Posted on 06/08/2018 8:54:57 AM PDT by Salvation
There are a lot of “solos” sung by our Protestant brethren: sola fide (saved by faith alone), sola Scriptura (Scripture alone is the rule of faith), and sola gratia (grace alone). Generally, one ought to be leery of claims that things work “alone.” Typically, many things work together in harmony; things are interrelated. Very seldom is anyone or anything really “alone.”
The problem with “solos” emerges (it seems to me) in our mind, where it is possible to separate things out; but just because we can separate something out in our mind does not mean that we can do so in reality.
Consider, for a moment, a candle’s flame. In my mind, I can separate the heat of the flame from its light, but I could never put a knife into the flame and put the heat of the flame on one side of it and the light on the other. In reality, the heat and light are inseparable—so together as to be one.
I would like to argue that it is the same with things like faith and works, grace and transformation, Scripture and the Church. We can separate all these things out in our mind, but in reality, they are one. Attempting to separate them from what they belong to leads to grave distortions and to the thing in question no longer being what it is claimed to be. Rather, it becomes an abstraction that exists only on a blackboard or in the mind of a theologian.
Let’s look at the three main “solos” of Protestant theology. I am aware that there are non-Catholic readers of this blog, so please understand that my objections are made with respect. I am also aware that in a short blog I may oversimplify, and thus I welcome additions, clarifications, etc. in the comments section.
Solo 1: Faith alone (sola fide) – For 400 years, Catholics and Protestants have debated the question of faith and works. In this matter, we must each avoid caricaturing the other’s position. Catholics do not and never have taught that we are saved by works. For Heaven’s sake, we baptize infants! We fought off the Pelagians. But neither do Protestants mean by “faith” a purely intellectual acceptance of the existence of God, as many Catholics think that they do.
What concerns us here is the detachment of faith from works that the phrase “faith alone” implies. Let me ask, what is faith without works? Can you point to it? Is it visible? Introduce me to someone who has real faith but no works. I don’t think one can be found. About the only example I can think of is a baptized infant, but that’s a Catholic thing! Most Baptists and Evangelicals who sing the solos reject infant baptism.
Hence it seems that faith alone is something of an abstraction. Faith is something that can only be separated from works in our minds. If faith is a transformative relationship with Jesus Christ, we cannot enter into that relationship while remaining unchanged. This change affects our behavior, our works. Even in the case of infants, it is possible to argue that they are changed and do have “works”; it’s just that they are not easily observed.
Scripture affirms that faith is never alone, that such a concept is an abstraction. Faith without works is dead (James 2:26). Faith without works is not faith at all because faith does not exist by itself; it is always present with and causes works through love. Galatians 5:6 says, For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision availeth anything, nor uncircumcision; but faith working through love. Hence faith works not alone but through love. Further, as Paul states in 1 Corinthians 13:2, if I have all faith so as to move mountains but do not have love, I am nothing.
Hence faith alone is the null set. True faith is never alone; it bears the fruit of love and the works of holiness. Faith ignites love and works through it. Beware of the solo “faith alone” and ask where faith, all by itself, can be found.
Solo 2: Grace alone (sola gratia) – By its very nature grace changes us. Again, show me grace apart from works. Grace without works is an abstraction. It cannot be found apart from its effects. In our mind it may exist as an idea, but in reality, grace is never alone.
Grace builds on nature and transforms it. It engages the person who responds to its urges and gifts. If grace is real, it will have its effects and cannot be found alone or apart from works. It cannot be found apart from a real flesh-and-blood human who is manifesting its effects.
Solo 3: Scripture alone (sola Scriptura) – Beware those who say, “sola Scriptura!” This is the claim that Scripture alone is the measure of faith and the sole authority for the Christian, that there is no need for a Church and no authority in the Church, that there is only authority in the Scripture.
There are several problems with this.
First, Scripture as we know it (with the full New Testament) was not fully assembled and agreed upon until the 4th century.
It was Catholic bishops, in union with the Pope, who made the decision as to which books belonged in the Bible. The early Christians could not possibly have lived by sola scriptura because the Scriptures were not even fully written in the earliest years. And although collected and largely completed in written form by 100 AD, the set of books and letters that actually made up the New Testament was not agreed upon until the 4th century.
Second, until recently most people could not read.
Given this, it seems strange that God would make, as the sole rule of faith, a book that people had to read on their own. Even today, large numbers of people in the world cannot read well. Hence, Scripture was not necessarily a read text, but rather one that most people heard and experienced in and with the Church through her preaching, liturgy, art, architecture, stained glass, passion plays, and so forth.
Third, and most important, if all you have is a book, then that book needs to be interpreted accurately.
Without a valid and recognized interpreter, the book can serve to divide more than to unite. Is this not the experience of Protestantism, which now has tens of thousands of denominations all claiming to read the same Bible but interpreting it in rather different manners?
The problem is, if no one is Pope then everyone is Pope! Protestant “soloists” claim that anyone, alone with a Bible and the Holy Spirit, can authentically interpret Scripture. Well then, why does the Holy Spirit tell some people that baptism is necessary for salvation and others that it is not necessary? Why does the Holy Spirit tell some that the Eucharist really is Christ’s Body and Blood and others that it is only a symbol? Why does the Holy Spirit say to some Protestants, “Once saved, always saved” and to others, “No”?
So, it seems clear that Scripture is not meant to be alone. Scripture itself says this in 2 Peter 3:16: our beloved brother Paul, according to the wisdom given to him, also wrote to you, Our Brother Paul speaking of these things [the Last things] as he does in all his letters. In them there are some things hard to understand that the ignorant and unstable distort to their own destruction, just as they do the other scriptures. Hence Scripture itself warns that it is quite possible to misinterpret Scripture.
