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As we continue in our analysis of the genuine works of Ignatius of Antioch (d. 107 AD), we focus this week on the Roman Catholic claim that Roman Primacy can be found in his letters. In this series we have been assessing the claims of Mr. Joshua T. Charles, a former Protestant who converted to Roman Catholicism because Ignatius of Antioch “red pilled” him into the truth. Mr. Charles, repeatedly claims to have read “tens of thousands of pages” of the Early Church Fathers, finding Roman Catholicism “absolutely everywhere.” He was particularly surprised to find “profoundly [Roman] Catholic doctrine” in Ignatius’ letters, “point by point,” which “was apparent in just seven short letters.”

Of the 10 points he listed, we have covered five so far — the sacrifice of the Eucharist, the Real Presence of Christ in the Eucharist in Part 2, and the New Testament priesthood, Episcopal Succession and Episcopal Authority in Part 3. As we demonstrated last week, because of Mr. Charles’ approach he finds more in Ignatius than Ignatius actually wrote, and indeed much more than even Mr. Charles bargained for. He claimed that Ignatius described a New Testament priesthood composed “primarily” of bishops based on Luke 10:16 — “He who hears you, hears me” — but we found that Mr. Charles had relied on the longer Greek recension of Ignatius’ letters, a recension the Catholic Encyclopedia denies to be authentic. Only the shorter recension is considered genuine, and those genuine letters do not apply Luke 10:16 to the Apostles. In fact, Luke 10:16 was spoken not to the Twelve but to the Seventy. Thus, anyone who claims to have found a succession of apostolic priests based on Luke 10:16 has completely misunderstood the verse, and anyone who claims to have found that construct in Ignatius is reading something he did not write. In fact, if we were to take Mr. Charles’ approach seriously, we would have found in the longer recension not only an unending line of priests that succeeded from the Seventy, but also an unending line of priests that succeeded from the Seven (Acts 6:1–8), since Ignatius is quite clear that he believed the Deacons had been “entrusted with the ministry of Jesus Christ” (to the Magnesians 6) and “the mysteries of Jesus Christ” (to the Trallians 2). And Jesus’ ministry is both priestly and prophetic.

This week we continue with the eighth point Mr. Charles found in Ignatius:

8. The Church of Rome has greater authority than other churches;

Continue reading “Tens of Thousands of Pages,” Part 4 →

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John Henry Newman, erstwhile Anglican, then Roman Catholic Apologist, Cardinal and finally “Saint,” famously claimed in 1845 that “To be deep in history is to cease to be a Protestant.” Ever since, that empty rallying cry has served as a substitute for actual scholarship, as ignorant Roman Catholics, clergy and lay, claim without justification to be “deep in history.” And yet a simple examination of the evidence reveals just how shallow in history the Roman Catholic actually is.

Joshua T. Charles, former White House speech writer and self-described historian, believes that he, too, is now deep in history, and has converted to Roman Catholicism. In his words — and there are plenty of them — he has read “tens of thousands of pages” of the Early Church Fathers, and was surprised to discover Roman Catholicism “absolutely everywhere.”

Yet, upon inspection it is clear that while he may have looked at tens of thousands of pages, he did not read them all, and those he did read, he interpreted though a medieval Roman Catholic lens instead of in their native historical context. And still others, heavily redacted by the scholars, are made to appear Roman Catholic while obscuring their very “Protestant” underpinnings. This fact the scholars freely and often admit, though Mr. Charles appears to be ignorant of it. And thus, skimming the Early Church Fathers, interpreting them through a carefully crafted medieval lens, swallowing whole the grotesque redactions and intentional mistranslations, Mr. Charles thinks to have arrived at the Church Jesus Christ founded. Instead he has arrived at a tasteless and extravagant imitation of it. And that, says Mr. Charles, is the church to which we should all convert.

In this series we will explore just one claim from his manifold twitter files: that on “point after point” Ignatius of Antioch (107 AD) taught “profoundly [Roman] Catholic doctrine.” The claim is false, and Mr. Charles is not nearly so very “deep in history” as he imagines. But he is not alone. Cardinal Newman wasn’t very deep in history either.

Continue reading “Tens of Thousands of Pages,” Part 1 →

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