It's a common tactic used often by some here to divert the discussion down a rabbit hole. It also usually means they have no answer to dispute what has been said but they are too proud to admit it.
Anything beyond that is open to question. If it’s not God-breathed, then where does its authority derive from? To make any utterances of mere, fallible humans the equivalent of God-breathed Scripture is a fundamental error—and a fundamentally dangerous one. Anyone can claim divine inspiration, but the Holy Spirit doesn’t contradict Himself, nor does Jesus. Jesus in fact did described the true church, and His is the only word on the subject that matters.
Totally agree. What the Reformation tried to do is restore the Christian church BACK to the doctrines that always had Biblical warrant and get rid of those that had been added to the rule of faith over the centuries by those who would corrupt and pervert the truth of the gospel. They were truly closer to the original faith as taught by Jesus and His Apostles than what boasted itself as THE church established by Jesus. As many times as these arguments have been posted one would think that we wouldn't have to keep repeating them. But we do because some here either refuse to believe the evidence before their own eyes or they don't really want to know the truth. We keep saying it anyway and it's nice to have you join in. I don't recall seeing your screen name before. Have a blessed week!
Thank you for your blessing; may it return to you twofold.
I don’t generally post on the religious forums, but I regularly read them. I have, believe me, seen your posts and read many of them. Your wisdom and godly insights have been inspirations to me—thank you.
It’s no wonder the same issues must be repeatedly addressed, yet seem never to yield profitable results. Some errors are simply pernicious.
For an example, look at Jesus’s interactions with the Pharisees. Although it was Christ Himself who argued with them, there is no Biblical evidence that a single Pharisee [of those Jesus directly confronted] ever repented. Embracing their error was more important to them than embracing Christ.
What, specifically, was their error? It was the use of man-made traditions to set aside the actual Word of God.
Does this happen today? Absolutely.
To give but one example: Jesus was asked, by the Samaritan woman—John 4— where true worship should take place. Specifically, the woman asked if God should be worshipped, ‘on this mountain or in Jerusalem.’
Jesus answered, neither. Rather, the time of physical-location based worship was over, and the time of spiritual/heart-based worship had arrived. Iow, from now on, true worship would depend not on place, but on being done, “in spirit and truth.”
Do some deny Jesus’s teaching on this subject?
Yes, some do.
Some say that when Jesus said true worship should be done in spirit and truth, what he *meant* was, ‘in Rome.’
Put another way, some turn Jesus’s words on their head, and then disregard them completely.
This was the Pharisees’ error. It’s still with us today. The allure of discounting God’s Word in favor of a more appealing man-made tradition is simply too great for some. Evidently, it always will be.
[Note to any taking offense at this post. It is now publicly acknowledged that a Gay Mafia exerts tremendous influence at the highest levels in Vatican City. It is impossible to argue that “in spirit and truth,” means condoning the Sodom and Gomorrah practices of a Gay Mafia. The day Rome completely and utterly purges the highest echelons of its hierarchy from the malevolent influence of the Gay Mafia is the day worship, “in spirit and truth,” can make a comeback there.]