Joe370;
Eventfully there comes a point where we are each responsible for deciding what is true.
And maybe we will get it wrong. Just because fallible humans do not understand the Truth does not make the Truth untrue.
There are some main and plain things in Scripture and there are some difficult things also , but I have faith that one day ”I will know as I am known.”
Until that time, : I (and Protestants) go to Scripture to test the truth of beliefs.
We STUDY , compare scripture with scripture , we use 2000 years of chuch history, reason and experience, and yet as it says in Romans 14 , we may not all agree.
we work on the the assumption that true teaching will never contradict scripture.
This means that it is Scripture that determines if a church is true
It is the meaning Scripture that will determine the teachings of a church.
I Tester, “Test all things and hold fast to that which is good” (1 Thessalonians 5:21) and I examine the Scriptures every day to see what is true. (Acts 17)
I remember a quote that went something like this:
“ if “so and so” knows everything about God, well no offence to “so and so”; but I would think a lot less of God.”
You can insert whoever or whatever you want for “so and so”
So Protestants go to the for inerrant scripture for truth : where do Catholics go? The Magisterium?
There are some main and plain teachings from The Magisterium and there are some difficult teachings also : How do you know you interpreted their teachings correctly?
From James Akins below:
*
Catholics are not to privately interpret Scripture;
Catholics are not to privately interpret previous papal statements;
Catholics are not to privately interpret previous Magisterial statements; *
The protestant perspective is we go to the inerrant Bible as the source of infallible truth and you ask how are we sure it is being interpreted correctly?
The Catholic perspective is
**You go to the infallible Church has the source of infallible truth ; so I ask how you sure you are interpreting their teachings correctly? **
** from James Akin**
chnetwork.org/journals/nesschurch/ness_7.htm
*“Private Judgment?
What the radical traditionalists have forgotten is that** they are not the interpreters of previous papal statements; the Magisterium is, and their personal interpretations may not go against the authoritative teaching of the current Magisterium**.
The idea that they can by private conscience interpret centuries old papal decrees puts them in the same position as Protestants, interpreting centuries old biblical documents. The radical traditionalist simply has a larger “Bible,” but the principle is the same: private interpretation rules! This completely defeats the purpose of having a Magisterium, which is to provide a contemporary source that can identify, clarify, and explain previous authoritative statements, whether from the Bible, Apostolic Tradition, or itself
Much of the current flap over Feeneyism could be avoided if conservative Catholics would remind themselves of the fact that it is the Magisterium, not them and their private judgment, which is the interpreter of previous Magisterial statements,…”*
So whether it is Creeds or Councils or Confessions
Or whether it is the first Pope or the current Pope or previous papal statements
Or a past Magisterium or the current Magisteruim,
If Catholics are
“not the interpreters of previous papal statements; the Magisterium is”
And* “it is the Magisterium, not [Catholics] and their private judgment, which is the interpreter of previous Magisterial statements*,…”
When to you really know??
At what point do you have to decide what it means?
Peace 