Replies

“How many minutes will go by before the word “Catholic” comes up?”

Probably quite a few. I had spent nearly 40 years as a Baptist before I saw ANYONE try to impose the Lord’s Supper on John 6. All the Baptists I know believe believing faith requires the result of a changed life. And since the New Testament regularly mentions the brothers and sisters of Jesus, the idea that she never had sex with Joseph would be laughed at, without any discussion of Catholics.

You see, when the Bible is your standard, you don’t define what you believe by what others believe, be they Mormon or Catholic. When challenged, you simply reach for the Bible and see what it has to say.

“If we didn’t exist, you wouldn’t exist – and neither would the New Testament.”

Sorry, but we would. The Pope didn’t write the scriptures. The Old Testament was accepted in its Protestant form by Jesus & the Apostles & the Jews. The New Testament was largely settled by 150 AD, although each congregation had the option of deciding which books it accepted. Since the Roman Catholic Church did not come up with a binding list until the Council of Trent, and since the Council of Trent refused to determine if the Apocrypha was good for doctrine, even the Roman Catholic Church has never authoritatively settled the doctrinal status of all the books it would put in the Bible.

“So you’re claiming to be a pagan group ultimately descended from pagan Hindus? Do tell.”

You are not a child, so please do not act like one. The point, as any adult would see, is that we look to NEITHER group to give us ideas on doctrine. We reject you ideas of infant baptism, baptismal regeneration, transubstantiation, etc - but we do so, not because of Luther, but because of Scripture. That is why the Catholic Church had a hissy fit over vernacular translations getting into the hands of common folks - reading scripture and taking it at its obvious meaning drives a person away from many Roman Catholic practices.

When scripture is your guide, you don’t worry about the doctrines of Catholics, Hindus or some sect of baptists. You worry about what the Word of God says. It is a positive approach, not a negative one.

“Probably quite a few. I had spent nearly 40 years as a Baptist before I saw ANYONE try to impose the Lord’s Supper on John 6.”

Impose? Wow. I guess that shows just how bad a lot of Protestant Bible study is.

“When challenged, you simply reach for the Bible and see what it has to say.”

That’s not what you do. 1) You’re most likely using translations like most people do. So you are very dependent on “what others believe”. This not only shows the short falls of sola scriptura, it shows the inherent intellectual dishonesty of Protestantism. 2) Early Christians had no problem seeing the Eucharist in John 6. They knew Greek as their first or second language. And you?

“Sorry, but we would. The Pope didn’t write the scriptures.”

Actually, Peter, the first pope, wrote two of the books of the New Testament.

“The Old Testament was accepted in its Protestant form by Jesus & the Apostles & the Jews.”

Actually, no. There’s no evidence of that whatsoever.

“The New Testament was largely settled by 150 AD, although each congregation had the option of deciding which books it accepted.”

Nope.

“Since the Roman Catholic Church did not come up with a binding list until the Council of Trent,...”

Be careful. See, for instance, the Council of Florence, Session 11. There may be no anathema attached to it, but someone could make a case that it was binding.