Posted on 04/28/2015 8:36:56 AM PDT by RnMomof7
It’s a question that requires little thought to answer; are you infallible? It ranks right up there with, “Are you God?” But to Catholic apologists the question is quite serious; that’s because they believe that there is a man on earth who, on the subject of faith and morals, is infallible; they call him, “holy father.” See, it does rank right up there with, “Are you God,” at least when coming from people who think their leader is equal with God on deciding issues of faith and morals.
According to Catholic apologist, John Martignoni, this question should cause Protestants to suddenly doubt everything they believe, and Catholics should take comfort in knowing they and only they, have an infallible leader here on earth. But how can they know? Is there one Catholic person out there, besides the pope of course, who will confess to being infallible? And if a Catholic is not infallible, how can he or she “know” their pope is infallible? They can’t! So if they cannot infallibly declare their pope to be infallible, then their assertion is nothing more than a fallible opinion. And if they are wrong, which my fallible counter-assertion says they are, then they are being deceived.
The logic that so often accompanies claims of papal infallibility goes something like this: “Jesus did not leave His people vulnerable to the doctrinal whims of competing leaders.”
The logic used is quite revealing; it indicates very strongly that those who use it have no idea what it means to have the gift of the Holy Spirit, because if they had the gift of the Holy Spirit they would not be looking to Rome for infallible direction. It also reveals that they think everyone else is like them, wanting to follow the whims of their leaders. It also denies the notion that Christ has relationship with man through the gift of the Holy Spirit. Their magisterium reserves that privilege for themselves and people buy into it. It’s no different than Mormons following their prophet in Utah.
The pope is the head of the Roman Catholic Church, but the Apostle Paul explicitly said that Christ is the head of His Church and He reconciles all things to Himself. To wit, Catholics will be quick to agree that Christ is the head, but then immediately contradict themselves by saying, “but He established the papacy through which He reveals His truths .” Based on what? If Christ is the head and we are the body, where does the papacy fit in? I see no evidence of this claim in Scripture or history, so if the evidence is not there the papacy must belong to a different body; one that is not associated with Christ and His church.
In his newsletter on his website where he shares chapter one of his new book, “Blue Collar Apologetics,” John Martignoni instructs his faithful followers to establish the fact that Protestants are not infallible early on in discussions with them. The purpose of doing this is to attempt to convince the Protestant that he could be wrong about what he believes. The funny thing is Martignoni never tells his readers what to do if the Protestant turns the question back on them; and that is most certainly what is likely to happen.
Does Martignoni really not see this coming, or is he simply at a loss for how to address it? Once a Catholic apologist is faced with admitting their own fallibility, they will immediately be forced to deal with the realization that their claim of papal infallibility is itself a fallible opinion; so they must, therefore, admit that they could be wrong as well. And once they realize the playing field is level, the evidence will do the talking.
A Catholic apologist who is willing to concede that his belief regarding papal infallibility is nothing more than a fallible opinion will likely ask another similar question, “What church do you belong to and how old is it?” In their minds this is the true “gotcha” question. They believe, in their fallible opinions of course, that they belong to the church founded by Christ nearly 2000 years ago. But the fact is, and yes it is a fact, there was no Roman Catholic Church 2000 years ago; it took a few hundred years for that to develop. Furthermore, by their own admission, the doctrines they hold equal in authority to the Bible, which they call “sacred traditions,” did not exist at the time of the apostles; that also is a fact.
There is something, however, that is clearly older than any Protestant or Roman Catholic Church and that is the written books of the Bible. If a person bases his or her faith on these written works then no supposed authority that came later can undermine the power of God working through them. It is unfortunate that when a person comes to Christ in faith through reading the Bible, that there are so-called Christians who come along to cast doubt in their minds. For example, in a tract on the Catholic Answers website called, “By What Authority,” it is stated, “In fact, not one book of the Bible was written for non-believers.”
Not according to the Apostle John who explicitly wrote, “These are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you may have life in His name”? He did not say these are written because you believe; he said, these are written that you may believe. John’s gospel is a firsthand written testimony of the ministry of Jesus for the purpose of bringing people to Him, and Catholic apologists are telling us it was never John’s intention for us to become believers by reading it? Amazing; isn’t it? The Catholic Answers philosophy seems to be to make up facts rather than face them.
So for the sake of the next John Martignoni disciple who wants to ask me if I am infallible, the answer is no; and incidentally your answer to my identical question is also no. Thus I am not interested in your fallible opinion that your pope is infallible when speaking on faith and morals. Perhaps one of you can go tell Mr. Martignoni that chapter his one is incomplete, and that he might want to consider adding a realistic response to his question rather than a bunch of scenarios where the Protestant is simply dumbfounded. His current scenarios might have been fun for him to write, but they are only going to embarrass his readers when they go out armed with the Martignoni sword.
No, they did not say the nonsense that the dispys hand out to be recited.
They spoke of their own volition, from their hearts, and I’m sure that on the day of trumpets, they will be saved, especially the thief.
Yes, how many do you want???
There is no doubt that Paul wrote Hebrews. And Peter also declared that to be so.
The one world religion is Satan’s.
That is what the prophets tell us
The false prophet (pope) will head it.
In Psalms 18:2, it says, “The Lord is my Rock and my deliverer, my God, my Rock, in whom......”. He is our Rock not some sinful man. This is just part of a song we use to sing many years ago. It fits this situation though.
Salvation is not here yet.
If you fail to endure to the end, you will not be among the saved at the day of trumpets.
Which, of course would mean that the bread was Jesus....
Please give me the scripture you are referring to (Peter declared that Paul wrote Hebrews). Thank you. As for the rest of your posts to me, I won’t take the time to explain 2 Tim. 2:15 to you. You evidently believe you are a workman that is pleasing God. And will not be ashamed when you stand before Him. Good luck with that.
Uhhhh, they have been there for you to read since then....
Ephesians 1:13-14 differs with you.
You mean you want a one world religion led by the deceiver? Wow! Can not believe anyone wants that who claims to be a Christian. So, you are for some kook to claim a one world religion? I am flabbergasted.
lol! Keep on trucking down the road you’re going on. Watch out for prophecy bumps, mystery turns, and false doctrine potholes. You’ve chosen to ignore the only map available to you from God. It’s HIS road you’re traveling. 2 Tim. 2:15 is the best rest stop you’ll find. You really shouldn’t pass it up..
You have given many opinionated answers.....but scriptural answers???......not so much
Hmmm...you are Petros and upon this rock I will build my ekklesia????My bible doesn't say that.
No, just since you left the one, holy Catholic and apostolic church which Christ founded and started navigating to wherever...
You do much violence to the word of God.
Misunderstanding 2Timothy is without excuse. It is eisegisis to the nth power. The meaning has to be found within the text, and to those that read for understanding, it is.
Rightly divide the (single) word of truth from the falsehood of men.
The word that Paul and Timothy preached was the same “first things” that Yeshua implored the seven churches to keep: Torah.
Catholic means universal...everyone knows that....protestant means in error....everyone knows that too.
No such thing.
You seem to assume the words to be his, and faithfully copied. I do not.
Then you come along with a two page diatribe concerning the meaning of one word...petros,petra, rock, pebble, stone, boulder, mountain...good grief, if that is the case lets see what you have to say about "THIS IS MY BODY"....NOW THAT, TO ME, IS PLAIN AND INDISPUTABLE LANGUAGE MEANING ..."This is My Body"...
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