"Why are there so many different Christian interpretations? If all Christians have th

[ALLFORHIM]

Evangelicals sing this in their praise services:
“There is no Rock, there is no God like ours”
So you see, Peter isn’t the Rock; it’s in their songs.

Hi,
This comment was truly uncalled for and I would appreciate it if you would refrain from mocking evangelicals. This comment did offend me because I do sing that song in church. I do not mock any songs sung in a catholic church and I would expect the same courtesy from you or any other catholics here.
Thank you

 

[VociMike]

Because you just told me I should put all my trust into a church made up of fallible people and not Jesus Christ.

But you have no problem “putting all your trust” in the writings of fallible men. Why doesn’t that bother you just as much?

 

[jmcrae]

Because you just told me I should put all my trust into a church made up of fallible people

You already do that - you trust in yourself to know the correct interpretation of Scripture, and you have already admitted that you don’t have complete training in the Scriptures, yet.

At least if you trust the Church, it has the promises of Christ protecting it from teaching you any errors. No one else has received these promises - and even if it didn’t, all those “old men” that everybody always criticizes have literally lifetimes of Scripture study between them, along with knowledge of how the Early Church understood them, and knowledge of how they are understood everywhere else in the world, as well.

and not Jesus Christ.

But if we really trust Christ, then shouldn’t we trust His Church, and His promises to that same Church?

 

[VociMike]

Yes and you are right that is why God gave us men who are competent to teach us poor simple folk. Which BTW is not limited to the CC. There are many competent preachers out there using the gifts God gave to them when they were sealed with the Holy Spirit.

So you are claiming that these competent preachers are infallible, just like Catholics claim the Chuch is infallible?

 

[ncgolf]

Because you just told me I should put all my trust into a church made up of fallible people and not Jesus Christ.

You were the one who began this topic … we have given reasons and thoughts as to why this has happened.

Hmm falliable human beings as members of a church … what is so new about that idea.

Also I did not know that infalliable people made up the other churches. Since Christ came to heal the sick then I must be in the right place. If you are in a church with other infalliables I guess you should stay there.

Let me ask … are different interpretations a problem … if not how are differing interpretations not a problem and if it is a problem how can Christians address it?

 

[lak611]

I
I had wanted to say the reason for having different Christian interpretation of the Bible is because some were lack of testing the spirits. Everybody thinks he has the Holy Spirit on his side.

Well, a lot can go wrong even if when you think you are guided by the Holy Spirit. Remember that Satan is always around you too. If you leave a little tiny crack, Satan will enter you and mess up your thoughts.

That’s why I always say a prayer to the Holy Spirit before I start reading. It goes like this.

Come Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of Thy faithful and enkindle in them the fire of Thy love.

V. Send forth Thy spirit and they shall be created.

R. And Thou shalt renew the face of the earth.

Let Us Pray. O God, Who didst instruct the hearts of the faithful by the light of the Holy Spirit, grant us by the same Spirit to have a right judgement in all things and ever to rejoice in His consolation. Through Christ our Lord. Amen

 

[Keikiolu]

Quote:
Originally Posted by Keikiolu
Yup.

Got a problem wi’that…?

Seriously,… why would that NOT work for you?

Because you just told me I should put all my trust into a church made up of fallible people and not Jesus Christ.

You are a church of One, not even that, actually. As you just clearly stated.

If you won’t put your trust in a church which includes even yourself (unless you’re infallible) you have no church whatsoever.

Christ Jesus is NOT a church. You cannot make a church of Jesus alone, as He needs His Church, His Bride, to be “other than Him”.

May you come to find that you need other sinners, like yourself, in communion with yourself with which to worship Him, as His Church.

Now I know why “sola” sounds so lonely.

 

[ncgolf]

That’s why I always say a prayer to the Holy Spirit before I start reading. It goes like this.

Come Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of Thy faithful and enkindle in them the fire of Thy love.

V. Send forth Thy spirit and they shall be created.

R. And Thou shalt renew the face of the earth.

Let Us Pray. O God, Who didst instruct the hearts of the faithful by the light of the Holy Spirit, grant us by the same Spirit to have a right judgement in all things and ever to rejoice in His consolation. Through Christ our Lord. Amen

I was watching Father Corapi and he emphatically recommended praying before reading Scripture.

