Podcasts about roman catholicism

Segment 1 • A coalition of liberal theologians claims democracy is collapsing and urges Christians to “resist”. • Todd unpacks the irony of condemning “Christian nationalism” while using faith to pressure government policy. • The emotional language sounds righteous on the surface—but once you slow it down, does it actually hold up? Segment 2 • “Every person bears God's image”—but does that automatically determine public policy? • Todd challenges the logic of using biblical truths to justify specific political outcomes without defining terms. • A powerful persuasion tactic is exposed: overwhelm your opponent so disagreement makes you look cruel. Segment 3 • A prominent conservative Baptist leader converts to Roman Catholicism—how does someone go from “grace alone” to a works-based system? • The deep psychological pull of tradition, history, and apostolic lineage. • Why parents must ground their children in the doctrine of the true, invisible Church before someone else defines their heritage for them. Segment 4 • A growing number of Christians now trust AI for spiritual advice more than their pastors. • Todd explains why AI doesn't give you truth—it often gives you what you want to hear. • Massive layoffs, sermon prep shortcuts, and the quiet erosion of pastoral authority—are we outsourcing discernment? ___ Thanks for listening! Wretched Radio would not be possible without the financial support of our Gospel Partners. If you would like to support Wretched Radio we would be extremely grateful. VISIT https://fortisinstitute.org/donate/ If you are already a Gospel Partner we couldn't be more thankful for you if we tried!

We started listening to the cross-examination in the debate over the "Great Apostasy" that took place back in December between Jacob Hansen and Joe Heschmeyer. This is allowing us to delve into Mormonism, Roman Catholicism, Church History, and a lot more, in a really enjoyable, organic way. We will continue the review in the upcoming programs!

In this final episode of our German Reformation series, Dr. James Spencer and Dr. Greg Quiggle step back from the 16th century to ask a pressing modern question: what does it actually mean to be Protestant today—and what have we gained (and lost) since the Reformation? Greg frames Protestantism with a memorable realism: it isn’t perfect—it’s the “least problematic” of the major options(Roman Catholicism, Eastern Orthodoxy, and Protestantism). From there, the conversation explores Protestantism’s strengths—Scripture in the common language, broad engagement with the Bible, the dignity and responsibility of ordinary believers, and the freedom to test tradition against God’s Word—while also naming the hazards that come with that freedom. James and Greg dig into one of the central tensions of modern Protestant life: authority without a pope must still include accountability. The Reformation wasn’t a call for every individual to interpret Scripture with equal authority; it assumed a teaching office and depended on catechesis to form faithful readers. But in today’s digital ecosystem—where influence is often determined by charisma, algorithms, and audience-size—Protestantism can drift into fragmentation, echo chambers, and “pastor-as-pope” dynamics inside independent churches. This episode also turns practical and pastoral: how should Christians live faithfully amid online outrage cycles, misinformation, and slander—especially when “everyone is a publisher”? Greg and James connect these issues to biblical ethics (truth-telling, false witness) and to the urgent need to rebuild theological formation in the local church. In this conversation, you’ll hear about: Why Protestantism is a “best worst” option—and why that matters The strengths of Protestant diversity (and why it’s also dangerous) Why the teaching office matters—and what happens when it collapses How the loss of catechism has weakened Protestant interpretation The modern digital “echo chamber” problem and credibility collapse Why truth, slander, and false witness apply directly to social media Practical next steps: near-term wisdom + long-term formation Quotelos Travel offers small, expert-led “Tours for Ten” that provide an intimate and unforgettable way to explore church history and culture with guides who truly know the locations. Learn more at quotelostravelservice.com, and check out their upcoming trips to Germany, England, and Switzerland. Subscribe to our YouTube channel

 In this teaching, James Jacob examines where the church first went wrong by abandoning apostolic authority in favor of patristic (church-father), papal, or institutional authority, warning that this shift opened the door to enduring deception. Drawing on Acts 20:28–30, 2 Peter 2:1–3, 2 Corinthians 11:1–5, Revelation 2:2, Numbers 16, 2 Timothy 1:19–20; 2:17; 4:14, and 3 John 9–10, he shows a consistent biblical pattern: false teachers arise after God-appointed leaders, mix truth with error, promote “another Jesus, another spirit, and another gospel,” and draw disciples after themselves. He applies this framework to modern movements—especially Roman Catholicism and other traditions that appeal to church fathers to override Scripture—arguing that knowing the apostles or being historically connected to them does not confer doctrinal authority or spiritual legitimacy. The message concludes that Scripture alone, as the preserved apostolic witness to Christ, is the church's final authority, and that deviation from it—however ancient, respected, or popular—leads inevitably to doctrinal corruption and division. This teaching was originally taught on RTN TV's "Word for the Weekend" on June 21, 2025 and can be found on RTN and Moriel's YouTube and ministry channels. Word for the Weekend streams live every Saturday. See RTNTV.org for more information

In 1908, a Pentecostal minister announced to his followers that the Devil was alive and well and interfered with every aspect of human life. And he wasn't alone in this belief. Others described demons as swarming around the human soul and living off them “like ticks on cattle.” The Pentecostal belief about the Devil interfering with our everyday lives was just one example of how the twentieth century became the “Satanic Century” for both American religion and popular culture. More than at any other time since the seventeenth century, American religion became obsessed with the Devil and all his works. The was largely due to the rise of two powerful religious movements at the time – Pentecostalism and Fundamentalism. Each gave the Devil a special role in both their view of the world and their personal spiritual experience. But they were not the only ones – Roman Catholicism remained convinced of how the Devil's influence continued to represent a threat to the lives and souls of its followers. In fact, it was during this same time that the Catholic Church revealed the horrors of a demonic possession that would shock the nation. The exorcism that followed would become known as one of the first to make national news in modern American history.Our Sponsors:* Check out BetterHelp: https://www.betterhelp.com* Check out Shopify: https://shopify.com/hauntings* Check out TruDiagnostic and use my code HAUNTINGS for a great deal: https://www.trudiagnostic.comSupport this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/american-hauntings-podcast/donationsAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

The New Apostolic Reformation movement claims to have contemporary apostles who receive new revelation equal to Scripture, effectively ending sola scriptura. Dr. John Neufeld explains how this movement argues the Bible is insufficient for today's church and that modern "apostles" give new words adding to biblical truth. Dr. John demonstrates that unless we have a closed canon—66 books and no more—we're saying Jesus didn't complete God's plan.The Case for Sola Scriptura: Is the Bible alone our ultimate authority? In this 5-part series, Dr. John Neufeld defends sola scriptura—that Scripture alone is our final authority for faith and practice. He addresses challenges from Roman Catholicism, Protestant liberalism, and the New Apostolic Reformation. Dr. John demonstrates that the 66 books of Scripture form a closed canon—God's complete and final word.

Why don't Jews still offer animal sacrifices if the Old Testament law still applies? In this episode of Ask Dr. E, Dr. Michael Easley answers a thoughtful listener question by walking through Jewish history, Scripture, and the book of Hebrews.Dr. Easley explains the differences within modern Judaism, why the sacrificial system requires very specific biblical conditions, and how the destruction of the temple in AD 70 made sacrifices impossible under the law. He also explores the significance of the red heifer, the role of the priesthood, and why the author of Hebrews points to Jesus as the once-for-all sacrifice who fulfilled the entire system.This episode is a helpful guide for anyone trying to understand Judaism, the Old Testament sacrificial system, and why Christians believe Jesus is fully sufficient—no temple required.Chapters00:00 Introduction to the Sacrificial System00:48 Understanding Jewish Sects and Their Practices02:24 The Historical Context of Sacrifices05:24 Modern Implications: The Red Heifer and the Temple Institute08:03 Theological Reflections on Sacrifices and ChristKey Topics Covered-Why Jews no longer offer animal sacrifices-The destruction of the temple in AD 70-Orthodox vs. Conservative vs. Reformed Judaism-The red heifer and ritual purification-Hebrews 9 and Jesus as the final sacrifice-Do Christians need a future temple? Links Mentioned: Reasoning From The Scriptures with Catholics by Dr. Ron Rhodes Why Do Protestants Convert? By Chris Castaldo Chris Castaldo on inContext 10 Most Important Things You Can Say to a Catholic By Dr. Ron Rhodes If you've got a question for Dr. Easley, call or text us your question at 615-281-9694 or email at question@michaelincontext.com.

While Jesus affirmed the complete authority and accuracy of Scripture, modern Protestant liberalism has abandoned sola scriptura by claiming the Bible contains errors or is merely humanity's search for God. Dr. John Neufeld traces how German scholars began questioning Moses' authorship and denying Jesus' miracles, replacing biblical Christianity with cultural affirmation and self-actualization. Wherever the preaching of Scripture is absent, sola scriptura is disregarded, and the church is hollowed out.The Case for Sola Scriptura: Is the Bible alone our ultimate authority? In this 5-part series, Dr. John Neufeld defends sola scriptura—that Scripture alone is our final authority for faith and practice. He addresses challenges from Roman Catholicism, Protestant liberalism, and the New Apostolic Reformation. Dr. John demonstrates that the 66 books of Scripture form a closed canon—God's complete and final word.

Can tradition hold equal authority with Scripture? Dr. John Neufeld examines what Jesus taught about tradition in Mark 7:1-13, where the Pharisees criticized His disciples for not following ceremonial hand washing traditions. Jesus responded by quoting Isaiah: "They teach as doctrines the commandments of men." When tradition conflicts with Scripture—as when the Pharisees used "Corban" to avoid honouring their parents—tradition always loses. Jesus Himself practiced sola scriptura.The Case for Sola Scriptura: Is the Bible alone our ultimate authority? In this 5-part series, Dr. John Neufeld defends sola scriptura—that Scripture alone is our final authority for faith and practice. He addresses challenges from Roman Catholicism, Protestant liberalism, and the New Apostolic Reformation. Dr. John demonstrates that the 66 books of Scripture form a closed canon—God's complete and final word.

Roman Catholics argue that sola scriptura has splintered Protestantism into countless interpretations. Dr. John Neufeld responds by distinguishing between sola scriptura (Scripture as final authority) and solo scriptura (Scripture alone, rejecting all church history). Historic Protestants affirm Scripture's ultimate authority while valuing church fathers and the ecumenical creeds.The Case for Sola Scriptura: Is the Bible alone our ultimate authority? In this 5-part series, Dr. John Neufeld defends sola scriptura—that Scripture alone is our final authority for faith and practice. He addresses challenges from Roman Catholicism, Protestant liberalism, and the New Apostolic Reformation. Dr. John demonstrates that the 66 books of Scripture form a closed canon—God's complete and final word.

Pop Quiz! What's the name of the smallest country in the world? I'll give you a hint, it's also the heart of one of the biggest religions on the planet! You know, the home of a guy who mostly wears flowing white robes and gets driven around in this incredibly swag custom jeep. Have you already guessed? That's right, I'm talking about Vatican City, often simply called the Vatican! The Holy City only covers 121 acres - that's just 14% of New York's Central Park - and contains a tiny population of around 800 people! But it's here religious legacies such as the beautiful St Peter's Basilica can be found, making it a spiritual centre for Roman Catholicism. But for all the prayers and blessings, the walls of this city also hold a hoard of sinister secrets. From forbidden archives to sacred scams, it's time to grab your flashlights as we explore some dark secrets of the Vatican that the Popoe would rather stay hidden!Our Sponsors:* Check out BetterHelp: https://www.betterhelp.comAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

The official teaching of the Catholic Church directs its parishioners to pray directly to Mary to intercede to Jesus on our behalf (see the Catechism of the Catholic Church (CCC) paragraphs 2277-2279). The Church also teaches that Mary was herself immaculately conceived and preserved from every stain of sin common to the rest of humanity (see CCC 490-492). But are these doctrinal statements in keeping with a biblical portrait of Mary? We will explore these topics and others on part two of our discussion with Italian pastor, theologian, and author Leonardo De Chirico. Leonardo De Chirico is the pastor of Breccia di Roma, a church that he helped plant in Rome in 2009. He served as Vice Chairman of the Italian Evangelical Alliance from 2003-2021 and now serves as chairman for the theological commission of the IEA. Previously, Leonardo planted and pastored an evangelical church in Ferrara, Italy, from 1997 to 2009. He earned degrees in History (University of Bologna), Theology (ETCW, Bridgend, Wales) and Bioethics (University of Padova). His PhD is from King's College (London); it was published as Evangelical Theological Perspectives on Post-Vatican II Roman Catholicism. In 2015, he published A Christian Pocket Guide to Papacy and A Christian Pocket Guide to Mary: Mother of God? through Christian Focus. He is a lecturer of Historical Theology at Istituto di Formazione Evangelica e Documentazione in Padova, Italy. Additionally, Leonardo is the Director of the Reformanda Initiative, which aims to equip evangelical leaders to better understand and engage with Roman Catholicism, and the leader of the Rome Scholars & Leaders Network (RSLN). Free Profile Articles from Watchman Fellowship: Roman CatholicismGoddess worshipIslam New Age Movement Additional Resources from Watchman Fellowship: FREE: We are also offering a subscription to our 4-page bimonthly Profiles here: www.watchman.org/Free.The complete Profile Notebook (Digital Edition, PDF, over 600-pages): www.watchman.org/DigitalNotebookSUPPORT: Help us create more content like this. Make a tax-deductible donation here: www.watchman.org/give.Apologetics Profile is a ministry of Watchman Fellowship For more information, visit www.watchman.org © 2026 Watchman Fellowship, Inc.

