This is interesting.
Flexibility that is inflexible based on any number of differing issues.
I have a feeling, ed, that if you were asked to articulate what exactly the CC teaches on any number of issues, and why she professes what she professes, you would not be able to provide any reasonable apologia for our teachings.
Can you tell me what the characteristics of the universal church is? How does one know he’s part of it, and what is the point of it being in the statement of faith if it is essentially meaningless?Jon, as I’ve posted before, the Protestant churches basically do follow the creeds, except where the word “catholic” has been distorted over the centuries by the Roman Catholic Church to refer only to- the Roman Catholic Church. I hold to the original meaning of the word “catholic,” meaning “universal,” as in “the universal church,” which like it or not is much larger than just the Roman Catholic Church.
As far as the CCC, it has been compiled by fallible human beings, just as the statement of faith documents of other Christian churches have. So any unpacking of the Nicene Creed that has been done by RC bishops is just as prone to error as unpacking of the Nicene Creed by any other body of diligent, devoted erudite Christian scholars.
I realize you are a new convert and full of zeal to defend the RCC, but I think you are being defensive where no defensiveness is warranted.The Roman Catholic Church is under attack from many quarters, however, it is not being attacked by me.
Any church ought to have a creed, a code and a cult. That is, a list of what it believes, a list of how we ought to act, and a way we worship.
No more or no less fallible than the men who comprise your magisterium, the USCCB, etc. scholarly and devout though they may be.
Then if this magisterium is fallible, how can you trust that the books in your NT are the correct ones, Faithdancer?No more or no less fallible than the men who comprise your magisterium, the USCCB, etc. scholarly and devout though they may be.
I’m not going to play the “not in my Bible” game. That cuts both ways.
It doesn’t really cut both ways since you say a tenant of your faith is sola Scriptura.No more or no less fallible than the men who comprise your magisterium, the USCCB, etc. scholarly and devout though they may be.
I’m not going to play the “not in my Bible” game. That cuts both ways.
We are on the same frequency! Identical simultaneous posts! I love being part of a church with such clear doctrine, history, and authority!
Perhaps you could tell me what you think these characteristics are, leaving aside those that are purely dogmatic for Roman Catholics, Orthodox, Lutherans and Anglicans, of course. What do you see as characteristics that all Trinitarian Christians have in common?
I couldn’t begin to tell you. That’s why I asked you.
I’m convinced that the Roman Catholic Church is a far different entity from the disparate group of Christians who compiled canonical Scripture in the first and second century. Further, there is a big difference between recognizing that Scripture is divinely inspired (“God-breathed”), and claiming divine inspiration for oneself. For example, I recognize the divine inspiration of Scripture, yet I do not claim divine inspiration for myself. I believe that that kind of divine inspiration went out of this world when the Apostle John died, given the generally held assumption that he was the last Apostle.
When did the Holy Spirit stop inspiring men to make important decisions in the church (like the New Testament). Did that stop when a fallible man founded your tradition?
Fair enough.
They were able to recognize the nature of the canonical New Testament writings (since the NT is what you’ve mentioned) as God-breathed, yes.
This is very Catholic.
So they were able to do this infallibly. Without error.
This, too, is interesting, in that you have trusted in the infallible Catholic Church to tell you this.
As George Whitefield put it: “I saw regenerate souls among the Baptists, among the Presbyterians, among the Independents, and among the Church [of England] folks–all children of God, and yet all born again in a different way of worship: and who can tell which is the most evangelical?”