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?
Are you for real? You claim you know nothing of what Jesus did that wasn’t recorded in scripture. If course we understand that whatever Jesus did was right. No one said otherwise. If you didn’t understand that I was equating statements made today concerning belief compared to what is found in scripture I can’t help you much and any further discussion with you is a total waste of time.
Got it no date from you either. so it never happened.
(someone familiar with Yehova’s feasts would have quickly understood exactly what and why Yeshua was answering as he did)
Sorry, that's covered in the bible...You'll have to try again...
Jas_4:17 Therefore to him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin.
Straining at a gnat comes to mind...
To say the least. I couldn’t believe I was actually in that conversation.
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Great, Elsie! If you believe that text, your belief in that particular text is shared by all faithful Catholics.
However, Catholics believe that if you really believe in Jesus, you believe every single thing that Jesus (God) ever said.
You like to stress "belief in Jesus" over and over and over again, but then you turn around and prove that you don't believe EVERYTHING Jesus ever said by trying to twist and distort what Jesus plainly said, in order to fit your own preconceived preferences.
For example, you quote that text from John 6, but you keep insisting that Jesus did not mean what He really said in the rest of John 6, such as these Bible texts:
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- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -John 6:47-59
47 Truly, truly, I say to you, he who believes has eternal life.48 I am the bread of life.
49 Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, and they died.
50 This is the bread which comes down from heaven, that a man may eat of it and not die.
51 I am the living bread which came down from heaven; if any one eats of this bread, he will live for ever; and the bread which I shall give for the life of the world is my flesh."
52 The Jews then disputed among themselves, saying, "How can this man give us his flesh to eat?"
53 So Jesus said to them, "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of man and drink his blood, you have no life in you;
54 he who eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day.
55 For my flesh is food indeed, and my blood is drink indeed.
56 He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood abides in me, and I in him.
57 As the living Father sent me, and I live because of the Father, so he who eats me will live because of me.
58 This is the bread which came down from heaven, not such as the fathers ate and died; he who eats this bread will live for ever."
59 This he said in the synagogue, as he taught at Capernaum.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -John 6:66
66 After this many of his disciples drew back and no longer went about with him.
When you say, "believe in Jesus", "believe in Jesus", "believe in Jesus", but you obviously do not believe everything Jesus said here in the rest of John 6, or what He said in quite a few other places in the Bible, you sound like a person who believes everything their spouse says on Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays, but does not believe what their spouse says on Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays.
Or they believe what their spouse says whenever they talk about the news, or sports, or food, or the weather, but they don't believe what their spouse says whenever they talk about what they really did on their business trips.
They can say they "believe in their spouse" over, and over, and over again, but the truth is, if they don't believe EVERYTHING their spouse says, they really don't fully, completely, and truthfully "believe in their spouse". It is just a bunch of phony-baloney false fiction they are spouting. They may say they fully believe in their spouse over and over and over again, but, the honest truth is, they really do not.
As an example of the tortuous twisting you have to do to altar Jesus plain words, in order to try to change what He was really saying (simply to try to win an argument it seems), you try to twist the clear words of Jesus in John 6 around, by making Jesus out to be a mean, cruel person who would rather let a group of "slower" people who (your claim) did not understand what Jesus told them, because (you claim) they didn't grasp that Jesus was really only talking in "metaphors" here, so that THAT Jesus (you claim) was not even kind enough to more slowly explain to those "slower", uncomprehending disciples who somehow (you claim) completely misunderstood what He was saying, and who "didn't know He was only talking in metaphors there", to just walk away confused and misunderstanding Him, sadly allowing them to lose their chance to receive that "life" that Jesus was talking about there, just because they misunderstood Him, and Jesus coldly refused to clear it up for them.
The truth is, Jesus was NEVER mean, and cruel, and unkind like that. That is a totally false assertion, no matter how many times you assert it. Jesus really, truly, literally meant what He said there, and humans who stubbornly refuse to believe that, can never change it.
And, with that, I have to bid goodnight to all.
the Holy Spirit is very busy visiting newly baptized Catholics....so he assigned the Catholic Church...during the time of Christ, to carry forward and protect the scriptures...He gave them the wherewithall to copy them by hand and to protect them through periods of strife for you to enjoy....say thanks, Catholics!!
Good! START HERE=>
Mat 5:17 Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil.
Mat 5:18 For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled.
Mat 5:19 Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven: but whosoever shall do and teach them, the same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.
(e-Sword:KJV)
DO and TEACH the Torah. THEN you will know why your interpretation cannot be true.
@however=Sorry, didn’t mean to ping you
@Elsie: Ping
get real, the average man on the street could neither read nor write...first of all he had nothing to read, no public library there in BC Bethlehem. And lets say he knew someone who could teach him to write.....who"s he goung to write to??...there were, of course, learned people who were in government, medecine, religion who coule do both, some in several alnguages...but this was a miniscule part of the population....reading anf writing were not common among regular people until the ,iddle ages, and then it was largely through the efforts of the Catholic Church which had developed schools, monastaries, libraries etc. Recall, if you will, that if you happened to want information, you went to a monastary or a private library, or the home of royalty and if they gave you a book to look at, it was a treasured, handwritten copy that you could never afford to own.....and that's why they couldn't read....nothing that they could lay their hands on which was reading material could they afford.
where would a teacher have obtained a book to teach students to read????? why would the student want to learn to read when there was nothing to read?? what good would it do for you to learn the Martian language when there are no Martians to talk to??
Ok, so what were those things?
How do you know what they are?
How do you know that they have been passed down faithfully?
What are your sources to verify them?
not at all, she did it in the first place and through the centuries the written scriptures have become accepted as written....the Catholic church wrote them therefore she is the only authority over them (earthly authority that is)
?????
