We are NOT talking here of personal sin, We are speaking of formal doctrine. It’s no small wonder that the Catholic Church has the greatest number of converts from avowed atheists to members of every religious denomination on this planet including a former Rabbi of Rome who converted to Catholicism. The greatest literary giants from Hillaire Belloc to GK Chesterton, to scientists, Nobel laureates, poets, sculptors, painters, philosophers, mathematicians, astronomers, and yes, martyrs and saints.
The “sola scriptura” crowd forgets that the books in the Bible were chosen by the Church Fathers. As St. Augustine remarked “If it weren’t for the Catholic Church, I wouldn’t be a believer.” What the curse of the Reformation wrought was not only the tens of thousands of wild mushrooms sects, but also spawned “low-information” Christians like the obese housewife in Dallas who attends a third-rate mega Church which is more entertainment and Sunday fun than the consecration of the Holy Eucharist. Better yet to attend a rock concert. All noise and pablum signifying nothing.
The great works of Benedict XVI, (called the theological Einstein of our times) like “Iesus Dominus” is not for stupid minds. Folks who have no clue of Bible interpretation based on Scripture, the sacred oral traditions, and divine revelation, each end up being their “own” religion. No need for evidence just look around the pastors and attendees from the local neighborhood Foursquare Church, to Sunrise Churches, to the idiotic televangelists from Bishop Jake to Osteen, all seeking a slice of “low-information” Christians.
The five solas deal with doctrine, so you can dispense with any notion that I only spoke of personal sin in one of posts.
Second, you have already stated, and I have already agreed that there are unfortunate emanations within the progeny of the Protestant Reformation, so your “rerun” of the same seems somewhat redundant.
You, however, seem charmingly oblivious to the slightest of deviations or errors or bad apples within the Church of Rome. All angels, correct? (But we all know better.) I am looking for a bit more candor from you in this area, but neither am I holding my breath.
Also, I suggest you please do not try — as you did in your post — to slip Romanist “tradition” into this discussion. Or, at least do not expect me to buy it. That is the very point of Sola Scriptura. Sorry, not discussing the “traditions” of Rome, as they are not salvific, no matter how many Popes and Church Doctors put their approval on them.
No: The Jews gave us the Old Testament. (The Apocrypha are Jewish gifts, as well, though only Deuterocanonical in status.) No work for the Fathers there. Neither were the Books of the New Testament “chosen” by the Church Fathers. They were recognized and received by the Church collective in the early centuries of the Church.
Moreover, your haughty tone regarding Catholic prowess in scholarship is somewhat amusing. Has the Church of Rome been abundantly blessed in the past 1700 years with brilliant scholars — Augustine and Aquinas at the top of the list? But, of course. However, Rome hardly has a monopoly on theological scholarly excellence.
You are perhaps ignorant of the not insignificant scholarly attainments of men such as Luther and Calvin in the Reformation Era, the writings of the Puritans on both sides of the Atlantic, later Colonial preachers (see Jonathan Edwards), the English Baptists (see John Gill), various Dutch Reformed scholars, and in modern times, men such as Benjamin B. Warfield, to give the most cursory of listings. And, if we wish to speak of hymnody, after giving the Catholics a head start of over 1100 years, the Protestants have fairly beaten the socks off the Catholics since 1500. Think Luther. Think Watts. Think the Wesley brothers. And so on.
Granted, Joel Osteen probably has never heard of most of the scholars we are discussing, but Joel Osteen is hardly the avatar of Protestantism as followed by me or many like me.
Finally, the fact that many big names have become Catholics — while true — is not in and of itself necessarily an argument for Rome’s claims to be the “One True Church,” as the New Testament makes it clear that the Gospel is for sinners of low estate, as well as high. to be fair, however, indeed Rabbis have also become Protestants. The great physicist, Isaac Newton, was a Protestant believer. There have no doubt also been Protestant literary greats, Nobel laureates, poets, sculptors, painters, philosophers, mathematicians, astronomers, and, yes, martyrs and saints.
Have a nice evening.
Catholic doctrine is so intertwined with idiocy and false teachings galore that anyone that can defend them has some serious problems, especially when it comes to scripture. The whore of Babylon and her false teachings will never continue on and will be eliminated at the return of Christ. This is the home of the false prophet in case you forgot that fact.