Can the Bible alone be our ultimate authority, or do we need something more? Dr. John Neufeld begins a defense of sola scriptura—the principle that Scripture alone is our final authority for faith and practice. Addressing objections from Roman Catholics and others, Dr. John demonstrates that Jesus Himself chose the apostles and promised the Holy Spirit would guide them into all truth. The church didn't decide which books belong in the Bible—it simply recognized what God had already established.The Case for Sola Scriptura: Is the Bible alone our ultimate authority? In this 5-part series, Dr. John Neufeld defends sola scriptura—that Scripture alone is our final authority for faith and practice. He addresses challenges from Roman Catholicism, Protestant liberalism, and the New Apostolic Reformation. Dr. John demonstrates that the 66 books of Scripture form a closed canon—God's complete and final word.

In this episode, Peter welcomes Bill Webster, apologist, author, and pastor. Bill has written extensively on the history of the church and issues pertaining to Roman Catholicism. In part one of this interview, Peter and Bill discuss the following:00:00 Introduction02:05 Bill Webster's Testimony07:48 Why have you made Roman Catholicism a focus of some of your books?26:45 Should we think of Catholics as brothers in Christ?52:03 Can Catholics be saved as Catholic?For more on Bill Webster:Grace Bible Church of Battle Ground, WABill's Website, Christian ResourcesList of Webster's BooksWebster on Roman Catholic TraditionIf you have found the podcast helpful, consider ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠leaving a review on Itunes⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ or ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠rating it on Spotify⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. You can also find ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠The Bible Sojourner on Youtube⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. Consider passing any episodes you have found helpful to a friend.Visit ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠petergoeman.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ for more information on the podcast or blog.Visit⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ shepherds.edu⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ for more on Shepherds Theological Seminary where Dr. Goeman teaches.

Wednesday, February 05, 2026

Who is in charge in Protestantism? Catholics often argue that Protestantism fails because it lacks a single visible authority like the Pope. In this video, Christian Barrett responds to that claim and explains how Protestants understand church authority, Scripture, councils, and tradition by answering a recent objection made by  ⁨@CameronRiecker⁩  Christian walks through infant baptism, denominational differences, Sola Scriptura, differences in Roman Catholicism, and the reasons for disagreements in both Protestantism and Roman Catholicism.If you've ever wondered who decides doctrine in Protestant Christianity, how Protestants answer doctrinal disputes, or what authority looks like without a Pope, this video is for you.Topics covered:– Protestant vs Catholic authority– Who is in charge in Protestantism– Sola Scriptura and Tradition– Church councils and Acts 15– Infant Baptism– Ministerial vs Magesterial Authority of the Church00:00 – Who Is in Charge in Protestantism?00:10 – Protestant vs Catholic Authority Explained03:44 – Responding to Cameron Rieker on Church Authority07:24 – The Roman Catholic Argument Against Protestantism (Summary)09:48 – Does Infant Baptism Save?12:47 – Does Church Authority Come From Tradition?14:55 – Baptists vs Lutherans: Protestant Differences18:01 – Acts 15 and the Council of Jerusalem Explained21:01 – The Role of Christian Councils22:50 – Sola Scriptura and Tradition27:00 – Disagreements in Roman Catholicism29:25 – Ministerial Authority of the ChurchFair Use Disclaimer:This video may contain copyrighted material the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. All clips used are protected by the Fair Use Doctrine within Title 17 of the United States Code. This doctrine safeguards the use of copyrighted material for transformative purposes, such as commentary, criticism, review and news reporting. Under Title 17 U.S.C. § 512(f), any person who makes a false, bad faith, or misleading copyright claim or uses a copyright takedown to infringe on free speech, criticism, or commentary can be held liable for damages to the content creator.Hosseinzadeh v. Klein, 276 F.Supp.3d 34 (S.D.N.Y. 2017); Equals Three, LLC v. Jukin Media, Inc., 139 F. Supp. 3d 1094 (C.D. Cal. 2015).#Protestantism #ChurchAuthority #SolaScriptura #ChristianTheology #CatholicVsProtestant #BibleTeaching

Was Mary Tudor truly “Bloody Mary”? Has England's first reigning queen been misunderstood for centuries? Determined to restore Roman Catholicism, her reign became forever associated with the burning of Protestants. But was she really a religious tyrant, or a trailblazer trapped by Europe's violent politics?Professor Suzannah Lipscomb is joined by Professor Anna Whitelock to put the record straight on the remarkable reign of Mary I, five turbulent years which shaped the future of England in profound, and often misrepresented, ways.MORE:Mary I: What if She'd Lived?Listen on AppleListen on SpotifyThe Spanish King of EnglandListen on AppleListen on SpotifyPresented by Professor Suzannah Lipscomb. The researcher is Max Wintle, audio editor is Amy Haddow and the producer is Rob Weinberg. The senior producer is Anne-Marie Luff.All music courtesy of Epidemic Sounds.Not Just the Tudors is a History Hit podcastSign up to History Hit for hundreds of hours of original documentaries, with a new release every week. Sign up at https://www.historyhit.com/subscribe. Audio for Uploader:https://drive.google.com/drive/u/1/folders/1nNXk3BvoUew_hdGsSvuzaC6que5vao67 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

What role does Mary, the mother of Jesus, have in traditional Catholic theology? This week and next on Apologetics Profile, we will examine some of the core dogmas of Catholic Mariology and contrast them with the Bible's portrait of Mary with our guest Leonardo De Chirico, pastor, theologian, and author of several books on Catholic and Protestant theology and engagement. Leonardo De Chirico is the pastor of Breccia di Roma, a church that he helped plant in Rome in 2009. He served as Vice Chairman of the Italian Evangelical Alliance from 2003-2021 and now serves as chairman for the theological commission of the IEA. Previously, Leonardo planted and pastored an evangelical church in Ferrara, Italy, from 1997 to 2009. He earned degrees in History (University of Bologna), Theology (ETCW, Bridgend, Wales) and Bioethics (University of Padova). His PhD is from King's College (London); it was published as Evangelical Theological Perspectives on Post-Vatican II Roman Catholicism. In 2015, he published A Christian Pocket Guide to Papacy and A Christian Pocket Guide to Mary: Mother of God? through Christian Focus. He is a lecturer of Historical Theology at Istituto di Formazione Evangelica e Documentazione in Padova, Italy. Additionally, Leonardo is the Director of the Reformanda Initiative, which aims to equip evangelical leaders to better understand and engage with Roman Catholicism, and the leader of the Rome Scholars & Leaders Network (RSLN). Audio clips about the Dallas Cowboys featured in this episode: Play by play of Cowboys & Vikings famous "Hail, Mary" from December 1975. Roger Staubach interview on the Dan Patrick Show. Free Profile Articles from Watchman Fellowship: Roman CatholicismGoddess worshipIslam New Age Movement Additional Resources from Watchman Fellowship: FREE: We are also offering a subscription to our 4-page bimonthly Profiles here: www.watchman.org/Free.The complete Profile Notebook (Digital Edition, PDF, over 600-pages): www.watchman.org/DigitalNotebookSUPPORT: Help us create more content like this. Make a tax-deductible donation here: www.watchman.org/give.Apologetics Profile is a ministry of Watchman Fellowship For more information, visit www.watchman.org © 2026 Watchman Fellowship, Inc.

 The Word That Endures Forever: Creeds, Canon, and the Test of Doctrinal Consistency  In this foundational teaching, Jacob Prasch examines the nature of biblical Christianity by contrasting the unchanging authority of Scripture with the evolving doctrines of religion. Beginning with the early creeds—the Apostles' Creed and the Nicene Creed—he explains how the “line of faith” preserved essential Christian truth before the New Testament canon was fully written and recognized. From there, the message traces a consistent biblical warning against adding to or subtracting from God's Word, drawing on Deuteronomy, Proverbs, Isaiah, the Gospels, the Epistles, and Revelation. Prasch argues that while Scripture remains coherent and self-consistent, false expressions of Judaism, Roman Catholicism, Eastern Orthodoxy, Islam, Mormonism, Jehovah's Witnesses, and modern ecumenical and emergent movements are marked by progressive doctrinal invention and internal contradiction. By documenting historical developments, shifting dogmas, and extra-biblical authorities, the teaching exposes religion as man's attempt to reach God, in contrast to the gospel—God's unchanging revelation reaching fallen humanity. The message concludes with a clear test of truth: what is from God remains consistent, but what adds to His Word will inevitably prove unstable, contradictory, and false. This teaching was originally taught on RTN TV's "Word for the Weekend" on July 6, 2024 and can be found on RTN and Moriel's YouTube and ministry channels. Word for the Weekend streams live every Saturday. See RTNTV.org for more information.

Wednesday, January 28, 2026

Welcome to Day 2781 of Wisdom-Trek, and thank you for joining me. This is Guthrie Chamberlain, Your Guide to Wisdom – Theology Thursday – A Critical Examination of Alexander Hislop: Why His Teachings Should Be Ignored Wisdom-Trek Podcast Script - Day 2781 Welcome to Wisdom-Trek with Gramps!   I am Guthrie Chamberlain, and we are on Day 2781 of our Trek.   The Purpose of Wisdom-Trek is to create a legacy of wisdom, to seek out discernment and insights, and to boldly grow where few have chosen to grow before. Our current series of Theology Thursday lessons is written by theologian and teacher John Daniels. I have found that his lessons are short, easy to understand, doctrinally sound, and applicable to all who desire to learn more of God's Word. John's lessons can be found on his website   theologyinfive.com.   Today's lesson is titled A Critical Examination of Alexander Hislop: Why His Teachings Should Be Ignored.     Alexander Hislop's The Two Babylons has long held sway in certain evangelical and fundamentalist circles. Its central claim—that Roman Catholicism is a disguised continuation of ancient Babylonian paganism—has influenced generations of Christians suspicious of the Catholic Church. Hislop argues that practices and symbols within Catholicism were derived from ancient worship of figures like Nimrod and Semiramis. Yet as modern scholarship has consistently demonstrated, these claims collapse under scrutiny. This article examines why Hislop's theories are deeply flawed, historically inaccurate, and ultimately harmful. The first segment is: A Foundation of Faulty Methodology. From the outset, Hislop's work suffers from methodological failure. Rather than employing credible historical sources, linguistic analysis, or archaeological evidence, Hislop leans heavily on speculation and forced connections. He draws parallels based on little more than superficial similarity—treating visual resemblance or name echoes as definitive proof of religious continuity. A striking example is Hislop's attempt to link the Virgin Mary with the Babylonian figure Semiramis. Rather than relying on historical context or primary sources, he builds his case on tenuous similarities and conjecture. This pattern repeats throughout the book. Hislop's conclusions are based on circular reasoning, and his work lacks the kind of critical evaluation expected in even the most basic academic research. The second segment is: Inventing the Nimrod-Semiramis Narrative. At the core of Hislop's argument is the narrative that Nimrod and Semiramis served as the original model for all pagan deities and that this archetype was smuggled into Christianity. According to Hislop, the Catholic portrayal of Mary and Jesus as a mother and child pair is simply a continuation of Babylonian goddess worship. This idea, however, has no basis in historical fact. There is no ancient evidence linking Nimrod, a biblical figure mentioned briefly in Genesis, to Semiramis, who appears centuries later in Assyrian and Greco-Roman sources. Semiramis is never presented as Nimrod's wife in any ancient record. Nor is she depicted as a fertility goddess or a “Queen of Heaven” in a context that would support Hislop's claims. Instead, she is often described as a powerful queen or military leader, not a religious figure. The pairing of Nimrod and Semiramis is entirely Hislop's invention. Furthermore, Nimrod himself is not attested in any ancient Mesopotamian inscriptions as a god, cult figure, or object of worship. Hislop's claim that Nimrod became the prototype for gods such as Osiris, Zeus, or...

Reaction and Response to "Why Roman Catholics Should Not Become Orthodox?"What if the hunger for stability isn't nostalgia, but a compass? Cloud of Witnesses discussion panel today is made up of John St John, James St Simon, Mario Andrew, and Jeremy Jeremiah.  The panel reacts to a pro-Catholic video that warns against becoming Orthodox and use it to surface the deeper questions: where does authority live, how does doctrine truly develop, and what keeps worship both beautiful and trustworthy?We react to a polemical Roman Catholic video urging Catholics not to convert to Eastern Orthodoxy and test its claims about apostolic unity, papal authority, doctrinal development, and universality. Along the way we share personal stories, weigh history against worship, and ask what sustains faith without constant change.• claims about Peter, Rome and Antioch• first among equals versus universal jurisdiction• councils as the arbiter of faith• slowness as protection against novelty• filioque and changes to the Creed• Marian dogmas and the limits of development• beauty and recognition in unchanging liturgy• ethnicity, national churches and real unity• pastoral gaps, weak catechesis and frustration• how to speak to Catholics considering OrthodoxyWe start with apostolic unity and the claim that Peter's office guarantees visible communion. From there, we trace how Orthodoxy understands primacy as “first among equals,” rooted in the shared authority of the apostles and the ecumenical councils. The conversation tests historical flashpoints—Peter in Antioch, Chalcedon weighing Leo's Tome, and moments when Rome's stance faltered—asking whether unity requires a single final arbiter or a conciliar process that takes time to mature. Rather than papering over differences, we probe them: is slow consensus a weakness, or a safeguard against novelty?Doctrinal development takes center stage as we compare clarifications in the West with what the East calls faithful continuity. We wrestle with the filioque's addition to the Creed, later Marian dogmas, and the principle that the symbol of faith should not be amended. Along the way, we get personal: stories of Catholics who feel adrift amid liturgical inconsistency, the draw of Orthodox worship that “feels” ancient because it is, and the complicated mix of ethnicity and universality that outsiders often misread. Beneath jurisdictions, we argue, stands a single sacramental life held together by councils, shared prayer, and a reluctance to innovate.If you've ever wondered why some Catholics look East, or how Orthodoxy claims to hold the line without a papal office, this conversation gives you history, theology, and lived experience in equal measure. Listen, reflect, and tell us where you stand—what convinces you most: authority, continuity, or the beauty that calls you home?Questions about Orthodoxy? Please check out our friends at Ghost of Byzantium Discord server: https://discord.gg/JDJDQw6tdhPlease prayerfully consider supporting Cloud of Witnesses: https://www.patreon.com/CloudofWitnessesFind Cloud of Witnesses on Instagram, X.com, Facebook, and TikTok.Please leave a comment with your thoughts!

