Martignoni commits the logical fallacy of alleged certainty aka assuming the conclusion. There is no explicit Scriptural support for 1) priestly absolution for sins or 2) papal definition and promulgation of infallible and binding dogma. Acts 13:38 and other Scriptures teach that forgiveness of sins is through the preaching of the Gospel:
“Let it be known to you therefore, brothers, that through this man forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you.”
John Martignoni
Uhmm...no, I did not commit the "logical fallacy of alleged certainty aka assuming the conclusion". Here he goes, trying to make the chapter about the "priestly absolution of sins" and papal infallibility, instead of what it is actually about - the lack of authoritative binding and loosing within Protestantism.
One thing to notice, though, is that he says, "There is no EXPLICIT Scriptural support for priestly forgiveness of sins." I.e., he's kinda admitting that there is at least implicit Scriptural support for priestly forgiveness of sins and I would argue it is, in fact, fairly explicit. I mean, it's hard to ignore James 5:16. After telling the folks to call for the "elders" - the priests/bishops - James commands that the people confess their sins to one another. Then, Matt 9:8 says that the authority on earth to forgive sins was given to "men" - plural. And the context there is not church discipline...it's the forgiveness of sins against God. And, of course, John 20:21-23 where Jesus EXPLICITLY gives the Apostles the power to forgive or retain sins. It seems to me that he is the one who has committed the "logical fallacy of alleged certainty aka assuming the conclusion"!
And look at how he interprets Acts 13:38! "Let it be known to you therefore, brothers, that through this man forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you." He interprets that to mean that people's sins are forgiven by having the gospel preached to them. Is that what he considers "explicit Scriptural support"? Really?! What Acts 13:38 is saying is that the disciples were preaching to people that Jesus died for their sins and that through Him you can obtain forgiveness of sin. Their sins were not forgiven merely by the fact that people had preached to them about Jesus and the forgiveness of sins.
Tom ExCatholic4Christ
There is not the slightest mention in the Bible of a pope declaring infallible dogma. Martignoni deceives his readers by failing to mention that many conservative and traditionalist Catholics (including those at EWTN, the publisher of this book) view the current pope Francis as, at best, a bad pope, and at worst a heretic.
John Martignoni
Actually, there is. In Acts 15, at the Council of Jerusalem, Peter - the 1st Pope - spoke, and all were silent. What did Peter say? That the prescripts of the old law - circumcision, keeping kosher, animal sacrifices, etc. - are, essentially, no longer required. Furthermore, this decision of Peter's, and the Council of Jerusalem as a whole, is said to be the decision of the Holy Spirit (Acts 15:28). When the Holy Spirit speaks, folks, that's dogma.
Notice, though, the deflection on his part once again, this time in regard to Pope Francis. Whether what he is saying about Traditionalist Catholics and their views on Pope Francis is true or not, it is absolutely irrelevant to the context of this chapter and to the lack of authority within Protestantism that prevents any Protestant from being able to wield the binding and loosing authority given to the church by God. He cannot positively defend Protestantism, so he has to attack Catholicism instead. Furthermore, what he says here highlights, once again, his lack of understanding of Catholic teaching, in particular, on papal infallibility.
Tom ExCatholic4Christ
It appears from the context of Matthew 16:19 in connection with Matthew 18:15-18 that the binding and loosing refers to church discipline. John MacArthur states in his commentary:
16:19 the keys of the kingdom of heaven.
These represent authority, and here Christ gives Peter (and by extension all other believers) authority to declare what is bound or loosed in heaven. This echoes the promise of John 20:23, where Christ gives the disciples authority to forgive or retain the sins of people. All these actions must be understood in the context of Matthew 18:15-17, in which Christ lays out specific instructions for dealing with sin in the church.1
John Martignoni
It "appears" from the context of Matthew 16:19 that binding and loosing refers to church discipline? "Appears?!" Again, really?! Sorry, but it doesn't "appear" that way to me. And, I guess neither MacArthur or Tom ExCatholic4Christ has ever read the parallel passage from Isaiah 22:15-24, about how Eliakim will be the steward over the household of the king (which in the New Testament is the church) and will be like a "father" (aka papa aka pope) to the inhabitants of Jerusalem. It "appears" - always look for this kind of non-definitive language - it's very uncertain language yet they try to pass off what they're saying as if it's infallible.
