I thought that somewhere it warned about the corruption of the Church within, like with the leaders, not with the dogmas or anything? Is it in Revelations?
That’s understandable so that the Church can remain safe-guarded.
None are led completely by the Holy Spirit, for all sin. If one is genuinely led by the Holy Spirit on a particular issue, chances are good he won’t be too far off from the Church’s position on that issue.
Matt. 16:18-19 ...you are Rock and on this Rock I will
build My Church ...I will give you the keys of heaven.
And whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven,
and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.Where the Church interpretation really comes in is when there is a dispute as to the interpretation of Scripture. That is why Jesus founded His Church, so that when there is a question, His Church can settle the dispute Authoritatively. If not for that, Christianity would begin to fracture and everyone’s opinion would lead them to start a new church every few months.
This would lead to chaos and within a couple of centuries there would be hundreds or even thousands of different denominations in contradiction to Jesus’ command that “they all may be on” as the Father and Jesus are one.Why do you think that the Holy Spirit is leading people as they read the Bible? This isn’t what Jesus said the Spirit was going to do. And if you take a good look at Christianity today you can see that this isn’t the case. The Holy Spirit can only lead peole to truth and there is only one truth. But there are countless versions of supposedly Spirit inspired Bible interpretations out there. The simple fact of the matter is where there is dissention there the Holy Spirit isn’t. The Holy Spirit is with the Church, the institution that has maintained the teachings of the Apostles for 2000 years.
Hi Nita!
I like reading and interpretting the Bible on my own but I’ll admit, I’m no scholar and don’t know it all by far. The Church is a sounding board to turn to for interpretation but I’m always curious what my Protestant brothers and sisters have to say too.Well, I guess one way to determine it would be to have a list of every Christian denominations interpretations of scripture and compare them all one by one.
Or, maybe one could make up a list of interpretations of scripture that they find problems with that the Catholic Church has and then look at all of those individually and again compare and contrast with all the other interpretations available to see what differs and why.
Or, one could eliminate all denominations that have ignored the teachings of Jesus that are in the Bible and leave who is left to compare and contrast with
Or, one could ask if there is anything contrary to scripture in their denomination and take it from there,
I dunno. There seems to be a variety of ways to tackle this subject. All leading back to one issue in the end really.
There is no contradiction in truth. Therefore anyone claiming to have interpreted scripture correctly yet is not in the Church that was founded by Christ is clearly running contradictory interpretations of scripture right off the bat. I know thats just my take on it and some or many will disagree and say I am wrong. I know, I used to be that person who objected so I expect it.
I also ask why would Christ have set up so many Christians for doom by leaving them with a Church he would have felt could steer them wrong. Surely Christ would not have set up so many Christians for so many years to be led astray like this. Surely he would not have wanted so many martyrs to lay down their very lives to preserve it and keep it going non stop since he left us with it. Surely the gates of hell have not prevailed as he promised, and therefore I go along with Christ, his Church and the Bible not used as my personal tool to read into it what I wish but in humble awe I accept what he gave us in totallity in unison whith all his gifts he gave us, not independent of those gifts. To do otherwise is to reject the very things he gave us, and that I shall never do as I am unworthy to recieve the gifts he freely gave us and should not grumble or complain or think I can find a loophole that suits me better.
I like to hear what our Protestant brothers and sisters have to say as well.I like reading and interpretting the Bible on my own but I’ll admit, I’m no scholar and don’t know it all by far. The Church is a sounding board to turn to for interpretation but I’m always curious what my Protestant brothers and sisters have to say too.
If I get conflicting interpretations or mixed feelings about something, I’m not hesitant to research it and find the Truth.
I don’t think I could use the Bible to be a teacher. I use it now for guidance and reassurance. I’ve had 12 years of Catholic education to fall back on and help guide me. The Bible is my “road atlas” through life and the CC is the navigator in the passenger seat telling me if where I’m going is the best way to get there.
It can be done but it’d be almost next to impossible and take a large amount of time. If denominations didn’t differ on interpretations, we’d all belong to one Church.
But alas, we are all brothers and sisters through Jesus Christ. Praised be to God for sending Him to redeem the world!!! :clapping: :bounce:
The Bible is such a vast field of knowledge and information that no matter how hard anyone studied, I don’t think anyone could be a bible scholar, unless they dedicated every waking moment to it.
superb comment…
Hence the saying "If God is your co-pilot… change seats"
I was trying to do an analogy like the “footprints in the sand” poem. Since I’m the one on the journey to Heaven, it’s nice to have God right beside me in the passenger seat. He’s the navigator telling me where to go.
I like that poem a lot. Remember though that there were times when the driver did not end up driving at all.I was trying to do an analogy like the “footprints in the sand” poem. Since I’m the one on the journey to Heaven, it’s nice to have God right beside me in the passenger seat. He’s the navigator telling me where to go.
Maybe my wording wasn’t the best. My mind tends to go faster than I can type.
Ya, I guess I forgot that part.
Again, my brain seems to be working at “half speed” these days for some reason. It’s the holidays. That’s my excuse for the rest of this month, anyways.