The Bible, the Church and Sucession

[sac7299]

As Catholics we believe that the Church was founded on and can be traced back to Peter and that the Church predates the Bible. How do Protestants (particularly Evangelicals) dispute these two facts?

Namely, if Protestants can acknowledge that the early Church predates the Bible and that it was through the early Church that the Bible is formed, how would they argue that this Church was not the Catholic Church as we know it today and as passed on from Peter? It seems as though those gathered for this task were clearly members of the Catholic Church as we know it today.

If they agree that it was the same Church fathers involved in all of this, where and how do they see the separation point between Jesus’ church and Jesus’ Church – between Catholic Christianity and non-Catholic Christianity? And how do they continue to account for sola scriptura given these facts?

Sorry if this seems like a bungle of questions, but ultimately it comes down to: what then do they believe of apostolic sucession, the nature of the “church”, and about those who were involved in deciding what books would become the Bible?

 

[dbacks5439]

As Catholics we believe that the Church was founded on and can be traced back to Peter and that the Church predates the Bible. How do Protestants (particularly Evangelicals) dispute these two facts?

Namely, if Protestants can acknowledge that the early Church predates the Bible and that it was through the early Church that the Bible is formed, how would they argue that this Church was not the Catholic Church as we know it today and as passed on from Peter? It seems as though those gathered for this task were clearly members of the Catholic Church as we know it today.

If they agree that it was the same Church fathers involved in all of this, where and how do they see the separation point between Jesus’ church and Jesus’ Church – between Catholic Christianity and non-Catholic Christianity? And how do they continue to account for sola scriptura given these facts?

Sorry if this seems like a bungle of questions, but ultimately it comes down to: what then do they believe of apostolic sucession, the nature of the “church”, and about those who were involved in deciding what books would become the Bible?

Well, to put it simply, they interpret the Bible differently than we do. For example, in Mt. 16:17-19, Jesus changed Simon’s name to Peter, or Petros. Using the languages of that time (Greek, for it was used to write the verse; and Aramaic, which Jesus spoke during that same verse), we can come to the conclusion that Jesus renamed Simon to Peter to set the foundation for which Peter is the Rock. Protestants view this passage differently, for whatever reason, and they arrive at a different conclusion. Read any dialogue between a Catholic apologist and a protestant, and you’ll see that the Catholic apologist will always point out the errors in the protestant’s interpretation. You then asked about the Church Fathers and such. I’m not sure who said this (I think it was John Henry Cardinal Newman), but he said that whoever is rooted in history cannot be an atheist. He also said that not 100 people hate the Catholic Church, but that millions hate what they misconceive as the Church as being.
My guess is that protestants can see the infallibility of our doctrines, but either they can't accept it or that they have a dislike for the Church because of how they were raised. I'm sure if protestants do away with the propaganda that fundamentalists put out, they will surely convert. We can surely pray tho!!!!!

 

[KnightforChrist]

             My guess is that protestants can see the infallibility of our doctrines, but either they can't accept it or that they have a dislike for the Church because of how they were raised. I'm sure if protestants do away with the propaganda that fundamentalists put out, they will surely convert. We can surely pray tho!!!!!

I have said this same thing before, got lambasted for it, but I still stand by it again, that many, and I will clarify this time, NOT ALL, believe many of the things they do because that’s all they know or were taught by others (who are in error) instead of doing a better job researching, reading and studying religious teachings from the true repository of the faith, the Catholic Church…