Dr. Jordan Cooper of Just and Sinner Dr. Cooper’s YouTube Channel Just and Sinner Dr. Cooper’s WebsiteThe post The Key Difference Between Roman Catholicism and Lutheranism – Dr. Jordan Cooper, 1/15/26 (0152) first appeared on Issues, Etc..

Romans 10:5-8 — How far away is the truth? What quest or journey must be traversed in order to find God? Is there some kind of special act one must perform in order to make their way to God? Many people teach that God is so far away that the gap is unspeakably difficult to cross. Others teach that one must cross the gap to God by their own efforts. Whether it is Roman Catholicism, the mystical way, or Protestant intellectualism, Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones finds the answer to such false systems in the apostle Paul's words in Romans 10:5–8. The apostle invokes the great preacher of the law – Moses – in order to show that God has revealed Himself perfectly clearly. There is no need to ascend to heaven or descend into the deep. God, through Christ, has revealed Himself fully in the gospel and the gospel way is not about human efforts. It is not about their assent or justification by works. Salvation is about justification by faith alone in Christ Jesus alone. In this sermon on Romans 10:5–8 titled “Righteousness by Faith,” listen as Dr. Lloyd-Jones applies Paul's gospel message to contemporary ears and encourages with the grace-filled message of our savior. To support this ministry financially, visit: https://www.oneplace.com/donate/603/29?v=20251111

The word Paradise is used infrequently in the Bible. Jesus tells the thief on the cross that they will be together that day in Paradise, and Paul says in 2 Corinthians that he had a powerful out-of-body (maybe!) experience in Paradise. Paradise is a Persian word describing a cool, relaxing garden in an arid climate, and it looks like Jesus is using this word to describe the intermediate state to promise the thief on the cross that after death - but before the resurrection - his spirit will be in a comfortable resting place with Jesus himself. This corresponds to the place Christians typically call “heaven”, as in “going to heaven when you die.” Although this usage amongst contemporary Christians is common, the Bible never says Christians go to heaven when they die. Instead, the biblical language of “heaven” describes the realm of God - a realm which overlaps and interlocks with our human realm in the person of Jesus. In other words, heaven is a reality Christians are experiencing already, but not yet completely. Chuck and Aaron also discuss the notion of “soul sleep” - a concept describing the possible unconscious state of believers in between their earthly deaths and the return of Jesus. Since Paul describes this state as “better” than life on earth, and as a “being” with Jesus, Chuck and Aaron both lean toward understanding this intermediate state as a conscious presence of the human spirit with Jesus while the human body remains on earth awaiting the final resurrection. And the idea of Purgatory - common in Roman Catholicism - has no attestation in the Bible. However, the Reformers' teaching against it by (rightly) insisting that the spirits of dead Christians are immediately with Jesus led to an unfortunate overemphasis on the intermediate state and an underemphasis on the resurrection of the dead, which they didn't emphasize since they shared this belief with their Roman Catholic opponents. Hosts: Aaron Mueller and Chuck Rathert Subscribe to the show at https://cacg.saintjamesglencarbon.org. To comment on this episode, visit https://saintjamesglencarbon.org/cacg-ep134.

In this final episode of our series on the Seven Ecumenical Councils, Stephen Boyce and Pat May examine the Second Council of Nicaea (787) — the council that defended the veneration of icons and grounded sacred images in the Incarnation of Christ.We walk through the historical background of Byzantine iconoclasm, the political and theological tensions leading up to the council, and Nicaea II's crucial distinction between veneration (proskynesis) and worship (latreia). The episode explains why the Church affirmed icons as a confession of the Incarnation rather than a lapse into idolatry.Along the way, we discuss early Christian Gospel manuscripts, the role of material culture in Christian worship, papal involvement at Nicaea II, and why this council remains a major dividing line between Eastern Orthodoxy, Roman Catholicism, and Protestant traditions.This episode brings the series to a close by showing how Christology, authority, Scripture, and sacred art come together in one of the most misunderstood councils in Church history.Link to the document: https://www.papalencyclicals.net/councils/ecum07.htmIf you'd like to donate to our ministry or be a monthly partner that receives newsletters and one on one discussions with Dr. Stephen Boyce, here's a link: https://give.tithe.ly/?formId=6381a2ee-b82f-42a7-809e-6b733cec05a7

Paypal: https://www.paypal.com/paypalme/editorialtpv El día de hoy hablaremos sobre el capítulo 10 del libro The Oxford Handbook of Christmas, titulado “Roman Catholicism,” por Anne McGowan. Ver aquí: https://global.oup.com/academic/product/the-oxford-handbook-of-christmas-9780198831464?cc=gb&lang=en& Articulo: https://semperreformandaperu.org/2025/12/23/de-martires-a-misas-multiples-lo-que-la-navidad-catolica-esconde-a-plena-vista/  Video: https://youtu.be/GuqBsHZ04ws  PPT: https://semperreformandaperu.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/navidad_liturgia_y_misterio.pdf  La palabra “Navidad” viene de Cristes maesse: “la Misa de Cristo”. Esa etimología no es un detalle curioso, sino una clave interpretativa. En este episodio, recorremos la Navidad desde la perspectiva del catolicismo romano: una fiesta eminentemente litúrgica, donde la participación en la Eucaristía —y no solo el pesebre o la nostalgia— ha sido el corazón de la celebración por generaciones. El capítulo muestra por qué, en el calendario católico, la Natividad es la solemnidad más importante después del Triduo Pascual, y cómo la fiesta se despliega como “temporada” (octava, Epifanía, Bautismo del Señor) más que como un único día.   Entramos luego a una singularidad romana: cuatro misas vinculadas a la vigilia y, sobre todo, las tres misas del 25 de diciembre (noche, aurora y día), con su historia estacional y su densidad teológica. En ellas domina el motivo del “santo intercambio”: la Encarnación como asunción de nuestra fragilidad para abrir la vida divina al ser humano.   Finalmente, abordamos el punto más pastoral y actual: la “negociación” entre textos litúrgicos y expectativas populares. Pesebres, dramatizaciones, música, gestos, inculturación (de China a Kenia), y la predicación que busca unir el Niño de Belén con la cruz y la conversión cristiana.  

Recorded at the Nicaea Conference in Istanbul, this episode of The Westminster Podcast features a wide-ranging and incisive conversation with Pastor Leo de Chirico, a Reformed Baptist pastor serving in Rome, Italy. Drawing on his unique experience and years of evangelistic and theological engagement in a Roman Catholic context, Leo reflects on the significance of the Council of Nicaea, the purpose of the Nicene Creed, and what it really meant to confess Christ's divinity in the face of Arianism. Rather than treating the creed as a sentimental or purely ecumenical touchstone, Leo argues that Nicaea functioned as an exegetical workshop—a Scripture-driven response to heresy grounded in the authority of the Bible. From there, the conversation explores how different Christian traditions interpret the same creedal language within very different theological frameworks. Leo traces the divergent trajectories of Eastern Orthodoxy, Roman Catholicism, and Protestantism, contending that the Reformation did not reject Nicene Christianity but sought to recover what Nicaea assumed: the supremacy of Scripture as the norma normans. The discussion also turns to contemporary issues, including the renewed attraction of Roman Catholicism among evangelicals, the legacy of Vatican II, and the challenge of engaging a Catholicism that is adaptive, plural, and often misunderstood. Throughout, Leo presses a consistent theme: Christians may use the same words, but they often inhabit very different worlds—and faithful dialogue requires clarity, historical awareness, and a renewed confidence in Scripture alone. If you enjoy this episode, you can access tons of content just like this at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠wm.wts.edu⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. If you would like to join us in our mission to train specialists in the bible to proclaim the whole counsel of God for Christ and his global church, visit ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠wts.edu/donate⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. Thanks for listening!

The Moravian denomination is one of the oldest Protestant denominations in Christianity. Its roots date back to the mid-1400s and was one of the first movements to break free from Roman Catholicism. Many of the followers became exiles and traveled to America, where they settled in states like Georgia, Pennsylvania and North Carolina. They established their own cemeteries, dubbing them as God's Acre. Intro and Outro music "Stones and Bones" was written and produced by History Goes Bump and any use is strictly prohibited. Check us out at: https://historygoesbump.com

Send us a textIn this episode of Missions Incorporated, host Jesse Schreck dives into the challenges and principles of biblical church planting in Italy and Europe today. Exploring the "church planting dilemma," he contrasts pragmatic, results-driven approaches—often marked by shortcuts and "dumbing down" doctrine—with the patient, sovereign work of God seen in apostolic times. Drawing from historical insights, Scripture (including Acts 20:24-27), and on-the-ground realities in places like Venice, Jesse emphasizes the need for autonomous, financially independent local churches led by qualified pastors, while critiquing external dependencies and hasty methods. The discussion highlights Italy's spiritual landscape, the role of the state and historical influences like Roman Catholicism, and why long-term, foundational discipleship is essential for lasting gospel impact. Includes ministry updates, newsletter mentions, and invitations to join short-term cohorts at practicalmissions.org. A call to grow in knowledge of biblical missions and faithfully proclaim the kingdom of God.Appreciate this content? Buy Jesse a coffee at BMC  or support the PMc Mission directly.Links:Jesse's SubstackCornelius' BookRadius International - DMM ArticlePMc Short-term CohortsMission FacilityVision TripPMc Missions BlogPartnerLong-Term MissionsMissionary InternshipPMc AcademiaThe Italian Cohort - join PMc's online Discord communityServe - PMc has numerous avenues of involvementPodcast Producer - Available PositionLike Jesus driven to His cross, so we drive ourselves to the singular task of the edification (planting) of Biblical churches in Italy.Freely join the online Discord group of PMc! The Italian CohortSupport the showDo you love God, Italians, Italy, and the church of Jesus Christ? Do you want to play a more personal role in missions work abroad? Do you want to get all our content and updates (plus bonus material no one else sees) before anyone else? We invite you to join The Italian Cohort - our online community group on Discord - and gain inside access to the work going on in Italy.

Send us a messageWe know by the Prophetic word of Truth that the Global Empire of the Antichrist will be comprised of a “One World Religion,” One World Government” and a “One World Economic System.”And as this Global Empire is being constructed, its heartbeat is being echoed from within the “One World Religion” which will work in conjunction with the Antichrist's Governmental and Economic efforts – as this adulterous Harlot rides the Beast during the Tribulation.Many have wondered how so many different religions could come together in agreement when their beliefs are so varied. But through A.I. which we have addressed in other messages, a Virtual Christ will make this unity viable.Additionally, when you take two of the major Religions of the world – namely Roman Catholicism and Islam, and bring them together, you will have the power house which will draw in every other false way as well – bringing all religions into a false unity that has been woven with the thread of beguilement and deception.Which brings us to the important study of  “CHRISLAM.”  Support the showVisit our website: https://agapelightministries.com/

This is The Briefing, a daily analysis of news and events from a Christian worldview.On today's edition of The Briefing, Dr. Mohler discusses an LA city council debate to allow racial slurs and gutter language in hearings, the Democratic Party governors vying for their party's presidential nomination, and he answers questions about if donating eggs to a gay couple is sinful, responding to a friend who has become antagonistic in his Roman Catholicism, and a if views on homosexuality are dangerous.Part I (00:14 – 06:24)Inside the First Amendment fight over how Los Angeles polices words by USA Today (BrieAnna J. Frank)Part II (06:24 – 10:11)Part III (10:11 – 11:57)Part IV (11:57 – 16:26)Part V (16:26 – 27:58)Sign up to receive The Briefing in your inbox every weekday morning.Follow Dr. Mohler:X | Instagram | Facebook | YouTubeFor more information on The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, go to sbts.edu.For more information on Boyce College, just go to BoyceCollege.com.To write Dr. Mohler or submit a question for The Mailbox, go here.

