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lanman87
Guest
To me, this is the best defense for Sola Scriptura. Even as Christians guided by the Holy Spirit we are still at war with our carnal natures.
Like Paul said in Romans 7: 15-20 “For I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate. 16 Now if I do what I do not want, I agree with the law, that it is good. 17 So now it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me. 18 For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh. For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out. 19 For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing. 20 Now if I do what I do not want, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me.”
All of us, including the early church fathers, the doctors of the church, Bishops, Popes and Priest fight with the Carnal (Fleshly) nature that will not be overcome until we are in Christ presence. We are all subject to our own prejudices that come from our experiences, what we have been taught, how we have been influenced by others, difference in understandings about definitions of words, our own carnal nature and who knows what else. Many things shape our worldview and understandings of doctrine and religious practices.
When we add Sacred Tradition and canon law (rulings of the Magisterium) to be equal with Scripture then we are just adding additional things for us to try to sort out between the spiritual (truth) and carnal (false). And because those things are more nebulous they are more prone to the influence of social/religious syncretism and leaders with powerful/strong personalities who sway others to follow their teachings. The body of Christ is always in danger of being influenced by society norms and practices and strong charismatic leaders who claim to speak the truth. It also puts the church in a dangerous position if the Magisterium or Pope becomes influenced by society or a person or group of people who teach things contrary to the Gospel. I understand Roman Catholics think the Magisterium and Pope (when speaking from the chair) can’t be wrong but I don’t hold that view. Any man or group of men can be deceived. As a matter of fact, I would say that one of the primary warnings in scripture is for the church and especially church leadership to not be deceived.
However, we can be like the Bereans mentioned in Acts 17 and “examining the Scriptures daily to see if these things were so.” If you believe the New Testament to be Scripture, regardless of if it was given to the Church by God or the Church created the Scripture by it’s authority, then the Scripture is the final authority to us just as it was to the Bereans. It is the scriptures that tell us if we are being deceived. The fact that we have some differences in what we believe the Scriptures tell us is a result of our carnal nature but it doesn’t mean the the Scriptures aren’t the final authority.
I personally don’t think the church will be perfected until all the elect have either tasted physical death and entered into His Glory or Christ returns to Earth. The church is made of people and will not be perfected until all the people are perfected. At that point we will all have perfect knowledge and we will finally have the full unity that we, in our imperfection, strive to achieve and that Christ prayed we would have.
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I tries to just give a thumbsup but it won’t let me do only that anymore so im typing this long explanation just to get words on a page. 