What is it About?
In Defense of Grace is first and foremost, a statement of faith and a tribute to God. The site is designed to be a premier resource on the beliefs and practices of Reformed Christianity. To those unfamiliar with the term, Reformed Christianity is a “denomination” that professes the scriptures to be the sole and preeminent authority on theology and Christianity. It rejects extra-biblical traditions and rites and does not accept any alterations to Gospel truths. Foundational beliefs of Reformed Christianity include:
- Reserving worship, exaltation, and reverence for the Triune God alone.
- The total sufficiency of Jesus’ sacrifice in absolving men of their sins, as a function of grace.
- Elevation of the Bible as the highest doctrinal authority.
- The assertion of good works being the manifestation of a transformative faith.
- The sovereignty of Jesus Christ as our Lord, Savior, and High Priest.
How is the Site Meant to be Read?
The content of this site used to be in the form of a written statement of faith. The statement can be neatly divided into two halves. The first half is an expatiation on Reformed theology and biblical doctrine. The second half is a refutation of extra-biblical practices of Roman Catholicism. I suppose, given the context of the Reformation, that could probably fall under Reformed theology, too.
The original statement was structured in a largely climactic order and was meant to be read in the sequence in which it was written. In spite of the nifty directories at the side and bottom of the page, the statement is still meant to be read in order. Each chapter gradually introduces new concepts, while building upon the foundation of prior chapters in escalating complexity. In that regard, some arguments are repeated in various contexts throughout the statement, but in more comprehensive forms.
This is because the ever-aggregating body of scriptures compiled in the text add additional meaning and narrative weight. In short, even if the first few chapters are a little slow for your speed, I would recommend reading through them all the same, so you don’t lose track of the narrative when it escalates in later chapters.
Why All of The Scripture? Why the Repetition and Escalating Arguments?
Well, because the Bible is the single most important book you’ll ever read. The Bible was written for you, but it was orchestrated by God. His thoughts are much higher than our thoughts. Because of this, the world often grievously underestimates how intelligent, cohesive, and nuanced the scriptures are. Look at this graphic from Open Bible:
Mere men are not intelligent enough to compose works that cohesive. The Bible has well over 30 writers whose backgrounds are sourced from a pool of incredible variance. Kings, priests, laborers, fishermen, physicians, and warriors over literal millennia put together a book with 340,000 references, both prophetic and referential. That cohesion is only possible because of God, who sees the whole picture. For us to approach His book with reason, we must strive to see the whole picture, too.
The Bible, broken down into topical preaching and cherry-picked verses, is a formless and abusable tool that can be twisted to parrot the ignorance of any fool with a few minutes to hunt for a verse that reaffirms their pre-decided belief. Used that way, the Bible becomes a yes-man instead of a teacher. But, when read all the way through and taken as a whole, the true, singular, and divine narrative of the Bible is revealed. Once this greater context of the scriptures is applied, all the verses have their meanings perfectly aligned under God’s singular truth. The Bible then becomes a sword that eviscerates heresy and cuts loose people ensnared by deceit and perversions in religion.
Why Did You Write This? Where Does Roman Catholicism Come In?
Alright, I’ll tell you, but you have to promise not to laugh first, okay? So, there was this girl… I was in a relationship with a Roman Catholic woman. It started off well enough, but as we learned more about each other’s beliefs, the relationship became strained. I followed a faith rooted in scripture as the sole authority of Christian doctrine; she followed one largely engineered through traditions. While we were both committed Christians, that difference was more than enough to substantially skew the yoke over time.
What really kicked this off for me though, was that it was only after entering into their denomination and culture did I hear that the Bible was not the pre-eminent source of Christian truths, and that elevation of the scriptures over church doctrine was foolish. I wasn’t fully ignorant on Roman Catholicism at the time; I’ve been to Mass before and I was aware of the separation between scripture and tradition. But, it was the explicit and vindictive nature of that statement that really lifted the blinders off my eyes.
From there, the inconsistencies in their doctrine and practices took on a more insidious tone. Depending on the denominational literacy of the Roman Catholic in question, even from the level of the clergy, Roman Catholicism presented very different beliefs. People disagreed as to whether or not Mary was to be worshipped, whether or not the transubstantiation was literal or figurative, whether or not Christians can be saved outside of the Roman Catholic church, and whether or not the Pope was sovereign.
In all of these cases, it was traditions and Roman Catholic culture that was the backbone of their arguments. More concerning, was that these sources of Roman Catholic doctrine, the writings of Early Church fathers, or even the Bible itself, was never encouraged to be critically studied during my time there. All of these “truths” were to be asked of their Clergy or read from their non-doctrinal publications.
So, as my concern grew, I began investigating their history, their doctrine, and their writings. I began writing the faith statement to prove that Christianity outside of Roman Catholicism was valid and could even be pleasing to God. However, as I learned more about their coercive and controlling doctrines, I saw that Roman Catholic leaders were aggregating power for their church by limiting the Sovereignty and Lordship of God, even to the point of having the Pope replace Jesus as the Chief Shepherd. Then my statement of faith became an ardent defense of the Bible and the Gospel itself.
Fulfilling the will of God, Jesus had literally offered Himself as a sacrifice. He shed His blood to absolve men of their sins and to relieve them of the limitations of the Old Law, as long as they would believe in Him and repent. Yet Roman Catholic tradition buries this Gospel under a mountain of caveats, which I now know are spiritually dangerous to the practitioner.
Over time, my originally humble twenty-page pamphlet on the Reformation and the sufficiency of the fundamental biblical doctrines, grew into a nearly year long project that saw me buried in scriptures, early church writings, history books, Jewish cultural practices, and apologetics resources, ultimately culminating in a (roughly) 110,000 word long manuscript. This new statement covers a vast breadth of topics, but every narrative thread can ultimately be traced back to two purposes: proclaiming the overwhelming Sovereignty of God and emphasizing the sheer magnitude of His grace.
What Happened Once You Finished This?
Well, to be honest, all of the Roman Catholics in my life had disappeared by the time I was roughly two-thirds of the way through. Challenging their church, especially using scripture, was an irreconcilable wedge. To this day, I still don’t know if any of them have even read this. I don’t blame or resent them, though. I made my choice, and I would make it again in a heartbeat. Without the stakes of these relationships on me, this site became a pure passion project for God, and I am very pleased with how it turned out.
Within the last three years of this site being published, it has reached over 17,000 people. Without purchasing any ads, it climbed to the top spot of the Google search engine under “In Defense of Grace”, and has reached people all over the world, including China, Russia, and Germany. I am not versed in search engine optimization; I know this is all by the grace of God.
My favorite part of this story though, is that a year after publishing In Defense of Grace, I met a pretty Baptist woman… by the name of Grace. On our first date, we passionately discussed theology in a small board game café. Last month, we just celebrated our first Anniversary. Even though this site was built on trials and hardships, God has showered me in kindness and blessings.
Make no mistake though, I am not important in this. God facilitates all good things for His people, and His Word is the foundation of all of this. As you read through this statement, remember that every “good” thing written there is only good because it speaks of God.
How do I message the admin?
Can I Get a PDF Version?
You certainly can: In Defense Of Grace
(Updated 6/26/2023)