Plain scripture needs no interpretation. The NT shows that thousands repented, believed, and were Baptized without the use of an RCIA. In some cases, Gentiles even got the Holy Spirit prior to being Baptized. I understand that you folks look outside of your church and see nothing but confusion, but that is no excuse for not reading Jesus' plain words for yourselves. If your church is teaching the truth, it would encourage this. Until you answer the questions on post 362, there is no way to further the debate. How does one identify an inspired and Godly man?
That itself is an interpretation (a second-order interpretation, but an interpretation nonethless).
Moreover, you are interpreting in your determination of which scriptures are plain and which are not.
You cannot escape interpretation. The question is, who has the authority in the Church to provide the authoritative interpretation? For those who endorse the historical novelty of 'sola scripura', every individual Christian's interpretation is equally authoritative. But the Church has always taught that the Apostles ordained bishops in every church, and gave them authority to govern the various churches. It is for this reason that the Scriptures belong pricipally to them, and only secondarily and derivatively to us, insofar as we are joined in communion with them. And just as they are the ones with the authority to determine the canon of Scripture, so likewise they are the ones with the authority to determine the interpretation of Scripture. No one else has the authority to determine for the Church either the canon or the interpretation of Scripture.
-A8
Godliness can be perceived by observation, to those who know what godliness is, just as we can determine that a person is virtuous by observing their behavior. But [divine] inspiration can be assured only if the person's claims agree with the teachings of the Apostles and their ordained successors. If the allegedly 'inspired' person's teachings contradict the doctrine of the Church, then they are not of God. It is the Church (i.e. the Apostles and the bishops in Apostolic succession from them) that determine what is orthodoxy and what is heresy. The promise of the "charism of truth" is to the Apostles and their ordained successors, and to us only through them.
-A8