Yesterday "Born Again", Today "The Bible". Hope this compenses for any gaps in your own catholic education.
Let's say that the Apostle Paul had been put on ice in a cryogenic experiment back in about 65 AD.
The Catholic Church discovers him frozen away in a catacomb and excitedly verifies, "Yep, this is that old St Paul."
Everyone's excited because they've identified Paul.
Some scientist says, "Let's unfreeze him." They do, and he lives!
Now, who do you listen to ---
The Apostle Paul who's living, breathing, and talking to you, OR do you ignore Paul and his words and say, "Alright everyone, that church over there...they're the ones who found him, so listen to them. They're the final authority....not Paul."
The Word is inspired by God. God used people and yes even The Church to get His message across. Churches and people (including popes) are infallible, only God is not. It is possible for me to believe the Bible and not belive Catholic dogma. And that is what I do. Let God be the judge if I do right or wrong.
"Most Protestants are at a loss ...."
Now I though, dear NYer, that you didn't like to fight.
:)
Yay Keating! I hope to see more.
You've provoked a very interesting discussion. I think, however, the Protestant vs. Roman Catholic way of dealing with scripture as you've characterized it, while it contains much that is true, also omits much that makes the two traditions more similar than opposed -- in some ways that would surprise most ordinary catholics and non-catholics. If you'd like to discuss this by private post, please advise. P.S. Bible comes from the Greek "biblios" (forgive the perhaps sloppy transliteration) meaning "book".
Absurd. Aside from a "burning in the heart" or other such irrational reason, why would one accept the alleged "authority" of any church?
The Scriptures can be analyzed rationally and logically.
You get 10 protestants from 10 different denomiations together and ask them to interpret 1 passage from scripture for you and you are likely to get 10 different answers. Hence we get a new denomination every 2 days in the US on average.
Ya, someone is "assuring" these people of their interpretation, but it ain't the Holy Spirit, who is God and neither wishes to deceive nor can He be deceived.
The fact is, human beings cannot stand authority - we rebel against it constantly. We just can't stop believing the first lie of the serpent - God is a tyrant whose rules are preventing us from attaining true happiness. This is the lie that keeps on giving
The Book of Mormon says nothing about a "burning in the bosom." That idea is found in the Bible (Luke 24:32) and in the Doctrine and Covenants (9:8).
The Book of Mormon does promise that God will answer a sincere, faithful prayer:
And when ye shall receive these things, I would exhort you that ye would ask God, the Eternal Father, if these things are not true; and if ye shall ask with a sincere heart, with real intent, having faith in Christ, he will manifest the truth of it unto you by the power of the Holy Ghost. (Moroni 10:4)
This verse says that God will manifest the truth by the power of the Holy Ghost; but it does not say in what form that manifestation will come. The "burning" that some speak of is not experienced by all. God may reveal truth in other ways.
Which came first? The Church or the Bible?
Answer: the Church
I am sorry, but that just isn't true. I suppose there are those who think it is, but it is not.
The counterexample used in the article is the Book of Mormon, which for sake of argument, I agree with the implication of the article that the Book of Mormon is false doctrine.
In studying Scripture we use a principle of ICE, (Isogogics, Categories, and Exogesis)
Isagogics is defined as the interpretation of the Bible in the time in which it was written.
Revelation is discernible from Inspiration.
The Word of God is Truth and nothing in it is not harmonized with other proper verse. The Book of Mormon fails to meet that criterion so fails as properly being inspired as Scripture.
Categories is defined as comparing Scripture with Scripture in the study of one particular subject.
Exegesis is defined as the study of the etymology, grammar, and syntax of the original languages of Scripture.
Good article.
This gives me another opportunity to ask some questions of my Protestant brethren. Did Martin Luther claim that the Catholic Church did not have or no longer had the authority to determine what the canon of Scripture would be? Did he claim the authority to decide the "true" canon? If he decided, then could I take some other writings that I consider holy and add those and call it the canon?
I ask these questions in earnest.
***Some Protestants claim that they do have a way of knowing,***
In some of the Cambridge KJV bibles there is a section "From the Translator to The Reader". which delves into this.
That section is not in most KJV bibles today.
The Protestant ignorance of the origin of the Bible is a mere mirror image of Catholic/Orthodox ignorance.
It is not man's book.
It is the Holy Word of G-d.
If man wants to know G-d,
you read the book with the illumination
of the Ruach haKodesh
and you will know G-d!
b'shem Y'shua
Bumpus ad summum