I would like for someone here to explain to me how, “Bible alone” and “personal interpretation” of the Bible… is a good thing.

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How in the world do many Protestants (in general) believe that they are following Christ’s instructions, base on Sola scriptura (Bible alone) and how can they believe that they are “Saved” by Sola fida (by Faith Alone), when they don’t have Holy Tradition and the Church to help guide them and help them to understand such things? How can anyone possibly understand Christianity today if they reject the Christianity of yesterday?

The only way to know what’s going on, is to have -
  1. Holy Scripture (the Bible)
  2. The Church (the Magisterium and the Pope)
  3. And Holy Tradition.
All three are important for a true understanding of Christianity.

Additionally, by having bad or flawed beliefs, like “personal interpretation”, which really messes things up and leads to all sorts of crazy beliefs, where every other non-Catholic Christian and Protestant has a different set of opinions, nobody knows what is meant by - Follow Christ.

More over, beliefs like, “Once Saved Always Saved” (OSAS), which equal a belief in ‘Predestination”, or a belief in Saved by Faith Alone and not by Faith, Grace and Works, is harmful, because they are both anti-Biblical and therefore, anti-Christian…

I do not understand why anyone would, by their own choosing, be Christian and not Catholic.

The only two explanations that I can come up with, is that they either “don’t know any better”; or, because of their own behavior, they have created a situation for themselves which would make it difficult to become a practicing Catholic.

I would like for someone here to explain to me how, “Bible alone” and “personal interpretation” of the Bible… is a good thing, when we all know that it has lead to much division and confusion.
 
Sorry, I left out one of the other possible reasons why a person might choose to be Christian and not Catholic and that would be because, they want God on their terms and not His terms…

In other words, the Catholic Church’s positions on many issues are too “rigid” or too “strict” for some people and they want the freedom to do what they think is right, so then they find a denomination, which matches-up with their own personal beliefs and current lifestyle…
 
Do you agree with this Martin Luther quote? -

“No sin can separate us from Him, even if we were to kill or commit adultery thousands of times each day.”
“Let Your Sins Be Strong: A Letter from Luther to Melanchthon”. – c.1521)

This is an excellent of - “personal interpretation” of the Bible gone wrong.
 
I can’t explain how it is a Good Thing, but I can illustrate how it is a Bad Thing.

What is stressed over and over again as the goal of the Christians’ social life, starting with Jesus in John 17? Unity–"…that they may be one as we are one." See also the first few verses of Eph. 4, and there are other citations as well.

I think it would be safe to say that something that would promote the unity of the Church (assuming it’s doctrinally correct) would be in the will of God, while something that would destroy that unity would be against the will of God.

Question: Do sola scriptura and personal interpretation promote Christian unity, or have they worked to destroy it?

'Nuff said, or do I have to spell it out?

DaveBj
 
I am really surprised that there are not any non-Catholic Christians and Protestants here, who believe in “personal interpretation”, jumping all over this.

If one believes in the doctrine of “personal interpretation”, then it must follow that they view it as a “good thing”, right?

So, then, people who believe in this doctrine, should be able to explain it and defend it, from a Christian standpoint, right.

Where are all the so-called believers? This question should be easy to answer.

Why is “personal interpretation” of the Bible “good”?

Anybody….anybody….

How about the belief in “Bible alone”? I don’t want to know if you believe it is correct, or if this belief is “good”, or “works for you”. I would like to know if, it is now and has been a “good thing” for every individual Christian worldwide and a good thing for Christianity, overall.

Anybody….anybody….
 
I’m opposed to personal interpretation, but I’m also opposed to the CC interpretation. I think both have caused problems at times.
 
Jimmy_B said:
Do you agree with this Martin Luther quote? -

“No sin can separate us from Him, even if we were to kill or commit adultery thousands of times each day.”
“Let Your Sins Be Strong: A Letter from Luther to Melanchthon”. – c.1521)

This is an excellent of - “personal interpretation” of the Bible gone wrong.
Click to expand...
Dear brother,

I can’t understand why anybody dared to make such conclusion. If a person keep going away from God, it means that such person make himself separate from God.
 
