Who makes up the rules in a Protestant Church.

[rinnie]

After my last question to someone on another thread, I thought this would be an interesting discussion.

We know that in the RCC there are many rules and obligations. They are all the commands of God and have been from the beginning of the Church on the day of Pentecost.

Now who makes up the rules in the Protestant Church’s? Is it not the Preacher and how he interprets thing’s.

Example, You must eat the bread from heaven to have eternal life. Which means you must have the living bread from Heaven which is the Eucharist. Its quite simple.

Now hit a Protestant church. Some say yes, but then can’t tell you how to get it. Some say NO , its a symbol?

So how can a Protestant Church be the One True Church if they all have Different teachings?

 

[lizaanne]

So how can a Protestant Church be the One True Church if they all have Different teachings?

It can’t.

~Liza

 

[silicasandra]

It can’t.

~Liza

Exactly.

Though many of the churches I attended growing up asserted that ONLY THAT church had the fullness of Truth and ONLY THAT church’s members would be saved. These were non-denominational churches so they didn’t belong to any group at all and had no oversight whatsoever. And as soon as the pastor disagreed with somebody, that somebody would go “start” his own church and the same thing would happen again.

I’ve also experienced churches where people didn’t focus too much on it. You were supposed to “read the Bible and figure it out for yourself,” but that says nothing of the multitudes of translations and interpretations based on those translations that can conflict with each other! But that point seemed to be ignored.

 

[YoungTradCath]

There are as many Protestant interpretations of Christianity as there are Protestant churches. About the closest thing to a real unified Protestant sect would be the Anglicans/Episcopalians. Visit your local Baptist church. Then visit another one. I guarantee that they will differ GREATLY in their teachings/beliefs.
Part of that stems from the decentralization characteristic of Protestant churches. Another major contributing factor for the huge spectrum of belief is that most Protestant churches get to pick and choose who their “pastor”/“preacher”/“minister” is. And, if Mr. Pastor says something that the congregation doesn’t like, they can just fire him, even if he’s right!
It’s all horrible, from a Catholic perspective, really.

 

[Will_B]

Who makes up the rules?

Good question… Depends on the Protestant Denomination.

Some have an organization with rules to follow, others don’t.

Some will say they get their authority from the bible… Now, ask a Protestant where in the bible and various denominations will interpret different passages to justify that authority.

 

[rinnie]

There are as many Protestant interpretations of Christianity as there are Protestant churches. About the closest thing to a real unified Protestant sect would be the Anglicans/Episcopalians. Visit your local Baptist church. Then visit another one. I guarantee that they will differ GREATLY in their teachings/beliefs.
Part of that stems from the decentralization characteristic of Protestant churches. Another major contributing factor for the huge spectrum of belief is that most Protestant churches get to pick and choose who their “pastor”/“preacher”/“minister” is. And, if Mr. Pastor says something that the congregation doesn’t like, they can just fire him, even if he’s right!
It’s all horrible, from a Catholic perspective, really.

Yes I was told that in one Baptist Church Alcohol is forbidden, then another says we are the drinking Baptists

 

[lutherlic]

About the closest thing to a real unified Protestant sect would be the Anglicans/Episcopalians.

They are not very unified. Wikipedia says:

The communion encompasses a wide spectrum of belief and practice including evangelical, liberal, and Catholic.

One effect of the Communion’s dispersed authority has been that conflict and controversy regularly arise over the effect divergent practices and doctrines in one part of the Communion have on others. Disputes that had been confined to the Church of England could be dealt with legislatively in that realm, but as the Communion spread out into new nations and disparate cultures, such controversies multiplied and intensified. These controversies have generally been of two types: liturgical and social.

The first such controversy of note concerned that of the growing influence of the Catholic Revival manifested in the tractarian and so-called ritualism controversies of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Later, rapid social change and the dissipation of British cultural hegemony over its former colonies contributed to disputes over the role of women, the parameters of marriage and divorce, and the practice of contraception and abortion. More recently, disagreements over homosexuality have strained the unity of the Communion as well as its relationships with other Christian denominations. Simultaneous with debates about social theology and ethics, the Communion has debated prayer book revision and the acceptable grounds for achieving full communion with non-Anglican churches.

