I kind of expected this was your reason. I wonder if you had a say in the matter, if you would have ONLY the four gospels in your Bible? If you accept, as your magesterium has declared, that the ENTIRE Bible is divinely inspired, then why do you seem to pit the other books against the Gospels?
What do you do with Paul's assertions that Jesus revealed mysteries to him?
What about Peter's own assertion of divinely revealed truths that Jesus did NOT teach while he was here on the Earth?
Tell me, where do the Gospels say Jesus spoke about the "priesthood of all believers"?
When did he say the Holy Spirit would be within us as the "earnest of our inheritance"?
Did Matthew, Mark, Luke or John ever mention that Jesus taught "Israel has experienced a hardening in part until the full number of the Gentiles has come in"?
Where do any of the gospels speak of "the revelation of the mystery hidden for long ages past, but now revealed and made known through the prophetic writings by the command of the eternal God, so that all the Gentiles might come to the obedience that comes from faith"?
What gospel said anything about " We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed— in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed."?
Who of those four taught Jesus said anything about "he made known to us the mystery of his will according to his good pleasure, which he purposed in Christ, to be put into effect when the times reach their fulfillment—to bring unity to all things in heaven and on earth under Christ."?
When did Jesus say "that is, the mystery made known to me by revelation, as I have already written briefly. In reading this, then, you will be able to understand my insight into the mystery of Christ, which was not made known to people in other generations as it has now been revealed by the Spirit to God’s holy apostles and prophets. This mystery is that through the gospel the Gentiles are heirs together with Israel, members together of one body, and sharers together in the promise in Christ Jesus."?
Where did Jesus say "to preach to the Gentiles the boundless riches of Christ, and to make plain to everyone the administration of this mystery, which for ages past was kept hidden in God, who created all things. His intent was that now, through the church, the manifold wisdom of God should be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly realms, according to his eternal purpose that he accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord. In him and through faith in him we may approach God with freedom and confidence."?
I could go on and on. There are 23 other books in the New Testament that continue to tell about God's further revelation to man. It is a shallow faith to insist Jesus said all he needed to during his three year ministry here on earth. Don't shortchange yourself or anyone else. Those books were written so that we can know the whole story and each one builds upon the last. You ignore that truth at your own peril. Nobody has ever said that what Jesus said and did as told in the gospels is not important or relevant to us and nobody has ever said we can discard those first books. They certainly should be read in the context of further revelation just as the Jews did with the prophetic books after the Torah. The ENTIRE Bible is the pinnacle of God's revelation to mankind.
I don't pit them against the Gospels; it is you guys that do. Do you remember we Catholics being soundly instructed that Jesus was only to the Jews; it is Paul that was the instructor of the Gentiles. Perhaps you might think back to your own participation in those couple of threads. All of Scripture is inspired and useful, certainly. However, all Christians truly believe that the Incarnation by Almighty God is the Ultimate Revelation. All the other books are lesser if only by the fact that they are the words of men, not the words of God.
What do you do with Paul's assertions that Jesus revealed mysteries to him?
Accept them in the light of the Gospels. The Gospels are the prism by which we need to view all Scripture. I have been lectured by your compatriots that we need to view the Gospels through Paul. Perhaps you might remember those exchanges.
What about Peter's own assertion of divinely revealed truths that Jesus did NOT teach while he was here on the Earth?
I accept them but view them through the Gospel message as well.
I could go on and on. There are 23 other books in the New Testament that continue to tell about God's further revelation to man. It is a shallow faith to insist Jesus said all he needed to during his three year ministry here on earth. Don't shortchange yourself or anyone else. Those books were written so that we can know the whole story and each one builds upon the last. You ignore that truth at your own peril. Nobody has ever said that what Jesus said and did as told in the gospels is not important or relevant to us and nobody has ever said we can discard those first books. They certainly should be read in the context of further revelation just as the Jews did with the prophetic books after the Torah. The ENTIRE Bible is the pinnacle of God's revelation to mankind.
And you say that Catholicism diminishes Christ. If you do not admit that Christ is the greatest good that every happened to man - even greater than Paul, then I do not think that you can be counted amongst the Christians. The Jews did not look at the OT through the prism of the Gospels and therefore, they are left with the same understanding that they had before Christ came to Earth. But when I post Gospel passages and you guys post snippets of Paul in an effort to refute the Gospel message, then you guys have stepped off the track of Christianity and into the pagan self beliefs that plague the children of the Reformation.