Sola Scripture...Catholics are told they can't understand the bible on their own...You guys need your church to interpret it for you...Your church certainly took away any incentive for you to read or study the bible...You can't understand it anyway, so why bother...You can only repeat what they told you...
Your church cites a verse where an Ethiopian requests help in understanding the bible as proof that a 'majesterium' is needed to 'interpret the bible for you...
Yup...The Ethiopian needed help...What's more fascinating is the the Ethiopian was carrying around a copy of the scriptures...Copies must have been pretty plentiful back then...Plus,
The scripture reference is of course, the Crucifixion of Jesus...Since about 80% of the Old Testament is prophecy, it's no mystery to me why the Ethiopian, not yet being saved and filled with the Holy Spirit, could not understand the prophecy...
Bible believers aren't against teachers...Your church made that up...The bible is full of teachers...And contrary to what you've been taught, we bible believers rely on teachers...But you don't know what the difference is...
Very often in the bible, when the apostles or even Jesus was asked a question, the answer was, 'what do the scriptures say about it...That is the key...You interpret scripture with other scripture...I find it amusing that your church uses this verse to attack bible believers: 2Pe 1:20 Knowing this first, that no prophecy of the Scripture is of any private interpretation.
You know what's comical??? This verse applies to your magisterium as well...You go in there with a simple mind and a humble heart and ask God to show you something...And if you can get beyond the milk, He'll give you a little meat...And the interpretation is accomplished by, "What saith the scriptures..." And of course, being filled with the Holy Spirit is the #1 requirement to understanding the scripture...
Surely the Pope gave a public testimony at some time...Can you tell me, what did the Pope do to get filled with the Holy Spirit???
Precisely. Men shouldn't trust their own wisdom, but trust the authority that was founded to teach and guard the truth.
Your church certainly took away any incentive for you to read or study the bible...You can't understand it anyway, so why bother...You can only repeat what they told you...
Then why would a Catholic saint say, "Ignorance of Scripture is ignorance of Christ," and why would popes grant indulgences for the reading of Scripture?
If your Sola Scriptura is so darn great and perfect, why do so many of you disagree? Which one of you is right? Is it the Methodists, the Baptists, the Presbyterians, the Lutherans, the Pentecostals, etc?
It's actually laughable how you make fun of the Pope when in fact each of you have set yourselves up as infallible little popes with your "Sola Scriptura allows me to interpret the Bible correctly!"
That would be somewhat bad if "the Church" were a reality completely external to me, but it isn't. I am in the Church, I believe with her; it is not "I and the Church believe" but "we in the Church believe."
The Protestant retort is that I need *you*, "Iscool," to interpret it for me. Because the Protestant claim is not a general claim made about a teaching church, but one made about the single, teaching individual.
I suppose you are "cool," but I don't need your help to interpret the Bible and see the Bible "your way." Thank you anyway, though!
-Theo