Posted on 10/27/2013 5:25:55 AM PDT by NYer
There are 38 questions + a few bonus questions. I have split them into two separate posts of 20 and 18 + bonus questions. In case you missed it, here is the link to Part 1. Are you ready?
21. Who in the Church had the authority to determine which books belonged in the New Testament canon and to make this decision binding on all Christians? If nobody has this authority, then can I remove or add books to the canon on my own authority?
22. Why do Protestant scholars recognize the early Church councils at Hippo and Carthage as the first instances in which the New Testament canon was officially ratified, but ignore the fact that those same councils ratified the Old Testament canon used by the Catholic Church today but abandoned by Protestants at the Reformation?
23. Why do Protestants follow postapostolic Jewish decisions on the boundaries of the Old Testament canon, rather than the decision of the Church founded by Jesus Christ?
24. How were the bishops at Hippo and Carthage able to determine the correct canon of Scripture, in spite of the fact that they believed all the distinctively Catholic doctrines such as the apostolic succession of bishops, the sacrifice of the Mass, Christ’s Real Presence in the Eucharist, baptismal regeneration, etc?
25. If Christianity is a “book religion,” how did it flourish during the first 1500 years of Church history when the vast majority of people were illiterate?
26. How could the Apostle Thomas establish the church in India that survives to this day (and is now in communion with the Catholic Church) without leaving them with one word of New Testament Scripture?
27. If sola Scriptura is so solid and biblically based, why has there never been a full treatise written in its defense since the phrase was coined in the Reformation?
28. If Jesus intended for Christianity to be exclusively a “religion of the book,” why did He wait 1400 years before showing somebody how to build a printing press?
29. If the early Church believed in sola Scriptura, why do the creeds of the early Church always say “we believe in the Holy Catholic Church,” and not “we believe in Holy Scripture”?
30. If the Bible is as clear as Martin Luther claimed, why was he the first one to interpret it the way he did and why was he frustrated at the end of his life that “there are now as many doctrines as there are heads”?
31. The time interval between the Resurrection and the establishment of the New Testament canon in AD 382 is roughly the same as the interval between the arrival of the Mayflower in America and the present day. Therefore, since the early Christians had no defined New Testament for almost four hundred years, how did they practice sola Scriptura?
32. If the Bible is the only foundation and basis of Christian truth, why does the Bible itself say that the Church is the pillar and foundation of truth (1 Tim. 3:15)?
33. Jesus said that the unity of Christians would be objective evidence to the world that He had been sent by God (John 17:20-23). How can the world see an invisible "unity" that exists only in the hearts of believers?
34. If the unity of Christians was meant to convince the world that Jesus was sent by God, what does the ever-increasing fragmentation of Protestantism say to the world?
35. Hebrews 13:17 says, "Obey your leaders and submit to their authority. They keep watch over you as men who must give an account. Obey them so that their work will be a joy, not a burden, for that would be of no advantage to you." What is the expiration date of this verse? When did it become okay not only to disobey the Church's leaders, but to rebel against them and set up rival churches?
36. The Koran explicitly claims divine inspiration, but the New Testament books do not. How do you know that the New Testament books are nevertheless inspired, but the Koran is not?
37. How does a Protestant know for sure what God thinks about moral issues such as abortion, masturbation, contraceptives, eugenics, euthanasia, etc.?
38. What is one to believe when one Protestant says infants should be baptized (e.g., Luther and Calvin) and another says it is wrong and unbiblical (e.g., Baptists and Evangelicals)?
Where does the Bible . . .
. . . say God created the world/universe out of nothing?
. . . say salvation is attainable through faith alone?
. . . tell us how we know that the revelation of Jesus Christ ended with the death of the last Apostle?
. . . provide a list of the canonical books of the Old Testament?
. . . provide a list of the canonical books of the New Testament?
. . . explain the doctrine of the Trinity, or even use the word “Trinity”?
. . . tell us the name of the “beloved disciple”?
. . . inform us of the names of the authors of the Gospel of Matthew, Mark, Luke, or John?
. . . who wrote the Book of Acts?
. . . tell us the Holy Spirit is one of the three Persons of the Trinity?
. . . .tell us Jesus Christ was both fully God and fully man from the moment of conception (e.g. how do we know His Divinity wasn't infused later in His life?) and/or tells us Jesus Christ is One Person with two complete natures, human and Divine and not some other combination of the two natures (i.e., one or both being less than complete)?
. . . that the church should, or someday would be divided into competing and disagreeing denominations?
. . . that Protestants can have an invisible unity when Jesus expected a visible unity to be seen by the world (see John 17)?
. . . tell us Jesus Christ is of the same substance of Divinity as God the Father?
Not according to Genesis, chapter 5. Adam was created in the likeness of God (v.1). Verse 3 says that Adam begat a son in his OWN likeness. So we are begotten in Adam’s likeness.