Where is the truth to be found? The Scriptures once again answer this: you should know how to behave in the household of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and foundation of truth (1 Tim 3:15).
Hence Scripture is not to be read alone. It is a document of the Lord through the Church and must be read in the context of the Church and with the Church’s authoritative interpretation and Tradition. As this passage from Timothy says, the Church is the pillar and foundation of truth. The Bible is a Church book and thus is not meant to be read apart from the Church that received the authority to publish it from God Himself. Scripture is the most authoritative and precious document of the Church, but it emanates from the Church’s Tradition and must be understood in the light of it.
Thus, the problems of “singing solo” seem to boil down to the fact that if we separate what God has joined we end up with an abstraction, something that exists only in the mind but in reality, cannot be found alone.
Here is a brief video in which Fr. Robert Barron ponders the Protestant point of view that every baptized Christian has the right to authoritatively interpret the Word of God.sss
Verse?
Both Martin Luther and Jorge Bergoglio have done that.
Sola Scriptura sounds really funny when one considers that the first Bible printed by the Gutenberg Press was a CATHOLIC VULGATE BIBLE!
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gutenberg_Bible
The Gutenberg Bible (also known as the 42-line Bible, the Mazarin Bible or the B42) was the first major book printed in the West using movable type. It marked the start of the “Gutenberg Revolution” and the age of the printed book in the West. Widely praised for its high aesthetic and artistic qualities,[1] the book has an iconic status. Written in Latin, the Gutenberg Bible is an edition of the Vulgate, printed by Johannes Gutenberg, in Mainz, in present-day Germany, in the 1450s.
Scripture was defined and compiled via tradition.
Christ never told his disciples to write anything, he told them to preach.
But all Protestant churches are led by mere men.
The Catholic Church is led by Jesus Christ who founded it on the Apostles to carry on his work.
***
Prove it.
We have the words of the Apostles right at our fingertips. If you’re going to make such a claim of authority, you better have some proof that your teaching is identical to theirs.
And ‘because I say so’ is not proof.
So you’re calling Paul a liar then?
What’s so bad about comparing the claims of Rome to the direct words of Jesus and the Apostles, hmmmm?
Matthew 23:5
I already said I intend to when I can.
But the article itself does not impress me at all.
Nothing here about tassels being *too*long; rather, it is merely a simple statement of fact—i.e.: an honest observation:
Matthew 23:5
5 But they do all their deeds to be noticed by men; for they broaden their phylacteries and lengthen the tassels of their garments.
“By GRACE (a free gift) are you SAVED ( made alive in newness of spirit), by FAITH ( trust, belief in and continual adherence to)-and this is not from yourselves, it is a GIFT (undeserved, unearned favor) of God, , not by WORKS (effort to achieve Gods acceptance), so that no one can boast”. Eph 2:5
So, indeed, the scriptures show us that faith by grace are indeed the sole means of appropriating God’s favor- unless one rejects the rest of the scriptures that depict us all as dead in trespasses and sins ( dead men can do nothing). I accept that Jesus paid for my passage, and God Almighty took my unrighteousness and guilt nd poured out His Holy and Just wrath on the body f Jesus, who deserved only honor and praise, so now that Jesus who was given power by God to lay his life down willingly and then take it back up again, God the Father looks at me through the lens of the Righteousness of His Son , in whom He is well pleased.
My sins and state were punished once for all time, and He remembers them no more.
So, no, not multiple choice, but rather a singular perfect solution for the restoration of mankind, if only one believes.....
‘Scripture was defined and compiled via tradition.’
This statement stands in direct contradiction to Scripture itself:
2 Timothy 3:16
All Scripture is inspired by God [literally: God-breathed] and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness;
“Broaden” and “Lengthen” imply that there is a standard. Who / what / where is the standard?
You are reading more into the text than is there. Jesus did no more than state a fact: the phylacteries were being broadened and the tassels lengthened. There is zero evidence that that He was lying.
You probably consider this taunting as ‘contending for the faith’, what with your so limited knowledge of The Word of God ... made flesh Who dwelt among us. Your Catholic Jesus appears to need His Mother’s help daily.
Who / what / where is the standard
***
First, each book was written by an apostle or one closely associated with an apostle.
Second, the contents of these books were revelatory in nature.
Third, these books were universally recognized by the church in their teaching and preaching ministry.
Fourth, these books were considered inspired because they bore the marks of inspiration.
But let me cut off the expected response I’ve heard before.
Today’s Romanist org that calls itself Catholic has NOT proven itself to be the 1st century New Testament ekklesia.
Rather, what Scripture shows is that Rome is NOT the New Testament church, because Rome preaches in contradiction to what the NT church taught. And we know what they taught, because we see it in Scripture.
Do you think Paul contradicts Paul?
1 Corinthians 9:27 but I punish my body and enslave it, so that after proclaiming to others I myself should not be disqualified.
2 Timothy 2:12 if we endure, we will also reign with him; if we deny him, he will also deny us;
Philippians 2:12 Therefore, my beloved, just as you have always obeyed me, not only in my presence, but much more now in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling; 13 for it is God who is at work in you, enabling you both to will and to work for his good pleasure.
Last week he wrote a particularly nice essay.
This is playing with words.
Are we acknowledging that Jews wore these things? Did Jesus?
Paul was just a man, writing his thoughts. He's not a liar, but he's not God, either.
I enjoy watching modern preachers: it's Paul, Paul, Paul. Then a bit more Paul, with a side-order of Paul to follow. Throw in a bit of Jesus, then on to more Paul.
Thirs, the author of this disinformation piece ignores Whom it is the Wrote and now edifies using His Word. With teachers like this in Catholicism it is no wonder so many Catholics will soon get to know the anti-Christ.
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