Sola Scriptura family problem

[jon_crj200]

I’m having a family problem: I don’t believe in sola scriptura. My family accuses me of “hating God’s word” and “not believing in God’s word” and even calling me an athiest! How should I respond to this with charity?

 

[Veritas41]

I’m having a family problem: I don’t believe in sola scriptura. My family accuses me of “hating God’s word” and “not believing in God’s word” and even calling me an athiest! How should I respond to this with charity?

First, pray for the grace to respond charitably and for wisdom. I would suggest looking up the verses in the Bible that show us that God’s Word isn’t limited to Scripture, the written Word:

2 Timothy 1:13-14, “What you *heard *from me, keep as the *pattern of sound teaching *with faith and love in Christ Jesus. Guard the good deposit that was entrusted to you–guard it with the help of the Holy Spirit who lives in us.”

2 Timothy 4:2, “Preach the Word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage–with great patience and careful instruction.” When this was written, about 30 years after the Crucifixion, there wasn’t a New Testament. The only “Scripture” was the Old Testament (which is what Paul is referring to in 2 Timothy 3:15) – so the “Word” he is telling Timothy to preach is,either confined only to the written Old Testament, or it is also oral Tradition (teaching of the apostles). It’s highly unlikely that 30 years after Christ’s death and resurrection that Timothy would be preaching only from the Old Testament and not preaching the oral teaching of the apostles.

2 Thessalonians 2:15, “So then, brothers, stand firm and hold to the teachings we passed on to you, *whether by word of mouth *or by letter.”

Matthew 2:23 mentions a prophecy of Christ that is found nowhere in the Old Testament.

God bless!

 

[thistle]

I’m having a family problem: I don’t believe in sola scriptura. My family accuses me of “hating God’s word” and “not believing in God’s word” and even calling me an athiest! How should I respond to this with charity?

In the first place you should ask your family (in a charitable manner) exactly what they mean by sola scriptura and ask them to show you where it says sola scriptura in the Bible.

catholic.com/thisrock/2004/0409fea3.asp
scripturecatholic.com/scripture_alone.html

 

[squeekster]

One thing I have found in my “travels” around internet message boards is that if you ask 50 Catholics what the definition of Sola Scriptura is, you will get 50 different answers.

 

[thistle]

One thing I have found in my “travels” around internet message boards is that if you ask 50 Catholics what the definition of Sola Scriptura is, you will get 50 different answers.

Catholics do not believe in sola scriptura. It is a Protestant thing and it is they who can’t seem to agree on a definition.
What is your definition of sola scriptura?

 

[Veritas41]

One thing I have found in my “travels” around internet message boards is that if you ask 50 Catholics what the definition of Sola Scriptura is, you will get 50 different answers.

that’s probably at least partly because among Protestants there are different understandings of what they mean by “sola scriptura”

 

[Sean_Boyle]

One thing I have found in my “travels” around internet message boards is that if you ask 50 Catholics what the definition of Sola Scriptura is, you will get 50 different answers.

Easy answer for this. Sola Scriptura isn’t described in the bible or implied nor is it taught by Christ or any of the apostles. Catholic’s aren’t taught what it really means because it has nothing to do with true faith. Making learning about Sola Scriptura meaningless and a waste of time.

 

[MrS]

I encounter similar situations with kids and grandkids…

I tell them that Catholics “should” be proclaiming Sola Dei Verbum… that we believe Only The Word of God.

Many Catholics have a 5th grade catechetical level, however. That only makes them untaught, not wrong.

So… Sola Dei Verbum

Now, we should have agreement with that

The difference is where do we find the Word of God?

Our non-Catholic brethren say it is only in the Scripture ( the collection of books given them through the Holy Spirit and the Catholic Church.

Catholics say we receive the Word of God from three sources.

Our Bible… our Traditions from which the Bible was written … and the Teaching Authority (Magisterium) of the Catholic Church.

Each come directly from Christ… and each one can be found in the other two.

 

[1ke]

I’m having a family problem: I don’t believe in sola scriptura. My family accuses me of “hating God’s word” and “not believing in God’s word” and even calling me an athiest! How should I respond to this with charity?

First, please clarify…

Are you a Catholic? If not, are you in the process of converting?

