. John Paul II added a new group of Mysteries—the “Luminous Mysteries”—to the Rosary. Hitherto there had been three groups: the Joyful Mysteries, the Sorrowful Mysteries, and the Glorious Mysteries. These three together totaled 150 Hail Marys: originally meant to correspond to the 150 Psalms. An objection, among traditional-minded folks, to …
I Never Understood Why We Pray The Luminous Mysteries, Until Now! Read More »
I am Catholic because Catholicism is true. It is not a little true. It is not some truth mixed with error; if I wanted that, I definitely wouldn’t be here. I am Catholic because the Catholic Church is the only place you will find the fullness of Truth. It is for Truth that I became …
Why I Am Never Leaving the Catholic Church, and Neither Should You Read More »
In conversations with Protestants, the topic of sola scriptura will almost always come up. According to those who are persuaded by this idea, the Bible—sixty-six, not seventy-three, books—is the sole infallible rule of faith and practice for the Church. Whatever is not specifically in the Bible, or may be logically inferred from it, is not binding …
3 Verses That Fail to Prove Sola Scriptura, and Never Will Read More »
This Easter Vigil will mark five years since I entered the Catholic Church on April 23, 2011. It is one of those events that you treat as a kind of birthday, and you keep track of the number of years that have passed since. Becoming Catholic is the best thing I ever did. The year …
If you’re still looking for a spiritual book that can serve as a devotional this Lent, here are five suggestions. The Imitation of Christ, by Thomas a Kempis If you have not read this book yet, what are you waiting for? Even if you have, …
…in James 2:14. (Unless you read the Douay-Rheims, or the King James.) Here is James 2:14 in the NAB translation that is read at Mass: What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can that faith save him? I emphasize the word “that” because it is …