Posted on 10/26/2013 6:56:10 AM PDT by NYer
There are 38 questions + a few bonus questions. I have split them into two separate posts of 20 and 18 + bonus questions. Are you ready?
1. Where did Jesus give instructions that the Christian faith should be based exclusively on a book?
2. Other than the specific command to John to pen the Revelation, where did Jesus tell His apostles to write anything down and compile it into an authoritative book?
3. Where in the New Testament do the apostles tell future generations that the Christian faith will be based solely on a book?
4. Some Protestants claim that Jesus condemned all oral tradition (e.g., Matt 15:3, 6; Mark 7:813). If so, why does He bind His listeners to oral tradition by telling them to obey the scribes and Pharisees when they “sit on Moses’ seat” (Matt 23:2)?
5. Some Protestants claim that St. Paul condemned all oral tradition (Col 2:8). If so, why does he tell the Thessalonians to “stand firm and hold to the traditions which you were taught, whether by word of mouth or by letter” (2 Thes 2:15) and praises the Corinthians because they “hold firmly to the traditions” (1 Cor 11:2)?
(And why does the Protestant NIV change the word “tradition” to “teaching”?)
6. If the authors of the New Testament believed in sola Scriptura, why did they sometimes draw on oral Tradition as authoritative and as God’s Word (Matt 2:23; 23:2; 1 Cor 10:4; 1 Pet 3:19; Jude 9, 14 15)?
7. Where in the Bible is God’s Word restricted only to what is written down?
8. How do we know who wrote the books that we call Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, Acts, Hebrews, and 1, 2, and 3 John?
9. On what authority, or on what principle, would we accept as Scripture books that we know were not written by one of the twelve apostles?
10. Where in the Bible do we find an inspired and infallible list of books that should belong in the Bible? (e.g., Is the Bible’s Table of Contents inspired?)
11. How do we know, from the Bible alone, that the individual books of the New Testament are inspired, even when they make no claim to be inspired?
12. How do we know, from the Bible alone, that the letters of St. Paul, who wrote to first- century congregations and individuals, are meant to be read by us as Scripture 2000 years later?
13. Where does the Bible claim to be the sole authority for Christians in matters of faith and morals?
14. Most of the books of the New Testament were written to address very specific problems in the early Church, and none of them are a systematic presentation of Christian faith and theology. On what biblical basis do Protestants think that everything that the apostles taught is captured in the New Testament writings?
15. If the books of the New Testament are “self-authenticating” through the ministry of the Holy Spirit to each individual, then why was there confusion in the early Church over which books were inspired, with some books being rejected by the majority?
16. If the meaning of the Bible is so clear—so easily interpreted—and if the Holy Spirit leads every Christian to interpret it for themselves, then why are there over 33,000 Protestant denominations, and millions of individual Protestants, all interpreting the Bible differently?
17. Who may authoritatively arbitrate between Christians who claim to be led by the Holy Spirit into mutually contradictory interpretations of the Bible?
18. Since each Protestant must admit that his or her interpretation is fallible, how can any Protestant in good conscience call anything heresy or bind another Christian to a particular belief?
19. Protestants usually claim that they all agree “on the important things.” Who is able to decide authoritatively what is important in the Christian faith and what is not?
20. How did the early Church evangelize and overthrow the Roman Empire, survive and prosper almost 350 years, without knowing for sure which books belong in the canon of Scripture?
Ping to Part 1.
Love your neighbor as yourself.
Holy Spirit and Faith. There, done.
The Devil is in the details. That’s the reason he’s an attorney and a skilled liar. He can use almost anyone anywhere to create doubt even clergy using simple minded questions...: )
^ or persons claiming to be clergy.
and people claiming people claim to be clergy. Or are they exempt? Be right back; gotta look that one up...
Just 38 more reasons why I’m grateful to be a practicing Catholic...we have the Doctors of the Church that sort this stuff out.
They’ve been working on this since the 1st Council of Nicaea and are still in business today. With the reciting of the Apostles Creed all Catholics agree to fall in step with the official teachings...or face the eternal consequences.
Some may say the same place from which parts of “Roman” Catholic dogma came from, created by predecessors.
As for 13. Where does the Bible claim to be the sole authority for Christians in matters of faith and morals?
My reply is: the 10 commandments.
However my bottom line is: This is the type of discussion that concentrates on dividing followers of Christ. If we concentrate on these division points, then we are not obeying Jesus and following what he taught, as best we can understand it. It also shows that we need to have a historical perspective and knowledge and understand that what was said then, is applicable for today. And NOT canceled because Jesus didn’t talk about electricity, automobiles, airplanes, etc.
EASY!
2 Timothy: 2:15
15 Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.
2 Timothy 3:15
15 And that from a child thou hast known the holy scriptures, which are able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus.
16 All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:
17 That the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works.
***
And from the first, what NT books were regarded by all Christians as true?
4 Gospels
Acts
Paul’s letters except Hebrews
1John
1 Peter
And that was it.
250 years later were added James, 2 Peter, 2 & 3 John, Jude, Revelation.
Other uninspired books were hanging around the fringe and were considered scripture by some, like the awful Shepherd of Hermas which made it into the early Greek bibles discovered in the 1800s.
I have read the Screwtape Letters. It takes discernment fom the Spirit to be able to distinguish what is from God and what is from Satan. Its getting more and more obvious Satan has upped his game in deception within the last several years but it all still comes down to if it walks and quacks like a duck but says its a swan its still a duck. If half of our population would learn to make judgments based on actions not words it might have kept us out of our current debacle. When you elect someone because of their “swagger” instead of their beliefs and track record this is what you get (of course he lied about that). Unfortunately now they are going to make everyone pay because of their lack of judgment and discernment.