It is an awesome habit you have.

 

[Kay_Cee]

So to understand scripture one must have (1) proper faith, (2) proper training, (3) proper hermeunetics, (4) proper knowledge of the entirety of scripture, (5) lack of selfishness and pride, (6) proper maturity, and (7) proper emphasis on tradition.

You left one out. To understand scripture one must also have scripture!

This, of course, gets back into questions like:

1. How do we know we have the correct canon?
2. What did people do in ages past to determine correct doctrine when Bibles were not so available?

 

[ALLFORHIM]

So you are claiming that these competent preachers are infallible, just like Catholics claim the Chuch is infallible?

Nope they are all fallible. There are no infallible people. Show me in scripture where it says anyone is infallible. Jesus was the only one.

 

[ALLFORHIM]

You already do that - you trust in yourself to know the correct interpretation of Scripture, and you have already admitted that you don’t have complete training in the Scriptures, yet.

At least if you trust the Church, it has the promises of Christ protecting it from teaching you any errors. No one else has received these promises - and even if it didn’t, all those “old men” that everybody always criticizes have literally lifetimes of Scripture study between them, along with knowledge of how the Early Church understood them, and knowledge of how they are understood everywhere else in the world, as well.

But if we really trust Christ, then shouldn’t we trust His Church, and His promises to that same Church?

Yes, BTW I do belong to a local church and I also belong to the universal church(body of believers–all born again christians) I do trust my minister to teach me but I do not claim(nor would he)that he is infallible. He encourages us to study scripture and tells us that if we do not agree with what he teaches to come to him and we will discuss using Scripture. He always tells us if we prove him wrong through scriptures then he is ok with that and will be humble enough to admit he was wrong. Now that is humble. Here is a preacher open to rebuke.

 

[ALLFORHIM]

You left one out. To understand scripture one must also have scripture!

This, of course, gets back into questions like:

1. How do we know we have the correct canon?
2. What did people do in ages past to determine correct doctrine when Bibles were not so available?

That is a whole other thread topic:thumbsup:

 

[MrS]

Evangelicals sing this in their praise services:
“There is no Rock, there is no God like ours”
So you see, Peter isn’t the Rock; it’s in their songs.

May God bless you on your journey home,…

 

[MrS]

Yes, BTW I do belong to a local church and I also belong to the universal church(body of believers–all born again christians) I do trust my minister to teach me but I do not claim(nor would he)that he is infallible. He encourages us to study scripture and tells us that if we do not agree with what he teaches to come to him and we will discuss using Scripture. He always tells us if we prove him wrong through scriptures then he is ok with that and will be humble enough to admit he was wrong. Now that is humble. Here is a preacher open to rebuke.

Not humble… it is more a realistic admission that he has no more authority than you do, And that is very true… Jesus did give His authority to Peter and the 12 to hand on…

God bless your minister in the bits of truth he does express… but the fullness of the Truth is not available to him or you outside the Catholic Church.

why settle for so much less???

 

[jmcrae]

Yes, BTW I do belong to a local church and I also belong to the universal church(body of believers–all born again christians) I do trust my minister to teach me but I do not claim(nor would he)that he is infallible.

Well, bully for him. I have never actually figured out why it is considered a mark of Truth to say, “I could be wrong. I could even be lying on purpose.”

My response to that has always been, “Yes, you could. Are you? Not saying? Okay, bye now - NEXT!!”

He encourages us to study scripture and tells us that if we do not agree with what he teaches to come to him and we will discuss using Scripture. He always tells us if we prove him wrong through scriptures then he is ok with that and will be humble enough to admit he was wrong. Now that is humble. Here is a preacher open to rebuke.

Actually, here is a preacher who knows that, in a community that has no knowledge of Christian Tradition, his interpretation is just as good as anybody else’s, and that “truth” is determined by loudness of voice, much speaking, and length of words - and that he, unlike anyone else in the room, has been fully trained in these arts.