I am not a Bible scholar, but have sat under several of them. One magazine that gives a LOT of historical references as well as antiquities references is Touchstone Magazine. Some of the best minds write on things such as this and one of my favorite writers is Anthony Esolen, a professor of English Literature. I have years of these magazines and they eventually talk about almost anything one could want more information on. You can find the online version of the magazine, as well. www.touchstonemag.com
I urge you to find this and start reading. We can argue about the past all we want. Some of it is okay, but our Enemy, Satan, also uses it to separate and divide us, right now when we need unity and an outpouring of God’s love amongst one another and to the lost. Dear friends, please remember that those we diss here are also God’s creation and He still seeks to win their souls until the day they take their last breath. Remember that we are all sinners, saved by grace...those of us who have accepted God’s grace and His salvation. The Enemy has always had some victories in the past...even in every truly Christian denomination, so we need to put the knives back in the drawer and look for ways to work together for His kingdom. May God’s grace abound.
Your conclusion is not logical. To state that His plan was to found a CHURCH does not harm the value of Scripture at all.
Council of Tarragona
Council of Trent
My soul magnifies the Lord,
And my spirit rejoices in God my Savior.
For He has regarded the low estate of His handmaiden,
For behold, henceforth all generations shall call me blessed.
For He who is mighty has done great things for me, and holy is His name. And His mercy is on those who fear Him from generation to generation.
He has shown strength with His arm:
He has scattered the proud in the imagination of their hearts.
He has put down the mighty from their thrones,
and exalted those of low degree.
He has filled the hungry with good things;
and the rich He has sent empty away.
He has helped His servant Israel, in remembrance of His mercy;
As He spoke to our fathers, to Abraham and to His posterity forever.
Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit.
As it was in the beginning, is now and ever shall be, world without end. Amen
Magníficat ánima mea Dóminum,
et exsultávit spíritus meus
in Deo salvatóre meo,
quia respéxit humilitátem
ancíllæ suæ.
Ecce enim ex hoc beátam
me dicent omnes generatiónes,
quia fecit mihi magna,
qui potens est,
et sanctum nomen eius,
et misericórdia eius in progénies
et progénies timéntibus eum.
Fecit poténtiam in bráchio suo,
dispérsit supérbos mente cordis sui;
depósuit poténtes de sede
et exaltávit húmiles.
Esuriéntes implévit bonis
et dívites dimísit inánes.
Suscépit Ísrael púerum suum,
recordátus misericórdiæ,
sicut locútus est ad patres nostros,
Ábraham et sémini eius in sæcula.
Glória Patri et Fílio
et Spirítui Sancto.
Sicut erat in princípio,
et nunc et semper,
et in sæcula sæculórum.
Amen.
She became the Mother of God, in which work so many and such great good things are bestowed on her as pass man’s understanding. For on this there follows all honor, all blessedness, and her unique place in the whole of mankind, among which she has no equal, namely, that she had a child by the Father in heaven, and such a Child . . . Hence men have crowded all her glory into a single word, calling her the Mother of God . . . None can say of her nor announce to her greater things, even though he had as many tongues as the earth possesses flowers and blades of grass: the sky, stars; and the sea, grains of sand. It needs to be pondered in the heart what it means to be the Mother of God.
(Commentary on the Magnificat, 1521; in Luther’s Works, Pelikan et al, vol. 21, 326)
So God created mankind in his own image,
in the image of God he created them;
male and female he created them.
Genesis 1:27
Good for you. Have you ewer heard of the "sin of Onan"?
Look it up.
How can you accept one part of the Bible and not the other?
Not by anyone that has studied even the smallest amount of history.
It is also the opinion of Rashi, one of the great Jewish Rabbis of the past 2000 years; his opinion is routinely cited by modern Orthodox Rabbis (note the lower case ‘m’) when discussing the issue of abortion. Orthodox Judaism is not Liberal.
Here is his opinion:
http://www.chabad.org/library/bible_cdo/aid/9882#showrashi=true
That and a buck might get him a cup of coffee...
Please give the exact and specific citations (and the necessary background information) that provee what you said is true.
Genesis 3:1 “Did God REALLY say......?”
ADAM was created in the likeness of God (1:26-28); men are BEGOTTEN in Adam's likeness (5:3). GOd's likeness was perfect; Adam's was imperfect and depraved with the law of sin and death working in and bringing it to ruin (Job 14:4; 25:4; Ps. 14:3; Rom. 5:12-21; 1 Cor. 15:39; Eph. 2:2-3).
If every man is created in the image of God, then every man would be created PERFECT. And we would not be the sons of Adam, original sin would not be ours, and we would have no need of the 2nd Adam, Jesus Christ.
From an outsider's view, I'd say your religion is centered on some female named Mary...
Scripture is not some "book", its the very Word of God, the foundation for EVERYTHING. Without it NOTHING stands. Without the word there is no church, without a church there is still the Word.
Also, the logical understanding of that is that the LIKENESS that we all have is from God....because HE is its source. Period.
How can you read what is CLEARLY said by God and want to change it into something it doesn’t say?
Ahhh...You are correct. Peter was never mentioned.
I disagree. OUR likeness is still from God...our image is like HIM...though it has been distorted by sin.
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