Jimmy_B said:
How in the world do many Protestants (in general) believe that they are following Christ’s instructions, base on Sola scriptura (Bible alone) and how can they believe that they are “Saved” by Sola fida (by Faith Alone), when they don’t have Holy Tradition and the Church to help guide them and help them to understand such things? How can anyone possibly understand Christianity today if they reject the Christianity of yesterday?

The only way to know what’s going on, is to have -
  1. Holy Scripture (the Bible)
  2. The Church (the Magisterium and the Pope)
  3. And Holy Tradition.
All three are important for a true understanding of Christianity.

Additionally, by having bad or flawed beliefs, like “personal interpretation”, which really messes things up and leads to all sorts of crazy beliefs, where every other non-Catholic Christian and Protestant has a different set of opinions, nobody knows what is meant by - Follow Christ.

More over, beliefs like, “Once Saved Always Saved” (OSAS), which equal a belief in ‘Predestination”, or a belief in Saved by Faith Alone and not by Faith, Grace and Works, is harmful, because they are both anti-Biblical and therefore, anti-Christian…

I do not understand why anyone would, by their own choosing, be Christian and not Catholic.

The only two explanations that I can come up with, is that they either “don’t know any better”; or, because of their own behavior, they have created a situation for themselves which would make it difficult to become a practicing Catholic.

I would like for someone here to explain to me how, “Bible alone” and “personal interpretation” of the Bible… is a good thing, when we all know that it has lead to much division and confusion.
Click to expand...
It is important to remember that not all Protestants believe all these things. A Lutheran doesn’t believe in Predestination og OSAS, for instance.

We believe that we are saved by faith alone, yes. We believe that good works are necessary for other humans, but not for God and our salvation. Nothing we can to will ever be good enough.

We do not believe in the sacred Tradition that dosn’t correspond with the Bible. However - we do take into account old traditions of how to interpret the bible, and we tend to interpret the Bible in accordance with modern exegesis.

I am a Lutheran and not a Catholic because I find the Lutheran theology to be in best accordance with the Bible.
 
Of course it is a bad thing if there are thousands of churches that contradict each others. How do i make sure that church got it correct but not that one?
 
Jimmy_B said:
I am really surprised that there are not any non-Catholic Christians and Protestants here, who believe in “personal interpretation”, jumping all over this.
Click to expand...
I would think it is because most all the threads started by you tend to be a blantant attack disguised as a question.

In this thread, for example, you appear to ask a question by using the poll, but the first post is telling us how it can’t possibly be a good thing to have personal interpretation. That is generally the standard Jimmy B thread.

Normally, your next post would be something to the effect that you aren’t trying to attack anyone, just want to know, but the attack is in the original post.
 
Frost said:
It is important to remember that not all Protestants believe all these things.
Click to expand...
Very true. They all can’t be right, either. There is only one truth.
Frost said:
A Lutheran doesn’t believe in Predestination og OSAS, for instance.
Click to expand...
But Calvinists do and they claim to be guided by the Holy Spirit when interpreting Scripture just like Lutherans. Both cannot be right.
Frost said:
We believe that we are saved by faith alone, yes.
Click to expand...
Would you be saved if you did not forgive someone that trespassed against you?
Frost said:
We believe that good works are necessary for other humans, but not for God and our salvation. Nothing we can to will ever be good enough.
Click to expand...
Good works are the results of God’s grace. Not from our own doings.
Frost said:
We do not believe in the sacred Tradition that dosn’t correspond with the Bible.
Click to expand...
How would you have done this in the year 107AD?
Frost said:
However - we do take into account old traditions of how to interpret the bible, and we tend to interpret the Bible in accordance with modern exegesis.
Click to expand...
So do all other Protestant denominations yet all disagree on some aspect of Scripture. Not all can be right.
Frost said:
I am a Lutheran and not a Catholic because I find the Lutheran theology to be in best accordance with the Bible.
Click to expand...
Maybe for now. Keep seeking the Truth and accept it no matter where it leads you. 😉
 
Jimmy_B said:
I am really surprised that there are not any non-Catholic Christians and Protestants here, who believe in “personal interpretation”, jumping all over this.