And I love his, apparently, infallible source - John MacArthur (famous anti-Catholic preacher) - who says that, while the keys of the kingdom do indeed represent authority, that this authority was given to Peter "(and by extension all other believers)"! Uhhmm...where does the Bible say that? No! The keys of the kingdom were given to Peter, and Peter alone. But, no...not according to MacArthur or to Tom ExCatholic4Christ. So, apparently then, all believers have the authority to bind and loose on earth what is then bound and loosed in Heaven, right? Which, by extension, makes "all believers" infallible! Isn't that awesome! I mean, the power to bind and loose is backed up by God's authority, and God is infallible. But, of course, God is only binding and loosing in Heaven disciplinary matters that are taking place in the church here on earth, nothing more. So, then, decisions regarding church disciplinary matters are infallible - since they have God's authority behind them - but decisions regarding doctrine and dogma are not? How ridiculous is that!
Tom ExCatholic4Christ
Rome elevated its spurious sacred oral traditions and teaching magisterium as being co-equal with Scripture. By untethering itself from the authority of Scripture, Rome fabricated its doctrines of auricular confession to priests and papal infallibility. Rome’s authority is false. The Bible, God’s Holy Word, is the sole infallible source of authority for Christian faith and practice. The current crisis within the RCC over pope Francis is more than enough evidence that Montignoni’a claims and boasts are fallacious.
My Comments
No, Rome has never "elevated" the Magisterium to being "co-equal with Scripture". That is a flat out lie. This time I think this is due not so much to ignorance as it is to malice. This guy hates the Catholic Church and, I believe, will do or say anything, no matter how false it is, to denigrate the Church. Since he doesn't have to adhere to those pesky Commandments in order to be saved, then that whole thing about "Thou shalt not bear false witness," doesn't bother him at all.
And, again, the "current crisis" with Pope Francis has no bearing at all on any of the arguments I made in Chapter 3 of my book. In other words, he is being consistent in his pattern of "rebuttal" of each of the chapters of my book so far. He starts off each rebuttal by mentioning what the chapter is about, and then completely ignores, and thus fails to respond to, any of the arguments I make or questions that I ask in the chapter. He fails to actually defend Protestantism. Instead, he ignores and deflects by attacking Catholicism. He seems to think that by "proving" Catholicism wrong, he is thus "proving" Protestantism right. Sorry, but it doesn't quite work that way.
Apologetics for the Masses #479 - A Protestant Replies to My Blue Collar Apologetics Book (Part 3)
Unsubscribe/Subscribe
https://www.biblechristiansociety.com/newsletter/unsubscribe - to unsubscribe from this newsletter
https://www.biblechristiansociety.com/newsletter - to subscribe to this newsletter
Topic
A Protestant - Tom ExCatholic4Christ - is doing a 42-part rebuttal to my Blue Collar Apologetics Book, one part for each chapter of the book. This is my response to his "rebuttal" of Chapter 3.
General Comments
Hey folks,
Three things:
1) If you didn't see my Open Letter on the BiMillennium of the Catholic Church, you can read it here, if interested, and add your name to the list of signees (if you feel so inclined): Catholic2000.com It's just my way of taking the first small step in a 9-yr. trek to the 2000-yr. anniversary of the Church. I want folks to start thinking about it and preparing for it. I believe it's going to be an incredible evangelization opportunity. Plus, if you post the letter on your FB page, Twitter/X, etc., or email it to family and friends, it's an easy way to evangelize - you're simply stating an historical fact...the Catholic Church is almost 2000 years old. Which implies, without having to say it, that the Catholic Church is the original church founded by Jesus Christ 2000 years ago. And that could possibly plant a seed, or start a conversation...
2) Also, as I've mentioned in the last 2-3 newsletters, I have a new column over at Patheos.com: Blue Collar Apologetics on Patheos.com I would love for you to look it over, maybe make a comment or two on some of the articles and/or do some of those emoji "response" thingamajigs. Also, you can sign up to receive the articles when they come out. That way you'll never miss a single one of these always riveting articles - isn't that an exciting prospect? [Insert smiley face here.] My latest article for Patheos is: All Catholics Are Going to Hell? Really?! You can read and comment on it or emoji it here: All Catholics Are Going to Hell? Really?!
(Note: To get to the "Comments" section, you have to scroll down below the article a decent ways, but it's there eventually.)
3) Been having some issues with the underlying html coding in the newsletter that is has caused some folks to get issues where half, or more, of the newsletter is underlined, which makes things more difficult to read. I think that issue has been fixed, but, if you ever get a newsletter where the fonts are going crazy or everything is underlined or bolded or some such thing, please let me know.
Introduction
As noted in previous newsletters, there is a Protestant out there, his name is Tom, who has a website called: ExCatholic4Christ.wordpress.com. He being an ex-Catholic, you can pretty much guess what to expect - knows everything there is to know about the Catholic Church; yet, somehow, keeps misrepresenting fundamental teachings of the Catholic Church. And, of course, is virulently anti-Catholic. Tom ExCatholic4Christ, is on a mission to deliver Catholics from the darkness of Romanism and to keep others from ever "embracing Rome" in the first place.
