Please provide chapter and verse that states this.
Bolding is mine. You say we should use Scripture to decide the truth on an issue. Let’s do that. Turn to 1 Tim. 3:15. What does it say is the pillar and bullwark of truth?
God is beyond time and space. The Church has never declared how long someone might be in purgatory. It might be instantaneous or it might be 1,000 years. We don’t know and the Church has never claimed to know.
This way of thinking is very Catholic also.
How do you know the “authoritative stamp of God” is not behind them? What is the “authoritative stamp of God?”
How do you know? Who told you this? How do you know the writer of the Book of John was John? How do you know who wrote the Book of Matthew? Or Mark? Or 3 Peter? How do you know who wrote ANY books of the Bible?
Very true! He did this through the Church He established - the Catholic Church.
How do you explain the change in the Church’s long standing belief that those who die without being baptized are separated from God forever. This included all non-Catholics also. Which position are we to hold as sound doctrine?
I am so glad you asked. If you are truly interested in this then go to the link I am providing and read it. Here is a snippet from the article:
Link
You are quite welcome.
There is none. However only the Scriptures are inspired-inerrant and therefore qualify as the only ultimate source of authority for Christians.
The church. Which church is Paul referring to? Does he mention the Roman Catholic church or the Orthodox Church?
does he have to? The first Church was the Roman Catholic Church… No other “Christian church” existed at that time…
The Bible does not use the word purgatory any more than it uses the word Trinity. But just as it gives what is described by the word Trinity when we are told to baptize in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, so it gives what is described by the word purgatory when it tells us that souls not bad enough for hell, and not good enough for heaven, will be purified after death in order to fit them for heaven. Thus St. Paul tells us in I Corinthians III., 15, that the soul which does not satisfactorily stand the test of judgment will be saved, but so as by fire. Whatever the nature of the fire of purification, it will mean a cleansing by suffering as opposed to the pleasures of the sins rendering it necessary.
How do you know this?
The only Christian Church that existed at the time. Later, in the year 107AD, St. Ignatius of Antioch named this Christian Church the Catholic Church. “Roman” is of the Latin Rite of the entire Catholic Church. There are 22 Rites.
Paul? Why he was referring to the J Witnesses of course
I appreciate deeply the tone and manner of your writings. This means a lot to me. I respect your Christian fervour and value this highly.Thank you for taking the trouble to come back to me with passages and verses from the Bible as your “proof”. I appreciate this. I myself am very amateur in my Faith but I try to learn as much as possible. However something I only read recently is this about st Peter’s warning about those who are “ignorant” of how to correctly interpret the Bible:
“There are some things in them (ie the writings of St Paul) hard to understand, which the ignorant and unstable twist to their own destruction, as they do the other scriptures.” (2 Peter 3:16)
So I urge you, as I myself will do, to study this topic prayerfully and carefully. I am sure if we do that we will both gain something valuable.
It is morning here and I have a lot of things to do but I will come back with a carefully prepared answer later today.
Cheers
Cinette
First of all, I want to say I am impressed with the effort and thought you have put into your reply. I share with you a desire to know the truth and to be faithful to Christ.…CONTINUED
Rev 22:18-19 : When John speaks of “adding” or “taking away”, he is referring only to the Book of Revelation. The Catholic Church has done neither. But Protestants have removed (taken away) 7 books and parts of Books of the OT. Interestingly, at Qumran, the Dead Sea Scrolls discovered in 1947 contained all the Books of the Catholic (Septuagint/Greek) OT in HEWBREW.
1 Peter 4:11 : “Whoever speaks” : Again this refers to the oral (spoken) Word, disproving sola scriptura.
Psalm 119:59-60 “Testimonies” here could mean either the written OT or the Oral Talmud. It is no proof of sola scriptura in Judaism.
Romans 15:4 : The text only says that what was written in former days, was written for our instruction and encouragement – to which we shout “Amen” – but it does not say that what was written is “sufficient” for us for salvation. It is no proof of sola scriptura. When Paul’s Letter to the Romans was written in 57-58 AD, not all of the NT had yet been written. The “written” referred to by Paul is the OT.
2 Tim 3:15-17 : This was written in 75AD. Not all of the NT had yet been written, and the Bible was only discerned and put in one Book near the end of the 4th century. The writings Timothy was “acquainted with” was the OT! To say they are able to instruct us for salvation is not the same as saying the Scripture is ALL we need, or sufficient for salvation Verse 16: “ALL Scripture is inspired” is not the same as saying ONLY Scripture is inspired! ALL and ONLY do not mean the same thing; the text merely says that the whole of the Bible is indeed inspired, but it does not mean that ONLY the Bible is inspired! It allows for other inspired truths, not written.
I would also recommend you get “Where is that in the Bible” by Patrick Madrid. As I have said this book and the other recommended above are nice pocket sized books. There is also “Where is that in Tradition? Pope Fiction” They are all well researched and extremely readable.
Craig, kindly read this and comment - unlike some posters who are only bent on arguing and go round in circles and there is never any progress.
The church universal (catholic) built upon the foundation of the New Testament prophets and apostles is the pillar and bullwark of the truth.
Please give me documented and credible evidence that Christ founded the Roman Catholic Church as an institution.
What is it with posters of this sort?. They start a thread which they know the Catholics out there would jump on, then they don’t post anything after that.
