I’m not participating in the discussion in this thread, but I’ve read all of it. While you scoff, I will be praising the Lord for what I see here.
What I see in this thread are people who, despite their traditions, flaws, and human frailties, are trying to make sense of tough passages. What I see here are FReepers following the Biblical model. In Acts 17 the Bereans were called “more noble” than those in Thessalonica because they searched the Scriptures to prove for themselves what they were being taught by the Apostle Paul and Silas.
Since all Bible-believing truly regenerated Christians are part of a chosen generation and a royal priesthood, there is no need to sit back and wait for the priest class to tell us what we are to believe. We aren’t proverbial stepford-wives parroting our favorite saint or pre-Vatican II pope. We don’t just give links to the arguments of our authorities. We wrestle with these things for ourselves. We care too much to blindly accept any doctrine on the word of men. We want to prove them from the Bible.
By the way, it’s laughable to pretend believe papists have ever been in full agreement.
Not all believers are at the same level of knowledge and spiritual maturity either.
There’s disagreement, sometimes just due to a lack of correct teaching, and working our way through this sort of thing helps everyone grow.
For some it reinforces what they already believe and for others, it can correct errant belief.
But NO ONE is going to find out that they’re wrong about something, if someone isn’t willing to confront them and present their case.
It sure beats swallowing the party line hook, line, and sinker, without engaging the brain or spiritual discernment.
Rather than being a weakness of sola Scriptura, it’s a strength. It can be a self-correcting mechanism instead of falling headlong into the error of a cult, like Jim Jones.
Thank you for you post and committing the logical fallacy of painting with a broad brush.
'Til now; that is...