“If Sola Scriptura is right and supposedly given by God why are there so many different interpretations?”
Where there are imperfect people, there are differing life experience and views people bring to the Scriptures. This doesn’t mean every view is correct in every case.
Your argument though falls short by confusing the authority of God’s Holy Spirit inspired Word with what men teach and believe when they read it. These are two vastly different things.
Apart from this, much of the areas of disagreement are lesser issues - similar to your understanding of Rites. For example, there are vast areas of the Scriptures that don’t influence whether someone has eternal life or not. They aren’t worth disagreeing about.
Do you really want to be in conflict with fellow believers in Christ over *everything*? I do not. Even the Scripture itself gives latitude for believers to hold different days as holy (for example) and encourages us to get along with respect.
If you look at the Great Creeds that all Christendom agrees on, they are the core beliefs of Christianity and do not cover the great sweep of Scripture in every detail.
In addition, God has given teachers and pastors as gifts to the Church. He has given the indwelling Spirit to lead us into all truth. His process takes time, as history demonstrates.
Blessings.
There are also those things that Paul called *disputable matters*, in Romans 14.
HE never demanded lockstep adherence to ALL of the apostles teachings. He allowed for matters of conscience to play a role in how a Christian is supposed to live.
The problem comes in when there is such legalism that some person or group of people decide what Scripture says and then decide then demand that EVERYONE do it their way or else.
Much like the Catholic church does, not to mention many cults that arise.
It’s interesting, ironic, and hypocritical of Catholics to demand of others what they allow for themselves.
They allow for varying opinions on what they consider the non-essentials of their faith, and yet hold *Prots* to the standard of lockstep adherence to ALL points of doctrine no matter how small or they use it to try to discredit relying on Scripture alone.
Well, in that case, they have just invalidated any Catholic teaching over which there is disagreement as well.