Tag: sola scriptura

Protestants and a Churchless Tradition: “Sola” vs. “Solo” Scriptura

· Fr. Andrew Stephen Damick
One of my ongoing fascinations is what I have come to refer to in my head as “the Evangelical appropriation of tradition.” Charismatics are celebrating Lent. Baptists are talking about the Eucharist. The inscrutable maybe-universalist and now Oprah-darling Rob Bell is even using the phrase the tradition. Maybe this tradition stuff isn’t so bad. I can branch out a little. I can…

7 Reasons that Reading the Bible = Tradition

· Fr. Andrew Stephen Damick
I recently came across a conversation online in which someone insisted that he didn’t need tradition at all, because he had the Bible. Why trust the word of men when you have the word of God? I was reminded again of just how complicated it is to try to believe in what the Bible says while rejecting Christian tradition. We’ve covered matters…

Orthodox Theology in Symphonic Harmony

· Jamey Bennett
I once jumped off the southernmost point in the United States into the ocean, and the only way I was able to do it was to suck up my fear, hop off the cliff, and face what may.  Or, rather, back what may. Ouch. I’ve been behind the scenes here at Orthodoxy and Heterodoxy doing very little but cheerleading for over a…

Using the Bible Against Christians: Sola Scriptura Atheism

· Fr. Andrew Stephen Damick
One of the things that struck me during the Chick-Fil-A debacle couple of weeks ago was a curious theme I perceived in the inundation of negative comments I saw on social media regarding the statements made by Chick-Fil-A COO Dan Cathy, who came out (no pun intended… no, really) in favor of “the biblical definition of the family unit.” What was that…

The “Biblical” Argument for Abortion

· Fr. Andrew Stephen Damick
A fellow pro-life friend of mine recently sent me a post by the theologically and politically liberal Christian writer Fred “Slactivist” Clark in favor of abortion titled The ‘biblical view’ that’s younger than the Happy Meal. It begins this way: In 1979, McDonald’s introduced the Happy Meal. Sometime after that, it was decided that the Bible teaches that human life begins at…

Some passing thoughts on Catholicity (or, an Ehrman/Pagels view of catholicity)

· Cyril Jenkins
This post was originally featured on the Lux Christi site. The original is here. Herein is a quick comment on the continuing online saga of what constitutes “catholicity.” So far most of the things I have read have been coming from Orthodox and Reformed bloggers, and I just wanted to my give two cents on something touched on, but which needs some…

Why Do the Baptists Rage?

· O&H Contributor
As Baptists Prepare to Meet, Calvinism Debate Shifts to Heresy Accusation, by Weston Gentry at Christianity Today A statement by a non-Calvinist faction of the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) has launched infighting within the nation’s largest Protestant denomination, and tensions are expected to escalate Tuesday as church leaders descend on New Orleans… The May 30 document, ‘A Statement of the Traditional Southern Baptist…