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To: Cronos
Do we place our faith in the current / previous men? [RCC hierarchy] No. Do we learn from their mistakes? Yes.

The debates that you have, the spiritual struggles, all we say is to read the Church Fathers -- ...

Is it arrogant to think that the questions, the doubts, the clarity you have, haven't been thought of in 2000 years by men of God made wiser by the Holy Spirit than you or me? Yes. And note that the Church Fathers DID doubt, did question.

Well, in this case by faith I meant trust, given previous discussions I should have been clearer. It seems to me that you presume that RCC leadership has special insight into scripture and that you are to trust them definitionally, even to the point of adopting unscriptural views. Our side does not trust any leader unless the teaching is solidly backed by scripture. Our trust is in the Bible itself, rather than mechanically following the holdings of other fallible men. (You admitted that the hierarchy makes mistakes.)

I and my brethren do not begrudge you your choice to follow teachings of the Catholic hierarchy. We simply and honestly disagree with some of them. We also agree with some of them.

I still do not understand this charge of arrogance. Our side does not presume to be the first to ask the questions we do. In addition to our spiritual questions we also question the authority of the answerer. We tend to say that if the authority is God, then good, but that if it is man, then bad. Do you think we are arrogant simply because we dare to disagree with you? For that WE are the arrogant ones? Tsk tsk. :)

961 posted on 01/10/2006 7:39:40 PM PST by Forest Keeper
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To: Forest Keeper
It seems to me that you presume that RCC leadership has special insight into scripture and that you are to trust them definitionally, even to the point of adopting unscriptural views.

No, that's wrong, we don't belileve they have a special insight. We believe that God has guided His Church as a whole and that the checks and balances of the Holy Spirit through multiple men instead of an individual who is NOT God is trust-worthy. Beyond that, The Church encourages us to question and we have recourse to the Fathers who have debated these and their doubts on both sides. Do I as an individual trust them definitionally without thinking? I read through what they teach and the counter points and compare them to Scripture -- and their thoughts hold true. Even if I don't think so, I read more about why they thought what they thought and what The Church as a whole thought through God.

Our side does not trust any leader unless the teaching is solidly backed by scripture.

That's the whole thing -- as I pointed out to Marlowe in the preceeding post, each man interprets what he wants. The Scriptures can be twisted by some (and are) -- Marlowe chose to ignore what I said and read one phrase instead of the whole. This is the same with individual "pastors"

The Church has the checks by which there is no reliance on ONE interpretation, but the Holy Spirit through Scriptures. what we see is you following ONE Man's interpretation, not Scripture.

By that, we say that we follow Scripture more accurately since we do not rely on ONE Man's interpretation but on the Spirit superceding those men.

Our trust is in the Bible itself, rather than mechanically following the holdings of other fallible men.

Our Trust is in God and God's Word. We do not mechanically follow the holdings of other fallible men, but learn from the Holy SPirit THROUGH those men. Any one man can and is fallible, but the Spirit is NOT, so ONE man's interpretation is fallible, but the Spirit speaking through a multitude of men and women through the ages is NOT fallible.

We tend to say that if the authority is God, then good, but that if it is man, then bad

But that's what we say -- the authority IS God. We see you as accepting Benny Hinn saying that he is the mouthpiece of God. We accept the Holy Spirit speaking through His Church -- all the members of the Apostolic Church of Christ.

Do you think we are arrogant simply because we dare to disagree with you?

No, as I said: Is it arrogant to think that the questions, the doubts, the clarity you have, haven't been thought of in 2000 years by men of God made wiser by the Holy Spirit than you or me? Yes.

We see you as raising yourselves above the Holy Spirit and as making yourselves as a pharisitical group
965 posted on 01/10/2006 8:02:16 PM PST by Cronos (Never forget 9/11. Restore Hagia Sophia!)
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