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?
I got it.
The ‘law’ and the ‘prophets’ were what was to guide the Chosen People.
“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? “
What church was that...the Roman or Orthodox church, what do you mean by “the one church”, define the statement? Given the State of Roman Catholicism, perhaps the Orthodox is the church folks should “return to”, if any “such return” is warranted by any “true Christian” at all?
"Jesus; we just caught this woman in adultery. We're going to stone her to death, so quit playing in the dust and help us!"
Somewhere there just HAS to be a 'study' about this...
Now that you've sent SO many electrons to their deaths; proclaiming a message that will be ignored?
Dang!
That's what MORMONs say as well; about THEIR chosen religion.
You are right though; as I DO lack faith about SO many claims the RCC has chosen to insert into Christianity.
MORMONs are worse; for they've not only inserted stuff; they've managed to remove stuff as well.
Who invented writing when there was no paper?
Who invented writing when there was no readers?
1 Corinthians 9:9
For it is written in the Law of Moses: "Do not muzzle an ox while it is treading out the grain." Is it about oxen that God is concerned?
O...
K...
I must apologize for asserting it then.
RM; could you remove my reply where I've ASSERTED this?
If either of us have NEVER done either of these; then by golly; we get to toss out the first stone!
Which then leads to two blindingly obvious questions.
How did they write what they did?
Why did they bother to write what they did?
If they didn't have anything to write on or with, how did they write what they wrote?
And if nobody could read or write, who wrote them and why did they if they weren't going to be read?
Honestly, does Catholicism have to teach that level of illogical thinking that is displayed on this board by Catholics?
God commanded an Israelite man who was divorcing his wife to give her a WRITTEN certificate of divorce.
I guess God didn’t know that all those Israelites were supposed to be illiterate.....
“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? “
The tricky detail in this question comes from the fact that it was councils of learned men and leaders who each had their own followings of Christians who supported them and their views...the detail in question would be to determine if they were Spirit led.
If they were Spirit Led, then they would have ultimately put together a working library of books that would not diminish but rather enhance the teaching of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. If these councils had countenanced these books as being reflective of God’s breathed word then it was the intention of these councils that these collected works be considered as the cornerstone foundational orthodoxy of the church that would enable folks to know between the spiritual charlatan and a true child of Grace.
A true test as to whether these works can be trusted in the Sola Scriptura ‘sense” would have been their use by the Holy Spirit to convict men of their sins, and to correct an errant believer and bring him back to grace. Since millions of believers can attest to the particular power the bible has had in delivering them from darkness by the grace of God...I would say these Early councils had been well led by the Holy Spirit!
Just FYI: *Jewish* history records that Shem, son of Noah, actually had a school where he taught God’s will for man as revealed to Noah. Shem’s grandson Eber also taught there, and his followers became generally known by a cognate of his name: Hebrews.
Shem was the “Righteous King of Salem” to whom Abraham offered tithes.
No serious learning is done by text alone. Does someone who just reads medical texts without apprenticeship qualify as a physician?
Only in Catholic mythology.
>>to entice the pagans to investigate the Christian way of doing things, the church adapted a few of their harmless but beautiful practices.<<
God specifically said not to and that it was an abomination to Him.
Deuteronomy 12:30 Take heed to thyself that thou be not snared by following them, after that they be destroyed from before thee; and that thou enquire not after their gods, saying, How did these nations serve their gods? even so will I do likewise. 31 Thou shalt not do so unto the LORD thy God:
Jeremiah 10:2 Thus saith the LORD, Learn not the way of the heathen, and be not dismayed at the signs of heaven; for the heathen are dismayed at them. 3For the customs of the people are vain: for one cutteth a tree out of the forest, the work of the hands of the workman, with the axe. 4They deck it with silver and with gold; they fasten it with nails and with hammers, that it move not. 5 They are upright as the palm tree, but speak not: they must needs be borne, because they cannot go.
It really doesn’t take a lot of research to find that most of the RCC practices, vestments, and traditions come from the pagans.
Why Catholics fall for that meme I’ll probably never understand. Paul commended the Bereans because they “searched the scriptures daily”. What do Catholics think those scriptures were? Peter called the writings of Paul scripture. Do Catholics honestly think that those writings weren’t disseminated widely since they were considered to be equal to the Old Testament? Seriously, Catholics have fallen for a lie from the RCC that anyone who studies history knows.
She was NOT “booted”. She asked that her account be deleted.
To: jodyel
Account banned per user’s request.
275 posted on Tuesday, October 22, 2013 8:11:20 PM by Jim Robinson (Resistance to tyrants is obedience to God!!)
It was at her request, got it?
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