For real???? Blowing off the CCC? It says right in there “Taken up to heaven she did not lay aside this saving office but by her manifold intercession continues to bring us the gifts of eternal salvation . Therefore.....”.
Therefore, what??? Therefore she is given the titles of Jesus and the Holy Spirit
There is more since you seem to want/need it, if the CCC itself is not enough.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/religion/2680611/posts?page=969#969
Here are some statements by Catholics on a Catholic website about Mary. And there’s lots more on that website.
http://www.catholictradition.org/Mary/mary18b.htm
Listen, all you who desire the Kingdom of God! Honor and serve the Most Blessed Virgin Mary, and you will find life and eternal salvation!
St. Bonaventure
Whoever honors, loves, serves, and invokes Mary with humility and confidence will ascend to Paradise.
St. John Eudes
If you persevere until death in true devotion to Mary, you salvation is certain.
St. Alphonsus Maria Liguori
The Saints assert that anyone who prays to the Mother of God in time of temptation will be preserved from sin, and that whoever approaches her with perfect trust throughout his life will surely be saved.
St. Maximilian Mary Kolbe
He will not taste death forever who, in his dying moments, has recourse to the Blessed Virgin Mary.
Pope Pius XI
My children, if you desire perseverance, be devout to our Blessed Lady.
St. Philip Neri
If I love Mary, I am certain of perseverance, and I shall obtain whatever I wish from God.
St. John Berchmans
I firmly believe I owe my deliverance to the sole intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary.
St. Vincent de Paul
The gates of Heaven will open to all who confide in the protection of Mary.
St. Bonaventure
He who is devout to the Virgin Mother will certainly never be lost.
St. Ignatius of Antioch
Not one of those who love her can perish; not one of those who try to imitate her can fail to attain eternal salvation.
St. John Eudes
Not a single soul who has really persevered in her service has ever been damned.
St. Louis Marie de Montfort
http://www.goodshepherdparish.org/re/Prayer/novenas.htm
Our Lady of the Rosary (This novena is to be said along with a daily rosary).
My dearest Mother Mary, behold me, your child, in prayer at your feet. Accept this Holy Rosary, which I offer you in accordance with your requests at Fatima, as a proof of my tender love for you, for the intentions of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, in atonement for the offenses committed against your Immaculate Heart, and for this special favor which I earnestly request in my Rosary Novena: (Mention your request)
I beg you to present my petition to your Divine Son. If you will pray for me, I cannot be refused. I know, dearest Mother, that you want me to seek God’s holy Will concerning my request. If what I ask for should not be granted, pray that I may receive that which will be of greater benefit to my soul.
I offer you this spiritual “Bouquet of Roses” because I love you. I put all my confidence in you, since your prayers before God are most powerful. For the greater glory of God and for the sake of Jesus, your loving Son, hear and grant my prayer. Sweet Heart of Mary, be my salvation. Amen
Our Lady of Hope
I am the mother of fair love, and of fear, and of knowledge, and of holy hope. In me is all grace of the way and of the truth; in me is all hope of life and of virtue. Come to me all that desire me and be filled with my fruits (Sirach 24:24-26).
O Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of Grace, Hope of the world.
Hear us, your children, who cry to you
Prayer to Our Lady of Hope
O Mary, my Mother, I kneel before you with heavy heart. The burden of my sins oppresses me. The knowledge of my weakness discourages me. I am beset by fears and temptations of every sort. Yet I am so attached to the things of this world that instead of longing for Heaven I am filled with dread at the thought of death.
O Mother of Mercy, have pity on me in my distress. You are all-powerful with your Divine Son. He can refuse no request of your Immaculate Heart. Show yourself a true Mother to me by being my advocate before His throne. O Refuge of Sinners and Hope of the Hopeless, to whom shall I turn if not you?
Obtain for me, then, O Mother of Hope, the grace of true sorrow for my sins, the gift of perfect resignation to God’s Holy Will, and the courage to take up my cross and follow Jesus. Beg of His Sacred Heart the special favor that I ask in this novena. (Make your request)
But above all I pray, O dearest Mother, that through your most powerful intercession my heart may be filled with Holy Hope, so that in life’s darkest hour I may never fail to trust in God my Savior, but by walking in the way of His commandments I may merit to be united with Him, and with you in the eternal joys of Heaven. Amen.
Mary, our Hope, have pity on us.
Hope of the Hopeless, pray for us. Recite 3 Hail Marys
I didn’t think so.
But you are welcome to try again at any time and prove your point.
It becomes obvious that you don’t have a clue how to educate a child to read.
It is far easier to do than the educational establishment would have you believe.
One does NOT need a degree in teaching or formal education to teach in order to teach someone to read. They just have to know more than the person they are teaching and could do it in their everyday affairs with something as simple as scratching the letters in the dirt (which sounds REALLY familiar).
And children as sponges and learn VERY quickly if their desire to learn isn’t squashed and ground out of them by the behemoth of public education.
You cannot rely on the published versions of the gospels to relate Jewish tradition, because they were translated from the original Hebrew to Aramaic, and from Aramaic to Greek. the Greek translators clearly had no clues WRT Torah or tradition, and muffed many important details. Only the discovery of the Hebrew copies of the original Hebrew writings of Mattiyahu have allowed full understanding of the events, and also led to the correction of numerous errors (or were they deliberate corruptions?) in the other three gospels.
Mark, in particular is very shallow on detail, and unless we find a copy of the true original, we may never know why.
The curious insertion of an out of place and fictitious “Passover” in John 6 is another hum dinger. Yom Teruah was the feast that was on the agenda in that chapter, not Passover. Can you imagine Yeshua feeding the 5000 with levened barley loaves on the eve of a Passover? And then not going up to Jerusalem, but across the Galilee?
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