As one of the "FR Fundie Protestants" you labeled in derision, let me answer a few of your false contentions. The Bible says what it means and means what it says. It is self-interpretive, meaning Scripture interprets Scripture. All those councils or church fathers took what SCRIPTURE said and used it to write their creeds. In addition to that, they had the indwelling Holy Spirit - that we ALL have who are in Christ - and, as Jesus promised He would, leads us into all truth. That there are different denominations does not mean that there are that many different "interpretations" of Holy Scripture. There IS only ONE truth concerning the MAJOR tenets of the Christian faith. If ANY church claims to BE Christian, they must adhere to those doctrines clearly laid out in Scripture. When Paul called the church the "pillar and foundation of the truth", he certainly did not mean this church MAKES up the truth. NO, the church is to uphold and support what IS the truth. By your same measurement, why are there hundreds of denominations with Catholicism? Don't you agree that, no matter what a church calls itself, if it is "Christian", then is must adhere to Christian tenets?
Yet Protestants DO NOT reject all of the catholic faith. As long as ANY church upholds the doctrines of the faith, they are in unity. But no matter what the outside sign says on the church building, if what is taught within does not comport with what Scripture states, then they are NOT representing the true church of Christ, the Body of Christ, the called-out assembly of believers in Christ. That body spans time, nations, peoples, languages and, yes, even denominations. Us "Fundies" believe in the virgin birth of Christ, the Father, Son and Holy Spirit - God in three persons, that Christ died as a propitiation for our sins, that Christ was foretold in Scripture and He has fulfilled prophecies about the Messiah, that through Christ God created all that is or ever will be, that Jesus will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead, that of His kingdom there will be no end, etc. There's PLENTY we do not reject of what Catholicism teaches. But where we DO disagree, is major and it is no small matter, but is the difference between eternal life in heaven or hell. Why do you think we concentrate on this issue more than any other? The GOSPEL?
Those early church fathers, the Apostles, the early church, they ALL understood that salvation was by grace through faith and not by works - justification by faith. We are justified by faith because of God's grace and grace is not grace if works have to be added in. Out of the many areas the Reformers sought to restore the church back to orthodoxy, that was the MAIN thing. All the other issues do not mean much at all if this one doctrine is perverted. This is NOT a novel or new "interpretation" at all but it is backed up by the early leaders in the churches, the writings of the theologians back then, and, more than anything else, it is what Scripture clearly teaches and it was taught in both the Old and New Testaments. It is ALWAYS been about God's grace. Does God desire us to live holy lives? Of course He does! Does He tell us what he expects of us? Absolutely! But the ONLY way we can live victorious, God-honoring lives is by the indwelling power of the Holy Spirit that is given to us when we by faith receive Jesus Christ as Savior. ONLY then, is it even possible to please God. Doing good, living clean and holy lives, doing good works only matter to God when they are done out of gratitude to Him for His grace, and NOT as a means to gain His grace. If nothing else is understood in this comment, I pray this one thing is.
Excellent, bb.
Well stated boatbums! You nailed it.
boatbums:
You have restated the novel Protestant position. You still are wrong. The early Church in eccelsiology was Catholic, It was Sacramental, it was Liturgical and its view of Justification was “synergestic”. There was no forensic or imputed view of Justification.
And again, the Catholic Church does not teach you are saved by works. You are saved by Grace, but Grace enpowers man to live the Christian virtures of Faith, Hope and Love.
Even Luther realized that is view of Justification was not found in St. Augustine.
I am not going to get into your statments about the Bible saying what it means and means what it says because I know quite well that all you Protestants who expose that have continued to split in thousands of sects.
There is only One Catholic Church and it teaches one faith. The issue of whether some Catholics expouse goofy stuff does not negate the fact that the Catholic Church teaches the Apostolic Faith. Some Catholics choose to ignore it or at times outright challenge it but that does not negate that ROme teaches what she Teaches.