In the movie classic <em>Rocky</em> a humble, poor, local boxer is picked to fight world heavyweight champion Apollo Creed – and wins against all the odds.
There are uncanny similarities between the legendary boxing film and a <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r-UZDiEEmns"><mark style="background-color:rgba(0, 0, 0, 0)" class="has-inline-color has-vivid-cyan-blue-color">recent debate</mark></a> between the Catholic underdog online commentator and host of the <em>Voice of Reason</em> TikTok channel, a 28-year-old without formal theological training who is just known by his first name Alex and was participating in only his third public debate; and veteran Protestant theologian James White, an outspoken opponent of Catholicism and long-time scholar – participating in his 190th debate.
The debate's resolution was “The Bible teaches Catholic Authority, not <em>Sola Scriptura</em>”. <em>Sola Scriptura</em> is the foundation of many theological disagreements between Protestants and Catholics, and an important doctrine of the Protestant Reformation belief that the Bible is the only infallible rule for Christian faith.
Many differences between the faiths, such as the veneration of saints and Mary, and the authority of the Pope, are related to this question of the authority of the Bible versus the Church.
Alex’s deep voice and swarthy complexion are similar to the iconic film’s lead actor, Sylvester Stallone. Furthermore, he very easily wouldn’t have been in the debate; Alex noted that his participation only occurred after “five other guys refused and I was the last resort”, and the organiser seemed to confirm this. And Alex admitted he knew that he was up against it, describing having watched White’s debates for the past ten years and that it was an “honour’ to meet him.<br><br>Most of all, in terms of similarity to the film, is the fact that online Catholicism’s young Rocky was perceived by many to have won the debate, which was held in Breathe Reformed Baptist Church in the US.
At the very least, Alex won the respect of his opponent, who enthused during the discussion: “Alex I'm enjoying this and I really, really appreciate you being here!”
White added: “I think this is my seventh or eighth debate on <em>Solo Scriptura</em>, and I can honestly say that I think the people in this audience have heard more relevant and useful back and forth on the key issues in this debate than the ones before.”
Obviously, the Reformation occurred a while ago, but the increased popularity of <em>YouTube</em> and podcasts – both effective mediums for formal debate – has increased levels of interest in and demand for these kinds of discussions.
More experienced and better-known Catholic debaters include Trent Horn of the California-based Catholic advocacy group Catholic Answers, convert and theologian Scott Hahn and the UK’s Peter D. Williams.
Alex has described himself as a lifelong Catholic, who became known, in the words of the debate host, as a “teenage prodigy” in his local community in New Mexico due to his skills in catechesis and formation, even for older adults.
In only one year since arriving on social media, he has gained more than 200,000 followers on <a href="https://www.tiktok.com/@voiceofreason_clips"><mark style="background-color:rgba(0, 0, 0, 0)" class="has-inline-color has-vivid-cyan-blue-color">TikTok</mark></a>, and 63,000 on <a href="https://www.youtube.com/@VoiceOfReason_"><mark style="background-color:rgba(0, 0, 0, 0)" class="has-inline-color has-vivid-cyan-blue-color">YouTube</mark></a>, at the time of writing.<br><br>His opponent, James White, is a very well-known evangelical apologist, who regularly debates Muslims, Catholics and non-Calvinist Christians. He leads <a href="https://www.aomin.org/"><mark style="background-color:rgba(0, 0, 0, 0)" class="has-inline-color has-vivid-cyan-blue-color">Alpha & Omega Ministries</mark></a>, is a pastor at a church in Arizona, and <a href="https://www.youtube.com/@AominOrg"><mark style="background-color:rgba(0, 0, 0, 0)" class="has-inline-color has-vivid-cyan-blue-color">his YouTube account</mark></a> has 109,000 subscribers. He has also authored numerous books, including many titles that argue against Catholic teaching.
Like many Reformed Calvinist evangelicals, White is vehemently opposed to Roman Catholicism. Some Christians who hold to a similar theology refuse to join groups in the UK that try to bring faith groups together because they object to communion with Catholics.
This theological Rocky versus Apollo bout began with opening statements from the two speakers, then rebuttals, after which they were able to question one another, before taking pre-written questions from the audience.
