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
“There were two classy OLD dudes
Who thought themselves pretty shrewd
Thinking they would try
To poke me in the eye
Leaving me out of Limericks is rude
If I ever stop posting right here;
For a month, or even a year.
It can rightly be said;
that Dude fella is DEAD!
Now who’ll post pix of a pink-clad old Queer?
When said boldly, "I am a quipster!"
By aged coot or modern, young hipster.
Other folk's ears may cringe,
when the rhyme has to hinge,
on a pun coming forth from their lips; Sir.
To avoid a MASSIVE search of FR’s valuable historical database for pearls of great price; found individually or buried in a matrix - a conglomerate of various ELSIEthons; I bequeath what I have now to you.
Check yer mail...
The folder contains 6.86 MB of data.
26 pages of filenames!
I don't know how to attach a FOLDER to mail. It seems to want A filename; not a foldername.
I may have to snail mail ya a disc.
I am a bad, bad man for starting this.
#noregrets
Mary as the resplendent car? Is that a misprint?
Speaking of resplendent cars, yesterday when I was driving to work, I saw a really nice 1974 AMC Javelin. Hadn't seen one in years. Didn't make me think of the Virgin Mary though.
Having visited the farm in N.C. where he lived (his wife’s property, IIRC) I can see him walking the woods there.
Personally, I still don’t have much experience nor education regarding Mary, Mother of My Lord, so I tend to defer to those who do and then see what they say. I really don’t know. I’m still learning and still have more questions than understanding.
Perhaps one day we’ll know why Mary is blessed amongst women and why She was chosen.
In my pondering, I wonder about the level and nature of how Jesus and His Mother communicated thoughout the stages of His human life from infant to the Cross.
And then I wonder about how/what Mother Mary experienced the moment of His human body’s death on the Cross, when He took back all of Himself that He set aside to walk as a man.
To me, Mother Mary is at minimum yet another testimony to the Power and Glory of God, because all that Mary is comes from Him.
And, from what I’ve seen so far, all that She has said and done in the past or says and does now all points to Jesus and His Father.
From what I’ve read about Her, Mary truly is on a mission from God and there is no one or nothing else like Mary.
As an aside, I also wonder how the Trinitarian God sees us through Their Eyes in general, and me in particular, and my best guess is that I’m not going to enjoy Him showing me me as He sees me through His eyes.
In that light, I cringe and pull back a bit from the Protestants when they go after Mary and also go after those who acknowledge Her as Mother of God.
I better understand the justifications people use when they do that now a bit better than I used to, but I still cringe and worry about those who do it.
Maybe it’s the certainty people seem to feel in the moment and what that seems to inspire, both in them and others, or maybe it’s something else, I’m not sure, but something tells me that sort of thing is not a good idea.
Be careful about capitalizing pronouns when referring to Mary.
You may believe that she’s something special—and we can debate exactly in what matter she’s supposed to be; she WAS one of Jesus’s disciples, albeit not one of the twelve, and remained with them after Jesus ascended after all—but Mary isn’t God, and the pronoun-capitalization can pull people in a very wrong direction.
John 6:44 No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him. And I will raise him up on the last day.
It's natural human reaction of the sin nature in response to God to run from Him.
But first, hey, thanks for reading anything I post here and I definitely thank you for your advice.
I wish I could express myself better and I struggle with spelling, punctuation and grammar. Always have. And it’s not like I’m not trying. I really do work at it.
When I was sent away to school, I used to write letters home, but then my mom would correct them in red ink and send them back. Oh well, she did her best, but it just didn’t take and still I’m letting her down even now after all these years. *heavy sigh*
For example, I definitely screwed up with the My in “Mother of My Lord”, as that should have been my, not My, but didn’t catch it before posting.
(Sorry, Mom.) Fwiw, I did feel bad and embarrassed when I finally did see it too late to fix.
Anywho...my caps for Mary are more from my growing personal respect than any religious convention.
Thank you for your feedback! Good or bad, I need it and appreciate it.
This is true of motherhood. But consider what that means with Jesus and His Mother! Yes, Mary is a woman blessed in the most special way. But God our Father doesn't want us to raise her beyond the cherishing we ought. NOTHING should reduce the reverence we have for our Lord and Savior, God with us. To assign supernatural powers to her is to elevate her into a goddess status which is pure paganism crept into religion.
