The Bible and the Catechism

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Hi all.

OK I was discussing some issues with a Protestant friend of mine and naturally the subject came upon Catholic Church doctrine and the Catechism. I said that it can’t go wrong because the Holy Spirit has protected the Church from corrupt doctrine.

He then asked, then why not just stick the Catechism into the bible then if it’s held so highly?

I said you can’t do that coz after all, in Revelations it is stated that you can’t add and subtract books however you like, and two, it’s supposed to be instruction whereas we read the bible for more wisdom and better understanding of a particular doctrine and as we do so, the Catechism may be developed over time with better understanding. And that they’re quite different in the sense that the Catechism is extremely definitive rather than inspired stories where hyperbole can make for very cloudy interpretation.

I keep thinking I may be wrong though. In which case, my bad, I’ll own up. Or if I’m not, can someone please help me out and give me a more rigourous answer.

God’s peace.
 
The Bible is inspired. The words therein are from God.

The catechism isn’t inspired. It is man’s word, not God’s word.

Even the most authoritative Church teaching is only infallible, not inspired. Infallibility isn’t the same as inspiration. Infallibility is a “negative” attribute – it doesn’t mean the Holy Spirit “puts words in the Church’s mouth,” it means only that the Holy Spirit prevents the Church from teaching doctrinal error. Scriputre is inspired, which puts it on completely different level. Scripture comes from God.

Nothing new can ever be added to God’s word, which consists solely of (1) Scripture, and (2) Apostolic Tradition (the preaching of the Apostles).
 
Gamera said:
The Bible is inspired. The words therein are from God.

The catechism isn’t inspired. It is man’s word, not God’s word.

Even the most authoritative Church teaching is only infallible, not inspired. Infallibility isn’t the same as inspiration. Infallibility is a “negative” attribute – it doesn’t mean the Holy Spirit “puts words in the Church’s mouth,” it means only that the Holy Spirit prevents the Church from teaching doctrinal error. Scriputre is inspired, which puts it on completely different level. Scripture comes from God.

Nothing new can ever be added to God’s word, which consists solely of (1) Scripture, and (2) Apostolic Tradition (the preaching of the Apostles).
Click to expand...
 
Gamera said:
The Bible is inspired. The words therein are from God.
The catechism isn’t inspired. It is man’s word, not God’s word.
Click to expand...
Inspired only means that the Holy Spirit moved human authors to write God’s word.

The Gospel Jesus taught and preached was not inspired, because it was not written. But, obviously since Jesus is God, the Gospel He taught was the word of God. The word of God handed down in Tradition, (apart from scripture)

The Gospel the apostles taught and preached was not inspired. But, since they learned the Gospel from Jesus (God) the Gospel they taught was the word of God. Jesus taught them “everything”.
It too was handed down in Tradition, (not written as scripture).
The four Gospels only claim to be narratives of the life of Jesus. They are scripture, and not to be confused with the Gospel the apostles taught and preached, though they contain some of their teachings.

The Catechism presents the Gospel the apostles taught and preached. Thus, the teachings in it are the word of God. The Catechism presents the living Tradition of the apostles. It presents the Gospel they taught and preached. Thus, since the Gospel comes from Jesus, (God) this Gospel the catechism presents is the word of God. It is not the Written word of God. Only scripture is the written word of God. But the teachings are the word of God, the word of God handed down in Tradition.
Since these teachings come from God, they are inerrant, (without error). They are the word of God, they are absolutely true, they can never change.
 
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