These are not just disagreements within one body, but real difference between the 38 provinces and 6 extraprovincial churches all under the Anglican banner.

There is also the TAC (Traditional Anglican Communion), swimming away from Canterbury to Rome.

 

[Bran_Stark]

So how can a Protestant Church be the One True Church if they all have Different teachings?

No Protestant church claims to be the One True Church, so I don’t see how we have any problem.

 

[JL2011]

No Protestant church claims to be the One True Church, so I don’t see how we have any problem.

Don’t mean to sound aggressive, but why then are you part of a Church that you don’t consider the One True Church?

 

[GWright]

Who makes up the rules in a Protestant Church.

Anyone and everyone, and their brother.

As far as I can tell, they all make up their own personal rules individually and the idea of a unifying set of beliefs has long since gone out of the window.

For example, the Churches of Scotland and England are internally riven with stark disagreement on a great many matters:

• homosexuality
• women clergy
• the eucharist
• celibate clergy
• divorce
• scripture
• divinity of Christ
• the resurrection
• abortion

etc etc etc

Some of them seem to want to turn their Churches into secular social clubs (a process largely complete already, imo)

 

[Publisher]

Don’t mean to sound aggressive, but why then are you part of a Church that you don’t consider the One True Church?

I am a member of the One True Church via my baptism into it by the Spirit of Christ at regeneration by grace thru faith.

I am a member of the Society of Friends…who meet to gether as the Body of Christ to worship the Lord and seek to do His will in this world as we share Incarnation with Him.

There is only One Church, and all who have been joined to it through the work of the Holy Spirit are members of the Body of Christ.

We have our organizations through which to administer those beliefs and insights we have gained thru the Real Presence of Christ in our midst. The organization we use to facilitate His work in this world is not the True Church…but its members aree part of the Body of Christ.

You believe “church” is an heirarchal organization…we believe the Church is made up of those who have been redeemed by Christ…no matter what organization they belong to.

Church in the NT isn’t an organization…but a People, called out from among the world to serve the Risen Lord where each of us serves in the capacity of our own giftedness in a very eglatarian fashion…we are all priests and share in the Priesthood of Christ…we may approach God directly thru Christ without any other mediator required to administer sacramental rites and rituals…Christ is Chief Administrator…our Baptizer and our True Presence each time two or three of us gather in His name…there is the Church.

 

[gcnuss]

After my last question to someone on another thread, I thought this would be an interesting discussion.

We know that in the RCC there are many rules and obligations. They are all the commands of God and have been from the beginning of the Church on the day of Pentecost.

Rinnie,

It seems to me that there are various “rules and obligations” of the Catholic Church that did not begin with Pentecost. Some dogmas, doctrines, and disciplines have developed and been proclaimed over the centuries. For instance, Holy Scripture tells us that a bishop is to be the husband of one wife while current Church discipline mandates celibacy for all clergy (with exceptions for some Anglican/Episcopal/Lutheran clergy who convert). And, as I understand it, none who are ordained under this exception are eligible to become bishops.

If I am not mistaken there are a number of dogmas and doctrines that have been declared over the centuries. The Immaculate Conception comes to mind, although it was a teaching of the Church before being doctrine or dogma – I forget which at the moment.

Now who makes up the rules in the Protestant Church’s? Is it not the Preacher and how he interprets thing’s.

There is no one pattern within Protestantism. Certainly, there are independent congregations where the pastor/minister/preacher is the ultimate authority. In others, a board of elders makes the decisions.

For Lutherans, we turn to Holy Scripture, the Lutheran Confessions, and to judicatory bodies which issue our doctrinal statements.

So how can a Protestant Church be the One True Church if they all have Different teachings?

