Ha Ha Ha... thanks. And what has personal interpretation given us? 30,000 or so denominations? What happened to the one Church that Christ promised He would build? Or did I misunderstand... He meant the 30,000 (and growing) denominations that men would build. Tell you what, you throw out what you have learned through your family and your pastor and then come back to me.
John 5:39 You study the Scriptures diligently because you think that in them you possess eternal life. These are the very Scriptures that testify about me, 40 yet you refuse to come to me to have life.
Christ is very clearly pointing out that understanding the Scriptures isn't as easy as reading it. We all learn from each other more about God's Word and its depth every day. Are we disregard these insights and only grasp what we can ourselves comprehend? If so, the Christian Bookstores are going to close tomorrow.
No. Fundamentally, it comes down to a question of authority. The Catholic Church believes in the inspiration and inerrancy of Scripture. However, Scripture is not complete unto itself. Just as the Disciples on the road to Emmaus had the Scriptures explained to them, the Holy Spirit has guided the Church through the centuries to understand what was written. God didn't stop speaking to us with Books that were written 2000 years ago. The Spirit is alive and moving in the Church revealing more as salvation history unfolds.
The Church recognizes the voice of the Holy Spirit in three ways:
- Scripture
- Tradition (primarily the Liturgy)
- Magisterium (the Church's teachings)
I will no more throw out my Catechism when discussing Christ than you would toss aside the Scriptures themselves... because the Catechism helps explain what is written.
- Scripture
- Tradition (primarily the Liturgy)
- Magisterium (the Church's teachings)
Protestants have (rashly) council/papal teachings ever since Worms, when Eck argued that they trumped the plain and common teaching of Scripture (ok, it is an oversimplification). Both Catholics and Protestants have suffered for this, albeit in different ways.
It is important to note that even in the most vicious rants against the papacy, Calvin, Luther, et. al, never made the jump that many later reformers/puritans did and taught that the Roman Catholic church was not a part of the body of Christ.
I think you guys should renounce the 9th and 12th sections of Trent. That is the real sticking point for most Protestants, including myself. We believe that all of salvation, including our good works which evidence it, are ALL a pure gift of God, and that our good works play no part whatsoever in our legal justification before God. We in no way "cooperate" with God by working out an infused righteousness in order to merit favor with God. That favor with God comes solely and singly on the basis of an imputed righteousness which I receive by faith as a gift. Any good works which proceed from this are evidences (although no less gifts!) of my legal standing. They do not add to it in any shape manner or form. Until you guys can quit anathematizing me over that, we remain at odds over the nature of the gospel itself. I will not say that no one who affirms Trent can be a true Christian, but I will say that no one who affirms WHAT TRENT CLEARLY SEEMS TO ME TO TEACH can be a true Christian. My understanding may be deficient, but I cannot buy into any system where our salvation is divided between God's activity and ours.
That said, I believe that there are many regenerate Roman Catholics who........, let us just say that their understanding of Trent is different than mine.