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"Good News" of Jesus Christ
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magisterium
I stumbled upon a question Eric Rodriguez wrote to you, asked on behalf of his girlfriend:
Why don't Catholics bring their Bibles
to Mass and, paraphrasing, why do they read so little
(fragments) of it?
I inferred in your answer that the Bible is
not the sole means for Truth.
I have to disagree with you; if the Good
Book isn't the sole means of Truth, then
which book is?
The Bible is the sole means of Truth. When
preaching, the Apostles referred to the Bible.
The Bible contains all the information we
need to get through these critical times.
If our beliefs are based on the teachings of men,
God clearly said that person is full of stupidity.
Am I to believe that the Book of Mormon
is the truth?
Dan
{ If the Holy Bible isn't the sole means of Truth, then
which book is: the Quran, the book of Mormon? }
Mike
replied:
Hi, Daniel —
Thanks for the question. I stand
by my answer.
You said: I inferred in
your answer that the Bible is not
the sole means for Truth.
I have to disagree
with you; if the Good Book isn't
the sole means of Truth, then
which book is?
No where in the Bible does it say:
"The Bible is the sole rule
of faith." or
"The Bible is the sole means of
Truth".
What the Bible does say is:
15 if I am delayed, you may know how one ought to behave in the household of God, which is the Church of the Living God, the pillar and bulwark of the truth.
16 All scripture
is given by inspiration of God,
and is profitable for doctrine,
for reproof, for correction, for
instruction in righteousness: 17 That
the man of God may be perfect,
thoroughly furnished unto all
good works.
It states all Scripture is profitable
for correction and instruction, etc.
but it does not say that it is the sole
or only means of truth.
St. Paul would agree with this. Read 2 Thessalonians 2:15, where he encourages
the people to hold on to written and
oral Tradition.
15 So then, brethren, stand firm and hold to the traditions which you were taught by us, either by word of mouth or by letter.
Am I to believe that the Book of Mormon
is the truth?
Good point! and the same question could be addressed to the Quran too!
The big problem Protestant theology has is that in the Bible there is no Inspired Table Of Content, telling the Christian:
which books should be in the Bible and
which books should not be in the Bible.
The list of Books that are in every Bible a Protestant reads, are books that were chosen by a counsel of Catholic bishops at the Council of Rome in 382 A.D. When Paul in Acts (Acts 17:10-11) talks about "searching the Scriptures", he is talking about the Old Testament Scriptures. The books that would made up the New Testament would not have been known by any Christian until centuries later.
You said: The Bible is
the sole means of Truth. When preaching,
the Apostles referred to the Bible.
The Apostles referred to the Old
Testament Scriptures. The New Testament
Scriptures were not discerned as
New Testament books until 382 A.D.! That's just a historical
fact.
The Bible was written by Catholics
and their ancestors, for Catholics, for
use in the Catholic worship,
the Holy Mass. This is a historical
fact, my friend.
You said: The Bible contains
all the information we need to get
through these critical times.
Yes, I agree if you accept both the Written and Oral Tradition that has been passed down to us through Jesus's One Church since 33 A.D. The Christian that accepts both
Written and Oral Tradition (which can be found in the Bible), accepts what we refer to as the Magisterium of the Church or the Teaching Authority of the Church.
The Catholic Church is the Church
Jesus, Himself, founded on St. Peter
and his successors.
Read Matthew 16:13-19.
Peter’s Declaration about Jesus
13 Now when Jesus came into the district of Caesare′a Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do men say that the Son of man is?” 14 And they said, “Some say John the Baptist, others say Eli′jah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.” 15 He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” 16 Simon Peter replied, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” 17 And Jesus answered him, “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jona! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in Heaven. 18 And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the powers of death shall not prevail against it. 19 I will give you the keys of the kingdom of Heaven, and whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in Heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in Heaven.”
You said: If our beliefs
are based on teachings of men, God
clearly said that person is full
of stupidity.
