Do we really want another 500 years of division between Catholics and Protestants?

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No… just because it makes that claim doesn’t make it true… otherwise I wouldn’t have a prob submitting to the authority of the pope now would I!!!
There are a series of tests that Paul lays out in that regard in his letters. Paul made the claim of his teachigns being the wrod of God…
Well, Niki…here is one test for your from the Bible:

from 1John 4…6 We are from God, and whoever knows God listens to us; but whoever is not from God does not listen to us. This is how we recognize the Spirit[a] of truth and the spirit of falsehood.
but he outlines other tests we should use to make sure that we are in the truth and that we aren’t being blown here and there by false teachings like a feather in the wind.
Well…so now applying the the passage above from 1john4 v6…those teachings you follow…how do you know they are apostolic in origin?

To whom where they submitted to for approval with apostolic roots? Could it then be possible that the teachings you espouse are the false teachings like a feather in the wind?
Merry Christmas!!!
And to you too!!!
 
Code:
  Jesus said, "Scripture cannot be broken" (John 10:35). He never said "tradition cannot be broken." Jesus also said, "I tell you the truth, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished" (Matt 5:18). He said, "it is easier for heaven and earth to disappear than for the least stroke of a pen to drop out of the Law" (Luke 16:17).
Very Catholic. 👍

But Sacred Tradition is the Word of God alive and well in the Church. And He did say that His Words will not pass away. It is you who is rejecting the Scriptures, when you refuse to believe that God is able to preserve His Word where He placed it. It is you who deny that He has the strength to follow through on His promises. You acknowledge that the Word of God came to the believers, but you deny that the HS was able to keep it where it was sent.
Jesus used Scripture as the final court of appeal in every matter under dispute (Matt 22:29; Mark 7:8; Mark 7:13; Matt 4:4-10). Following Jesus’ lead, Scripture must be our supreme and final authority (unless you think Jesus was wrong?).
No, Niki, I think you and the Reformers you are following are wrong. Jesus did not use Scriptures as the “final court of appeals”. Scripture cannot BE a court of appeals. Scripture is evidence, and Jesus entered this inerrant evidence, but HE HIMSELF is the final court. It is in His hand that the Truth of the Scriptures witness against His detractors. HE is the FINAL JUDGE. You have been misled to replace even Jesus Himself with the Words of the book.
In Colossians 2:8 we are warned not to be lead astray by the traditions of men… Indeed, Paul warns againstany tradition that conflicts with the absolute Word of God as contained in Scripture is to be rejected.
Yes, we are not to be led astray by the traditions of men. Sola Scriptura is one such tradition.

No, none of the Apostles ever ruled against traditions that did not conflict with Scripture. There is nothing inherintly wrong with traditions of men. All the Apostles followed some of them.

Scripture was never intended to be the “absolute Word of God” by itself such that anything not found in it must be “rejected”. This is a modern fundamentalist fantasy.
The Bible says that Scripture is the final court of appeal thus also over tradition.
No, it does not. The Bible cannot be a court. A court must be presided over by a person, who is able to make decisions. The Scriptures can be brought into evidence, but they cannot 'decide". Books, however Holy, do not have the capacity to made decisions.
The arguement for tradition seems to be self validating… “we know that tradition is true and legitimate, because tradition tells us so.”
That is only because you reject the remainder of the evidence,and you are faithless with regard to Jesus carrying out His promises. You reject the Scripture that testifies that God preserves His Word:

Isa 55:10-11

10 "For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven,
and return not thither but water the earth,
making it bring forth and sprout,
giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater,
11 so shall my word be that goes forth from my mouth;
it shall not return to me empty,
but it shall accomplish that which I purpose,
and prosper in the thing for which I sent it.

For some reason you think the powerful Jesus we see in the Book of Revelation able to correct and chastize His Church to keep them from going astray.
SO - Did the Roman Catholic Church give us the Bible?
No, first of all the Catholic Church is not “Roman”. The Catholic Church began in Palestine, with Hebrew origins. It spread East first, and the next Rite that developed was a Syrian Rite. The Roman Rite is actually later than all the others (Greek) because the Apostles did not come to Rome until after Churches had been planted. The NT was written in Hebrew and Greek, not Latin.

The CC gave us the Bible, yes.
The canon of Scripture was being established in the very days that the Bible was being written, before the Roman Catholic Church was even in existance.
You seem to have quite a bit to learn about the history of your faith, Niki. It was Catholics who were writing, copying, protecting, reading and establishing the NT.
 