If both Catholics and Protestants believe we're saved by grace through Jesus Christ, why do they still disagree so sharply about the gospel—and how we actually receive it?In this episode, Mark continues the “Why Protestantism?” series by focusing on how grace is applied to the believer. He explains how Roman Catholicism understands grace as being mediated through the Church's sacramental system—especially baptism and the Eucharist—and why the sacraments are seen as the ordinary channels through which God dispenses saving grace. Using a vivid “pop machine” illustration, Mark unpacks how this shapes Catholic views of salvation, assurance, and the Christian life.Mark then contrasts this with the Protestant conviction of sola fide—that we are justified by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone, with the preached Word at the center. He highlights areas of real agreement with Roman Catholics (salvation by grace, the transforming work of the Spirit) while also showing where the systems diverge, especially on how grace is received. Finally, he explores how these differences show up in Sunday worship and why gospel clarity matters deeply for ordinary Christians.Episode Highlights00:00 — Intro to the Equip Podcast and the “Why Protestantism?” series recap 02:28 — Sacramental system vs sola fide and why gospel clarity is at stake 03:22 — Is the gospel present in Roman Catholicism? Where Protestants and Catholics genuinely agree 06:00 — Grace, transformation, and assurance: why Catholics don't say “saved by works,” and where Protestants often misunderstand 09:37 — The “pop machine” illustration: how Catholic theology sees grace flowing through the Church and its sacraments 11:27 — Walking through the seven sacraments: initiation, healing, and service—and why baptism and Eucharist are central 15:49 — The Protestant response: sola fide, justification by faith alone, and sacraments as signs and seals rather than the source of saving grace 17:22 — Romans 10 and the primacy of the preached Word: faith comes by hearing, not by ritual performance 20:25 — Sunday in the pews: how a Catholic Mass and a Protestant service reveal two different centers—Eucharist vs sermon 21:53 — Why Mark believes the gospel is present but often unclear in Catholicism—and why personal faith in Christ must be emphasized 22:22 — Preview of next week's Q&A with Emily Jensen: dating a Catholic, real-life conversations, and practicing clarity with charityResources:Cornerstone Church Sermons: Listen onlineGavin Ortlund, What It Means to Be Protestant (Truth Unites)Matthew Barrett, The Reformation as RenewalMichael Svigel, RetroChristianity: Reclaiming the Forgotten FaithChad Van Dixhoorn (ed.), Creeds, Confessions, and Catechisms: A Reader's EditionCatechism of the Catholic Church (Vatican)

Send us a textSupport the showBreakfast With Tiffany Show Official Facebook Page ~ https://www.facebook.com/breakfastwithtiffanyshow Tiffany's Instagram Account ~ https://www.instagram.com/tiffanyrossdaleofficial/ Breakfast With Tiffany Show Youtube Channel ~ https://bit.ly/3vIVzhE Breakfast With Tiffany Show Official Page ~ https://www.tiffanyrossdale.com/podcast For questions, requests, collaborations and comments, feel free to reach us via our e-mail ~ breakfastwithtiffanyshow@outlook.com SUBSCRIBE and SUPPORT us here ~ https://www.buzzsprout.com/1187534/supporters/new

"Are we the baddies?" Not a question we are often used to as Protestants, but there is a trending topic labelled "Ecclesial Anxiety" for people joining churches that claim to be the "original, one true, apostolic, catholic church" (ie Roman Catholicism, Easter Orthodoxy, or others similar). How do we digest this real problem facing converts to these religions, and do we deal with it in our own?Follow us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/foundcausepodcastPodbean (download episodes): http://foundcause.podbean.com/@ Us On Twitter: @found_cause

Why do Catholics look to the Pope and the Magisterium for ultimate authority, while Protestants look to Scripture alone—and what does that mean for everyday faith? Mark continues the “Why Protestantism?” series by examining the heart of the authority debate. He explains how Roman Catholicism understands the Pope, apostolic succession, sacred tradition, and the Magisterium, and why Catholics believe these provide an infallible guide for the Church. Mark then contrasts this with the Protestant conviction that the Bible alone is the final and sufficient authority for faith and life.Mark explores where these two systems diverge, why the Reformers rejected papal infallibility, and how the question of authority shapes everything—from doctrine, to worship, to the clarity of the gospel itself. This episode sets the stage for next week's focus on gospel clarity and why authority matters for every Christian.Episode Highlights00:00 — Framing today's question: who speaks with final authority in the Church? 02:14 — How Catholicism understands authority: Scripture, tradition, and the Magisterium 04:41 — Apostolic succession and why Catholics believe the Pope is Peter's successor 06:58 — What papal infallibility actually means (and what it doesn't) 10:08 — Ex cathedra teaching: when the Pope speaks infallibly 12:15 — Protestant concerns: where is the biblical basis for an infallible papacy? 14:02 — Why the Reformers insisted on sola Scriptura (Scripture alone) 16:40 — The practical implications: how these differences shape the Christian lifeResources:Cornerstone Church Sermons: Listen onlineGavin Ortlund, What It Means to Be Protestant (Truth Unites)Matthew Barrett, The Reformation as RenewalMichael Svigel, RetroChristianity: Reclaiming the Forgotten FaithChad Van Dixhoorn (ed.), Creeds, Confessions, and Catechisms: A Reader's EditionCatechism of the Catholic Church (Vatican)

Why do Protestants and Catholics differ so sharply on authority, Mary, and the nature of the true church—and why does it matter for following Jesus today?In this episode, Mark Vance continues the “Why Protestantism?” series by examining some of the most significant theological differences between Roman Catholicism and Protestant belief. With clarity and charity, Mark explains how Catholic teachings on Mary, the papacy, and church authority developed—and why he believes they obscure the clarity of the gospel.Mark walks through the “four Marian doctrines,” the Catholic understanding of sacred tradition, and the claim of papal infallibility, showing how these teachings shape the Catholic view of the church. He contrasts this with the Protestant conviction that Scripture alone is the final authority and that salvation is grounded solely in the finished work of Christ. This episode lays crucial groundwork for understanding why the Reformers believed a return to biblical authority was necessary for the health of the church.Episode Highlights00:00 — Why Protestantism? Continuing the series and framing today's topic: authority 02:47 — How Catholic doctrine develops: tradition, councils, and magisterial teaching 06:10 — The four Marian doctrines (Immaculate Conception, Perpetual Virginity, Assumption, and Mary as Mediatrix) 11:52 — Why these Marian teachings matter for understanding the gospel 14:30 — How Catholicism understands the church's teaching authority (magisterium) 16:44 — The logic behind papal infallibility and ex cathedra teaching 19:55 — Protestant concerns: where is the biblical warrant for these doctrines? 22:18 — Scripture vs. tradition: which has final authority? 24:12 — Why Mark believes the Catholic view of authority obscures gospel clarityResourcesCornerstone Church Sermons: Listen onlineGavin Ortlund, What It Means to Be Protestant (Truth Unites)Matthew Barrett, The Reformation as RenewalMichael Svigel, RetroChristianity: Reclaiming the Forgotten FaithChad Van Dixhoorn (ed.), Creeds, Confessions, and Catechisms: A Reader's EditionCatechism of the Catholic Church (Vatican)

In this very special 100th episode of Pod of the Gaps, Andy and Aaron answer questions from listeners. Naturally they cover a wide range of themes, including their takes on things like Genesis 1-11, the age of the earth, the issue of "toxic empathy", the BBC and penal substitution, whether Christians should seek to take over entire boroughs, whether Andy and Aaron should move to America, and who from church history they would choose as part of their dream line up in a football match. All this and more on this jam-packed episode of Pod of the Gaps! ** We saved some even more interesting questions for our Patreon supporters, so head over to https://www.patreon.com/wkop and sign up to hear us (and see us!) answer exclusive questions on Eastern Orthodoxy and Roman Catholicism, polygamy, spiritual practices, and what the UK will look like in 50 years' time! Enjoy... ** ** And the Pod of the Gaps mug has returned for a limited time only: https://bit.ly/3XN1lNS ***

In this sleep documentary, I take you to the mythical city of Constantinople to explore the history of the Byzantine Empire. As the Western Roman Empire collapsed under invasions, its Eastern counterpart lived on and perpetuated the dream of recreating the Roman Empire during the Middle Ages. I discuss the waves of invaders that Byzantine had to face, from the Huns and the Arabs to the Turks, its culture, politics and society, how it drifted away from the west religiously, leading to the East-West Schism between Roman Catholicism and Eastern Orthodoxy, and many more things, until the final fall of Constantinople in 1453 AD. #sleep #bedtimestory #asmr #sleepstory #history #byzantine Welcome to Lights Out Library Join me for a sleepy adventure tonight. Sit back, relax, and fall asleep to documentary-style bedtime stories read in a calming ASMR voice. Learn something new while you enjoy a restful night of sleep. Listen ad free and get access to bonus content on our Patreon: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.patreon.com/LightsOutLibrary621⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Listen on Youtube: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.youtube.com/@LightsOutLibraryov⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠   ¿Quieres escuchar en Español? Echa un vistazo a La Biblioteca de los Sueños! En Spotify: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://open.spotify.com/show/1t522alsv5RxFsAf9AmYfg⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ En Apple Podcasts: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/la-biblioteca-de-los-sue%C3%B1os-documentarios-para-dormir/id1715193755⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ En Youtube: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.youtube.com/@LaBibliotecadelosSuenosov⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Why are some Protestants drawn toward Roman Catholicism—and how should we think about the “one true church”? In this episode, Mark Vance launches a five-part series on the nature of the church, explaining why he remains a Protestant while seeking to speak with both clarity and charity about Catholicism.Mark walks through why historical rootedness feels especially compelling in shaky cultural moments, how true Christianity exists within the Roman Catholic Church, and yet why he believes certain teachings and practices obscure the gospel. He also introduces the four major reasons he's a Protestant: the nature of the true church, the history of the church, the question of authority, and the clarity of the gospel—setting the stage for the rest of the series.Episode Highlights:00:00 — Launching a five-part series: “Why Protestantism?” and why people are asking about Catholicism03:19 — True Christianity within Catholicism—and how some teachings can obscure the gospel08:55 — Overview of the four major reasons Mark remains a Protestant11:25 — The Protestant view of the “one true church” and the visible/invisible church distinction17:43 — How the Roman Catholic Church understands itself as the one true church (one, holy, catholic, apostolic)22:51 — Protestantism as a renewal movement within the one true church, not a competing “true church”24:19 — Are all Catholics saved? Visible membership vs. being born again by faith in Christ26:03 — Why Mark says Rome is “not Catholic enough” and how Protestantism offers a broader catholicityResources:Cornerstone Church Sermons: Listen onlineGavin Ortlund, What It Means to Be Protestant (Truth Unites)Matthew Barrett, The Reformation as RenewalMichael Svigel, RetroChristianity: Reclaiming the Forgotten FaithChad Van Dixhoorn (ed.), Creeds, Confessions, and Catechisms: A Reader's EditionCatechism of the Catholic Church (Vatican)

A whole lot of Roman Catholics around the world awoke today to deep disappointment. Not only did the new Papal document, Mater Papuli Fidelis, not define the 5th Marian dogma, it was, evidently, meant to be the stake in the heart of the movement to have that dogma defined. This was quite a shock to many, but in reality, this new document proves once again one fundamental reality: Rome operates on her own authority (sola ecclesia) and does not have access to anything that is truly "Apostolic tradition." We dive into the topic, and the documentation, today on the program, but will need to finish up on Thursday. This is a pretty important discussion of a central and current discussion relating to modern Roman Catholicism.

This is The Briefing, a daily analysis of news and events from a Christian worldview.Part I (00:14 – 08:41)Vice President Vance Steps on Theological Nerve: Vice President Says He Hopes His Hindu Wife Will One Day Convert to Christianity, and Secularists are Losing Their MindsVance defends saying he hopes his wife converts to Christianity by The Washington Post (Maegan Vazquez and Michelle Boorstein)Part II (08:41 – 13:10)Can a Hindu Go to Heaven? Catholics and Protestants Strongly DisagreeUS VP Vance faces criticism after saying he hopes his wife becomes Christian by The Crux (Nirmala Carvalho)Pope Francis on interreligious dialogue by Vatican News (Cardinal Blase J. Cupich)Part III (13:10 – 21:09)Religious Allies in the Culture War: Conservative Catholics and Conservative Protestants Need Each Other to Show Up For BattleThe ascension of America's Catholic right by The Financial Times (Rana Foroohar)Regime Change? A Future Beyond Classical Liberalism and Its Legacy? — A Conversation with Patrick J. Deneen by Thinking in Public (R. Albert Mohler, Jr. and Professor Patrick Deneen)How Liberalism Failed: A Conversation with Patrick J. Deneen by Thinking in Public (R. Albert Mohler, Jr. and Professor Patrick Deneen)Truth and Creation Order — A Conversation with Professor Robert P. George by Thinking in Public (R. Albert Mohler, Jr. and Professor Robert P. George)In the Library: Ryan T. Anderson by In the Library (R. Albert Mohler, Jr. and Dr. Ryan T. Anderson)The Illusion of a Secular State & The Impotence of Secular Conservatism by AlbertMohler.com (R. Albert Mohler, Jr.)Part IV (21:09 – 26:03)Britain is Undermining Its Own Army: Diminishing Fraternity for Inclusivity is Weakening the British MilitaryArmy officers ordered to cut ties with men-only members' clubs by The Telegraph (Tom Cotterill)Sign up to receive The Briefing in your inbox every weekday morning.Follow Dr. Mohler:X | Instagram | Facebook | YouTubeFor more information on The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, go to sbts.edu.For more information on Boyce College, just go to BoyceCollege.com.To write Dr. Mohler or submit a question for The Mailbox, go here.

Matthew P. The post Paths to Lutheranism: From Roman Catholicism – Matthew P., 10/31/25 (3041) first appeared on Issues, Etc..

