***First, it was the Catholic Church and only the Catholic Church that closed the scriptures in the first place.***
Incorrect. It was the Holy Spirit that closed the canon of Scripture. The Church only acknowledge what God had already done. To declare the Church to have CLOSED the canon is to declare that MEN told God to shut up.
Yeah, right!!!
***To uphold the idea of sola scriptura is at once a rebuke of and validation of the Catholic Church.***
If you think that Sola Scriptura is a validation of the Catholic Church, then you have absolutely NO idea what Sola Scripture is. Sola Scriptura is a repudiation of the claim of the Catholic Church’s supremacy and infallibility.
***Second, the idea of sola scriptura essentially amounts to the belief that no revelation God could ever make short of the Second Coming is worthy of being recorded as anything more than history or theology. That seems a little suspect to me.***
Yeah, the canon of Scripture is closed. The Lord has ceased speaking in Special Revelation. If you deny that, then you deny the Westminster Confession of faith, the confession of we Presbyterians.
But, really, Sola Scriptura has nothing to do with whether or not God still speaks to men. If you wish to complain that no scripture is being written, then complain to the Catholics. You are the one who stated they closed them.
The Lord still speaks to me. I get “revelations” every day.
Perhaps, “free-agent” is a better description for you than Presbyterian.
“Incorrect. It was the Holy Spirit that closed the canon of Scripture. The Church only acknowledge what God had already done. To declare the Church to have CLOSED the canon is to declare that MEN told God to shut up.”
No, correct. The Catholic Church would naturally say that the Holy Spirit spoke through man in closing Gospels, as well. But it would also say that it did so as God’s chosen Church on earth through Peter. I would ask if you’re going to subscribe to the idea of sola scripture why you accept the canon as is on a completely non-scriptural basis. Or why you accepted that it was the Holy Spirit who closed said scripture without a scriptural basis.
I suppose you could argue that in unveiling His plan to man, God would have things move smoothly, but that’s not exactly the pattern of the Old Testament.
Futher, it is the Catholic Church that keeps and places a large empahsis on the ongoing account of the revelation of God to man on earth through time—not the Protestant faiths. Who has told God to shut up? Or rather, who has wholly internalized His message as opposed to elevating it as an example perpetuated through time (not as scripture, mind you)?
“If you think that Sola Scriptura is a validation of the Catholic Church, then you have absolutely NO idea what Sola Scripture is.”
No, you fail to deal with the reality that it was the doctrines of the Church, starting with the Council of Nicea, that ultimately closed scripture. By acknowleging their work as holding authority, you validate the work of the Catholic Church. The fact that the Holy Spirit moved these councils to act in this way has little bearing on the weight of the argument at all. If anything, the general acceptance by society at large validates work done through the Church. That doesn’t mean God doesn’t work through individuals by any means, but the official decrees of the leaders in Church council finalized matters as far as Christian society was concerned.
” If you wish to complain that no scripture is being written, then complain to the Catholics. You are the one who stated they closed them.”
I made no such comments regarding scripture and would not.
***It was the Holy Spirit that closed the canon of Scripture.***
When and how?
***The Lord has ceased speaking in Special Revelation. If you deny that, then you deny the Westminster Confession of faith, the confession of we Presbyterians.***
In reading Scripture, I really don’t get the idea that Jesus was a Presbyterian. The WCF was a government-generated bureaucratic paper commissioned, bought and paid for by the Parliament of England.
The Apostles and their successors were Catholic. You may be proud that you’re not. Theologically speaking, where does that leave you?
***The Lord still speaks to me. I get “revelations” every day.***
Perhaps a hat lined with tinfoil might fix that.