Alex outlined his position: “<em>Sola Scriptura</em> says that there is no need for a human infallible interpreter – Catholicism says that God's Church is the infallible interpreter.
“So the Catholic side says ‘scripture, tradition and the Church’, and the Protestant side says ‘scripture alone’. Thank God we have common ground, so we can solve this issue, since we all agree about the authority of scripture….upon examining the Scriptures closely and honestly we can come to the conclusion that the Bible cannot be the only infallible authority, because the Bible clearly teaches that there are indeed other infallible authorities outside of it.”
White did not always address the points directly, but launched his own attacks: proposing the argument that the Catholic Church can’t have authority, because of the errors of Pope Francis and his allies, who he claimed are trying to change the faith and sparking a “crisis” in the Church.
“If they had held the positions that they teach today as the leaders of the Roman Catholic Church in the year 1600, without repenting, they would have been burned at the stake by the Inquisition…if that's true how do you have something called Apostolic tradition, how are you guarding a supposedly Apostolic faith, if you have the ability to have these changes taking place…the only way to solve that crisis is to embrace <em>Sola Scriptura</em>.”
Alex gave quick-fire, detailed responses to White’s various points, defending Pope Francis’s record and pointing out that he has not made a magisterial statement that contradicts the magisterium. He also defended the Holy Father’s “Who am I to judge” comment about a gay priest, pointing out that the person referred to was living a celibate life, not contrary to Catholic teaching.
The discussion was cordial, with respect shown on both sides. White even embraced Alex at one point.
Another faith-related <em>YouTuber</em>, known as Blue Collar Catholic, <a href="https://youtu.be/V9vwLaDcWg4"><mark style="background-color:rgba(0, 0, 0, 0)" class="has-inline-color has-vivid-cyan-blue-color">enthused about Alex’s performance</mark></a>, after what, he admitted, had at first seemed like it was going to be a total “mismatch” in experience:
“He went into enemy territory – he went into a Baptist Church,” Blue Collar Catholic said. “I was a former Protestant, and Baptists are the most anti-Catholic, and this kid went in there and I think he won them over.
“He was so humble, just Alex from <em>Voice of Reason</em>. He just had that deep voice so it kind of reminded you of Rocky, so I'm telling you it was like Rocky the underdog knocking out Apollo Creed, the champion.”
Alex also won a lot of admiration and praise in the video comments and on other internet platforms such as <em>X</em>.
The young Catholic apologist has discussed how he came to be where he is – a Catholic apologist with a growing following on social media.
Although he has had no formal theological education, he says he reads a lot of books, especially about Christianity and Jesus. “I'm just a kid who when I was 14 years old…I fell in love with the Lord Jesus Christ, I fell in love with his word, and all I wanted to do was be faithful to him and just follow him,” he said in one <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tSgQk2aH2CY">interview on YouTube</a>.
“When you fall in love with someone you want to learn everything about them, everything, and that's how it was with me."
He attends a Byzantine Roman Catholic Church in New Mexico and a local Latin Mass. He began discussing the Catholic faith online after a friend, who is a social media expert, said that he should share his skills online because it had <a href="https://www.tiktok.com/@voiceofreason_clips/video/7273631091234295071">helped many others grow in faith</a>.
“That was always my goal, even as a catechist...to explain things in the simplest way possible,” Alex says. “Sometimes you can get a little ahead of ourselves and we get a little too abstract, the best way to teach and the best way for people to learn is to just explain everything as simply as possible.
“I learned it just because I wanted to learn it. I wanted to know everything that I could. It comes from a place of love, so as long as you have charity, like Saint Paul says in 1 Corinthians 13, as long as you come from a place of charity and love, you'll have all the knowledge that you need.”<br><br><em>Photo: Screenshot of a scene from the 'Rocky' film, starring Sylvester Stallone as Robert 'Rocky' Balboa and Carl Weathers as 'Apollo Creed'. </em>
<em>Heather Tomlinson is a freelance Christian writer. Find more of her work at her <a href="https://heathertomlinson.substack.com/"><mark style="background-color:rgba(0, 0, 0, 0)" class="has-inline-color has-vivid-cyan-blue-color">Substack</mark></a> or via X @heathertomli.</em>