Luke’s Gospel was recognised as Scripture within 3 years of it’s writing (1 Tim 5:18; Luke 10:7; Deut 25:4).
Are you trying to claim that Deut 25:4 is testimony that the Gospel of Luke is Scripture?
Code:
Paul's writings were also recognised as Scripture (2 Peter 3:16; 1 Cor 14:37; 1 Thes 2:13). As F.F. Bruce puts it, the NT canon was not demarcated by the arbitrary decree of any Church council: "When at last a Church Council - The Synod of Carthage in AD397 - listed the 27 books of the NT, it did not confer upon them any authority which they did not already possess, but simply recorded their previously established canonicity."
Indeed yes, canonicity that had always been recognized by Catholics, for Catholics. There is nothing about the NT that is not Catholic. That is why Catholic Teaching cannot contradict it. They both come from the same Source.
  1. According to 2 Tim 3:15, were the Scriptures alone sufficient in providing Tim what he needed to know to be saved?
The Scriptures bring the faithful to salvation. They are not all that people need. If they were, Jesus would not have had to establish a Church. Neither would Paul would have had to ordain Timothy as a Bishop, and provide him with instructions on how to manage the Church. He would just have had Timothy make copies and pass them around
  1. If the Scriptures alone were sufficient for Timothy, then aren’t the Scriptures alone sufficient for us?
They were not, and they are not. I don’t think there is a Christian alive today that would claim they could live a good Christian life with only the Septuagint, which is what Paul was referring to in his letter to Timothy.
I took most of this (and the paraphrasing) from Ron Rhodes book. He outlines his arguement very well and is also able to draw on Scripture much more easily than I can!
Thank you for citing your source. Some of us already know that, but it is good to know you are not plagarizing.
I think there was something I missed above… let me know and i’ll try to add. I think it was about how the canonicity is tested…?? Sorry this is carried on… the other exceeded the length of posts allowed!
Yes, you missed a lot of questions above.

take as many posts as you need.
 
The Scriptures were canonised long before the Catholic Church existed. See my other post!
As a former non-catholic I too was taught to believe this. However, that would have meant that another church existed 300 years before the catholic church. This of course turned out to be historically, an inaccurate assessment, as per protestant and catholic scholars and the early church fathers.

Jesus’ Church existed before the holy Bible i.e. Jesus founded a Church, not a collection of books that would eventually be codified by the very Church that preceded said books. Moreover, the writings that eventually became known as the holy canon of the Bible weren’t even finished being written until nearly the end of the 1st century, and everyone knows that Jesus’ one church was established on that fateful day, Pentecost, 33 AD. Do we at least agree on that fact?

Furthermore, no one had an official canon (bound as we know it today) of the NT, as per all scholars (protestant or catholic) until the end of the 4th century, i.e. Jesus’ Church had already existed for almost 400 years without an officially compiled, bound and codified holy Bible. This fact was a hard pill to swallow, as a former non-catholic, but nonetheless true.
 
Just seems like so much heated debate here.

Why can’t we just accept that we’re all on the path laid out for us.

Do you think Jesus would really argue over a brand name of faith?

Or would he be more interested that we had love for one another, acceptance and brotherhood?
Yes, Jesus cares about the truth. Because the truth matters. He wasn’t just about “love each other and brush your teeth.” He cared about truth. And so do we.
 
Nikicosier - Luke’s Gospel was recognised as Scripture within 3 years of it’s writing (1 Tim 5:18; Luke 10:7; Deut 25:4). Paul’s writings were also recognised as Scripture (2 Peter 3:16; 1 Cor 14:37; 1 Thes 2:13).
Authoritatively recognized by who after the demise of Luke and Paul, i.e. who, in terms of a church, nominally speaking, (still in existence in the world today) continued to affirm infallibly (in the 1st century) what Luke and Paul had recognized as infallible?
As F.F. Bruce puts it, the NT canon was not demarcated by the arbitrary decree of any Church council: “When at last a Church Council - The Synod of Carthage in AD397 - listed the 27 books of the NT, it did not confer upon them any authority which they did not already possess, but simply recorded their previously established canonicity.”
Of the 27, none were ever disputed? Bruce also said:

“The only books about which there was any substantial doubt after the middle of the second century were some of those which come at the end of our New Testament.” Bruce went on to say: “Hebrews, 2 Peter, 2 and 3 John, James and Jude, with the ‘Epistle of Barnabas,’ the Shepherd of Hermas, the Didache, and the ‘Gospel according to the Hebrews,’ were disputed by some. Eusebius (c. 265-340) mentions as generally acknowledged, all the books of our New Testament except James, Jude, 2 Peter, 2 and 3 John, which were disputed by some, but recognised by the majority.”

Who at the time, would have been in a position of authority to settle the dispute between the majority and the minority, via the guidance of the holy spirit of course?
 
LOL. Thanks for that, I needed to laugh this morning. Are you one of those who has been taught that the CC was started by Constantine?