A well-known Lutheran theologian (who is so well known that I can’t remember his name at the moment) once said that the Lutheran Church possesses the truth but we aren’t the only ones who have it. We share the truth of Christ with all Christians. The difficulty comes when any of us proclaims that we alone have everything right to the exclusion of any who disagree with us on every jot and tittle of doctrine. Needless to say, there are certain fundamental truths that differentiate Christians from others, e.g., the Virgin Birth, the Resurrection, the Trinity, etc., that one must accept to be a Christian.

To be sure, some Christians have gone astray – witness the Arians, the Pelegians, and others who have espoused heresies. At the same time, I think we have to be careful about calling people heretics simply because they disagree on things that are adiaphora, i.e., things which are not necessary for salvation. And that’s another discussion in itself.

Just a few thoughts.

 

[Newsy]

I am a member of the One True Church via my baptism into it by the Spirit of Christ at regeneration by grace thru faith.

I am a member of the Society of Friends…who meet to gether as the Body of Christ to worship the Lord and seek to do His will in this world as we share Incarnation with Him.

There is only One Church, and all who have been joined to it through the work of the Holy Spirit are members of the Body of Christ.

We have our organizations through which to administer those beliefs and insights we have gained thru the Real Presence of Christ in our midst. The organization we use to facilitate His work in this world is not the True Church…but its members aree part of the Body of Christ.

You believe “church” is an heirarchal organization…we believe the Church is made up of those who have been redeemed by Christ…no matter what organization they belong to.

Church in the NT isn’t an organization…but a People, called out from among the world to serve the Risen Lord where each of us serves in the capacity of our own giftedness in a very eglatarian fashion…we are all priests and share in the Priesthood of Christ…we may approach God directly thru Christ without any other mediator required to administer sacramental rites and rituals…Christ is Chief Administrator…our Baptizer and our True Presence each time two or three of us gather in His name…there is the Church.

So… How does this “Invisible Church Theory” work in history? Did an invisible church give us the Bible?

 

[Newsy]

A well-known Lutheran theologian (who is so well known that I can’t remember his name at the moment) once said that the Lutheran Church possesses the truth but we aren’t the only ones who have it. We share the truth of Christ with all Christians. The difficulty comes when any of us proclaims that we alone have everything right to the exclusion of any who disagree with us on every jot and tittle of doctrine. Needless to say, there are certain fundamental truths that differentiate Christians from others, e.g., the Virgin Birth, the Resurrection, the Trinity, etc., that one must accept to be a Christian.

To be sure, some Christians have gone astray – witness the Arians, the Pelegians, and others who have espoused heresies. At the same time, I think we have to be careful about calling people heretics simply because they disagree on things that are adiaphora, i.e., things which are not necessary for salvation. And that’s another discussion in itself.

Just a few thoughts.

Which ideas are necessary for salvation? Whatever your list includes will be called incomplete by some and called overkill by others. Is there an Absolute Truth? If you believe in Absolute Truth, then there is only one true set of “rules”. Otherwise we fall into the trap of relativism.

It can be a sad time in any church when those in the pews and those in “control” don’t see eye to eye. I was in that situation before I converted, it’s a bad deal no matter how you cut it. That is how we have 30,000 denominations, it doesn’t resemble the idea of unity “let them be one as You and I are one”.

Protestant churches cannot be lumped together, some are very orthodox while others are unconventional. Some are well meaning souls out to serve God the best way they know how, others are out to make money like a con artist. And let’s keep in mind that most are still under protest.

 

[LinuxUser]

No Protestant church claims to be the One True Church, so I don’t see how we have any problem.

That’s what I was going to say. To Protestants there is no “one true church”, it is the Holy Spirit that guides Protestant Christians into truth

 

[Publisher]

So… How does this “Invisible Church Theory” work in history? Did an invisible church give us the Bible?