You are referring to verses in Scripture
where Paul is warning the faithful not to
follow others who have broken away
from the Church. He refers to their
teachings as the teachings of
men. People back then, as today,
use the Holy Scriptures as a recipe
book to make up a new religion. Back
in Jesus' time, Our Lord said this
about His Church:
15 Moreover
if thy brother shall trespass
against thee, go and tell him
his fault between thee and him
alone: if he shall hear thee,
thou hast gained thy brother. 16 But
if he will not hear thee, then
take with thee one or two more,
that in the mouth of two or three
witnesses every word may be established. 17 And
if he shall neglect to hear them, tell
it unto the church: but if he
neglect to hear the church, let him be unto thee as an heathen
man and a publican.
Our Lord clearly commanded
the Apostles to divinely appoint
others through Holy Orders to continue
the ministry of His priesthood through
men He calls.
If any Protestant minister has
not been blessed
by the Church through Holy
Orders, his
authority is false.
A well-known Scripture verse used
by Protestants who don't understand
the Catholic priesthood says that
we should not call priests "Fathers".
Call No Man Father? — 9 And call no man your father on earth, for you have one Father, who is in Heaven. (Matthew 23:9)
Catholic Note:
All human titles
are only shadows of God's authority from which they derive their authority as understood in Ephesians 3:14-15.
In reference to the phrase in Matthew 23:9 Call no one on earth father. Father is
a term sometimes used of the great Rabbis. Note our Lord is not a grammarian regulating
the use of terms: he is the Doctor of the Spirit. He forbids any acknowledgement
of fatherhood that obscures the fatherhood of God, nothing more. If we make no
allowance for the concreteness and brevity of His phrases we either reduce them
to absurdity or Him to inconsistency. He would not forbid a human son to use the
word father nor would He forbid the term if addressed to one who is God's representative;
in this second case, indeed, it serves to remind its readers of the fatherhood
of God, nor must the Christian disciple pose as an independent spiritual guide. He Himself is subject to one Teacher and one Guide — to the Lord Himself.
St. Stephen calls the Jewish leaders fathers and before his glorious martyrdom in his speech to the Sanhedrin, mentions the word fathernine times! Is Stephen sinning during his martyrdom?
As my colleague Eric stated in one
of his
answers:
Jesus is using hyperbole. He also forbids terms
such as teacher, but I've never heard anyone, zealous to deny
the title Father to priests, be equally zealous to deny the
title Teacher to teachers.
The point of this passage is do not treat men with the honor and worship
due to God alone.
This point is brought out by other places in the New Testament when the
title Father is used:
"Even though you have ten thousand guardians in Christ, you do not
have many fathers, for in Christ Jesus I became your father through the
gospel."
He took the bread, said the blessing, broke it and said to the Apostles, Do this in memory of me.
(The bishops are the successors of the Apostles. Priests partake in the bishops work.)
"As the Father sent me, so am I sending you. After saying
this he breathed on them and said: Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive anyone's
sins, they are forgiven; if you retain anyone's sins, they are retained."
You said: If our beliefs are based on the teachings of men,
God clearly said that person is full of stupidity.
You just made my point Dan! The teachings of men were those that broke away from the Church after Jesus' Ascension into Heaven, and created their own church . . . picking and choosing what they wanted to believe and throwing away the rest.
You said:
Am I to believe
that the Book of Mormon is the truth?
Am I to believe
that the Quran is the truth?
No, neither the Mormons nor Muslims can trace their
foundation all the way back to 33
A.D.
The Mormons can trace its roots back to 1830 A.D. when it was founded by Joseph Smith. (Reference)
Muslims can trace its roots back to 600 A.D. when it was founded by Mohammed. (Reference)
The word "Catholic" means, "in its totality" CCC 830 so only the Catholic Christian Church can trace its roots back to Jesus in 33 A.D.!
Hope this helps,
Mike
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