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Faith Alone: The “Theological Novum” (Dave Armstrong Book)

Faith Alone: The “Theological Novum” (Dave Armstrong Book)

Last updated on: July 14, 2026 at 11:32 pm by Dave Armstrong

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Faith Alone: The “Theological Novum” (Dave Armstrong Book) 2026-07-14T23:32:52-04:00 Dave Armstrong

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Subtitle: Disproofs from 525 Bible Passages & 30 Church Fathers

This is my 57th book, completed on 11 May 2026: 30 years to the month after I finished my first book, A Biblical Defense of Catholicism. 345 pages. Every book of the New Testament is cited in support of Catholic soteriology. All biblical citations are from RSV. It’s available for absolutely free in the links to the chapters below, and also, should you desire a more convenient option, more conveniently in PDF + ePub files (see link immediately below). Many thanks beforehand for reading and supporting my work!

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Read Below for Free or PURCHASE:

[PDF + ePUB: $9.99]

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Introduction: Defining and Critiquing “Faith Alone” [3 pages] [read below]

PART ONE: The Historical Background

1 “Faith Alone” Disproven by 30 Church Fathers [24 pages]

2 St. Augustine (No “Proto-Protestant”) vs. “Faith Alone” [36 pages]

3 Martin Luther & “Faith Alone”: An In-Depth Examination [13 pages]

4 Philip Melanchthon & Imputed Justification [32 pages]

5 John Calvin & Calvinists on Forensic Justification [24 pages]

6 John Wesley vs. Extrinsic Justification & “Faith Alone” [25 pages]

PART TWO: Agreement on Justification by Grace Through Faith

7 Salvation by Grace Alone: 25 Passages, Contra Works-Salvation & Pelagianism & Semi-Pelagianism [3 pages]

8 Justification & Salvation Through Faith and Belief: 50 passages [9 pages]

PART THREE: The Overwhelming Biblical Data Against “Faith Alone”

9 The Ten Best Biblical Prooftexts Against “Faith Alone” [3 pages]

10 Saved by Love: Ten Bible Proofs [3 pages]

11 Jesus’ Words to the Rich Young Ruler Disprove “Faith Alone” [19 pages]

12 Jesus’ Words to the “Sheep” & the “Goats” (Matthew 25) Refute “Faith Alone” [12 pages]

13 Forty Additional Unanswerable New Testament Passages Contra “Faith Alone” [11 pages]

14 63 More New Testament Passages Inconsistent with “Faith Alone” [12 pages]

15 63 Old Testament Passages Contrary to “Faith Alone” [9 pages]

16 70 Specific Good Works That Contribute to Salvation [19 pages]

17 “Do” in the New Testament vs. “Faith Alone”: 24 passages [5 pages]

18 Meritorious Works: 36 Biblical Proofs [6 pages]

19 Final Judgment & Works as a Central Criterion of Entrance Into Heaven: 12 passages [3 pages]

20 Workers with God to Save Ourselves & Others: 21 passages [2 pages]

21 Biblical “Power”: Proof of Infused Justification: 11 passages [4 pages]

22 Salvation as a Process in the New Testament: 35 passages [2 pages]

23 Regeneration & Salvation Through Baptism: 13 passages [4 pages]

24 Transformation of Believers in the New Testament (Infused Justification): 134 passages [14 pages]

25 “Blameless” & “Pure” in the Bible (Sinless?): 32 passages [11 pages]

26 Perfectly Keeping the Law: 15 passages [6 pages]

27 New Perspective on Paul & Exegesis of “Works of the Law”: Do They Refer to All Good Works Whatsoever?: Six passages [9 pages]

28 Abraham: Justified Twice by Works & Once by Faith [6 pages]

29 Justification in the Book of James: No Different Than Paul’s [20 pages]

30 Reply to James White’s Exegesis of James 2 in His Book, The God Who Justifies [24 pages]

[page numbers of chapters are approximate]

PART FOUR: Master List / Index of Bible Passages
(with chapter number for each)

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Introduction: Defining and Critiquing “Faith Alone”

Every good treatment of a topic must begin with a definition of terms. And it’s always best in partisan discussions to let the advocate of any particular viewpoint define his or her own belief. Thus I begin with a citation from the web page, Lutheran Reformation.Org, and its article, “Sola Fide” by Rev. Christopher Maronde (16 June 2016). He writes:

The debate of the Reformation, a debate that brought forth the bold declaration ‘Sola Fide!’, was not between good works on the one hand, and faith on the other, but it was a debate over what relationship faith had to good works. Namely, do good works have any place in our justification before God? . . . Sola Fide is the battle cry of the Reformation because it puts all things in their proper order. Good works follow, but they never precede; believers are exhorted to good works, but not for salvation.

