“Even if there were ten verses that strongly supported a point, they would all be interpreted away if they disagreed (at face value) with what the Church teaches today.”
FK, what The Church teaches dogmatically today is what it taught from the beginning. Today, 1800 years ago, it makes no difference. Its the same Faith.
FK, surely you don’t believe that the Bible is some sort of self defining, self authenticating, self created “something” which presides over mankind? That’s what Mohammedans believe about the Koran, FK. Our salvation is from The Word Who became Flesh, not the word a bunch of Greek bishops put together 1700 years ago.
Well, from memory I had the impression that actual Orthodox dogma was pretty much limited to the very basics "plus Mariology". :) I am including doctrine and discipline, if those are the correct terms in Orthodoxy. I am asserting that when those too appear to defy a "mountain" of scripture that the scripture is made to fit what man has created after the Apostolic era.
FK, surely you don’t believe that the Bible is some sort of self defining, self authenticating, self created “something” which presides over mankind?
I believe it is God's Holy word. I think chapter 1 of the Westminster Confession says it pretty well. In part:
VI. The whole counsel of God concerning all things necessary for His own glory, man's salvation, faith and life, is either expressly set down in Scripture, or by good and necessary consequence may be deduced from Scripture: unto which nothing at any time is to be added, whether by new revelations of the Spirit, or traditions of men.[12] Nevertheless, we acknowledge the inward illumination of the Spirit of God to be necessary for the saving understanding of such things as are revealed in the Word:[13] ......
While the Bible is self-authenticating, it is not self-created. It is God-breathed through God's chosen scribes. With God's approval, those scribes expressed themselves using their own personalities, and first intended audiences.
That’s what Mohammedans believe about the Koran, FK.
I don't understand the logic. If the Muslims say that the Koran is "Allah-breathed" does that mean the Bible can't be God-breathed? The Koran says that Jesus existed. Does that mean that the Bible is wrong for saying the same thing?
Our salvation is from The Word Who became Flesh, not the word a bunch of Greek bishops put together 1700 years ago.
While our salvation is certainly from the Word Who became Flesh, the word that God revealed and gave to His Church is a main tool God uses to grow faith. Faith doesn't mean anything unless it is "in" something. God's word provides that answer. The Word and the word are inextricably tied together, and both are supernatural.