And herein lies the problem with Protestantism. They don't understand New Testament teachings WRONG. We understand your allegations quite well. We are not mentally defecient in the understanding department. We disagree about their validity.
because they don't know its teaching history throughout the ages,
No. Has NOTHING TO DO WITH TRADITIONS BUILT UPON TRADITIONS BUILT UPON TRADITIONS; BUILT UPON FOSSILIZED, CALCIFIED, EXTRAPOLATED TRADITIONS and applauced, by all the flying buttresses of the magicsterical throughout the ages. Nothing at all to do with all that traditions of men stuff.
It has to do with what THE TEXT SAYS. The TEXT says Christ had siblings. The accurate HISTORICAL RECORD says Christ had siblings. That's just a fact. All the traditions in the world will not obliterate that fact.
when it was explained again and again by the people who were trained by the Apostles themselves, and the people they trained, and so on.
MORE TRADITIONS OF MEN. CHRIST had a low opinion of TRADITIONS OF MEN. Protestys follow Christ in that regard. TRADITIONS OF MAN will NEVER trump Scripture for a true Protesty.
Nor do they know or understand the unbroken Traditions of the Christian faith handed down from the earliest days of Christiaity.
WRONG AGAIN. We have no mental defeciencies in the understanding department. We are not low IQ idiots.
1. We DISAGREE that the traditions are unbroken from Christ down through the ages.
2. We DISAGREE that the TRADITIONS OF MEN WERE UWAVERINGLY 100% UNALTERED, UNCHANGED, UNINFLUENCED BY POLITICS down through the ages.
Few Protestants study the early Church Fathers and Saints, or the great Church Councils that addressed so many questions of the faith.
WRONG AGAIN.
Tell that to Alamo-Girl to her face. Actually, though I haven't very extensively at all, even I have studied such somewhat. And other Protesties hereon have studied such extensively. NON TRADITION, NON POLITICALLY CENSORED, influenced DATA yields different conclusions.
They rather prefer to think of the Bible as something that just fell from the sky onto Martin Luther's lap
TRY AGAIN. That bit of Protesty mind-reading missed the boat entirely. 100% miss. We just don't tolerate the political, tradition, magicsterical influences encrusted mangled texts over the centuries. Our textual scholarship stands up very well to be best anywhere. Thank you very much.
and that is to be explained and understood in the hearts of each individual.
YEAH, we are pretty big on each individual being responsible before God alone for how they receive His Word and apply it in their lives. God will not be very impressed about rationalizing lines like: "But the magicsterical said . . . and our traditioins said . . . and the bureaucratic edifice said . . . and the folks in the long robes said . . . "
They don't know that what has become known as the "Bible" was just a loose compilation of letters and epistles that were floating around the various Christian circles for centuries before they were finally placed under the cover of one book and codified as "inspired" by the Catholic Church around 400 A.D.
WRONG AGAIN. Our knowledge is as full and robust about true history as anyone's. We disagree about the historical record.
We disagree that God singled out the Roman Bishop for any special clout whatsoever.
We disagree that there was no consensus about the proper Canon before the 400 year Council.
We disagree that the 400 year Council was exclusively ROMAN.
We happen to believe that GOD HIMSELF guided, protected, ordered the confirmations of the Canon we regard as sacred. We do not belive political bureaucracies are responsible. If anything, they are responsible for mangling it every chance they get.
I feel very badly for them. They just don't get it, nor do they seem to want to "get it".
We could say the same about Roman believers. With just as much documentation, at least.
That must be because it's a lot easier for them, having nothing to believe in outside of their own intellect and personal understanding; which is harldly true faith at all, imho.
WRONG AGAIN.
BELIEVING IN THE SUPREMACY OF GOD ALMIGHTY'S WORD IS THE FURTHEST THING FROM BELIEVING IN NOTHING! I'm sure He's very impressed with that accusation! LOL.
Belief in God's unchanging, ever faithful WORD is a hallmark of faith. Derisively dismissing it is not impressive. We don't, at our best, have much confidence in the flesh, including our intellect. Our confidence is IN THE LORD AND IN HIS FAITHFULNESS TO CONFIRM HIS WORD.
Again, faith in ALMIGHTY GOD'S FAITHFULNESS TO HIS WORD . . . HEAVEN AND EARTH SHALL PASS AWAY . . . BUT NOT HIS WORD . . . THAT IS THE ESSENCE OF GLEAMING FAITH.