In this profound episode of the Reformed Brotherhood, Tony Arsenal and Jesse Schwamb delve deeply into the Parable of the Tares (Matthew 13:24-30), exploring its implications for Christian assurance. Building on their previous discussion, they examine how this parable speaks to the mixed nature of the visible church, the sovereignty of Christ over His kingdom, and most significantly, the doctrine of assurance. Through careful theological reflection, the hosts unpack how true believers can find solid ground for assurance not in their own works or fruit-checking, but in the promises of Christ and the testimony of the Holy Spirit. This episode offers both encouragement for those struggling with doubts and a sobering challenge to those resting in false assurance. Key Takeaways The Parable of the Tares teaches that the visible church will be mixed until the final judgment, containing both true believers (wheat) and false professors (tares) who may appear outwardly similar. True assurance is not based primarily on good works but on the promises of Christ, the inward testimony of the Holy Spirit, and the evidences of grace in our lives. False assurance is a real danger, as many who think they belong to Christ will discover at the final judgment that they never truly knew Him. The Westminster Confession of Faith (Chapter 18) provides a helpful framework for understanding biblical assurance as the proper possession of every Christian. Christ's role as the divine Master of the house (the world) and Lord of the angels is subtly yet powerfully affirmed in this parable, grounding our assurance in His sovereignty. Good works are the fruit of assurance, not its cause—when we are secure in our salvation, we are freed to serve Christ joyfully rather than anxiously trying to earn assurance. The final judgment will bring perfect clarity, revealing what was hidden and separating the wheat from the tares with divine precision that humans cannot achieve now. The Doctrine of Assurance: Reformed Understanding The Reformed tradition has always emphasized that believers can and should have assurance of their salvation—a conviction recovered during the Reformation in contrast to Rome's teaching. As Tony noted when reading from the Westminster Confession of Faith (Chapter 18), this assurance is "not a bare conjectural and probable persuasion grounded upon a fallible hope, but an infallible assurance of faith founded upon the divine truth of the promises of salvation." This assurance rests on three pillars: the promises of God in Scripture, the inward evidence of grace, and the testimony of the Holy Spirit witnessing with our spirit. What makes this understanding particularly comforting is that it shifts the foundation of assurance away from our performance to God's faithfulness. While self-examination has its place, the Reformed understanding recognizes that looking too intensely at our own hearts and works can lead either to despair or to false confidence. Instead, we're directed to look primarily to Christ and His finished work, finding in Him the anchor for our souls. The Problem of False Assurance One of the most sobering aspects of the Parable of the Tares is its implicit warning about false assurance. Just as the tares resemble wheat until maturity reveals their true nature, many professing Christians may outwardly appear to belong to Christ while inwardly remaining unregenerate. As Jesse observed, "The tares typically live under false assurance. They may attend church, confess belief, appear righteous, yet their hearts are unregenerate. Their faith is maybe historical, it's not saving, it could be intellectual, but it's not spiritual." This echoes Jesus' warning in Matthew 7 that many will say to Him, "Lord, Lord," but will hear the devastating response, "I never knew you." The parable teaches us that this self-deception is not always conscious hypocrisy but often the result of spiritual blindness. As Jesse noted, referencing Romans 1, Ephesians 4, and 1 Corinthians 2, the unregenerate are "not merely ignorant, they're blinded... to the spiritual truth by nature and by Satan." This understanding should prompt humble self-examination while simultaneously driving us to depend not on our own discernment but on Christ's perfect knowledge and saving work. Memorable Quotes "Assurance is the believer's arc where he sits Noah alike quiets and still in the midst of all distractions and destructions, commotions and confusions." - Thomas Brooks, quoted by Jesse Schwamb "When we are confessing, repenting, seeking like our status in Christ because of Christ, then we have confidence that we are in fact part of the children of God. When everything is stripped away from us and all we're crying out is only and completely and solely and unequivocally Jesus Christ, then I think we have great reason to understand that we should be confident in our assurance." - Jesse Schwamb "The sacrifice and the service that a husband performs for his wife, whom he loves and trusts and is committed to and knows that she's faithful and committed to him, that is not causing that faithfulness. It's not causing that trust and that love. It is the outcome and the outflow of it." - Tony Arsenal on how good works flow from assurance rather than cause it Resources Mentioned Scripture: Matthew 13:24-30, Matthew 7:21-23, Romans 1, Ephesians 4, 1 Corinthians 2, 2 Timothy 3:5 Westminster Confession of Faith: Chapter 18 "Of Assurance of Grace and Salvation" Thomas Brooks: "Precious Remedies Against Satan's Devices" YouTube Channel: My Wild Backyard Khan Academy: Educational resource recommended during "Affirmations and Denials" segment Full Transcript Jesse Schwamb: Welcome to episode 466 of the Reform the Brotherhood. I'm Jesse. Tony Arsenal: And I'm Tony. And this is the podcast with ears to hear. Hey brother. Jesse Schwamb: Hey brother. We're going back to the farm again. Can't stop. Won't stop. Tony Arsenal: Yeah. Yeah. I'm stoked. [00:01:02] Discussion on the Parable of the Tears Tony Arsenal: The last week's discussion was interesting and I think, um, it's gonna be nice to sort of round it out and talk about some things you might not think about, uh, when you first read this parable. So I'm, I'm pretty excited. Jesse Schwamb: Oh, what a tease that is. So if you're wondering what Tony's talking about, we're hanging out. In Matthew 13, we are just really enjoying these teachings of Jesus. And they are shocking and they're challenging, and they're encouraging, and they're awesome, of course. And so we're gonna be finishing out the Parable of the Tears and you need to go back and listen to the previous conversation. This, this is all set up because we have some unfinished business. We didn't talk about the eschatological implications. We have this really big this, this matza ball hanging over us. So to speak, which was the, do the TAs in this parable even know that they are tarry, that they are the TAs? And so in this parable, the disciples learn that the kingdom itself, God's kingdom, the kingdom that Jesus is enumerating and explaining and bringing into being, they are learning that it's gonna be mixed in character. So that's correcting this expectation that the kingdom would be perfectly pure and would have, would evolve righteous rule over all of the unrighteous world. And so it's a little bit shocking that Jesus says, listen, they're gonna be. Tears within the wheats that is in the world, the seed that God himself, the sun has planted and that they're gonna exist side by side for a long time. And so we, they have to wait patiently and give ourselves to building up the wheats as the sons of the kingdom and be careful in their judgment, not to harm those who are believers. We covered a lot of that last week, but left so much unsaid we couldn't even fit it in. This is gonna be jam packed, so I'm gonna stop giving the tees instead start moving us into affirmations and denials. [00:02:45] Affirmations and Denials Jesse Schwamb: It's of course that time in our conversation where we either affirm with something really like or we think is undervalued or we deny against something that we don't really like or is a little overvalued. So as I usually say to you, Tony, what have you got for us? [00:03:00] YouTube Channel Recommendation: My Wild Backyard Tony Arsenal: I am affirming a YouTube channel. Um, I, I think the algorithm goes through these cycles where it wants me to learn about bugs and things because I get Okay, like videos about bugs. And so I'm, I'm interested. There's been this, uh, channel that's been coming up on my algorithm lately called My Wild Backyard, and it, it's a guy, he's like an entomologist. He seems like a, a like a legit academic, but what he does is he basically goes through and he talks about different bugs, creepy crawlies, looks at like snakes, all that kinds of stuff. It seems like his wheelhouse is the stuff that can kill you or hurt you pretty bad. Nice. But, um, it's interesting and it's. It's good educational content. It's, you know, it's not sensationalized, it's not, uh, it's not dramatized. Um, it's very real. There's occasionally an instance where he, he's not, sometimes he will intentionally get bit or stung by an, uh, by an animal to show you what it does. So he can experience and explain what he's experiencing. And sometimes he just accidentally gets bit or stung. And so those are some of the most interesting ones. So like, for example, just looking at his, his channel, his most recent, um, his most recent video is called The most venomous Desert Creatures in the US ranked the one previous was. The world's most terrifying arachni isn't a spider. And then previous to that was what happens if a giant centipede bites you? So it's interesting stuff. If you are one of those people that likes bugs and likes creepy crawlies and things, um, this is definitely the channel for you if you're not one of those people. I actually think this probably is the channel for you too. 'cause it kind of demystifies a lot of this stuff. Um. You know, for example, he, he will commonly point out that, um, spiders don't wanna bite you and they just wanna leave you alone. And, and as long as you leave them alone, even, even something like a black widow, which people are terrified of, and I think, right, rightfully so. I mean, they can be scary. Those can be scary bites. He'll, he'll handle those, no problem. And as long as he's not like putting downward pressure on them, uh, they have no interest in biting, they really just want to get away. So even seeing that kind of stuff, I think can help demystify and, and sort of, uh, make it a little bit easier. So my Wild Backyard, he can find it on YouTube. Um, he's safe for kids. He's not, he's not cussing even. I mean, I think occasionally when he gets bit on accident, you might, you know, you might have a beep here or there, but, um, he's not, he's not regularly swearing or things like that. And he does a pretty good job of adding that stuff out. Jesse Schwamb: What a great title for that, isn't it? This, yeah. Confluence of your backyard. That space that seems domesticated is also stealing its own. Right. Wild. And there's a be Yeah. Both those things coming together. Tony Arsenal: Yeah. Yeah. It, it's interesting stuff and it's really good. I mean, it's really compelling videography. He does a good job of taking good photos. You'll see insects that you usually won't see, or spiders you usually won't see. Um, so yeah, it's cool. Check it out. [00:05:51] Discussion on Spiders and Creepy Crawlies Jesse Schwamb: What are you, uh, yeah, I myself would like to become more comfortable with the arachni variety. If only be, I mean, I don't know. It's, it's a weird creature, so my instinct is to be like, kill them all. And then if I can't find them and I know they're around, then we just burn everything that we own. Tony Arsenal: Yeah. Jesse Schwamb: They just can't sink into the ground fast enough. Tony Arsenal: Yeah. There's something about the way they move, like their, their bodies don't move the way you would anticipate them to. Right. And it freaks, it just weirds out human sensibilities, so. Right. Jesse Schwamb: They're also like, I find them to be very surprising. Often. It's not kind of a, a very like, kind of measured welcome into your life. It's like you just go to get in the shower and there's a giant spider. Yeah. Oh yeah. Although I guess that spider, he's, he or she's probably like, whoa, where'd you come from? You know, like, yeah. He's like, I was just taking a Tony Arsenal: shower. You know what's interesting? Um, I saw another video was on a different channel, um, like common jumping spiders. Yeah. Which there are like hundreds of species of common jumping spiders. Jesse Schwamb: True. Tony Arsenal: Um, but spiders and jumping spiders specifically, actually you can form almost like a pet bond with, so like the, that jumping spider that like lives in your house and sees you every day. He, he probably knows who you are and is like, comfortable with you. And they've done studies that like you can actually domesticate jumping spiders, so they're not as foreign and alien as you might think. Although they certainly do look a little bit strange and weird. And the way their bodies move is almost designed to weird out people like it just the skinness, like the way their legs skitter and move it, it just is, it's, it triggers something very primal in us to That's wild. Be weirded out by it. Yeah. Jesse Schwamb: It's wild. I love it. That's a good, a affirmation. I'm definitely gonna check that out. I, any, anything? I really want to know what the, what like the terrifying arachni is. That's not a spider. Tony Arsenal: It's a, well, it's called a camel spider, but it's not really a spider. Oh, Jesse Schwamb: I know what you're talking about. That is kind of terrifying. Tony Arsenal: Yeah. They, they actually don't have any venom. Um, yeah. Check out the video. I mean, it, it was a good video. Um, but yeah, they're freaky looking and, um, but even that, like he was handling it No problem. Yeah. Like it wasn't, it wasn't aggressive with him once Wow. Once it figured out it wasn't, he wasn't trying to hurt him and, and that it couldn't eat him. Um, it, it just sort of like hung out until he let it go. So Jesse Schwamb: yeah, just be careful if you watch it one before bed or while in bed. Tony Arsenal: Yeah. Probably not right before bed. Yeah. You'll, you'll get the creepy crawlies all night. Jesse Schwamb: I love it. But there's something somewhat. Like invigorating about that isn't there? Like it's, it's kind of a natural, just like kind of holy respect for the world that God has created, that they're these features that are so different, so wild, so interesting and a little bit frightening, but in the sense that we just draw off from them because they're so different than what we are. Tony Arsenal: Yeah. Jesse Schwamb: And you know, again, there's places you would be happy to see them, but maybe your bathtub or like shooting out, like, you know, like where you live, the jumping spiders are legit and they will just pop out on you, you know? Yeah. You're just doing your own thing and then all of a sudden they're popping out. I think part of that is just that what, what gets me is like them just, you know, like I remember in my basement here, once one popped out from a rafter and then I was holding, happened to be holding up broom. My instinct just naturally was to hit it. I hit it with the broom and it went across the room and fell on an empty box and sounded like a silver dollar had hit the box. Like it was just a massive, I mean, again, like, it's like fish stories, like it's a massive spider. It was a big spider. Yeah. But you just don't expect to, to see that kind of thing. Or maybe, maybe I should, but anything that moves in that way, and again, like centipedes, man, forget it. We have those too, like in our basement. Like the long ones. Oh yeah. Yeah. That thing will come like squiggling down the wall at you, like eye level and you just wanna run up the stairs screaming like a little girl. Tony Arsenal: Yeah, you do run up the stairs screaming like a little girl. It's not that you want to, it's that usually you do. I don't mean like you specifically, although probably you specifically. Yeah. Oh yeah. Oh yeah. There's, yeah, you just react. Well, j Jesse enough freaking out. I mean, we're getting close to Halloween, so I suppose it's appropriate, but, uh, enough of that. What are you affirming or denying today? Jesse Schwamb: Once again, without like any coordination, mine is not unlike yours. I know you and I, we talk about the world in which we live, which God has created, and this lovely command, this ammunition to take dominion over that. And one of the things I appreciate about our conversations is I think you and I often have maybe not like a novel. Kinda perspective on that, but one that I don't hear talked about often and that is this idea of taking dominion over what it is possible to know and to appropriate, and then to apply onto wisdom. [00:10:27] Affirmation: Khan Academy Jesse Schwamb: And so my information is in that realm. It's another form of taking ownership of what's in the wild of knowledge that you can possess. And again, equal parts. What an amazing time to be alive. So I'm affirming with the website, Khan Academy, which I'm sure many are familiar with. And this website offers like. Thousands of hours. Uh, and materials of free instructional videos, practice exercises, quizzes, all these like really bespoke, personalized learning modules you can create for topics like math, science, computing, economics, history, art. I think it goes like even starting at like. Elementary age all the way up into like early college can help you study for things like the SAT, the LSAT AP courses, and I was revisiting it. I have an open account with them that I keep in love and I go back to it from time to time. And I was working on some stuff where I wanted to rehearse some knowledge in like the calculus space, do some things by hand, which I haven't done. And I was just like, I'm blown away at how good this stuff is. And it's all for free. I mean, you should donate if you. You get something from this because it's a nonprofit, but the fact that there are these amazing instructional videos out there that can help us get a better understanding of either things we already know and we can rehearse the knowledge or to learn something brand new essentially for free. But somebody's done all the hard work to curate a pedagogy for you. Honestly, this is incredible. So if you haven't looked at that website in a long time or maybe ever, and you might be thinking, what, what do I really wanna learn? Lemme tell you. There's a lot of interesting stuff there and it's so approachable and it's such a good website for teaching. And if you have children in particular, even if you're looking for help, either helping them with their own coursework or maybe to have like kind of a tutor on the side, this is so good. So I can't say enough good things recently about Khan Academy 'cause it's been so helpful to me and super fun to like just sit and have your own paced study and in the private and comfort of your own home or your desk at work or wherever it is that you need to learn it. To be able to have somebody teach you some things, to do a little practice exercises, and then to go on to the world and to apply the things you've learned. Ah, it's so good. Tony Arsenal: Nice. Yeah, I've, I've never done anything with Khan Academy. I'll have to check it out. There's, um, there's some skills of needing to brush up on, uh, at work that I am probably not gonna be able to find in my normal channels, so I'll have to see if there is anything going on there. Um, but yeah, that's, that's good stuff. And it's free. Love freestyle. It's, and of course, like Jesse Schwamb: things like this are legion. So whatever it is, whatever your discipline or your field of study or work is, there's probably something out there and, uh, might, I humbly maybe encourage you to, if you use something like that and it's funded by donations, it's worth giving, I think, because again, it's just an amazing opportunity to take dominion over the knowledge that God has placed into the world and then to use it for something. I mean, I suppose even if all it is is you just wanna learn more about, like for me, I, I find like the subjects of, of math and science, like just endlessly fascinating and like the computing section I was looking at, I, I don't know much about like programming per se, but there is such a beauty. Like these underlying principles, like the, the organization of the world and the first level principles of like physics for instance, are just like baffling in the most glorious kind of way. How they all come together. So having somebody like teach you at a very like simplistic level, but allow you to grasp those concepts makes you just appreciate it leads me to doxology a lot when I see these things. So in a weird way, it ends up becoming maybe not a weird way and the right way. It becomes worship as often as I'm sitting at my desk and working through like a practice problem on like, you know, partial differential equation or, or derivatives is what I was working on today. And ah, it's just so good. I don't know, maybe I'm the only one. I, it's not be super nerdy, but you, are you ever like at your desk studying something? And it might not be like theological per se, but you just have a moment where you're overcome with some kind of worship. Do you know what I'm talking about? Tony Arsenal: Yeah, I, um, this we're the nerdiest people on the planet, but let's Jesse Schwamb: do it. Um, Tony Arsenal: when I find a really fun, interesting. Uh, Excel formula and I can get it to work right. Uh, and it, and then it just like everything unlocks. Like, I feel like I've unlocked all the knowledge in the universe. Um, but yeah, I hear you like the, the Excel thing is, is interesting to me because, like, math is just the description. Like it's just the fabric of reality is just the way we describe reality. But the fact that we can do basically just take math and do all these amazing things with it, uh, in a spreadsheet is really, uh, drives me to praise. Like I said, that's super nerdy, but it is. Oh, you're speaking my language. Jesse Schwamb: I, we have never understood each other better than just this moment right now. We, we had some real talk and, uh, a real moment. Tony Arsenal: Yes. Welcome to the Reformed math cast. Jesse Schwamb: We're so glad that you're here. Tony Arsenal: Yes. We're not gonna do any one plus one plus one equals one kinds of heretical math in, up in here. Jesse Schwamb: No. Tony Arsenal: Well, Jesse, I have a feeling that, excuse me. Wow. Jesse Schwamb: We don't edit anything out. Listen, I'm choked up too. It's it, listen, love ones just so emotional. The moment Tony and I are having it. We're gonna try our best right now to pivot to go into this text, but it's, it's tough because we were just really having something, something special. You got, you got to see there. But thank you for trying to Tony Arsenal: cover for me for that big cough. Jesse Schwamb: This is like presuppositional editing. You know, we don't actually do anything in post. It's not ex anti editing. It's, it's literally presuppositional. [00:15:52] Theological Discussion on Assurance Jesse Schwamb: But to that end, we are in Matthew 13. This is the main course. This is the reason why we're here. There's lots of reasons to worship, and one of them is to come before and admire and love our God who has given us his specific revelation and this incredible teaching of his son. And that's why we're hanging out in Matthew 13. So let me read, because we have just a couple of really sentences here, this really short parable and that way it'll catch us up and then we can just launch right back into we're, we're basically like, we're already in the rocket. Like we're in the stratosphere. We're, we're taking it all the way now. So this is Matthew chapter 13. Come hang out here. It's in the 24th verse. And this is what we find written for us. This is the word of the Lord. He put another parable before them saying. The Kingdom of heaven may be compared to a man who sowed good seed in his field. But while his men were sleeping, his enemy came and sowed weeds among the weeds and went away. So when the plants came up and bore grain, then the weeds appeared also, and the servants of the master of the house came and said to him, master, did you not sow good seed in your field? How then does it have weeds? He said to them, an enemy has done this. So the servant said to him, then, do you want us to go and gather them? But he said, no less than gathering the weeds, you root up the weed along with them. Let both grow until the harvest. And at harvest time, I will tell the reapers, gather the weeds first and bind them in bundles to be burned, but to gather the wheat into my barn. Tony Arsenal: That's good stuff. That's good stuff. Um, you know, we, we covered most of. I don't know, what do you wanna call it? The first order reading of the parable last week. Jesse Schwamb: Right. Tony Arsenal: On one level, the parable, uh, as Christ explains it, uh, a little bit down further in the chapter is extremely straightforward. It's almost out, it's almost an allegory. Each, each element of the parable has a, a, a figure that it's representing. And the main purpose of the story is that the world and specifically the church, um, is going to be a mixed body until the last days, until the end of time. And so there's, there's the Sons of God or the Sons of the Kingdom, uh, and then there's the sons of the evil one. And we talked a lot about how. These two figures in the parable, the, the, the weeds or the tears? Um, tears is a better word because it's a specific kind of, uh, specific kind of weed that looks very much like wheat at its immature stages. Right. And you can't actually discern the difference readily, uh, until the weed and the wheat has grown up next to each other. Um, and so, so part of the parable is that. The, the sons of the kingdom and the sons of the enemy, or the sons of the evil one, they don't look all that different in their early stages. And it's not until the sort of end culmination of their lives and the end culmination of things that they're able to be discerned and then therefore, um, the, the sons of the devil are, are reaped and they go off to their eternal judgment and the sons of the kingdom are, uh, are harvested and they go off to their eternal reward. What we wanted to talk about, and part of the reason that we split this into two episodes. Is that we sort of found ourselves spiraling or spiraling around a question about, uh, sort of about assurance, right? And false assurance, true assurance. And there is an eschatological element to this parable that I, I think we probably should at least touch on as we we go through it. Um, but I wanted to just read, um, it's been a little while since we've read the Westminster Confession on the show. So I wanted to read a little bit from the Westminster Confession. Um, this is from chapter 18, which is called of assurance of grace and salvation. This is sort of the answer to Jesse's question. Do the, do the tears know their tears or, or could they possibly think that their wheat? So this is, uh, section one of chapter eight. It says, although hypocrites and other unregenerate men may vainly deceive themselves with false hopes and carnal presuppositions or presumptions of being in favor with God in the state of salvation. Which hope of their shall perish yet such as truly believe in the Lord Jesus and love him in sincerity, endeavoring to walk in all good conscience before him may in this life be certainly assured that they are in a state of grace and may rejoice in the hope of the glory of God, which hope shall never make them ashamed. And so we, in the reform tradition at least, which is where we find ourselves in the reform tradition, um, we would affirm that people can. Deceive themselves into believing that they're in proper relation with God. Jesse Schwamb: Right? Tony Arsenal: And so it's not the case that, uh, that the weeds always know they're weeds or think they're weeds. It's not even the case. And this was part of the parable. It's not even the case that the weeds can be easily distinguished even by themselves from, uh, from the weeds. So there is this call, uh, and this is a biblical call. There's a call to seek out assurance and to lay claim to it. That I think is, is worth talking about. But it's not as straightforward as simple proposition as like, yeah, I'm confident. Like it's not just like, right, it's not just mustering up confidence. There's more to it than that. So that's what I wanted to start with, with this parable is just maybe talking through that assurance. 'cause I, I would hate for us to go through this parable. And sort of leave people with maybe you're a weed and you don't know it. 