You write: “Protestants trust the infallibility of the Holy Spirit to protect the Word, not the infallibility of the early Church.”
But this makes no sense. Christ entrusted His infallibility to the Church He founded. He established ONE truth. If you doubt the infallibility of the Church, then you must doubt the canonical texts because it is the Church that assembled the canonical texts in the Synod of Rome in AD 382 some ELEVEN centuries before Protestantism.
So according to you, before the Reformation the Holy Spirit was either not at work, or was misleading the Church founded by Christ. Either conclusion is an absurdity. And if you think Protestants trust the Holy Spirt, then you may wonder how several thousand branches of Protestantism has had this trust misplaced. It is also lethal since that is what Jim Jones and David Koresh taught as well.
How you lightly dismiss the conversion to Catholicism of pre-eminent Lutheran scholars, theologians, and preachers betrays a view commonly held: namely that Bible Christians are “comfortable” only in the shallow end of the theological swimming pool, you try taking them to the deep end and either they do want to go there or if they do they drown or stay afloat by converting to Catholicism as did the author of “Why I Left Protestantism For Catholicism.”
Not quite what I said but I'll respond to it anyway. Any collection of humans is capable of error unless the Holy Spirit leads them "to all truth."
Christ entrusted His infallibility to the Church He founded. He established ONE truth. If you doubt the infallibility of the Church, then you must doubt the canonical texts because it is the Church that assembled the canonical texts in the Synod of Rome in AD 382 some ELEVEN centuries before Protestantism.
To the extent that any institutional church acted infallibility, it was due to the Holy Spirit's work who is the active agent of infallibility. To the extent that the Synod at Rome acted correctly, it was the Holy Spirit who guided them to that truth (John 16:13).
When a tree forks, both forks have a claim on the trunk. Protestants can trace their spiritual lineage back to the Apostles as well as the Catholics can. Prior to the Protestant Reformation, we share a common heritage. The RCC has no right to claim this as their exclusive property. The Synod at Rome is part of the Protestant's heritage as well.
So according to you
WARNING, WARNING, WARNING. A straw man argument is coming.
before the Reformation the Holy Spirit was either not at work, or was misleading the Church founded by Christ. Either conclusion is an absurdity. And if you think Protestants trust the Holy Spirt, then you may wonder how several thousand branches of Protestantism has had this trust misplaced. It is also lethal since that is what Jim Jones and David Koresh taught as well.
Just as expected. Because I didn't say that, I'm not going to defend it.
How you lightly dismiss the conversion to Catholicism of pre-eminent Lutheran scholars, theologians, and preachers betrays a view commonly held:
Pre-eminent? Says whom? Commonly held? By whom? I'm sure that Catholics like to think this but I doubt any neutral observer would make that claim.
namely that Bible Christians are “comfortable” only in the shallow end of the theological swimming pool, you try taking them to the deep end and either they do want to go there or if they do they drown or stay afloat by converting to Catholicism as did the author of “Why I Left Protestantism For Catholicism.”
If by "deep end" you mean the doctrines that can't be supported by Scripture but instead must be created from uninspired writings and deemed as "Holy Tradition", then I agree.