Thats just it. Its my understanding that when catholics defend their church they are doing so believing they are correctly interpreting what the catholic church teaches.
I am sure that we all do our best. The fact is, however, that there is one standard, and those of us that fall short of it are not Catholic to that extent. You have suggested that we use the commentary of scholars who do not adhere to the doctrines as a standard, and this is not a good method to use to evaluate the teaching of the Church.
If you mean by “This Teaching comes to us from Jesus through the Apostles, and that is why it is infallible” is the NT Scriptures then i agree. I don’t agree if by it you mean all its Traditions that cannot be found in the NT.
There is One Deposit of Faith that has come to us both in the Written and Oral form. It is not that the Sacred Traditions are 'not in the NT", it is more a matter of how what is written in the NT is to be understood and applied. All the doctrines of the Church are also found in the Scriptures. It is not appropriate to separate the two.
Where does the idea come from that the “Soul of the Church is the Holy Spirit”?
When Jesus breathed upon the disciples, and said “receive the HS”, the HS began to dwell within and among the believers. Jesus promised that this Spirit would guide them into all truth.
The Apostles did not need to rely upon their own fallible minds and souls to keep the Word pure, because the HS was there watching over the Word to perform it.
That would be great if only that were true. It has already been demonstrated a number of times where the catholic church has erred in a number of areas.
I think you are confusing the actions of fallible men, joined to the members of Christ’s Body, with the Infallible, Holy, and pure Bride of Christ. He upholds Her in HIs truth, and that is why she is pure.
If not, then perhaps you perceive error where none exists, as seems to be the case when you state that the sons of Ishmael do not worship the God of Abraham.
That is absolutely true. That’s why any claim of infalliblity by any church is absurd.
You are mixing apples and oranges, ja4. Fallible men can do perfect things. This is how God used fallible men to write, preserve, and canonize the Bible. Fallible men can make infallible decisions, too. This is not done by their own power or ability, but by the grace of God. When you say things like this, you indict your own Scriputure, which came through fallible men. You also show that you are unaware of the true nature of the Church, since you deny that She has divine, holy, and pure elements.
No the scriptures are not in error but i could be just as you could be since no man is infallible. However this statement in Acts 9:5 is not specifically referring to the church but to the followers of Christ.
3 But
Saul was ravaging the church, and entering house after house, he dragged off men and women and committed them to prison. Acts 8:3
Acts 9:1
9:1 But Saul, still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord,
Acts 9:3-7
4 And he fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to him, “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?” 5 And he said, “Who are you, Lord?” And he said, “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting; 6 but rise and enter the city, and you will be told what you are to do.”
You are wrong, ja4. The community of the disciples of the Lord is the Church, and the Church is the Body of Christ. Jesus identifies Himself completely with the Church.
Col 1:18
18 He is the head of the body, the church;"
This distinction needs to be kept in mind since if we say it is a direct reference to the church then this would bring shame on the name of Christ (look at the history of the catholic church). Secondly, the church is also composed of unbelievers who in reality are not of the true church i.e. those who have truly professed Christ.
I agree that a distinction needs to be kept in mind that the Church is much more than just the fallible members of her that are here on earth. I also agree that believers, when they do not follow the commandments, do bring shame to the name of Christ. however, to lay this at the feet of Christ is wrong. And secondly, there are no unbelievers in the Church. The Church is the Body of Christ, and one can only be a member of the body by grace, through faith. Yes, there are people that sit in the pews that don’t believe. They are not part of the Body. This is why we say it is a mystical body, only the Lord knows who are His. Unbelief automatically places one outside the Church.
Not so. The catholic church is one of the worst violators of this principle. If it took this principle seriously and let it guide it in the formation of doctrine and practice it would never arrive at many of its unbiblical doctrines and practices.
The Catholic method of arriving at doctrine is certainly different than the modern innovation of Sola Scriptura. All the doctrines of the Church come from Jesus through the Apostles, including the Scripture, which came after the Teachings. They may seem unbibilical to those that do not understand one, or the other.
So you agree then that the unity that Christ prayed for is absent in the catholic church also since this is also true of the catholic church? Surely we would agree that catholics themselves are not in perfect unity with the catholic church?
The unity that Christ prayed for does exist. Those that are not in unity on the Doctrine are not in perfect unity. To a greater or lesser degree, our separated brethren are more or less a part of that unity. The perfected part of the Church has no disunity whatsoever.
So the bottom line is that you and other catholics have no source you can go to if you want to know the correct interpretation of a verse or passage?
The bottom line is that Jesus taught the truth as a unified whole, not by verses, or passages. When Catholics want to know what is correct, we can go confidently to the TEachings of the Church, which preserve what Jesus taught.
Even though you believe that the Scriptures are to be understood as a whole, you cannot tell if the details are used properly to fit the whole since you don’t know the correct individual meaning of a given verse.
Sure we do! Each individual verse and passage is correctly understood when it is seen in the light of the Teachings of Jesus.
The TEachings came first, and the Scripture after, but they are both from the same infallbile source. That is why there is no contradiction betwee the two.
This puts you at a serve disadvantage in understanding the scriptures and it also points to why so many catholics are incapable of discerning the doctrines and practices of their church is biblical or not.
Knowledgable Catholics have the advantage of knowing that NONE of the Doctrines of the Church are “bible based”. All of the Teachings come from Jesus. Some of these have been committed to writing in the NT, and other Apostolic writings. It is the Teachings that formed the NT, and not the other way around.
