The True Church?
According to Pope Benedict XV, the head of 1.1 billion Catholic Church, Protestant churches are not really churches at all.
On Tuesday, the Pope approved and released a document stating that, "other Christian communities are either defective or not true churches and Catholicism provides the only true path to salvation."
Bill Keller, the host of Live Prayer with Bill Keller, the nation's only "live" call-in faith and values based program airing exclusively on secular TV and the Internet's leading evangelist at LivePrayer.com, said that he "was shocked and appalled at Pope Benedict's statement that all non-Roman Catholic churches are illegitimate since that is in complete contradiction to what the Bible teaches." Keller also went on to say that the Pope's "theology is also horribly flawed when he states that non-Catholic churches do not have the ‘manes of salvation' since salvation does not come from an ecclesiastical body but through God's grace and faith in Jesus Christ alone as clearly stated in Scripture!"
My Take:
- The Pope's statement that all non-Roman Catholic churches are not true churches is false and not what the Bible teaches
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The so-called "True Church" was established by Christ and existed nearly 400 years before what we know today as the Roman Catholic Church came into being
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What makes a true Christian church? The Bible teaches that the true church (ekklesia) is made up of a body of Believers who have accepted Jesus Christ as their personal Savior.
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By approving this document, Pope Benedict XVI has opened up old wounds of division and hatred between Catholics and Protestants
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Satan is always working to defeat the Body of Christ through strife and division
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Martin Luther broke with the Catholic Church when he challenged the authority of the Pope by emphasizing the Bible as the sole source (sola scriptura ) of religious authority and the true church of Jesus Christ is made of all those who confess faith alone in Christ as the only means of their salvation (sola fides); the "priesthood of all believers"
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The Bible is our final authority in all matters (see 2 Timothy 3:16)
Bible - 1 Pope - 0
http://christian-apologetics-society.blogspot.com/2007/07/outside-church-there-is-no-salvation.html
>"The Bible is our final authority in all matters (see 2 Timothy 3:16)"
Umm...nothing in 2 Timothy 3:16 says the Bible is our final authority. In fact nothing in the Bible says the Bible is the final authority. That's a tradition of man. Great sounding phrase to toss out, but never found in scripture.
What was the final authority of the early Church before the Bible, or even Acts, was written? The Old Testament?
What is the pillar and ground of the truth? What does the Bible say is the pillar and ground of the truth? (1 Timothy 3:15)
God bless... (Comment this)
I will not get into specifics and debate this issue with you since finer intellects than mine (and yours I assume) have argued this ad nauseam.
But I will say this much. Many truths, which Christians believe and follow, are not specifically mentioned in the Bible.
Your argument claims that:
“Nothing in 2 Timothy 3:16 says the Bible is our final authority. In fact nothing in the Bible says the Bible is the final authority. That's a tradition of man. Great sounding phrase to toss out, but never found in scripture.”
That is a true statement in so far as the exact words “final authority”, in relation to the Bible’s authority, are not found in Scripture. However, that does not mean the thought or principle of the Scriptures as the final authority in all life’s matters is not contained within the Bible as a whole.
“The Biblical message breathed out by God is revelation in written form. (2 Timothy 3:15-16). The Biblical claim is that what God has inspired was His written word (2 Peter 1:20-21). When the Lord Jesus Christ said, “the Scripture cannot be broken” (John 10:35), He was speaking of God’s written word. The events, actions, commandments, and truths from God are given to us in propositional form, i.e. logical, written sentences. God’s declaration in Scripture is that it and it alone, is this final authority in all matters of faith and morals.” Source: http://www.christiananswers.net/q-eden/sola-scriptura-bible.html#begin
We can go back and forth debating this issue. And as I said before, greater minds than ours have argued this topic for hundreds of years. With that said, let’s just agree to disagree on this point.
As for me, I will continue to believe that God has given us His Word, with the Holy Spirit to teach us, to be understood by all who read it. We do not need human tradition or the Pope, cardinals or bishops, etc to interpret it for us.
(Comment this)
“We have learned from none others the plan of our salvation, than from those through whom the Gospel has come down to us, which they did at one time proclaim in public, and, at a later period, by the will of God, handed down to us in the Scriptures, to be the ground and pillar of our faith” (Against Heresies, 3.1)
Why also did he insist that:
“we refer them to that tradition which originates from the apostles, [and] which is preserved by means of the succession of presbyters in the Churches.” (ibid. 3.2)
The RCC teaches doctrines which did NOT originate from the apostles. In the same book (3.3.1), Irenaeus also qualifies the apostolic tradition as that which "has been preserved continuously by those [faithful men] who exist everywhere." This cannot be said of paying homage to inanimate objects, of praying to Mary and the saints, of claiming Mary was sinless from the moment of her conception (cf. Pope Leo I, Sermon 28, which claims Christ alone was sinless), etc.
Blessings. (Comment this)
3:15 and how from infancy you have known the holy writings, which are able to give you wisdom for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. 3:16 Every scripture 1 is inspired by God 2 and useful for teaching, for reproof, 3 for correction, and for training in righteousness,
These verses and their surrounding context deal with wisdom and learning and having the tools of God not the authority of God.
If all men have equal authority, it is not longer authority; it is equanimity. Authority from God would be for one or many to deal with His specific issues, events or circumstances that He has delegated, likely through the Holy Spirit.
M (Comment this)