Really? And which book of the OT establishes the Church? You do realize the Church was born in 33 AD and there was not a single NT verse written at that time.
Your historical overview is misleading. Some churches read their own set of "Scriptures." couple of hundred years later, they (church hierarchy that you deny) agreed on the majority of books, but still continued to read some books (scrolls that were later rejected (Epistle of Barnabas, for example), while rejecting some scrolls which were later accepted (Relation of John, 1 and 2 Peter, 3 John, etc.). So either way the Church, in order to select the inspired text and reject the non-inspired (some 200 circulating scrolls) had to be lead by the Holy Spirit.
Surely, you don't believe the HS left the Church along with that disobedient priest, Luther?
All the church is is the institutional equivalent of national Israel insofar as it is the outward, visible representation of the covenant people of God. You seem to be erroneously assuming that by saying "the Scriptures gave us the Church" I view them as some sort of institutional charter. That's not at all what I meant.
Your historical overview is misleading. Some churches read their own set of "Scriptures." couple of hundred years later, they (church hierarchy that you deny) agreed on the majority of books, but still continued to read some books (scrolls that were later rejected (Epistle of Barnabas, for example), while rejecting some scrolls which were later accepted (Relation of John, 1 and 2 Peter, 3 John, etc.). So either way the Church, in order to select the inspired text and reject the non-inspired (some 200 circulating scrolls) had to be lead by the Holy Spirit.
I never said the Holy Spirit did not guide the Church in formally recognizing the canon of Scripture. What I said is that the Scripture was Scripture well before the Church formally recognized it as such. That itself is a Scriptural fact.
Surely, you don't believe the HS left the Church along with that disobedient priest, Luther?
Institutionally, I believe the Holy Spirit left the Roman Catholic Church by the time she rejected sola fide at Trent. That is not to say that there are not Christians still within her institutional bounds who are indwelt by the Holy Spirit. From an institutional, creedal standpoint though, the Roman Catholic Church ceased being a Christian church at Trent.
I say that in the spirit of your previous posts and the desire to make sure we all know where the other stands.
Now if you'll forgive me I have to depart from this conversation until tomorrow since I'm heading to barbershop rehearsal and won't be back until late.
May you all have a blessed evening!