'cause that's not right. That's not the biblical picture of assurance. Um, that's the, that's the Roman Catholic picture of assurance that like, yeah, there's no such thing as assurance and people might not realize, but assurance of salvation is actually one of the, one of the primary things that was recovered particularly by the Reformed in the Reformation. Um, and so I think we, we often sort of overlook it as maybe a secondary thing. Um, but it really is a significant doctrine, a significant feature of reformed theology. Jesse Schwamb: Yeah. I'm glad you said that because it is a, is a clear reminder. It's a clearing call as the performers put forth that it is. Under like the purview of the Christian to be able to claim the assurance by the blood of Christ in the application of the Holy Spirit in a way that's like fully orbed and fully stopped. So you can contrast that with, and really what was coming outta Catholicism or Rome at the time. And I was just speaking with a dear brother this past week who. Grew up in the Catholic church and he was recounting how his entire religious experience, even his entire relationship, if we can call it that in a kind of colloquial sense with God, was built around this sense of deep-seated guilt and lack of true performance, such that like assurance always seemed like this really vague concept that was never really fully manifested in anything that he did. Even while the church was saying, if you do these things, if you perform this way, if you ensure that you're taking care of your immortal sins and that you're seeking confession for all the venial stuff as well, that somehow you'll be made right, or sufficiently right. But if not, don't worry about it. There's always purgatory, but there'd be some earning that you'd have to accomplish there. Everywhere along the way. He just felt beaten down. So contrasting that with what we have here. I don't believe, as you're saying, Tony, that's Jesus' intention here to somehow beat up the sheep. I, I think it is, to correct something of what's being said about the world in which we live, but it's at the same time to say that there are some that are the TAs is to say there are some that are the children of God, right? That there are some that are fully crisply, clearly identified and securely resting in that identity without any kind of nervous or anxious energy that it might fall out of that state with God that, that in fact their identity is secure. And as I've been thinking about this this week, I, I'm totally with you because I think part of this just falls, the warning here is there's a little bit of the adventures in Romans one here that's waiting for us, that I like what you said about this idea of, of self deception and maybe like a. Subpart to this question would be, are the, are the terrors always nefarious in their lack of understanding? So we might say there's some that are purposely disruptive, that the enemy himself is, is promulgating or trying to bring forward his destruction, his chaos by way of these tears. But are, are there even a subgroup or another group, uh, co-terminus group or, you know, one in the same hierarchy where there's just a lot of self deception? I, I think that's probably where I fall in terms of just trying to explain that. Yes, I think it was present here is a real quantity, a real identity where they're self-deceived. Imagining themselves to be part of God's people, yet lacking that true saving faith. And this just, I'm gonna go in a couple places where I think everybody would expect in the scriptures, if we go to like Ephesians four, they're darkened and they're understanding alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them. And one Corinthians, when Paul writes, the natural person does not accept the things of the spirit of God, and he's not able to understand them because they're spiritually discerned. And then the book that follows the God of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers. And of course then like everything in Romans one, so I bring all that up because E, even at the end, we're gonna get there, the Es, this eschatological reality when you know God is separating out the sheep and the goats. Still, we find this kind of same trope happening there. But the unregenerate, what I'm reading from this. Importantly is that the unregenerate, they're not merely ignorant, they're blinded, as we all were on point to the spiritual truth. Yeah. By nature and by Satan. That that is also his jam. He loves to blind, to lie, to kill, steal, and destroy. So thus, even if they're outwardly belonging to the church, they're outwardly belonging to the world. They're outwardly belonging to some kind of profession. They cannot perceive the reality of their lost condition apart from divine illumination. Who can, that might be stating the obvious, but I think that's like what we're getting after here. I I, I don't know if there's like any kind of like conspiracy here. It's simply that that is the natural state of affairs. So why wouldn't we expect that to be reflected again in the world and that side by side, we're gonna find that shoulder to shoulder. We are, there are the children of God, and there are those that remain blind and ignorant to the truth. Tony Arsenal: Yeah. Yeah. And, and you know, it, again, I, I, um, I don't know why I'm surprised. Uh, I certainly shouldn't be surprised. Um. But Matthew is like a masterful storyteller Yeah. Here, right. He's a masterful, um, editor and narrator. Um, and he's, he's put together here, of course, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. Um, and, and there's some good reason to think in the text we're not gonna get too, in the nitty gritty here, there's some good reason to think in the text that Christ actually delivered these parables as a set as well. So it's not just, it's not just Matthew coating these, although it could be. Um, but it, it seems like these were all delivered probably as like a common set of parables. And the reason I say that is because when we start to look at this parable and the one we previously went through, the parable of the soils, um, or the parable of the sower. Um, what we see is the answer to your question of why do some people, you know, why are some people deceived? Well, yes, there is secondary causation. The devil deceives them. They blind themselves. They, you know, suppress the, the, the truth and right unrighteousness. But on a, on a primary causation level, um, God is the one who is identi, is, is identifying who will be the sons of the, you know, devil and the sons of the kingdom. Mm-hmm. This is another, and yet another example of election is that the, the good sower sowed good seed, and the good seed was the elect and the enemy. Although in God's sovereignty, God is the one who determines this. The enemy is the one who sows the reprobate. Right? So all, all men. Star, and this is, I, I guess I didn't really intend to go here, but this is good evidence in my mind for, um, infra laps, Arianism versus super laps. Arianism, right infra laps, arianism or sub lapse. Arianism would say that God decrees, uh, to permit the fall and then he decrees to redeem some out of the fall, right? Logically speaking, not temporally speaking. Super laps. Arianism, which is the minority. It's the smaller portion of, of the historic tradition, although modern times, I think it's a little bit louder and a little bit more vocal, but super relapses. Arianism would argue that God, um, decrees. Sort of the, the decree of election and reprobation is logically prior to the decree of the fall. And so in, in that former or in the super laps area model, the fall becomes a means by which the reprobate are justly condemned. Not, um, not the cause of their condemnation, but a way to sort of justify the fact that they will be separated from God, right? Because of their reprobate. [00:28:36] Exploring the Parable of the Wheat and the Tares Tony Arsenal: I know that there's, there's probably some super lab streams that would nuance that differently and some that are probably just screaming straw man, uh, in a coffee shop somewhere and, and people are thinking you're crazy. Um, but by and large, that's actually a rel, a relatively accepted, um, explanation of it. There are certainly potential problems with, uh, sub, sub lapse agonism as well. But in this, in this parable, what we see is the people who are, um, who are elect, are sowed into the field and the people who are reprobate are also sowed into the field. And so God saves the people who are sewed into the field that are, they elect, he saves them out of this now mixed world by waiting and allowing them to grow up next to the reprobate, um, in sort of this mixed world setting. And then he redeems them out of that. Um, and, and, and so we have to sort of remember. Although it is a pretty strict, sort of allegorical type of parable, it's still a parable. So we shouldn't, we shouldn't always draw like direct one-to-one comparisons here. It's making a theological point, but, um, but it's important for us to re remember that, that it is ultimately, it is God who determines who is the elected and who is not. But it's, it's our sin. It's the devil deceiving us. It's the secondary causes that are responsible for the sons of the devil, right? It, the, the men come to the, to the sower and say, who is done this? He says it was an enemy. Jesse Schwamb: Right? Right. Tony Arsenal: He doesn't say like, well, actually I put the seed there and so, you know, I'm, I, it's not an equal distribution. He's not sowing good seed and bad seed. He sows the good seed and the devil sows the bad seed. [00:30:24] Theological Implications and Assurance Tony Arsenal: Um, and, and that's a, I think that's an important theological point to make. And as far as assurance goes. We, we can't depend on our ability to perceive or sort of like discern election in a raw sense, right? We have to observe certain kinds of realities around us. Um, and, and primarily we have to depend on the mercy and, and saving faith that God gives us. That's right. Um, you know, our, our assurance of faith does not primarily come from fruit checking. Um, we have to do that. It's important, we're commanded to do it, and it serves as an important secondary evidence. But a, a, a person who wants to find assurance. Of salvation should first and foremost look to the promises of Christ and then depend on them. Um, and, and so that's, I think all of that's kind of wrapped up into this parable. It's, it's, it's amazing to me that we're only like two parables in, and we're already, you know, we're already talking about super lapse arianism and sub lapse arianism, and it's, it's amazing. I, I love this. I'm loving this series so far, and we're barely scratching the surface. Jesse Schwamb: Yeah, it's all there. I think you're right to call that out. It strikes me, like, as you were speaking, it really just hit me higher that I think you're right. Really the foundation on this, like the hidden foundation is assurance and it's that assurance which splits the groups, or at least divides them, or it gives us, again, like the distinct, kind, discrete compartments or components of each of them. So. Again, I think it's help saying, 'cause we wanna be encouraging. That's, that's our whole point here is when the Apostle Peter says, be all the more diligent to make certain about his calling and choosing of you. That herein we have the scripture saying to us, time and time again, be sure of what God has done in your life. Be confident in that very thing. And so if assurance is, as we're saying, that's the argument hypothesis we're making. That's the critical thing here. [00:32:11] False Assurance and True Faith Jesse Schwamb: Then the division between the children of God and the children of the devil is false versus true assurance. So the tears, I think what we're saying here, basically they typically live under false asserts. They may attend church, confess, belief, appear righteous, yet their hearts are unregenerate. Their faith is maybe historical. It's not saving, it could be intellectual, but it's not spiritual. And of course, like just a few chapters before this, we hope those famous verses where Jesus himself drops the bomb and says, listen, many of you, he's talking to the people, the, the disciples around him, the crowds that we're gathering and thronging all about. He says, many of you're gonna say to me, Lord, Lord, do we not prophesy your name? Tony Arsenal: Yeah. Jesse Schwamb: And then I will declare to them, I never knew you depart from me. These are not people who knew they were false, they thought they belonged to Christ. Their shock on judgment day is gonna reveal this profound self-deception. And that self-deception is wrapped up in a false type of assurance, a false righteousness. So I think one of the things that we can really come to terms with and grab a hold of is the fact that when we are. Confessing, repenting seeking like our status in Christ because of Christ. Then we have confidence that we are in fact part of the children of God. When everything is stripped away from us and all we're crying out is only and completely and solely and unequivocally, Jesus Christ, then I think we have great reason to understand that we should be confident in our assurance. [00:33:38] Historical Perspectives on Assurance Jesse Schwamb: You know, I was reading this week from Thomas Brooks and did incidentally come across this, a quote, an assurance and reminded me of this passage, and here's what he writes. You know, of course he's writing in like 16 hundreds, like mid 16 hundreds. It's wild, of course, but we shouldn't be surprised that what you're about to hear sounds like it could have been written today for us. In this conversation, but, uh, he writes, assurance is the believer's arc where he sits Noah alike quiets and still in the midst of all distractions and destructions, commotions and confusions. However, most Christians live between fears and hopes and hang, as it were, between heaven and hell. Sometimes they hope that their state is good. At other times they fear that their state is bad. Now they hope that all is well and that it shall go well. Well with them forever. Then they fear that they shall perish by the hand of such corruption or by the prevalency of such and such temptation. They're like a ship and a storm tossed here and there, and. I think that he's right about that. And I think the challenge there is to get away from that. I love where it starts, where he says, what wonderful turn of phrase assurance is the believer's arc or Noah, like, you know, we're sitting and the commotion, the destructions, the commotion, the confusions of all the world. That's why to get this right, to be encouraged by this passage, to be challenged by it is so critical because we're all looking for that arc. We all want to know that God has in fact arrested us so completely that no matter what befalls us, that everything, as we talked about before, all of our, all of the world, in fact is subservient to our salvation. But that's a real thing that cannot be snatched away from us because God has ordained it and intended it, built it, created it, and brought it to pass. And so I think that's all like in this passage, it's all the thing that's being called us to. So. I, I don't want us to get like too hung up. It's a good question, I think to ask and answer like we were trying to talk about here, but you're right. If we focus too much just on the like, let's gaff for these tears. Who are they? Like let's people's, like Readers Digest in People's magazine these tears. Like who are they? Do we have a list of them? Who do we think they are? How could it be me? Is it really me? Am I, am I anxious about that? Really what we should be saying is following what Peter calls us to do that is to be all the more diligent to make certain about his calling and his choosing. So even there like our emphasis and focus, isn't it like you're saying Tony about like, let me do some fruit inventory. I got like a lot of good bananas. I got a lot of ripe pears. Like, look at the tree. This, this is good. Even there, the emphasis is to turn our eyes on Jesus, as it were, and to make certain about his work, his calling and his choosing of us. And I think when we do that, we're falling down in worship and in yielding and submission to him, rightfully acknowledging that the righteousness of Christ is the one that is always in every way alien to us and imputed. And that is what makes us sons and daughters of God, that good seed sown by Jesus himself. Tony Arsenal: Yeah. Yeah. I just wanna read, I wanna um, round out a few more paragraphs here out of the Westminster confession because I do think, you know, when we even talk about assurance, we're not even always all saying the exact same thing. And I think that's important because when we talk about assurance of faith, we need to be understanding that this is the rightful, not only the rightful possession of all Christians, but it's the rightful responsibility of all Christians to seek it. So here's, here's section two of that same chapter. It says, this certainty referring to assurance. This certainty is not a bare conjectural and probable persuasion grounded upon a, a fallible hope, but an infallible assurance of faith founded upon the divine truth of the promises of salvation, the inward evidence of those graces unto which these promises are made, the testimony of the spirit of adoption, witnessing with our hearts that we are the children of God, which spirit is the earnest of our inheritance, whereby we are sealed to the day of redemption. So. One of the, the things that I think is, is important here is people read this and say the inward evidences of those graces unto which these promises are made. They read that and they think that it's referring to like good work and like spiritual renewal, but it's, it's not, it's the inward evidence of those graces unto which of the promises are made. So it's this inner, inner renewal. It's the spirit testifying to our spirit. And then, um, chapter, uh, section three here, it says. This infallible assurance doth not so belong to the essence of faith, but that a true believer may wait long and conflict with many difficulties before he be partaker of it, yet being enabled by the Spirit to know the things which are freely given of God. He may without extraordinary revelation there, right there is response to Roman Catholicism in the right use of ordinary means at attain there unto. And therefore, it is the duty of everyone to give all diligence, to make his calling and election. Sure. And thereby his heart may be enlarged in peace and in joy in the Holy Ghost, in love and thankfulness to God and in strength and cheerfulness in the duties of obedience. The proper fruits of this assurance so far is it from inclining men to looseness? Right. [00:38:53] The Role of Good Works in Assurance Tony Arsenal: So we often hear and and I, I think there are good, um, there are good reformed Christians that put. The emphasis of assurance on, or they, they put an overemphasis, in my opinion, on how good works function within our assurance. Right. They, they often will ask us to look to our good fruit as sort of, not the grounding, but as a strong evidence. But at least in terms of the confession here, the cheerfulness in the duties of obedience is the fruit of assurance. Jesse Schwamb: That's right. Not Tony Arsenal: the cause or grounding of assurance. So rather than, this is what this last line says. It says so far, is it from inclining? Mental looseness assurance should drive us to obedience and fruitfulness in Christ. And so yes, it is in a certain sense an evidence because if that fruitfulness and obedience is absent from our lives, there's a good reason for us to question whether this infallible assurance is present in our lives. But the assurance is what drives us to this obedience. Um. You know, like, I think you could use the analogy of like a married couple. A married couple who is very secure in their relationship and in their, uh, love for one another and their faithfulness to each other is more likely to cheerfully serve and submit to each other and to respect each other and to sacrifice for each other than a couple that's maybe not so sure that the other person has their best interest in mind. That's or maybe isn't so sure that this thing is gonna work out. I think that's the same thing, like the sacrifice and the service that a husband, uh, performs for his wife, whom he loves and trusts and is committed to and knows that she's faithful and committed to him. That is not causing that faithfulness. It's not causing that trust and that love. It is the outcome and the outflow of it. It's good evidence that that love exists, but it's not caused by it. And assurance here is the same kind of dynamic assurance is not. We can't assure ourselves of our salvation by doing good works. No matter how many good works you do, there are lots and lots of people who are not saved and who will not be saved, who do perfectly good works in appearance. Right. They have the, the outward appearance of godliness, but lack its power. Right, right. Out of right outta Paul, writing to Timothy there. Yes. So that's, that's important for us as we continue to parse all this out, is yes, the fruit is present. Yes. The wheat is to, is discernible from the tears by its final, fruitful status. Right? It grows up to be grain, which is fruitful rather than weeds and tears, which are only good to be burned, but it is not the fruit that causes it to be wheat. It's wheat that causes the fruit to grow. If, if it wasn't wheat, it wouldn't grow fruit, not because the fruit makes it grain, but because it is in fact wheat to start with. Jesse Schwamb: Right. Yeah, that's right on. So I think like by summation we're kind of saying. At least the answer to this question. You know, do the tears know that they're tears? Yes and no. Some do, some don't. I think, yes, there are some that are gonna be consciously hypocritical, willfully rejecting Christ while pretending for worldly gain. I think that's, that's certainly plain to see. And at the same time, do the tears know the tears? Sometimes? No. There's self deceived under spiritual blindness and they have some kind of false assurance. And this idea of, again, coming in repentance before God and seeking humbly to submit to him is I think one of those signs of that kind of true assurance, not a false assurance. And you already stole where I was thinking of Tony by going to Second Timothy again. Thomas Brooks in precious remedies against Saint's device is one of like the best. Books ever. I know that he's really outspoken. He loves to harp on the fact that one of Satan's most effective snares is to make men and women content with a form of godliness without its power. Yeah. And that's often what we're talking about here, I think, is that Satan loves to fish in the shallow waters a profession. And really that can happen in any kind of church or religious culture, that there is this shallowness where that loves religious appearance, prayer, knowledge fellowship, but not the Christ behind them. And so whether we're looking to somebody like Brooks or Jonathan Edwards and we're trying to parse out what are our true affections, not in a way again, that somehow leans well, I feel enough, then somehow that justifies, not inwardly, but again, definitely trying to understand our conviction for conversion tears. For repentance that. Really what we're after is not like just the blessings of Christ, but Christ himself, which I think really leads us to this eschatological perspective then to round all everything out because you know, we talked about before, there's an old phrase, it's like everywhere. A lot of people talk in heaven. Not everybody's going there. And so this idea of like, people will talk about be so great to be there and it's sometimes this, the heaven that they speak of is like absent Christ, you know, as if like, if Christ wasn't there, at least in their perspective, it still wouldn't be half bad. And so I think that does lead us to understand what is this in gathering? What is this? You know, bringing everything into the barn and burning everything else up. And like you just said, if at the beginning you cannot tell the injurious weed aside from that beautiful kernel of wheat that's coming up, but if in the end you can see what's happening in the end, then that brings us all to consummation. What does it mean in this parable? Tony Arsenal: Yeah. [00:44:19] Eschatological Judgment and Assurance Tony Arsenal: And, and I think this actually sort of forces us to grapple a little bit with, with another sort of persnickety feature of this parable that, that I think, I think personally sometimes gets overlooked is we are very quick to talk about this parable to be about the church. And it is. Right. And, and there's reasons to talk like that. But when Christ explains the parable, he doesn't say the field is the church. He says the field is the world. Right. And so we have to, we have to, we have to do a little bit of, um. We have to do a little bit of hermeneutics to understand that this is also speaking of the church, right? It's not as though the church is some hermetically sealed off body that the dynamics of the world and the, the weed and the tears like that, that doesn't happen in the church. But when we talk about the end of the age here, he says the son of man will send his angels and they will gather out of his kingdom. All causes of sin in all lawbreakers. Right? So, so the, the final eschatological judgment, it's all encompassing. And I dunno, maybe I'm, maybe I'm becoming a little bit post mill with this, um, the, the world is already the Kingdom of Christ. Right? Right. That's right. It, it's not, it's not just the church on earth that is the kingdom of Christ. And so when we talk about this eschatological reaping, um, what we see is, is very straightforward. There are those who are, uh, who belong to Christ, who were sown by him into the world, who were, uh, were tended by him, who were protected by him, who he intended to harvest from the very beginning, right? The good sower sows good seed into the field, and that good seed is and necessarily will be wheat. It's not as though, um, it's not as though, and again, this is one of those ways where like the parables sometimes, uh, are telling a little bit of a different story. Even though they're sharing some themes in the first parable, in the parable of the sower, he sows the same seed into the world. But the seed in that first parable is not the, is not the person receiving the seed. The seed is the one is the word of God. Yes. And so the word of God is sewn promiscuously, even to those who will be hard soil and who will be rocky soil and have thorns. The word of God is, is sewn to all of those people. Across the whole world in this parable. The seed that is the good seed that is sown is and always was going to be weed that was, or wheat, which was going to grow into fruitfulness and be gathered into the barn. Right? That was a foregone conclusion. The, the, when the sower decided to sow seed, all of that said he is the one who did that. He's the one that chose that. He's the one that will bring us to completion, right? And then also the ones that are not of his kingdom, the sons of the devil, they will also be reaped at the end. Actually we'll be reaped before the, you know, they'll be reaped and gathered and, and tossed into the furnace before the sons of the kingdom are gathered together. Jesse Schwamb: Right. Tony Arsenal: So it, again, this is a parable and even though this is Christ's explanation of the parable, I don't think that Christ was intending to give us like a strict timeline. Right. I don't think he was encouraging us to draw a chart and try to map out where this all happens in order. Um, I do think it's relevant that, that, at least in the explanation of this parable, I mentioned it last week, that, that the rap, the rapture is actually the wicked being raptured. They're the ones that are gathered and taken out of the world and cast into the fiery furnace before the, before the righteous are gathered together and, and brought into Christ Barn. Jesse Schwamb: Yeah, there's a great unmasking that's happening here in this final stage. I mean, that's critically the point. I think there's a lot of stuff we could talk about open handedly and kind of hypothesize or theorize what it means. But what is plain, I think, is that there's this unmasking, this unveiling of the reality of the light of Christ's perfect judgment. But that judgment is for both parties Here it is coming and what was hidden beneath outward religion or more, a facade is gonna be revealed with eternal clarity. That's just the reality. It is coming. So in some ways it pairs. I think at least well in this, well purposely of course in this teaching because Jesus is saying, hold on, like we talked about last time. Do this is not for you to judge. You are ill-equipped. You are not skilled enough to discern this. And therefore though, you wanna go in hot and get spicy and try to throw out all the weeds. Wait for the right time. Wait for the one like you're saying, Tony has from all of eternity past intended for it to be this way. Super intending his will over all things in the casting of the seed. And as we say, Philippians, of course, finishing that good work, which was started, he will finish. It is God's two finish again. And so he says, listen, that day is coming. There's gonna be a great unmasking. Uh, get ready for it. And the scriptures bear witness to that in so many other ways. So. There's such a journey in these like handful of verses, isn't there? I mean, it's really wild. The things that not like we come up with or we read into the text, but as we sit in it a little bit, as we just spend even a cursory amount of time letting it pour over us, that we find there's like a conviction in a weight in these things that are beyond just the story and beyond just even like the illustrations themselves. What we find is, again, it's as if Jesus himself in his brilliance, of course, through the power of the Holy Spirit, is illuminating the mind in the spirit to open up our conception, understanding of the kingdom of God by bringing it to us through his perspective in our own terms, of course, which is both our language and like the context of the world in which we live, and that simple example of farming and seed. And again, even just that there are these interest weeds that look like wheat. I went on this like rabbit hole this week and did a lot of research on like tears and Yeah, like especially people in like the Midwest United States who like know a lot more about agriculture than I do have a lot to say about this. It's not just like we shouldn't be surprised like. Isn't it incredible that like there are actually weeds out there that look like, yeah, it's a brilliance of just knowing that this teaching is so finely tuned. Like we can even just talk about that. Like the world is finely tuned. This teaching is so finely tuned to these grant theological principles that we can at one point be children and appropriate them enough and assume them into our own intellectual capacity so that we can trust in them. And yet even as like adults with like, let's say like the greatest gift of intellectual capacity, still find that we cannot get to the bottom of them because they're so deep. They draw us into these really, really grand vistas or really like extremely deep cold theological waters. And I just find. That I am in awe then of what Jesus is saying here because there's a truth for us in assurance that we ought to clinging to. And there's also like stuff that we should come back to. We shouldn't just stop it here and put it out of our minds until the next time we, we want to just be stimulated by something that's interesting or that we want to just grab somebody and shake them cage style, cage two style and say like, look at this great thing that I just learned about this, this particular parable. But instead, there's so much here for us to meditate on. And in that, I think rather than the Christian finding fear in this parable, what they should find is great comfort. We should be Noah alike sitting in the ark saying, it is well with my soul. And our reason for that is because we know God has cast a seed through his son Jesus Christ. And to be a child, a child of God is the greatest thing in all the universe. Tony Arsenal: Yeah. And I, I think that, um, transitions nicely to, uh, I'll make this point quick because we're coming up on time here. Um. [00:52:04] Christ's Divinity and Sovereignty Tony Arsenal: The other little subtle thing that Christ does here in this parable is he, he absolutely asserts his divinity and sovereignty overall creation. Jesse Schwamb: That's right. Yep. Tony Arsenal: Right. It, it's almost like a throw. There's a couple little like lines that are almost throwaway lines, right in the, the first, the beginning of the parable here. Um, the parable itself, uh, he says, um, the kingdom of heaven may be compared to a man who sowed good seed into a field. And then he says, um, the servants of the master of the house came and said to him, right? And then when he interprets the parable, he says, well, the, the servants are, the field is the world, right? So he's the master of the world, and the servants are the angels. So he's the master of the angels. And then if, if there was any doubt left in your mind. Says in verse 41, the son of man will send his angels. That's right. And they will gather out of his kingdom, which is the world, all the causes of sin and all lawbreakers, and throw them into the fiery furnace. Right? So we have this, this robust picture that there is election. The the good sower sows good seed into the world, and the good seed will necessarily grow into wheat and will be preserved and protected and ultimately harvest Well, why can we have assurance that that will be the case? Well, because the master of the house is the son of man who is the Lord of the universe and the creator of all things. And his angels do his will. That's right. So, so the whole thing is all wrapped up. Why can we have assurance? Because God is a good God and Christ is a good savior, and the savior of the world is the creator of the universe, right? If any of those facts were not true. Then we couldn't have assurance. If God wasn't good, then maybe he's lying. If Christ wasn't the savior of the world or the God of the universe, the creator of the universe, then he wasn't worthy to be the one who saves. All of this is wrapped up in the parables, and this is what's so exciting about the parables. In most of the instances that we look up, especially of the sort of longer parables, these kinds of dynamics are there where it's not just a simple story making a simple point, it is making one primary point. Usually there's one primary point that a, that a parable is making. But in order to make that primary point, there's all these supporting points and supporting things that have to be the case. If the, if the good sower was not the master of the house and a, a competent, uh, a competent landowner who knew the difference between wheat and weeds, even at the early stage, right? His, his servants go and go, what happened? What's with all of these weeds? They can tell the difference somehow, Jesse Schwamb: right? Tony Arsenal: He's immediately able to go, well, this was an enemy. Jesse Schwamb: That's right. Tony Arsenal: And while they're bumbling around going, should we go rip it all up and start over? He is like, no, no, no, no. Just wait until, wait until it all grows up together. And when that happens, the Reapers will come and they'll take care of it and they'll do it in my direction, right? Because he's competent, he's the savior, he's the creator, he's the good master, he is the good sower. Um, we can be confi

