As iron sharpens iron,
one person sharpens another. (Proverbs 27:17)
“Within 15 days of the death of a pope, cardinals will begin the conclave — the word is drawn from the Latin ‘cum clave,’ meaning ‘with a key,’ because they are locked in the Sistine Chapel at the Vatican to vote on the next pope.” - RNS
“Pope Francis, who sought to be a bridge maker as he led the Catholic Church in a time of deep polarization, died at 7:35 a.m. on Monday (April 21), at the age of 88, a day after surprising faithful in St. Peter’s Square on Easter Sunday.” - RNS
Based on Pew data: “Whereas Protestantism, including both evangelical and mainline varieties, loses 1.8 members compared to every new addition, Roman Catholicism loses 8.4. That’s an astounding rate of loss.” - WORLD
“In recent years, several notable Protestant converts to Roman Catholicism have made waves online…. What drives these Christian thinkers to make this jump? Several theories could be explored, but one factor might concern the surprising savvy of online Roman Catholic apologetics, particularly on platforms like YouTube.” - TGC
“Pope Francis suffered a respiratory spasm that led to a sudden worsening of his condition, doctors said on Friday (Feb. 28), after two days of improved reports on the pope’s health.” - RNS
“Gavin Ortlund offers a critical appraisal of the Roman Catholic sacrament of penance or confession, from a Protestant perspective.” - YouTube
This article argues that the Roman Catholic Church (“Rome”) is wrong about the sufficiency of Christ’s atonement. In fact, she is so incorrect that her teaching on this matter is grave error that distorts the gospel.
By “Christ’s atonement,” we mean the action by which Christ’s vicarious death reconciles us to God and restores fellowship with him. The dispute here is about the sufficiency of this atonement. Did Christ atone for the consequences of all our sins? Is his atonement permanent or conditional?
“By the time of the Reformation, many of the gains made in the fight against Pelagianism were lost. An entire ecclesio-sacerdotal system of salvation, which relied more on individual merit than the grace of God, had become dominant.” - Ligonier
By Jonathan Peters
“Ironically, the intellectual heft of historic Catholicism and its enviable aesthetic achievements seem to be the very things that the pope regards with indifference. And both of these seem to connect to that telltale sign that always presages trouble in Christian circles: a loss of the transcendent in favor of the immanent.” - Carl Trueman
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