Perhaps if the
TRADITION BLINDERS,
THE MAGICSTERICAL BLINDERS,
THE EDIFICE BLINDERS,
THE CUSTOMS BLINDERS,
THE BUREAUCRATIC BLINDERS,
. . .
were removed, more Roman believers could see more of the truth, themselves.
imho, of course.
Quick Comparison of Bible Versions
It is often said that all Bible versions are basically the same, that their differences are just minor wording changes. Read the following comparison between the King James Version and the best-selling modern Bible translation, the New International Version, and then decide for yourself whether or not this is true.
Why did Jesus come to earth?
KING JAMES
BIBLE
Luke 9:56
For the Son of man is not come to destroy men's lives, but to save them. And they went to another village.
Matt. 18:11
For the Son of man is come to save that which was lost.
NEW INTERNATIONAL
VERSION
Luke 9:56
and they went to another village.
Matt. 18:11
(missing)
Is repentance important?
KING JAMES
BIBLE
Matt. 9:13
...I am not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.
NEW INTERNATIONAL
VERSION
Matt. 9:13
...I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.
For whom did Jesus die?
KING JAMES
BIBLE
I Cor. 5:7
...Christ our passover is sacrificed for us:
NEW INTERNATIONAL
VERSION
I Cor. 5:7
...Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed.
In Whom must you believe to be saved?
KING JAMES
BIBLE
John 6:47
Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me hath everlasting life.
NEW INTERNATIONAL
VERSION
John 6:47
I tell you the truth, he who believes has everlasting life.
Was Joseph really the father of Jesus?
KING JAMES
BIBLE
Luke 2:33
And Joseph and his mother marvelled at those things which were spoken of him.
NEW INTERNATIONAL
VERSION
Luke 2:33
The child's father and mother marveled at what was said about him.
Did Jesus give His disciples power to heal?
KING JAMES
BIBLE
Mark 3:15
...power to heal sickness, and to cast out devils.
NEW INTERNATIONAL
VERSION
Mark 3:15
...authority to drive out demons.
If it's hard to do, should we just remove it?
KING JAMES
BIBLE
Mark 11:26
But if ye do not forgive, neither will your Father which is in heaven forgive your trespasses.
NEW INTERNATIONAL
VERSION
Mark 11:26
(missing)
Who is in charge?
KING JAMES
BIBLE
I Cor. 10:28
...for the earth is the Lord's and the fulness thereof:
NEW INTERNATIONAL
VERSION
I Cor. 10:28
(last part of verse missing)
How must we deal with our enemies?
KING JAMES
BIBLE
Matt. 5:44
...Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you.
NEW INTERNATIONAL
VERSION
Matt. 5:44
...Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.
Where did Jesus go?
KING JAMES
BIBLE
John 16:16
A little while, and ye shall not see me: and again a little while, and ye shall see me, because I go to the Father.
NEW INTERNATIONAL
VERSION
John 16:16
In a little while you will see me no more, and then after a little while you will see me.
Question: Aren't some of these things included in the NIV in the footnotes?
Answer: That is not the same as including them in the text. When a young Christian sees these passages have been moved to the footnotes, he or she will assume that they are probably not really part of God's Word. After all, the translators did not include them in the text, but simply implied that "some" manuscripts include them. What they are not told is that the vast majority of texts used by the early church included these words. They are God's Words!
Eventually, the Jewish exiles were allowed to return to Jerusalem where they renovated the Temple. Then, in A.D. 70, warring peoples almost completely destroyed the sacred structure, which has never been rebuilt. Without this central place of worship, the Jews began looking to the Bible as their focal point of faith, but to assure the purity of that faith, only Hebrew scriptures were allowed into the Jewish canon. By then, however, the earliest Christians spoke and read Greek, so they continued to use the Septuagint or Greek version of the Bible for many centuries. After the Reformation though, some Christians decided to accept translations into Latin then English only from the Hebrew texts that the Jewish Bible contained, so the seven additional books in the Greek translation became known as the Apocrypha, meaning "hidden." Since the books themselves were no secret, the word seemed ironic or, perhaps, prophetic because, in 1947, an Arab boy searching for a lost goat found, instead, the Dead Sea scrolls, hidden in a hillside cave.