What you have said certainly seems to be spot on. I think Martin Luther, if he were here today, would be terribly disappointed with the way sola scriptura is so badly abused, but that is what happens when you make the bible the final authority, as opposed to the church founded by God.
Wasn’t that verse your sig at one time?
Yes! Excellent memory.
To my understanding the interpretation of the literal sense (what the author sought to convey and how the recipients of the authors time would of understood it) of very few verses if any have ever been officially interpreted by the Church. Doctrine based on scripture is another matter. It is not uncommon to have two Catholics debate over the interpretation of a passage of scripture where one is disguising their interpretation as Church Doctrine when in reality the conflict is between two competing scholarly interpretations. It is an oversimplified view by non-Catholics to understand this process as Catholics being guided by private interpretation in relation to official doctrine(eg The doctrine that God created the world does not include how it was created ) The type of private interpretation that the Church rejects are those that go against or deny official Church pronouncements or the Creeds.
Joe,Jon, maybe I am wrong about Martin Luther and tradition, I hope. Did ML embrace tradition? Could you maybe furnish some quotes by ML embracing tradition?
For context, here’s the article
No biggie; take your time; I know you have other things going on.
Wow, that is interesting *(Now if Christianity exists under the pope, it must be Christ’s true body and members. If it is His body…) *- but he did not mention holy tradition as he does with holy scripture. I will read the article.
joe370 Good post… I agree with you… To be a believer in “Scripture ALONE” you are forced to reject the scriptures!The teaching office of the apostolic church founded by Jesus, and the other books of the NT agree with that. Peter said: And I will make every effort to see that after my departure you will always be able to remember these things…But there were also false prophets among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you. They will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the sovereign Lord who bought them—bringing swift destruction on themselves. Many will follow their depraved conduct and will bring the way of truth into disrepute. In their greed these teachers will exploit you with fabricated stories. Their condemnation has long been hanging over them, and their destruction has not been sleeping.
In his first letter, he said:
Clearly teachers are necessary, and said teachers belonging to the church founded by God, just as was the case in the 1st century, continue to possess the charism needed to infallibly teach, but that’s just my opinion, and Paul reminds us that we must defer to their authority:
*“Have confidence in your leaders and submit to their authority, because they keep watch over you as those who must give an account.”
*
Hence the OP, which says: I am still being told, here at CAF, that my understanding of sola scriptura is lacking, so I guess I am still attempting to learn…
Well, consider this, Joe. In both his large and small catechisms,he gives commentary about the Apostle’s Creed, clearly part of Tradition. And this, on the real presence:No biggie; take your time; I know you have other things going on.
Wow, that is interesting *(Now if Christianity exists under the pope, it must be Christ’s true body and members. If it is His body…) *- but he did not mention holy tradition as he does with holy scripture. I will read the article.
Thanks Jon.
Jon
JL: I think you are rigtht Fbl, that begs the question, how does Rightly Dividing know when he is rightly dividing the word of God?
When it matches his tradition.