So one Protestant comes to a Catholic

[CarloMagnus]

And he tells him that the Messianic concepts are all fake because of these verses. He first states that Hosea, from the book of Hosea, the minor prophet, was talking about Israel coming out of Egypt, not Jesus. Then he points out to these verses to signify that there is no soul. And that life is meaning, or God-knows-what.

Eccl 9:5

Psalms 115:17

Psalms 146:4

Isaiah 38:18-19

He tried to explain to the best of his ability, which is limited. But maybe someone here can help.

-Karl

 

[Della]

And he tells him that the Messianic concepts are all fake because of these verses. He first states that Hosea, from the book of Hosea, the minor prophet, was talking about Israel coming out of Egypt, not Jesus. Then he points out to these verses to signify that there is no soul. And that life is meaning, or God-knows-what.

Eccl 9:5

Psalms 115:17

Psalms 146:4

Isaiah 38:18-19

He tried to explain to the best of his ability, which is limited. But maybe someone here can help.

-Karl

Our Catholic friend needs to read his Catechism on biblical interpretation:

The four ways of interpreting Scripture: #s 115-119.

The senses of Scripture
115 According to an ancient tradition, one can distinguish between two senses of Scripture: the literal and the spiritual, the latter being subdivided into the allegorical, moral and anagogical senses. The profound concordance of the four senses guarantees all its richness to the living reading of Scripture in the Church.
116 The literal sense is the meaning conveyed by the words of Scripture and discovered by exegesis, following the rules of sound interpretation: "All other senses of Sacred Scripture are based on the literal."83
117 The spiritual sense. Thanks to the unity of God’s plan, not only the text of Scripture but also the realities and events about which it speaks can be signs.

1. The allegorical sense. We can acquire a more profound understanding of events by recognizing their significance in Christ; thus the crossing of the Red Sea is a sign or type of Christ’s victory and also of Christian Baptism.84
2. The moral sense. The events reported in Scripture ought to lead us to act justly. As St. Paul says, they were written “for our instruction”.85
3. The anagogical sense (Greek: anagoge, “leading”). We can view realities and events in terms of their eternal significance, leading us toward our true homeland: thus the Church on earth is a sign of the heavenly Jerusalem.86
   118 A medieval couplet summarizes the significance of the four senses:
   The Letter speaks of deeds; Allegory to faith;
   The Moral how to act; Anagogy our destiny.87

119 "It is the task of exegetes to work, according to these rules, towards a better understanding and explanation of the meaning of Sacred Scripture in order that their research may help the Church to form a firmer judgment. For, of course, all that has been said about the manner of interpreting Scripture is ultimately subject to the judgment of the Church which exercises the divinely conferred commission and ministry of watching over and interpreting the Word of God."88
But I would not believe in the Gospel, had not the authority of the Catholic Church already moved me.89

 

[StLudmilla]

This post just made me so glad to be Catholic!! Thank goodness for Church Tradition.
Because of it, we never have to get into a crisis of faith like the poor Protestant fellow at his presumption of contradiction in the bible. All we have to do is open our catechism or ask a priest or find a Church Father who commented on the above passages.

Maybe you’d be better off discussing the problems of sola scriptura with your protestant friend.

Pax