Of course, you do realize that if anyone ever actually takes him up on this offer who has oratorical skills equal to his, your congregation will be split in two, right?

 

[VociMike]

Nope they are all fallible. There are no infallible people. Show me in scripture where it says anyone is infallible. Jesus was the only one.

Why even bother with scripture then? It was all written by fallible people too.

 

[ALLFORHIM]

I find it very interesting that you guys think that by being humble automatically means something bad or weak.

MATT. 23:12And whosoever shall exalt himself shall be abased; and he that shall humble himself shall be exalted.

Luke 14:11For whosoever exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted.

Phillipians 2:5–11
¶ Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus:

Phl 2:6 Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God:

Phl 2:7 But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men:

Phl 2:8 And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.

Phl 2:9 Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name:

Phl 2:10 That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of [things] in heaven, and [things] in earth, and [things] under the earth;

Phl 2:11 And [that] every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ [is] Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

There is much more Scripture but I think you get my point.

 

[christianley]

Yes, BTW I do belong to a local church and I also belong to the universal church(body of believers–all born again christians) I do trust my minister to teach me but I do not claim(nor would he)that he is infallible. He encourages us to study scripture and tells us that if we do not agree with what he teaches to come to him and we will discuss using Scripture. He always tells us if we prove him wrong through scriptures then he is ok with that and will be humble enough to admit he was wrong. Now that is humble. Here is a preacher open to rebuke.

There is no way you could ever prove him wrong because his opinion is no better than anyone else’s. Without church tradition and the scriptures to guide him, he is just his own God determining what he wants to believe. One of the things which impressed me about the Catholic Church as I went through RCIA is that the priest’s opinion was tethered to the teachings of the Catholic Church, not his own opinion. There is no safety outside of the harbor of the Catholic Church because we can all be led astray.

 

[Mannyfit75]

ALLFORHIM:

Nope they are all fallible. There are no infallible people. Show me in scripture where it says anyone is infallible. Jesus was the only one.

If you were to take that as binding, then why trust the Bible since the Bible is written by men inspired by God.

I find the varies intrepretation of Sacred Scripture contrary to the teachings of the Apostles themselves.

2 Peter Chapter 3:15-17 states the following:

And account the longsuffering of our Lord, salvation; as also our most dear brother Paul, according to the wisdom given him, hath written to you: As also in all his epistles, speaking in them of these things; in which are certain things hard to be understood, which the unlearned and unstable wrest, as they do also the other scriptures, to their own destruction. You therefore, brethren, knowing these things before, take heed, lest being led aside by the error of the unwise, you fall from your own steadfastness. 18 But grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and unto the day of eternity. Amen.

There is also a passage when an Ethopian in Acts tried to read and understand the OT, but he could not. This Ethopian knew Scripture well, but he himself could not intrepret it. So the Apostle Philip came to him and intrepret it for him.

Paul also writes in his letters, that there should be no one who teaches no different doctrine in 1 Tim Chapter 1 verse 3-10.

As I desired thee to remain at Ephesus when I went into Macedonia, that thou mightest charge some not to teach otherwise, Not to give heed to fables and endless genealogies: which furnish questions rather than the edification of God, which is in faith. Now the end of the commandment is charity, from a pure heart, and a good conscience, and an unfeigned faith.

From which things some going astray, are turned aside unto vain babbling: Desiring to be teachers of the law, understanding neither the things they say, nor whereof they affirm. But we know that the law is good, if a man use it lawfully: Knowing this, that the law is not made for the just man, but for the unjust and disobedient, for the ungodly, and for sinners, for the wicked and defiled, for murderers of fathers, and murderers of mothers, for manslayers, For fornicators, for them who defile themselves with mankind, for menstealers, for liars, for perjured persons, and whatever other thing is contrary to sound doctrine, drbo.org/chapter/61001.htm ]

 

[water]

I find it very interesting that you guys think that by being humble automatically means something bad or weak.

I am not sure who said that but being humble and humility are very important in Christians’ life. I’ve seen people with hard-headed, don’t want to listen to others because they think they know all that or because they think they don’t listen to anyone besides God.