Here is an interesting post I would like to get your response. Do you think this member is full of hooey?

What does “canonize” mean to you?

When do you think the CC started?

You will need to add a link or a post number so we can find which other post you are using to support your modern innovation that Catholics did not write the NT. I think I have read all your posts. The most relevant post I read on this point of yours seemed to claim that God authored the Bible, which seemed to indicate you believed it fell out of heaven fully assembled.

Dont’ be sorry! It is very important to keep one’s priorities in joining this board. It can be very addicting. Especially when you are being swarmed by “aggressive” Catholics. 😉

You have not answered any of the questions, but I am happy to wait till after dinner. 😃
It would be very helpful to know when you think the Catholic Church fell into error. When I was an evangelical Christian I was under the impression it started to decline with Constantine. But the Catholic interpretation of scripture is backed up with the writings of the Church Fathers. You can see they believed in baptismal regeneration, Apostolic Tradition, the real presence in the Eucharist, among other things.

And these are writing during the 1st three centuries, when Christianity was severely prosecuted. It really shows that it is just not a valid argument.
 
I don’t consider myself to be a rabid ‘anti-catholic’…
My bad, I should have qualified my statement by saying a lot of evangelicals and most former catholics. my comment about former catholics stands. The most anti-catholic protestants
I’ve seen post hateful things have admitted to be former catholics.
 
Gosh… you are very agressive… the point is not to put people down in this fourm but to encourage each other to find the truth in love.

ANYWAY…
Firstly… are you trying to tell me that the Catholic Church made the Bible? I’m pretty sure God did that. He may have used the authority of the Church at that time… the Church many have discovered the Bible (and then added a few extra books here and there to suit their changing theology (purgatory etc…)) but sorry… the Bible was all God.

NO… Mark’s authority came from GOD. Man isn’t authorised to give the authority of God… only God has that authority.
In point of fact, Paul admonished the Pharasees over tradition AND Jesus was also admonished by the Pharasees for flouting tradition (Jesus then put them in their place…)

1Thes says nothing about that beingcarried on through apostolic succession…

Not sure about your next arguement… Do you mean to try and tell me that the written wrod came before the apostles started sharing the good news? That doesn’t make sense… certainly not what the Catholic Church teaches… How does it oppose the scriptures???
👍 APOSTLES… not as they were communicated through apostolic succession through a pope and a teaching magisterium… There are kind of two arguements there… firstly about the authority of the bible and then about the authority of the apostolic successor (disputable).

LASTLY… since NO… the Bible is not a product of the Catholic Sacred Tradition… it’s shouldn’t be used to support Sacred Tradition… expecially since the Biblical text doesn’t support it (actually you can make the text say anything you want… but when taken in the context of the whole Bible and Jesus/apostles teachings then it doesn’t say ‘whatever’ you want)
Before I catch up on the rest of the thread, I need to say something to you. The Catholic Church NEVER “added” anything to the Holy Bible to support ANYTHING. The Deuterocanon is the EXACT SAME CANON as our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ read, and learned. In fact, it was the ONLY canon he knew during His ENTIRE time on Earth. The JEWS discarded those books because they were not originally written in Hebrew. They were excluded by the Council of Jamnia. You don’t know your Biblical history, do you? The lie that the Catholic Church added anything is just that: a lie. The OLDEST Bibles contain ALL the books. Look it up. ALSO… if these books were good enough for Jesus, they’re good enough for you too.
 
=Nikicosier;10150080]Gosh… you are very agressive… the point is not to put people down in this fourm but to encourage each other to find the truth in love.
Guan is not aggressive, but instead stridently defends the Catholic faith. Something I admire deeply.
ANYWAY…
Firstly… are you trying to tell me that the Catholic Church made the Bible? I’m pretty sure God did that. He may have used the authority of the Church at that time… the Church many have discovered the Bible (and then added a few extra books here and there to suit their changing theology (purgatory etc…)) but sorry… the Bible was all God
The fact is those books have been there since before the time of Christ. They weren’t added. Even Luther included them in his translation. The issue is not, when discussing the canon of scripture, if someone added or subtracted them. The issue is whether or not a communion views them, and their historically disputed nature, as equal to the universally attested books. Further, regardless of whether or not we view them as canon, we would all do well to keep them handy for reading and learning.

Jon
 
Just seems like so much heated debate here.

Why can’t we just accept that we’re all on the path laid out for us.

Do you think Jesus would really argue over a brand name of faith?