Are your family members making these statements Catholic? If not, what denomination are they?

 

[jon_crj200]

I am not Catholic, and I wouldn’t say I am in the process of converting (although I would like to). I’m only 16 at the moment, so I live under “their rules”.

We are members of the Church of Christ (the ones that use instruments), a part of the Stone-Campbell Restoration Movement. “No book but the Bible” is a part of their motto. I don’t agree with this, so my parents are not happy with it.

 

[alexaustralia]

I am not Catholic, and I wouldn’t say I am in the process of converting (although I would like to). I’m only 16 at the moment, so I live under “their rules”.

I do not know whether u have already been reading catholic literature against sola scriptura…I recommend it, at least it will broaden your view.

The only thing one can ever do is present reasonable answers to one’s beliefs. They may disagree with them but at least they will have to agree that you have done your homework. I encourage you to keep reading & learning about this topic.

BTW do not force your opinions trying to convince them you are right they are wrong. This kind of duality leads nowhere. It is somewhat OK in forums like this but with family ???

Best of luck

Alex

 

[jon_crj200]

Yes, I’ve done my homework, and I know what I am talking about and why. I just want to know how to respond to their statements about me not believing in the word of God (as the Bible).

 

[petra]

I’m having a family problem: I don’t believe in sola scriptura. My family accuses me of “hating God’s word” and “not believing in God’s word” and even calling me an athiest! How should I respond to this with charity?

I would point out to them that, in the most complete sense, the Word of God is Jesus. How can you hate the Word of God when you believe and hold to the entire deposit of faith passed from the Living Word to His apostles?

Sola scriptura takes a low view of Christ as Logos (the Word). Instead of recognizing Christ as the source of revelation, there is a disconnect between the life of Christ and the inspiration of the Holy Scriptures. The sola scriptura view is that revelation essentially occured at the time the scriptures were penned OR that the apostles only recorded the important teachings of Christ. What wasn’t recorded was, apparently, not important. Either way, it is a low view of the Word of God, which is Christ.

Whether this changes your family’s mind or not, hopefully they can see that your view holds the Word in a very high regard.

---

I just read recent posts that you are not a Catholic…my post above assumes that in your research, you have come to recognize Sacred Tradition as the deposit of faith that Jesus conveyed to His apostles. That would be the basis of fully acknowledging that Jesus is the source of revelation.

 

[mdcpensive1]

Nowhere in the Bible does it say that the Bible is the ONLY source of revelation. In fact, the Bible says that all that was said of Christ and by Him cannot be contained in a book. In fact, Sacred Tradition is where the Bible comes from. An amusing fact is that if the early Church did not have so many problems, St. Paul would not have written so many letters. I am sure God did not instigate so many problems in His Church that would require writings to solve them. In fact, not many people during the centuries after Christ and until the 16 and 1700’s could even read. This is why religious art and other religious icons were so important in how people related to God. They were something to see and appreciate since it was not possible for them to read.
Please understand that the Bible is a very important and Sacred text which tells us about Christ and His Church. But the purpose of it was not to be a catechism. The Holy Spirit continually gives insites to the Church about what Divine Revelation means to us so we may know more fully what His relationship is to us.
Hope this helps,
mdcpensive1

 

[RonRule]

You’ve been given some good advice so far.

They are defining the rules of the discussion:
“If you don’t agree with me on theories of authority (our version of Sola Scriptura) then you hate the Bible.”

Now, you can can argue against this. I would try to give other real-life examples of putting things in their proper place does not mean you “hate” them. This is like a Catholic saying Protestants hate Mary because they don’t venerate her properly.

Better than arguing: read and study and venerate the written Word of God. And pray for your family. =)

 

[quasimodo]

I recommend keeping your peace and opinions to your self while you live under your parents roof and eat their food.

keep studying and learning and praying. read scripture a lot too.

peace in their house is their right. do your part. be the best Christian you can be.
Just my opinion -

 

[JOE_OBERR]

I am not Catholic, and I wouldn’t say I am in the process of converting (although I would like to). I’m only 16 at the moment, so I live under “their rules”.