On today's Bible Answer Man broadcast (10/20/25), Hank answers the following questions:Is war a sin? Jason - Charlotte, NC (1:02)Can you be homosexual and practice Christianity? Matthew - Tyler, TX (4:10)What is the meaning of Pentecost and the history behind it? Jessica - Albuquerque, NM (5:16)What are the basic differences between Christians, Catholics, and Jehovah's Witnesses? Jessica - Albuquerque, NM (6:55)We live in a home that is said to be haunted. My son has nightmares and wakes up with scratches on his body. What should we do? Nikki - Arlington, KS (15:11)Where did all the different races come from? Jared - Center, MO (19:15)What is your view of Roman Catholicism? Stanley - Tulsa, OK (23:32)

For this special edition of the "Steve Deace Show," Steve and the crew spend all two hours talking to former Protestant pastor turned Catholic apologist Keith Nester about his testimony and why he converted to Roman Catholicism. TODAY'S SPONSORS: RELIEF FACTOR: VISIT https://www.relieffactor.com/ OR CALL 800-4-RELIEF JASE MEDICAL: https://jasemedical.com/ and enter code “DEACE” at checkout for a discount on your order BEAM: https://shopbeam.com/products/sleep-powder?discount=steve&variant=40436356710455&selling_plan=787415095&utm_source=podcast&utm_medium=sponsorship&utm_campaign=steve and use code STEVE at checkout REAL ESTATE AGENTS I TRUST: https://realestateagentsitrust.com/ PREBORN: https://give.preborn.com/preborn/media-partner?sc=IABSD0123RA SELECT QUOTE: https://life.selectquote.com/termlife?sCode=HATQ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Everything sort of hooked up nicely today on the show, from talking about a Baptist converting to Anglicanism, into providing a response to a Roman Catholic on what true peace is (and how we obtain it) to my responding to Doug Wilson's comments to Ross Douthat on what it means to be a Christian and whether Roman Catholicism presents, or obscures, that reality.

