Protestants believe the bible is infallible?

[John_Paul_III]

Its kind of interesting that all Protestants will believe that the Bible is the infallable word of God, even with all the bible versions out on the market today. But when it comes to the Church and Papacy they cannot understand that the Church in fact holds the infallibility.

Do we as a Church have a responsiblity to address each of these heresies that are taught in other churches?

Do we have an active organization that does such a thing?

 

[shannin]

First of all, we should pray for them and be good examples of our faith. Sadly, some Catholics, including me, are poor examples.

We can study the Bible and apologetics and arm ourselves with correct answers to their questions about the Church.

Our faith is so much richer and deeper than just being able to quote exact Bible verses and using those verses as weapons. The Bible came from the Catholic Church and I’ll take the Church’s interpretations of the Bible any day before a Fundamental Protestant

 

[thistle]

CCC107:
The inspired books teach the truth. "Since therefore all that the inspired authors or sacred writers affirm should be regarded as affirmed by the Holy Spirit, we must acknowledge that the books of Scripture firmly, faithfully, and without error teach that truth which God, for the sake of our salvation, wished to see confided to the Sacred Scriptures

 

[shannin]

thistle:

CCC107:
The inspired books teach the truth. "Since therefore all that the inspired authors or sacred writers affirm should be regarded as affirmed by the Holy Spirit, we must acknowledge that the books of Scripture firmly, faithfully, and without error teach that truth which God, for the sake of our salvation, wished to see confided to the Sacred Scriptures

True, but Protestants have so many different interpretations of the Bible

 

[puzzleannie]

I believe most Protestants would say that the Bible is inerrant, not infallible.

 

[SolaChristo]

John Paul III:

Its kind of interesting that all Protestants will believe that the Bible is the infallable word of God, even with all the bible versions out on the market today. But when it comes to the Church and Papacy they cannot understand that the Church in fact holds the infallibility.

Do we as a Church have a responsiblity to address each of these heresies that are taught in other churches?

Do we have an active organization that does such a thing?

I believe that the bible is the inspired inerrant word of God.
According to Vatican ll the Roman Catholic Church teaches that the bible is the inspired inerrant word of God.

 

[Fidelis]

puzzleannie:

I believe most Protestants would say that the Bible is inerrant, not infallible.

Actually, in my experience, most Protestants say (erroneously, as Karl Keating has pointed out) that the Bible is infallible. In fact, it is inerrant.

What’s the difference? Infallible implies that something can take an action that can either fail or succeed. If something is infallible, it cannot fail in it’s actions. A book, even an inspired one, cannot take action on it’s own. That is why, for example, we say the Pope is infallible under certain conditions when he speaks on faith and morals-- when teaching in this restricted capacity, he cannot teach error.

(I know you know this, Puzzleannie–this was just for the benefit of others who might not know).

 

[Contarini]

John Paul III:

Its kind of interesting that all Protestants will believe that the Bible is the infallable word of God, even with all the bible versions out on the market today. But when it comes to the Church and Papacy they cannot understand that the Church in fact holds the infallibility.

First of all, not all Protestants believe that the Bible is infallible, and the majority of us who do believe it would differ on just what that means.

In the second place, talking about an infallible/inerrant book is very different from talking about an infallible teaching office. They are two completely different things–which is why many Catholics on these boards say that you should use “inerrant” for the Bible and “infallible” for the Church. (This is confusing to Protestants, because many of us have developed the habit of saying that the Bible is “infallible” rather than “inerrant” to distinguish our position from that of those who believe that every scientific/historical detail in the Bible is necessarily accurate. But that’s a side issue.)

You can’t deduce an infallible Church from an infallible Bible. This argument only works if you think infallibility is necessary in order for us to know the truth. But that’s downright silly, however seductive such a line of thinking may be in an era of doubt and confusion like ours. We believe the Bible is infallible/inerrant in the sense that it is free from error in what it teaches concerning our salvation (recognizing that others would hold stricter definitions–but this is the minimal definition, I think). But we don’t think we can identify some kind of process that will inevitably produce a true result. The Bible was recognized to be free from error in retrospect–as, in a more limited sense, were certain Christian councils. The Protestant *and Orthodox *criticism of “Roman” Catholicism is that you guys have invented an “infallible magisterium” that can be relied on to produce true answers under conditions that you claim to be able to specify beforehand (though in practice the specifications look awfully dodgy). That isn’t anything like the infallibility/inerrancy of the Bible.

Edwin

 

[elvisman]

Contarini:

The Protestant *and Orthodox *criticism of “Roman” Catholicism is that you guys have invented an “infallible magisterium” that can be relied on to produce true answers under conditions that you claim to be able to specify beforehand (though in practice the specifications look awfully dodgy). That isn’t anything like the infallibility/inerrancy of the Bible.

Edwin

Actually, we didn’t “invent” the infallible magesterium - JESUS DID, when he told the apostles that his Holy spirit would lead them into ALL truth and that the Father would take from what was the Son’s and declare it to them. - John 16:12-15.
You see, Jesus had a funny way of speaking - he told the TRUTH.

As for fallible and infallible I have heard many prominent Protestant apologists describe their belief in the Bible as “a fallible collection of infallible books”. You see, that way, they can get around the authority of the Catholic Church.

"Ignorance of the Scriptures is ignorance of Christ." - St. Jerome

 

[Philthy]

Contarini:

We believe the Bible is infallible/inerrant in the sense that it is free from error in what it teaches concerning our salvation (recognizing that others would hold stricter definitions–but this is the minimal definition, I think). But we don’t think we can identify some kind of process that will inevitably produce a true result.
Edwin

Well that is fairly useless since the bible only “teaches” in the sense that you read what it says, make assumptions based on often vague, descriptive statements and then deduce what you believe “it” teaches. That’s called forming an opinion, not being taught, and not necessarily arriving at the truth.

 

[tamccrackine]

Contarini:

You can’t deduce an infallible Church from an infallible Bible.
Edwin

So how do you deduce as to where the Bible came from in the first place?

The American Heritage Dictionary:
inerrant: adj 1. incapable of error; infallible

infallible: 3. Roman Catholic Church. Incapable of error in expounding doctrine on faith or morals. [Middle English, from Medieval Latin ºnfallibilis : Latin in-, not; see IN-1 + Medieval Latin fallibilis, fallible; see FALLIBLE.]

I don’t see your dichotomy, but I see the Catholic Church’s.
Theresa