I look in the mirror and I see a member of the Church looking back at me…I join in worship with other members of the Church each First Day…not invisible there either…the only part of the Church that is “invisible” in this world are those who have gone on before us into the Presence…those who cheer us on in our Journey…those who offer their prayers to God for us on our Journey…

A very visible group of people compiled those writings together which we call the Bible…those writings best expressed to them the message of Jesus of Nazareth…the 27 books of the NT are those books which very visible people…who incedentally became the “Catholic/Orthodox” …members of the Church compiled and preserved those writings…members of the Church…that they eventually…mistakenly believed their particular organization was the True Church in and of itself no more proves their case than the Mormons claiming similar status…God’s People are made up of those who are joined to God thru Christ…they can be found in every tradition of the People called Christians.

The book we call the Bible is a representative of those writings which Christians hold sacred…not every sacred writing that exists in in the Bible.

 

[CopticChristian]

That’s what I was going to say. To Protestants there is no “one true church”, it is the Holy Spirit that guides Protestant Christians into truth

Can there be but one Holy Spirit and so many “truths”

 

[LinuxUser]

Can there be but one Holy Spirit and so many “truths”

I think there can be one Holy Spirit and many ways to understand.

 

[Roy5]

Some denominations, such as, say, certain Baptists, certain Pentecostalists, the Church of Christ (not to be confused with the United Church of Christ), and the Salvation Army, have definite rules. Maybe they are forbidden to drink alcohol or smoke. All would emphasize the Ten Commandments, etc.

 In some evangelical churches, often totally independent, the rules may be set down either by a strong and often founding pastor or by the local governing body, perhaps the Board of Deacons.

 Mainline denominations tend to be 'big tent'. This means that they usually permit a wide variety of opinions both on theological and certain moral issues. Some members might regard the scriptures as binding. Others would believe that while the scriptures are very important, Christians can be selective. They don't have to believe, for example, that God told Joshua to murder all the inhabitants of Jericho or commanded Saul to kill every remaining Amalekite. They can ignore II Kings 2:23-24 or treat it like a myth or pious fable.  

  Mainline Protestants divide on a variety of social issues. Some would favor abortion on demand. Others would permit it until a certain week of pregnancy or in special situations where the health of the mother, for example, is at stake. Some would take a strong anti-abortion stand. Many would see it as a totally private matter, to be decided by the woman and the father of the child and not by the state.

  The same re gay issues. Many mainline Protestants favor permitting gay marriage, many do not. Many favor ordination of gays, many do not. 

  Two points.

  Mainline Protestantism generally doesn't claim to have authority to determine the views of its membership. There is considerable freedom of thought and opinion. These denominations also don't claim to be the 'one true church'. They agree to agreeably disagree. Their Bible study groups often even encourage creative questioning when it comes to the scriptures. Did God really repent that he created humankind and drown everybody but Noah and his family - including babies in and out of the womb?

  Catholicism insists that to be a good Catholic one needs to assent to all the doctrines and moral positions of the church. Curiously, studies show that Catholics dissent widely. A survey published in the US Catholic a couple years ago found that a majority don't, for example, believe in transubstantiation. I saw somewhere that a higher percentage of Catholics than Protestants favor gay marriage. As many as 90% of married Catholics use artificial birth control. 

  So, the Magisterium may make up rules but they are widely ignored by Catholics. While millions of these Catholics remain in the church, millions of others either leave Catholicism for no religious ties or often become Protestant, either mainline or evangelical.  

  Mainline Protestant denominations generally are part of the National Council of Churches and the World Council of Churches. Many Orthodox groups are in both councils as well. These councils encourage dialogue, showing enormous respect for different doctrines, liturgies and traditions.

 

[YoungTradCath]

They are not very unified. Wikipedia says:

These are not just disagreements within one body, but real difference between the 38 provinces and 6 extraprovincial churches all under the Anglican banner.

There is also the TAC (Traditional Anglican Communion), swimming away from Canterbury to Rome.

Ok, ok. Just saying, but, in case you didn’t know…there are Catholic priests calling for the ordination of women. In Austria, in fact, there is an entire formalized group of them called “Call to Disobedience.”
Just making a point.