Too many interpretation. IMO I don’t think it can be explained. Everyone would have their own opinion/Holy Spirit response…
Click to expand...
 
Frost said:
We believe that we are saved by faith alone, yes. We believe that good works are necessary for other humans, but not for God and our salvation. Nothing we can to will ever be good enough.
Click to expand...
I’m sorry, I might be misunderstanding you, but this sounds like you’re saying that good works are necessary for everyone but Christians… Could you please clarify?
 
Personal interpretation has not been good for Christianity. It has lead to many heresies and schisms.

2 Peter 1:20 RSV First of all you must understand this, that no prophecy of scripture is a matter of one’s own interpretation,
2 Peter 1:21 RSV because no prophecy ever came by the impulse of man, but men moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God.

Also, scripture can be hard to understand so it is best to leave the intreprtation to the experts which is the bishops, priests, and the Pope.

2 Peter 3:16 RSV speaking of this as he does in all his letters. There are some things in them hard to understand, which the ignorant and unstable twist to their own destruction, as they do the other scriptures.
 
Holly3278 said:
Personal interpretation has not been good for Christianity. It has lead to many heresies and schisms.

2 Peter 1:20 RSV First of all you must understand this, that no prophecy of scripture is a matter of one’s own interpretation,
2 Peter 1:21 RSV because no prophecy ever came by the impulse of man, but men moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God.

Also, scripture can be hard to understand so it is best to leave the intreprtation to the experts which is the bishops, priests, and the Pope.

2 Peter 3:16 RSV speaking of this as he does in all his letters. There are some things in them hard to understand, which the ignorant and unstable twist to their own destruction, as they do the other scriptures.
Click to expand...
There is no prohibition against private interpretation of scripture in scripture.
 
sandusky said:
Holly3278;3830801:
Personal interpretation has not been good for Christianity. It has lead to many heresies and schisms.

2 Peter 1:20 RSV First of all you must understand this, that no prophecy of scripture is a matter of one’s own interpretation,
2 Peter 1:21 RSV because no prophecy ever came by the impulse of man, but men moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God.

Also, scripture can be hard to understand so it is best to leave the intreprtation to the experts which is the bishops, priests, and the Pope.

2 Peter 3:16 RSV speaking of this as he does in all his letters. There are some things in them hard to understand, which the ignorant and unstable twist to their own destruction, as they do the other scriptures.
Click to expand...
There is no prohibition against private interpretation of scripture in scripture.
Click to expand...
…I don’t even know where to begin.

It’s like you didn’t even read her post. The least you could do is challenge it, instead of acting like it went in one ear and out the other. What good is citing scripture to the misinformed if they simply stick their fingers in their ears and shout “l can’t hear you!!!” like a child?
 
cyberjacques said:
…I don’t even know where to begin.

It’s like you didn’t even read her post. The least you could do is challenge it, instead of acting like it went in one ear and out the other. What good is citing scripture to the misinformed if they simply stick their fingers in their ears and shout “l can’t hear you!!!” like a child?
Click to expand...
There is no prohibition against private interpretation of scripture in scripture.

Begin there.
 
sandusky said:
There is no prohibition against private interpretation of scripture in scripture.
Click to expand...
Now I know where the schizophrenic patients are coming from. I use to work in a pysch ward. I get this similar response from them. They so love and read the bible. Yet, they land in the court system, jail, prison, in the news (mostly due to crimes) and psych ward to be medicated because of their private interpretation and what the Holy Spirit had/is spoken/speaking to them. God bless them and have mercy on us.

Can somebody explain this to the victims, family and whoever is affected by this thinking and therefore behavior?. Perhaps another thread.
 
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