Posted on 01/25/2014 6:51:38 AM PST by GonzoII
Because the RCC is one particular denomination of many within Catholicism.
What Catholics need to understand just as many who are not Catholic do is that God used Judas, Balaam’s donkey, and many apostate and evil people to fulfill His purposes. The fact that God used them doesn’t make them good.
See my post 82.
Good thing those stones didn’t start flying. After all as it was pointed out, it was lierally written that they should.
For me, sola scripture comes down to the question, “Does God have feathers?”
The claim was made of 30,000 different versions of the Bible in post 46.
I am still waiting, but not holding my breath, for substantiation of this.
Additionally, I would like substantiation that there are 30,000 different interpretations of the Bible. Which commentaries are those and where is the list?
You’d think but the irony of claiming they are Babylon and seeing what Scripture says about her is obviously lost on them.
There are various ancient Rites within the Catholic Church, including the Latin or Roman Rite, which is the predominant Rite in America.
The Rites vary in their methods of celebrating the sacraments, although the essence of the sacraments remains the same across all Rites.
And all Rites are obedient to the pope and the Church Magisterium.
Something from scripture lost on a Catholic? I’m shocked! Shocked I tell ya!
Every different denomination represents a DIFFERENT interpretation.
If not, why the need for a different denomination?
Again, try a little logic.
Do any of the 33,000 some odd “Protestant” denominations agree on everything?
If any two do agree, why do they not MERGE?
Because they DO NOT agree!
It doesn't make them right either.
Compiling the books of written Scripture together in one handy book was bound to happen eventually.
It's not a rocket science kind of decision that needed to be made. I'd say it was inevitable, really, and no credit goes to the one who did it first. They don't have a corner on the good ideas market nor does that give them any authority over it and its interpretation. All those claims following taking credit for it are a bid for a power grab.
The Catholic church wants to control everyone and will make any claims and use any means to justify it. History bears that out.
When you get right down to it, isn't each man his own denomination? Does any Protestant Church claim infallible teaching authority, or do Protestants only recognize Luther's Bible as the sole rule of faith?
The only possible exception that I can think of is the Episcopalian Church.
Prove it.
If not, why the need for a different denomination?
Geography? Maybe because not everyone can go to the same church across the country every Sunday and not everyone would fit in the building anyway? People tend to pick local assemblies.
Do any of the 33,000 some odd “Protestant” denominations agree on everything?
No, and they don't need to. There are issues that are not salvific in nature.
Do all Catholic rites agree on everything?
If Catholic rites have leeway to disagree, then why do Catholics hypocritially demand that all non-Catholic churches agree on everything and hold non-Catholics to standards they don't even hold themselves to?
If any two do agree, why do they not MERGE? Because they DO NOT agree!
Because they don't want to. Is there a problem with that?
“You’d think but the irony of claiming they are Babylon and seeing what Scripture says about her is obviously lost on them.”
Not at all, for YOU were predicted in the Old Testament.
The 33,000 Protestant Denominations are foretold and represented well in the Tower of Babel.
Protestants tend to have a hard time with Biblical metaphor. The written word is often art and poetry and symbolic. It is often not intended to be taken literally. Also, God shows us human characters in the Bible who make human mistakes but are still God’s chosen or his Apostolic Ministers.
To those who object to statues, Most of the early Church was ILLITERATE and a picture, or a statue, says 1,000 words. To object to telling a story through pictures or statues is absurd, but then Martin Luther objected to the Book of James too, so even Protestants must admit that Luther was not infallible huh? Luther had some good points, and the Catholic Church of his day was corrupt, but some Protestants forget that Luther was first CATHOLIC and owed HIS OWN basic faith to the Catholic Church.
Now my point is that the written word is also art at times. The ignorant have a hard time interpreting art. Art requires context and an understanding of history and metaphor and suggestion.
The Bible is actually the finest piece of written art in history.
That does not mean I think it is false, it means that I think many arrogant ignorant people will try to misuse words that have more than one, obvious meaning.
Look to the sublime. Look to the metaphors. Look at context.
The TRADITION of the Catholic Church helps us with the art of that day.
Just the same as each Catholic being his own rite. There is plenty of disagreement even on this forum between Catholics on different issues.
Does any Protestant Church claim infallible teaching authority, or do Protestants only recognize Luther's Bible as the sole rule of faith?
There is no such thing as *Luther's Bible*. And even if there was, it was written in German. I use English.
And for about the bazilliointh time, I do not care what Luther had to say about anything. I don't follow Luther. I don't follow men as Catholics do with their pope.
Scripture is the final authority on anything and Jesus Himself when tempted by Satan in the desert retorted with *It is WRITTEN..*
Scripture alone is sufficient for Jesus, it's sufficient for me.
How do you know?
How do you know they’re from the apostles?
How do you know they’ve been passed down faithfully?
What is your source for verifying all of the above?
Please provide the sources for verification purposes.
Sources please.
Then there are as many denominations are there are Protestants?
My posting that there are 30,000+ interpretations is thus correct.
Why would one be satisfied with just one overriding principle, one of my profs told us, when two, three or more would be even better? He was teaching engineering principles and was obviously joshing, so that josh may not carry over to philosophy or theology. Theology ain’t science - just ask Galileo.
One truth, though, would be very satisfying.
The Tower of Babble was indeed about communication. And the communication of FAITH is the most important form of communication, would you not agree?
And the Protestant Faiths can't agree on much of anything.
Of course, this is why Protestants need 33,000 denominations. And the CATHOLIC faith is the SAME as far as DOCTRINE everywhere in the world. Different “rites” only practice Mass a bit differently.
The Catholic Faith has survived over 2000 years. The Orthodox Faith is nearly identical to the Catholic Faith and it, too, has survived intact.
But the Protestant Faith is a comprised of many good people who argue about silly things, and do not understand each other. They “babble”
There is a need for authority.
I am a Catholic who often objects to Catholic authorities but I am allowed to do so, to a point, and remain Catholic.
What does it REALLY mean to be a Protestant? Other than taking shots at the Catholic Church, which PRODUCED the first Bible and kept the Faith secure until Martin Luther, the Book of James hating anti-Semite, what do you have?
Confused?
Who??
Ain't NONE of US CONFUSED!!!
Pope Stephen VI (896–897), who had his predecessor Pope Formosus exhumed, tried, de-fingered, briefly reburied, and thrown in the Tiber.[1]
Pope John XII (955–964), who gave land to a mistress, murdered several people, and was killed by a man who caught him in bed with his wife.
Pope Benedict IX (1032–1044, 1045, 1047–1048), who "sold" the Papacy
Pope Boniface VIII (1294–1303), who is lampooned in Dante's Divine Comedy
Pope Urban VI (1378–1389), who complained that he did not hear enough screaming when Cardinals who had conspired against him were tortured.[2]
Pope Alexander VI (1492–1503), a Borgia, who was guilty of nepotism and whose unattended corpse swelled until it could barely fit in a coffin.[3]
Pope Leo X (1513–1521), a spendthrift member of the Medici family who once spent 1/7 of his predecessors' reserves on a single ceremony[4]
Pope Clement VII (1523–1534), also a Medici, whose power-politicking with France, Spain, and Germany got Rome sacked.
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