We are members of the Church of Christ (the ones that use instruments), a part of the Stone-Campbell Restoration Movement. “No book but the Bible” is a part of their motto. I don’t agree with this, so my parents are not happy with it.

I would ask them “please quote the bible verse that says to use ‘no book but the bible’”.

And another, “where does the bible say all christian doctrine and practice must be supported or found in the bible?”

Another question for them, maybe at another time, would be how do they know the bible is inspired since there is no inspired index of the books of the bible.

The truth of the matter is the first two above are man-made traditions which contradict God’s holy Word as found in the gospel as preached by the apostles and passed on by their successor bishops. 1520 marks the beginning of the currrent sola scriptura & sola fide movement which has had the effect of splintering Christianity into literally thousands of man-made denominations.

Without fully realizing it, more than likely, your family is not really using the authority of the bible but the authority of their preacher or pastor who is teaching them to follow a tradition of men which says to use the bible alone.

And finally, you can point out that in order to be saved we must hear the gospel as preached by the apostles who learned directly from Jesus. If we believe this gospel and are baptized we will be saved. If we reject it we will be condemned (Mt 16:15-16). These are the words of Jesus himself. If we say we have faith in Jesus we must believe everything he says, not pick & choose.

Then ask your family what book, chapter & verses of the bible claim to be a summary of this gospel preached by the apostles which we must believe in order to be saved. Answer: there are no bible verses claiming to summarize this gospel. Therefore the ONLY way to know this gospel is by listening to the Church Jesus founded, “the pillar and bulwark of truth” (1Tim 3:15).

The creed, the sacraments, commandments and prayer are what the apostles preached and taught. Their successor bishops under the leadership of the popes have transmitted this gospel from generation to generation for 2,000 years. These four “pillars” of the gospel can be found in the Catholic Church’s Roman Catechism (1566) and the new Cathechism (1993).

That is the purpose of catechisms, to teach doctrine. The bible was not written to teach doctrine, it is a narrative of salvation history, i.e., how God has intervened in history to save man.

Which is why the founders of modern day Protestantism immediately contradicted themselves when they said “the bible alone & faith alone”, and then turned around and wrote catechisms to teach their new man-made religions.

Joe

 

[justasking4]

Having Scripture without the church to guide and help us using Sacred Tradition…is like having a U.S. Constitution without a Supreme Court to intrepret it. Everyone would just be reading it and interpreting it on their own. We need divine guidance.

I’ve had this discussion with my catholic brother that says essentially what you claim here. If the Catholic church is the only one with the authority to interpret the scriptures faithfully, do they then have an offical interpreation of every verse in the Bible? This logically follows from an institution that makes such a claim

Christ came to earth to establish a Church…not write a book!

** Not entirely true. Jesus beleived in the OT scriptures and used His apostles and disciples to write down what He taught so that others would know. Without the scriptures, you don’t have the Christian church.**

(not my quote but someone told me this)

Not sure why your family thinks you don’t believe in the Bible but good luck with this. Pray for the Holy Spirit to guide you in what to say. Take care.

**Do catholics believe their “traditions and doctrines” are at the same level as the inspired-inerrant Scriptures? **

 

[tequilamac]

**Do catholics believe their “traditions and doctrines” are at the same level as the inspired-inerrant Scriptures? **

Absolutely. Without any doubt at all.

 

[Victorious]

I’ve had this discussion with my catholic brother that says essentially what you claim here. If the Catholic church is the only one with the authority to interpret the scriptures faithfully, do they then have an offical interpreation of every verse in the Bible? This logically follows from an institution that makes such a claim.

How would that be a problem?

** Not entirely true. Jesus beleived in the OT scriptures and used His apostles and disciples to write down what He taught so that others would know. Without the scriptures, you don’t have the Christian church.**

Where in the Bible does Jesus command His disciples to write everything down? If He did, they not only disobeyed but memorialized their disobedience at the end of John’s Gospel. John 21:25:

But there are also many other things which Jesus did; were every one of them to be written, I suppose that the world itself could not contain the books that would be written.

**Do catholics believe their “traditions and doctrines” are at the same level as the inspired-inerrant Scriptures? **

1 Timothy 3:13:

…the household of God, which is the church of the living God, **the **pillar and bulwark of the truth.