Questions for "Bible Christians" that they can't answer - Part 2

Catholic Convert ^ | October 27, 2013 | David Palm and Steve Ray

[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)?

A Few Bonus Questions

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?

[ronnietherocket3]

"If Jesus is truly deity, why did He not save Himself on the cross?"

One can respond that this is blasphemy or one could give the answer to the question, which is that it was necessary for Jesus to die for our sins. Your brand of Christianity comes across as angry not correct.

That Gutenberg did not invent the printing press until the Middle Ages in no way invalidates the authority of the Holy Scriptures which is what all these questions are attempting to do. This statement comes from a misunderstanding of the question; the question does not attempt to invalidate the authority of Sacred Scripture. It questions the belief in Sola Scriptura. I find it odd that you

[terycarl]

So why would Catholicism have a problem with inaccurate translations when THEY mistranslated passages of Scripture themselves?

the Catholic church translated all scriptures and everyone agreed with the translations....everyone....until martin Luther decided to reinterpret what they meant.....only the Catholic church has the authority to determine the true scriptures....the Lutheran church doesn't, the Methodist church doesn't, the Baptist church doesn't.....no one can add or remove from the bible, the books that are now in it......and the Catholic Church put them there.

[Twink]

Good to know I’m a Satan follower.

And you suck at History, lol.

[Twink]

I wonder why you people with this?

[terycarl]

The stupidity of that statement screams *agenda*. Like people couldn't pick up a pen and write.

speaking of stupidity....they didn't have a pen, they didn't know how to write, they didn't know anyone who could read,.the VAST majority of people then were illiterate....in the high 90% catagory...

[Salvation]

I don’t understand your question. With what?

[narses]

:)

[terycarl]

Explain how preventing conception is murder. How stopping something that doesn't yet exist is murder.

[Religion Moderator]

Discuss the issues all you want, but do not make it personal.

[metmom]

Except for where it deliberately mistranslates the Greek and Hebrew words, like in Genesis 3:15 where it translates *he* as *she* and Acts 2:38 where the Greek word for *repent* is mistranslated as *do penance*.

And I’d lay money on the fact that there are other mistranslations.

[narses]

[metmom]

speaking of stupidity....they didn't have a pen, they didn't know how to write, they didn't know anyone who could read,.the VAST majority of people then were illiterate....in the high 90% catagory...

Stats? Got a source besides your say so?

So if nobody could read or write, why on earth did any of them waste any time writing Scripture down in the first place, and just who were those people who couldn't write and yet did?

[terycarl]

That would, of course, include Natural Family Planning, which sole purpose is to prevent a life.

nope....not having sex during the fertile period or having sex only in the infertile period, in no way violates the rules....you are not artificially changing anything.

[metmom]

only the Catholic church has the authority to determine the true scriptures....

Says who? Chapter and verse please.

Or is this another incident of typical self-declared authority that the Church gives itself. Which is really meaningless.....

[narses]

ROTFLMAO!

[metmom]

How is it any different than what Onan did?

Preventing conception is preventing conception.

If the act of preventing conception is the sin, then NFP is sin.

[narses]

“How is it any different than what Onan did?”

Abstention is not onanism.