A suggestion for you: why do you not ask these "pontificators" what importance they place upon God's Holy Word?
I would submit that the controversy is not the "pontificators'" opinion of God's Holy Word, but their opinion on specific interpretations of that Holy Word.
Just a thought.
Perhaps to a minor degree on a minor collection of stuff.
Otherwise, sorry, I have to disagree.
The worst horrors of the RELIGIOUS SYSTEM centered at the Vatican . . . do not, per se, come from mangled interpretations of God’s Word.
They come from whole cloth fabrications in history and fabrications taking galactic leaps away from God’s Word.
I wish I could see it differently.
I’m startled by the tone on this thread [not you personally, but this was a convenient point for my post]. I would very much prefer to see more respect from those of us who follow Jesus and His Word as written down by Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, Paul, Peter, and James without the guidance of the Pope directed toward those who follow Jesus and His Word as written down by Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, Paul, Peter, and James under the guidance of the Pope, and vice versa.
While I am not a Catholic, here’s my thoughts:
Nothing is more important in daily life than God’s Holy Word. I read the Bible daily, reading through cover to cover every year or so. I also jump around separately from that reading based on where I expect to find the guidance that I need for life’s problems as I encounter those challenges. My preferred translation is KJV or NKJV, but I also read the Greek and Hebrew/Aramaic to get a sense of the true meaning when the translations have multiple interpretations. [I doubt that many Christians will be shocked to find that the words of the older manuscripts never contradict the traditional interpretations of scripture.]
Do you refer to God’s Word when making personal doctrinal decisions on what to believe or not believe? Always. What better guidance could I find than a combination of scripture, prayer, reason, and tradition, tempered by group study and the feedback of others?
Do you believe that the Catholic Church refers to God’s Word when making doctrinal decisions? Almost always [note - as I said above, I am not Roman Catholic], and I believe they try to do so as a conscious and sincere choice.