Stop this puerile nonsense of going into your bucket of disparate quotes, pulling excerpts from random to prove your point and going against a whole constellation of the greatest theologians including Protestants who have taught at leading Protestant colleges and universities and have converted to Catholicism. What you do is exactly what street preachers do: The Billy Grahams, Joel Osteens; Rev. Schullers, Rev. Sharpton, Rev. Jeremiah Wright; Rev. Jim Jones; Rev. David Koresh; Tammy Faye Baker; Bishop T.D. Jakes, and the rest of the self-reverend televangelist nuts.
SF, how many notable Rabbic theologians did Jesus quote, with comprehensive citation etc etc etc, when making his points to the Pharisees, the Disciples, or even the Devil? Oh my! None? Well THERE’s a shock. Seems more like a list of “disparate quotes” approach. Or maybe not so “disparate,” as both Christ and the Apostles make liberal use of those specific, narrow Scriptural citations to make specific points on the basis that, hey, if GOD says this is the way it is, that ends the debate.
Which is why you can’t make good use of Scripture if you don’t believe in the power of it. For those who try to get God’s word from any number of other sources or filters, the plain and obvious meaning of Scripture will never be enough. So it must be discredited and taken out of the picture, displaced by some human authority, which is idolatry, probably the principal sin of the Jewish magisterium of Jesus’ day.
So it’s not too surprising that Jesus never reprimanded anybody for not listening to the Rabbinic lens on Scripture. Instead, He held them responsible for not listening to Scripture itself.
Remember the man in Hell begging Abraham to send someone to warn his family about that terrifying place? But Jesus says if they will not listen to the law and the prophets, the Scripture as it was in His day, they would not listen though one rose from the dead. To paraphrase Shakespeare, the fault, dear Steelfish, is not in our Bible but in ourselves.
You see, the Bible is perfectly comprehensible in it’s essentials to anyone who “has an ear” to hear it. But our sin makes us deaf, and only Christ can heal that deafness, much more a miracle than any physical healing, up to and including resurrection from the dead. Thank God the Holy Spirit has not left us at the mercy of a corrupt magisterium, but has given us both His word, and the ears to hear it.
Peace,
SR
That's right...Quit using the words of God, the bible, to defend Christianity...It's not fair...
So Scripture = "puerile nonsense" and "disparate quotes" in a Catholic's eyes.
Why am I NOT surprised?
Ahhh... The cemeteries seminaries (silly spellcheck)
It sure beats going against a whole body of teaching right from Scripture.
I don't care whose name is on what and what *credentials* they have from what universities.
If their teachings contradict the clear teaching of the body of Scripture, they are wrong, period, no matter how esteemed they are in the eyes of the world or the Catholic church.
Might doesn't make right and wide is the road that leads to destruction and many are there who are on it.
I don't care if what I state and back up with Scripture goes against the Who's Who of Catholic thinking. If they don't line up with Scripture, they are wrong.