The Berean Call???

[WesleyF]

Over the years Protestants have used new and innovative arguments to justify their doctrine of Sola Scriptura. One such argument is that the Berean Jews examined the scriptures everyday (Acts 17:11).

How does that prove sola scriptura? And if it does, I would like to know where it is stated that the Berean Jews are a role model for Christians. Where is it stated that we are “called” to be like the Bereans?

Please read this article.

catholic.com/thisrock/1997/9703fea3.asp

 

[Departed_Light]

The application of the these verses of Sacred Scripture by this single non-Catholic Christian who is a leader of no community and is subject to much error is to turn to the same Sacred Scriptures to see if claims made by anyone are sound or worthy of contemplation and or acceptance.

Didn’t the Church Fathers in the first council of Nicea do the exact same thing when confronting the heresies of Arius?

Examining Scripture is a very Christian thing to do, thus it is a very Catholic thing to do.

Why fight that? I think it was a very prominent Catholic theologian that said something to the effect of, “Ignorance of Scripture is ignorance of Christ.”

Why can’t Catholics rejoice that their brothers and sisters in Christ that follow a non-Catholic tradition delve deeply into the written word of God? Is Christ not present to the reader of Sacred Scripture? Does God not inhabit the praise of His people?

Why does everything have to be a “Gotcha!”?

Come, let us pray together …

 

[uxordepp]

Over the years Protestants have used new and innovative arguments to justify their doctrine of Sola Scriptura. One such argument is that the Berean Jews examined the scriptures everyday (Acts 17:11).

How does that prove sola scriptura? And if it does, I would like to know where it is stated that the Berean Jews are a role model for Christians. Where is it stated that we are “called” to be like the Bereans?

My short answer would be that it doesn’t prove Sola Scriptura, because that doctrine is not scripturally defensible.

I would also politely disagree that new and innovative ways are used to prove SS. Usually the arguments are just a re-hashing of old, tired arguments. I recently read an anti-Catholic screed from the 19th century and was amazed at how little things have changed!

 

[guanophore]

The application of the these verses of Sacred Scripture by this single non-Catholic Christian who is a leader of no community and is subject to much error is to turn to the same Sacred Scriptures to see if claims made by anyone are sound or worthy of contemplation and or acceptance.

Didn’t the Church Fathers in the first council of Nicea do the exact same thing when confronting the heresies of Arius?

Examining Scripture is a very Christian thing to do, thus it is a very Catholic thing to do.

Why fight that? I think it was a very prominent Catholic theologian that said something to the effect of, “Ignorance of Scripture is ignorance of Christ.”

Why can’t Catholics rejoice that their brothers and sisters in Christ that follow a non-Catholic tradition delve deeply into the written word of God? Is Christ not present to the reader of Sacred Scripture? Does God not inhabit the praise of His people?

Why does everything have to be a “Gotcha!”?

Come, let us pray together …

Of course it is great that our separated brethren love the Scriptures. The reason we have trouble rejoicing when they examine them outside of what the Apostles believed and taught (Catholic Sacred Tradition) is that it spawns all kinds of heresies. The Bereans were “more noble” than others who heard the Word because they “received with eagerness” the teaching of the Apostle. When they examined the scriptures, they did so in the light of what the Apostle had preached to them.

Nowadays, our separated brethren often do the opposite. They refues the Teaching of the Apostles preserved in the Church, and go off examining the scriptures in the light of all manner of heresies, or in their own private interpretations. They are the opposite of the Bereans, since they do not receive the Teaching from the Church with eagerness. On the contrary, they often assume that what the Catholic Church teaches is wrong, and read the scripture with an eye toward confirming their presupposition. I speak from experience, as I spent many years doing it myself.

 

[spoiltvictorian]

Yes, that is the difference. The Bereans looked for the authority of the apostle and the authority of Scriptures to agree. Paul was the new authority, after all. And he was specifically appealing to the Old Testament Scriptures, so the Bereans, being faithful, looked to the Jewish scriptures to verify what Paul was saying. And when they verified that Jesus indeed fulfilled the prophecies of the Christ, they believed. At all times during this story they remained under the authority of the Church and the pre-Church - first as Jews and then as Christians.

*"they came to Thessalonica, where there was a Jewish synagogue. 2As his custom was, Paul went into the synagogue, and on three Sabbath days he reasoned with them from the Scriptures, 3explaining and proving that the Christ[a] had to suffer and rise from the dead. "This Jesus I am proclaiming to you is the Christ," he said. "

Then later in the chapter Paul preaches the same way to the Bereans:

"the brothers sent Paul and Silas away to Berea. On arriving there, they went to the Jewish synagogue. 11Now the Bereans were of more noble character than the Thessalonians, for they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true. "*

 

[happilycatholic]

Well first of all it doesn’t take a Bible scholar to figure out that Paul isn’t saying the Bereans were practicing SS because they would never have seen Christ in the OT prophesies as the Messiah without the guidance of Paul and the Church.

What Paul is evidentally teaching them is the importance of 1.) Apostolic Authority and 2.) Trusting Apostolic Authority based upon proof in the OT. Paul is saying 'listen to me and then validate what I’m saying with the use of Scripture.

Paul gives them credit because they ‘got it’. He wasn’t so nice to the Corinthians the first time.