In that vein, he is doing a 42-part series on my book - A Blue Collar Answer to Protestantism (Catholic Questions Protestants Can't Answer). He is taking one chapter per week and giving a "rebuttal" of that chapter. Well, that's what he calls it anyway. Although, for something to actually be a rebuttal, I think it needs to maybe, just possibly, rebut the arguments that were actually made.
I've rebutted his rebuttals of Chapters 1 and 2, so I'll be doing Chapter 3 in this newsletter. By the way, below his rebuttals on his website, one is free to make comments. I've tried to make several comments, and a few of you have told me you left comments as well, but, so far, only one Catholic - "Anonymous" - has been allowed to make a few comments. Anonymous asked Tom ExCatholic4Christ some questions, and...as Gomer says: "Surprise, surprise!"...not a single question Anonymous asked was given a direct answer before he, too, was cut off from further commenting. Here's the original post for his "rebuttal" of Chapter 3: Tom ExCatholic4Christ Rebuttal to Ch. 3 of "A Blue Collar Answer to Protestantism"
As I did in the last newsletter, I'll 1st put his summation of my "argument" from the chapter in my book, and then respond to that, and then I'll give his "rebuttal," with my comments interspersed between his. His comments will be in italics.
Challenge/Response/Strategy
ExCatholic4Christ
A Blue Collar Answer to Protestantism #3: Binding and Loosing
Thanks for joining us today as we continue our Friday series examining Catholic apologist, John Martignoni’s book, “A Blue Collar Answer to Protestantism: Catholic Questions Protestants Can’t Answer” (2023).
Protestant Problem #3: Binding and Loosing
This week, Martignoni continues his ““Problems with Protestantism” section with problem #3, Binding and Loosing. He presses the claim that the Roman Catholic church is the only church authorized by Jesus Christ.
Martignoni’s Argument
Catholic apologist Martignoni begins by presenting Jesus’ words in Matthew 16:19 . . .
“I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.”
. . . and he additionally refers to Matthew 18:18, which also pertains to this binding and loosing. Martignoni states the binding and loosing refers to authority. He claims the authority includes the abilities to 1) forgive sins (he cites John 20:21-23), 2) pronounce doctrinal judgments, and 3) make disciplinary decisions. Martignoni argues that only the Catholic church has 1) the authority to forgive sins through priestly absolution, 2) the authority to define and promulgate infallible dogma that is binding upon all members, and 3) the authority to rule on significant disciplinary problems. He states the vast majority Protestant churches 1) do not claim the authority to absolve sins, 2) do not declare infallible doctrine that is binding upon all Protestants, and 3) do not make significant disciplinary decisions. He concludes, “The question then becomes: Why did Jesus give His Church the power to bind and loose if, since the apostles, no one in His Church can exercise that authority? This is why binding and loosing is a problem with Protestantism.”
John Martignoni
Well, this time around, he did a little better job in his summary of the chapter from my book. Although, once again, he framed it as me making a positive argument for the Catholic Church as opposed to what it actually is - an argument against Protestantism. For example, I said nothing about "only the Catholic Church" having the authority to forgive sins through "priestly absolution" (that phrase wasn't even used in the chapter) or only the Catholic Church having the "authority to rule on significant disciplinary problems". Nor did I say anything about the Catholic Church promulgating infallible dogma that is binding upon all members.
He did, however, give an adequate list of my arguments against Protestantism and did accurately quote the book with his last 2 sentences above. But, he never actually gets into the meat of my arguments as they are presented in the book and, once again, as we shall see below, he never actually addresses those arguments, even at a surface level.
Tom ExCatholic4Christ - My Rebuttal
Closing Comments
I might do one more rebuttal of Tom ExCatholic4Christ's "rebuttals" of my book, or I might move on to another topic. Got some material just waiting in the wings for me to get to it. I'll have to think/pray about it and see what happens.
Either way, I hope you have a happy and safe Memorial Day weekend!
Donations
The Bible Christian Society is a non-profit organization that relies solely on your support to bring the truths of the Catholic Faith to tens of thousands of people throughout the U.S. and all around the world each year. If you would like to help us do what we do, you can donate online at:
https://www.biblechristiansociety.com/donations
or send a check to:
Bible Christian Society
PO Box 424
Pleasant Grove, AL 35127.
Anything you can do is greatly appreciated!
Unsubscribe/Subscribe
https://www.biblechristiansociety.com/newsletter/unsubscribe - to unsubscribe from this newsletter
https://www.biblechristiansociety.com/newsletter - to subscribe to this newsletter