[Kolokotronis]

"The fact is that the canon was more or less fixed long before the council of Nicea." Yeah, I know, it was our bishops who did it, remember? In any event, I was talking about a council which occured 400 years later and composed of the successors of the men who determined the canon of the NT. Sorry, you don't believe in the Apostolic Succession, do you? "Furthermore, the task of the council was not to imprimatur the New Testament, but to distinguish it from forgeries--a purely forensic task."

Where in heaven's name did you get this from?

"The implication that the Church therefore supercedes scripture is absurd, although perfectly orthodox Catholic teaching."

Um, I'm not Roman, I'm Orthodox. One of those people Luther's boys tried to hook up with until the Patriarch of Constantinople told them to go peddle their wares elsewhere.

"Meanwhile, no decision of any pope or council is of any interest to me, least of all the decision to condemn sola scriptura as a heresy."

Well, given what most protestants apparently believe, I should hope not, lest you be accused of being hypocrits. But the next time you say that you believe in a Triune God, or say the Creed, look up who defined those dogmas. Here's hint, it wasn't Pope Luther, though he is the source of sola scriptura, isn't he?

[Cronos]

One of those people Luther's boys tried to hook up with until the Patriarch of Constantinople told them to go peddle their wares elsewhere.

That's a very interesting thing -- I need to read more about that. It's a pity that the Patriarch couldn't have convinced them about the errors they made -- it would have been better for them to become Orthodox (and got their political separation from Rome) instead of distorting the Word.