On the contrary, the purpose of this thread is to encourage Bible Christians to pull together, to prayerfully reflect on what they have been taught. The word "truth" appears in the Bible, in the singular. There can be only one Truth. If anything, the erroneous theory of sola scriptura has split and divided the christian community into thousands of communities.
According to Scripture, Christ wanted us to be one (John 17:22-23). We are all as a Church to be of one mind and to think the same (Philippians 2:2; Romans 15:5). There is only to be one "faith" (Ephesians 4:3-6), not many.
Just one question...
How is it the operation of God’s spirit is so obviously ignored?
Next!
This is stupid! You could come up with limitless things that aren’t in the bible.
This person is a MOROON!
The Scriptures are essential to our faith as they give us a foundation to set our faith upon. Tradition, Worship, Prayer, and Serivce are also essential. If you take out one piece, they other parts will suffer for it.
Jesus studied and tauight from Scripture. He is our example and if it was good enough for Him, it should be so for us.
1) 1 Corinthians 11:2: “. . . keep the ordinances, as I delivered {them} to you.” Paul in writing, orders the Corinthians to observes teachings transmitted orally.
2) 2 Thessalonians 2:15: “. . . hold the traditions which ye have been taught, whether by word, or our epistle.” Same here. The Bible directs us to oral teachings
3) 2 Thessalonians 3:6: “Now we command you, brethren, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye withdraw yourselves from every brother that walketh disorderly, and not after the tradition which he received of us.” Oral teachings are the norm.
4) 1 Corinthians 15:1-3: “Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand; By which also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain. For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received.” Again — Paul in writing refers to an oral teaching as authoritative and calls the people to follow it.
5) 1 Thessalonians 2:13: “. . . when ye received the word of God which ye heard of us, ye received {it} not {as} the word of men, but as it is in truth, the word of God.” Oral teaching from the apostles is the equivalent of the word of God.
6) Jude 3: “. . . ye should earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints.” Oral teaching is the path to salvation. The Bible says so.
7) Lk 1:1-5 “it seemed good to me also, having had perfect understanding of all things from the very first, to write to you an orderly account, most excellent Theophilus, that you may know the certainty of those things in which you were instructed.” Luke endorses the oral teaching in writing, and assures us that the original oral teaching is reliable.
8) Rom 6:17 “But God be thanked that [though] you were slaves of sin, yet you obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine to which you were delivered.” Paul gives thanks to God that his readers follow an oral teaching.
9) 1 Cor 11:23 “For I received from the Lord that which I also delivered to you” Paul verifies that his oral teaching is from the Lord.
10) Gal 1:9ff “But even if we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel to you than what we have preached to you, let him be accursed. As we have said before, so now I say again, if anyone preaches any other gospel to you than what you have received, let him be accursed.” Anyone who preaches a gospel differing from Paul’s ORAL PREACHING is “accursed”.
11) 2 Pet 2:21 “For it would have been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than having known [it,] to turn from the holy commandment delivered to them.” People who have turned away from Peter’s oral teachings are better off with NO GOSPEL AT ALL.
12) Romans 10:15 “And how shall they preach unless they are sent?” Preachers not sent by the apostles have no authority and are not to be heard. They are not sent by God.
13) John 20:30 “And truly Jesus did many other signs in the presence of His disciples, which are not written in this book.” The apostles know more than you do.
14) John 21:25 “And there are also many other things that Jesus did, which if they were written one by one, I suppose that even the world itself could not contain the books that would be written.” The apostles know more than you do.
15) 2 John 1:12 “Having many things to write to you, I did not wish [to do so] with paper and ink; but I hope to come to you and speak face to face, that our joy may be full.” John saves his best stuff for the oral teaching. The Bible says so, so it must be true.
16) Luke 10:16 “He who hears you hears me, and he who rejects you rejects me, and he who rejects me rejects him who sent me.” If you do not “hear” the apostles and those sent by them, you do not hear the Lord.
17) Matthew 16:19 “And I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.” Peter received in the keys a mandate given to no other disciple.
18) Matthew 18:18 “Verily I say unto you, Whatsoever ye shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever ye shall loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.” The power of binding and loosing belongs to the apostles, not to all followers of Jesus.
19) Luke 24:45 “Then he opened their minds to understand the scriptures.” The apostles know more than you do.
20) Matthew 13:11 And he answered them, “To you it has been given to know the secrets of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been given.” The apostles know more than you do.
21) Luke 8:10 he said, “To you it has been given to know the secrets of the kingdom of God; but for others they are in parables, so that seeing they may not see, and hearing they may not understand. The apostles know more than you do.
22) 1 Timothy 3: 14-15 “I hope to come to you soon, but I am writing these instructions to you so that, if I am delayed, you may know how one ought to behave in the household of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and bulwark of the truth.” The pillar and bulwark of the truth is not the Bible. It is the Church. THE Church.
23) 2 Peter 1:20 “First of all you must understand this, that no prophecy of scripture is a matter of one’s own interpretation.” Scriptural interpretation contrary to the authentic apostolic teaching is invalid. You cannot be assured of your salvation simply by reading the Bible in private.
24) 2 Peter 3:16 “There are some things in [Paul’s epistles] hard to understand, which the ignorant and unstable twist to their own destruction, as they do the other scriptures.” Scriptural interpretation contrary to the Church descended from the Apostles is invalid.
Don’t bother to post part 2
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