Considered issues relating to Roman Catholicism and Eastern Orthodoxy today, looked a bit at the new "Gay-washed" translation of the Bible accepted by the USCCB (the NRSVue), watched a video with someone washing the foot of a dead saint and then people fighting to get some of the water that fell from the foot, etc., all in reference to veneration and worship.

This is The Briefing, a daily analysis of news and events from a Christian worldview.Part I (00:14 – 05:52)Conservatives are Restrained by Reality: The Importance of Ontology to the Conservative VisionRestrained by Reality: The Central Truth of the Conservative Vision by NatCon 5 (R. Albert Mohler, Jr.)Part II (05:52 – 16:57)Senator Kaine Doesn't Understand Human Rights: The Massive Issues with Sen. Kaine's Argument That Rights Come from the GovernmentYes, Sen. Kaine, our rights come from the Creator: The Democratic senator from Virginia openly denies America's founding vision by WORLD Opinions (R. Albert Mohler, Jr.)Part III (16:57 – 23:23)An LGBTQ Blessing During Jubilee by the Roman Catholic Church? Pope Leo Offers Blessing to LGBTQ CatholicsL.G.B.T.Q. Catholics Have Jubilee With Pope's Blessing, if Not His Presence by The New York Times (Elisabetta Povoledo)Part IV (23:23 – 26:43)Compassion Without Truth Will Not Lead To Faithfulness – Faithful Christian Compassion Will Always Balance Compassion with the Truth of God's WordSign up to receive The Briefing in your inbox every weekday morning.Follow Dr. Mohler:X | Instagram | Facebook | YouTubeFor more information on The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, go to sbts.edu.For more information on Boyce College, just go to BoyceCollege.com.To write Dr. Mohler or submit a question for The Mailbox, go here.