Tuesday, March 07, 2023

Adding Unjustified Qualifiers To Historical Sources

The Other Paul has posted a good video addressing some bad arguments often used by Roman Catholics, Eastern Orthodox, and other proponents of the veneration of images. They often use the same kind of argumentation on other issues as well (e.g., praying to saints). They'll claim that a source, such as a church father, who's cited against their position is only criticizing a belief or practice in a narrower context, not in a broader context that's applicable to their position. So, for example, a church father's comments against the veneration of images are only meant to condemn a pagan form of image veneration, not the Catholic form. The Other Paul makes some significant points that should be taken into account whenever any issue like this comes up, not just with the veneration of images.

3 comments:

  1. That reminds me of gay-affirming "scholars" who will make the wildly improbable claim that all of St. Paul's unequivocal condemnation of homosexual acts merely concerned such acts in the context of prostitution.

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    Replies
    1. Yes. The Other Paul uses that sort of example, along with others, in his video.

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    2. Genuinely funny to hear you make the exact same connection as I did in the video haha. I think this shows the alarming similarities of the appeals by both groups (iconodules and liberal "Christians").

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