But that doesn't make sense. Christians interpret the same verse and get different results all the time. When Christians disagree on doctrine, who's to say which Christian is right?
Because, after all, we can't all be right. In the end, there is only one truth, and one person or authority with the final say-so on what Scripture means.
This is true for Catholics, Protestants, Evangelicals, and all the rest. For example, in the Baptist church, the pastor of each individual congregation gets the final say. If you are a member of a given congregation and you start teaching that the Scripture means something besides what the pastor says it means, sooner or later you're going to be asked to stop teaching or leave. In other words, you are excommunicated. And it's the same all over: at the Potter's House, T.D. Jakes has the final say on what Scripture is really saying. He is the "pope" of the Potter's House. At Oral Roberts University, the "pope" is Oral Roberts (or Richard Roberts, or Billy Joe Daugherty, or whoever's running the show up in Tulsa these days). In other words, the pastor of each non-Catholic congregation is a "papacy of one" -- a pope unto himself.
And what happens to those who are asked to leave a congregation, or who leave because their own personal "Holy Spirit-inspired" interpretation of Scripture does not agree with their pastor's "Holy Spirit-inspired" interpretation? They often form a new church based upon their interpretation.
And when one of their flock disagrees...?
You see my point: that every Christian has a "pope", even if it's "Pope Me". And since every Christian has a "pope", who's to say which "pope" is teaching the real truth?
I asked myself that question several years ago, and the answer I finally came up with is "the one with the most direct connection to the Lord and His Apostles" -- that is, the Pope of the Catholic Church. Before there were any other Christian denominations or churches, before the Holy Bible even existed, the popes were there, passing on the truth of the Christian faith. St. Peter was first, and before he was matryred he passed on to St. Linus the things the Lord taught him, and made him his successor. The successor of St. Linus came next; then his successor; then all the subsequent Bishops of Rome who passed that same teaching down through the millennia to the present pope, Benedict XVI. This unbroken chain of teachers connects me with the Lord Himself; if they don't have the truth, I figure nobody does.
Anyway, that's the conclusion at which I arrived. I'm not here to bring you back to the Catholic Church, but I would ask you to at least consider what I've said. If you want to know more, please ask me (or some other Catholic FReeper), and we'll do our best to find the answers you're looking for.
Amen, Jacky.