Or would he be more interested that we had love for one another, acceptance and brotherhood?
👍 :clapping:

Thank you! for if I am able to follow this path, as I’d like to, despite the obstacles, I would still think the same way on this matter. Jesus died for us ALL. Jesus loves us ALL. Jesus said:

Matthew 22
36 “Teacher, what is the greatest commandment in the Law?”
37 He replied, "You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your being, and with all your mind.
38 This is the first and greatest commandment.
39 And the second is like it: You must love your neighbor as you love yourself.
40 All the Law and the Prophets depend on these two commands."


Surely, this not open for debate…
 
For my education, when did the Catholic Church become known as the Catholic Church?
Do you mean how the name evolved?

Since its founding in AD 33…First, it was known as The Way…(see Acts 9)…then the followers of The Way were called Christians (by Antioch members of The Way…see Acts too)…then was called Catholic Church, by Ignatius of Antioch sometime in AD 100 or so…and has been known since.
 
For my education, when did the Catholic Church become known as the Catholic Church?
"See that ye all follow the bishop, even as Christ Jesus does the Father, and the presbytery as ye would the apostles. Do ye also reverence the deacons, as those that carry out the appointment of God. Let no man do anything connected with the Church without the bishop. Let that be deemed a proper Eucharist, which is [administered] either by the bishop, or by one to whom he has entrusted it. Wherever the bishop shall appear, there let the multitude also be; by the bishop, or by one to whom he has entrusted it. Wherever the bishop shall appear, there let the multitude also be; even as, wherever Jesus Christ is, there is the Catholic Church." Ignatius of Antioch, Epistle to the Smyrneans, 8:2 (c. A.D. 110).

Understand that this is the first written record … whether other records existed before it and were lost we do not know, but it shows the Church was being called Catholic by the early second century at the latest.
 
Before I catch up on the rest of the thread, I need to say something to you. The Catholic Church NEVER “added” anything to the Holy Bible to support ANYTHING. The Deuterocanon is the EXACT SAME CANON as our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ read, and learned. In fact, it was the ONLY canon he knew during His ENTIRE time on Earth. The JEWS discarded those books because they were not originally written in Hebrew. They were excluded by the Council of Jamnia. You don’t know your Biblical history, do you? The lie that the Catholic Church added anything is just that: a lie. The OLDEST Bibles contain ALL the books. Look it up. ALSO… if these books were good enough for Jesus, they’re good enough for you too.
I like this response, but to be honest, my thought is off thread…
I KNEW you were from Massachusetts!!!
 
"See that ye all follow the bishop, even as Christ Jesus does the Father, and the presbytery as ye would the apostles. Do ye also reverence the deacons, as those that carry out the appointment of God. Let no man do anything connected with the Church without the bishop. Let that be deemed a proper Eucharist, which is [administered] either by the bishop, or by one to whom he has entrusted it. Wherever the bishop shall appear, there let the multitude also be; by the bishop, or by one to whom he has entrusted it. Wherever the bishop shall appear, there let the multitude also be; even as, wherever Jesus Christ is, there is the Catholic Church." Ignatius of Antioch, Epistle to the Smyrneans, 8:2 (c. A.D. 110).

Understand that this is the first written record … whether other records existed before it and were lost we do not know, but it shows the Church was being called Catholic by the early second century at the latest.
And the way Ignatius uses it, it sounds as if it was in common usage at that time. It may have come from Luke, where this term is first used to describe the One Church founded by Christ.

Acts 9:31

31 So the **church throughout all **Judea and Galilee and Sama’ria had peace and was built up; and walking in the fear of the Lord and in the comfort of the Holy Spirit it was multiplied.

Acts 9:31
ekkleesía kath hólees
(from Interlinear Transliterated Bible)

👍
 
Just seems like so much heated debate here.
This is a forum, after all, to discuss and debate.

Your comment would be like someone going to a Cruciverbalist convention who says, “I can’t believe everyone loves to do crossword puzzles here!”
Why can’t we just accept that we’re all on the path laid out for us.
Even the Reverend Fred Phelps and the Westboro Baptist Church folks? Should we just accept their ideology espoused in the name of Christ?

Or do we have a duty to admonish, rebuke and correct?
Do you think Jesus would really argue over a brand name of faith?
I don’t think there’s any argument about brand names. Rather, errors and falsehoods that are being proclaimed must be corrected.
Or would he be more interested that we had love for one another, acceptance and brotherhood?
It is never loving to confirm someone in his error.
 
Oh, p-shaw, friend, p-shaw! 😊
Pr, I didn’t get the meaning of your words here, then I noticed the blush icon.
pshaw
Expression of humility. Similar to “aw, shucks”, “you’re too kind”, etc.

Pshaw: I’m not that good at it.

So many definitions;)🙂 but I like the above one.
I breathed relief, Whew!🙂

A joyful and a happy Christmas all!
Peace, Carlan
 
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