I'm almost 73. I have been a Christian seeking more of our Lord and His plans, now for nearly four decades. In all of my searching the Scriptures that GOD has provided for us as a means to connect with His Holy Spirit direction I have never found anything to warrant attaching to Mary the Mother of Jesus anything as supernatural as found in the imaginings of Catholicism.
In the history of religions there is a parallel in the religions associated with Astarte, etc., which are pagan religions. Look at the common definition of reverence : honor or respect felt or shown : deference; especially: profound adoring awed respect.
That definition does not include praying to for divine intervention because such would be a pagan practice of assigning god or goddess status to the one adored. The Bible does not teach us to pray for intervention from those who have been in human flesh and gone on, except to Jesus, God with us.
There is ONLY ONE Who is intermediary between us and GOD, the man Christ Jesus (1 Timothy 2:5 For there is one God and one mediator between God and mankind, the man Christ Jesus). To assign Mary any such glory is to diminish Jesus our Lord and Savior, as if He needs His Mother's help!
One last note, well two really: 1) Mary the Mother of Jesus was not the first human to proclaim the arrival of the Lord Christ(Elizabeth's proclamation)), even before she was delivered; 2) in your travels around mysticism, have you considered that Mary gave to The Lord God a means to be born of water, albeit He was already of Spirit before conception in her womb? No less than Jesus stated in John three that a MAN must be born of water and the spirit to see the kingdom of Heaven. Jesus also related to many that He had come down from Heaven thus He had seen the Kingdom, BUT to be a man among us He had to be also born of water, as in the water world before birth. It is Mary who gave her consent to be such a servant.
The prodigal son finally returned, but what of those who don’t?
Were they not called, too?
We are to “die to ourselves”, a phrase I never understood until recently.
I think it means to use our will to deny our physical nature’s demands or to sacrifice our time for Him instead of doing what we want to do.
Why do we need His advice to do or not do anything if we don’t have free will to choose one way or another?
When God and Satan bet on Job, what was both the nature of their bet and the proof one way or the other?
Of course I don't know exactly what you've seen but in my experience, Protestants do not go after Mary but instead the Roman Catholic misperceptions about Mary. Scripture speaks highly of Mary and Protestants should be reluctant to attack those who Scripture praise. However, Protestants do not have to respect the myths that have developed around Mary. Criticism of those myths is not attacking the real Mary but instead an illusion of Mary. Not the same thing.
Let no one beguile you into believing the born again experience is something reserved to the moment of death IF you live a 'good enough' life. The born again in the now are to reign in life, in the now. We receive that righteousness the same way Abraham did, by believing GOD, and in this dispensation that is to believe in the One Who GOD has sent for our salvation.
Yep, I know. He suffices by Himself, which, fwiw, is something He says frequently in the TLIG messages, btw.
We’ll have to disagree about what if any glory Mary should receive or whether or not any such glory diminishes or even acknowledges Jesus.
I see Mary as being lower in the holy hierarchy than Jesus, but way higher than me, and, given that I have been a white belt plebe in many different earthly hierarchies, I know my place.
Respect.
Also, we are commanded to honor God and to honor our parents.
It is written that Mary is the “Mother of my Lord” (who is Jesus, son of God) and the logic of “Mother of God” is basic stuff, even if the concept is not.
Additionally, perhaps as much as 2/3rds of Christianity understands Scripture as saying She is our Mother, too, but some say she is just another woman, nothing more.
I wonder what the Holy Spirit says.
[Quote-But Rome’s followers have ventured far afield in adding things to their belief system that are NOT biblical.]
I agree Elsie.
Saw it with Mary’s 15 promises.
Testing those with scripture showed that to be lies,falsehoods.
But there was a problem with testing those. That lying Mary did point to Jesus.
If it is written no lie is of the truth, what Jesus is that liar pointing to in the promise?
If Rome is creating another Jesus, a false Christ,that would seem to fall under ‘adding things to their belief system that are NOT biblical’.
And that may be where I part company with most protesters of Rome as it is clear to me Rome doesn’t have or teach The Word Made Flesh. Rome has another Jesus.
I was blind to it,but now I see by His Mercy and Grace.
And for His glory!
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.