That’s the whole debate in a nutshell: Do works have anything directly to do with justification and salvation (as opposed to only being the fruits of same, done in gratefulness for a one-time achieved salvation)? Catholics agree that in initial justification, they do not, but we believe that justification and salvation are processes and that grace-enabled meritorious good works do indeed play a role in salvation after our initial regeneration. Protestants say “no” to that and separate works in a separate box called “sanctification.”

Be that as it may, the Church fathers en masse and overwhelmingly also the entire medieval period, following the great St. Augustine’s lead, always kept justification and sanctification together, meaning that works did indeed play a role in salvation: necessarily caused by grace and alongside an equally necessary grace-caused faith. I’ve compiled evidence from thirty of them. I contend in this book, with 525 biblical proofs, that this is undeniably the teaching of the Bible as well.

Note that in all of the scriptural collections of Bible passages in this book in Part Three, there will be no overlap. If a Bible passage is in one chapter and collection, it won’t appear in another, as part of the “official list.”. This is proven by the index at the end of the book, that lists every single Bible passage (many of my passages have more than one verse) and in what chapter it appears. I did this in order to escape an anticipated accusation that I am using passages multiple times in order to make the total number – the one in the subtitle of this book — look bigger. I will, however, list related passages that were utilized elsewhere in brackets at the end – as a sort of footnote. I try to place each one in the collection and theme that fits it best. But many can arguably be classified in multiple thematic collections.

Note that in all of the scriptural collections of Bible passages in this book in Part Three, there will be no overlap. If a Bible passage is in one chapter and collection, it won’t appear in another, as part of the “official list.”. This is proven by the index at the end of the book, that lists every single Bible passage (many of my passages have more than one verse) and in what chapter it appears. I did this in order to escape an anticipated accusation that I am using passages multiple times in order to make the total number (525) look bigger.

If the “Reformation” theological battle cry is sola fide, then the Catholic counter-cry is the verse in Holy Scripture that expressly and decisively refutes it: “You see that a man is justified by works and not by faith alone” (James 2:24 in RSV: the version that will be used for all the Bible passages in this book). This is, by the way, the only time the phrase “faith alone” ever appears in the Bible, and it’s opposed to “faith alone.” Perhaps this is why Martin Luther added the word “alone” to Romans 3:28 in his German translation, when in fact it wasn’t in the Greek text.

But there is much, much more than that, as we’ll see, in the massive amounts of inspired revelation that are not harmonious with faith alone: an idea – according to the leading Protestant historian of the development of the doctrine of justification — that basically came out of nowhere from one man in the 1530s, as I will document in chapter four.

Whoever reads this book will have to grapple with both history and the very deep and comprehensive wells of Holy Scripture: neither being, I submit, in harmony with the 16th century innovation of faith alone.

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Related Books of Mine

Biblical Catholic Salvation: “Faith Working Through Love” (Oct. 2010, 187 pages)

Justification: A Catholic Perspective (co-author: Calvinist Francisco Tourinho [debate] ) (Aug. 2023). Available for FREE online.

***

Read Above for Free or PURCHASE:

[PDF + ePUB: $9.99]

***

Photo credit: book cover designed and produced by Kenny Burchard and Dave Armstrong; copyright 2026 by Catholic Bible Highlights (please visit our YouTube channel). The person is Philip Melanchthon (1497-1560): Luther’s best friend and successor, and inventor in the 1530s of the standard “faith alone” outlook now held by almost all Protestants; from the portrait by Lucas Cranach the Elder in 1537.

Summary: Are good works directly connected to justification and salvation? Evidence from 525 Bible passages and 30 Church fathers proves that “faith alone” (sola fide) is a falsehood.

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Practical Matters: This is the most comprehensive and multi-faceted Catholic apologetics blog: rated #1 for Christian sites by leading AI tool, ChatGPT. I offer more than 5,000 free online articles, fifty-eight books, and many scores of videos at the Catholic Bible Highlights YouTube channel (please subscribe!). If you believe my full-time apostolate is worth supporting, please seriously consider financially supporting it. PayPal donations are the easiest: just send to my email address: [email protected]. You’ll see the term “Dave Armstrong Bookstore”. To learn about the different methods of contributing (including Zelle and 100% tax-deductible donations if desired), see my page: About Catholic Apologist Dave Armstrong / Donation Information. Thanks a million!

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Last revised on 14 July 2026

Books by Dave Armstrong

Salvation & Justification

Faith Alone

Faith Alone: The "Theological Novum"

Faith and Works

infused justification

Protestant soteriology

Sola Fide

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