Twenty-one chapters of biblical apologetics on the doctrines Protestants most often call un-biblical: invocation and intercession of saints, veneration of saints and angels, images, relics, purgatory, prayer for the dead, and penance. Sixteen years of Dave Armstrong’s online dialogues — 1995 through 2011 — edited, combined, and tightened for a single sustained case from Scripture.
Five thematic sections work through the questions one by one. Communion and intercession: Samuel appearing to Saul, biblical data on communication from the dead, the difference between invocation of saints and necromancy. Veneration: explicit biblical evidence for honoring angels and men as God’s direct representatives. Images and “idolatry”: the bronze serpent, the burning bush, the pillar of cloud, crucifixes, Sacred Heart devotion. Purgatory and prayer for the dead: Matthew 5, Romans 8, 1 Corinthians 3, Onesiphorus, and the puzzle of 1 Corinthians 15:29. Penance and mortification: penance as analogous to prayer and grace.
Heavy use of Scripture throughout. The whole counsel of biblical evidence the doctrines actually rest on.
Inside this book
- Communion and intercession of saints — Samuel appearing to Saul, biblical communication from the dead, why invocation of saints is not necromancy
- Veneration of saints and angels — biblical evidence for honoring men and angels as God’s direct representatives
- Images and “idolatry” — the bronze serpent, the burning bush, the pillar of cloud, crucifixes, Sacred Heart and Immaculate Heart devotions
- Purgatory and prayer for the dead — Matthew 5, Romans 8, 1 Corinthians 3, Onesiphorus (the dead man St. Paul prayed for), 1 Corinthians 15:29
- Penance and mortification — the biblical analogy between penance, prayer, and grace
