Lily
wrote:
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Hi, guys —
I am not trying to argue but I feel I have
a legitimate question that I would love answered.
It's my understanding you believe in the spoken and written Word
of God.
- If the Bible is the inspired Word of God,
why wouldn't all your rules, sacraments,
and traditions be in it?
I have nothing against the Catholic Church.
I've just come across these questions while
doing research.
Lily
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{
If
the Bible is the inspired Word of God, why
aren't your rules, sacraments, and traditions
in it? }
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Mary
Ann replied:
Hi, Lily —
Most of them are in the Bible. A
few of the rules are like the rules
any society has to have in order
to function like:
- How much to fast
before Communion and
- What you need to
do to get married, etc.
All of the teachings are in Scripture
or in harmony with Scripture, and
were taught by the Apostles and by
the first generation of Christian
bishops. In the same manner, the
Word of Christ was passed on.
Both Christ and Paul talk about hearing the
Word of Christ, the Word received
from the Lord, and received from
His anointed preachers, so even Oral
Tradition is Scriptural. If you get
a Catechism of the Catholic Church, you will see
that every teaching has a Scriptural
reference.
Mary Ann
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John
replied:
Dear Lily,
Thanks for your question.
I would invite you to ponder these
questions:
- If the Bible is the sole rule
of faith, shouldn't it say so
somewhere in the Bible?
- If it does Lily, could you please
give us the chapter and verse?
- Also, if the Bible is the sole
rule of faith, then shouldn't
the Bible tell us what books
belong in the Bible?
- Is there a list of books that
should be in the Bible which can be found in any other Bibles themselves?
- If not Lily, who decided which
books belong in the Bible and which books didn't?
If your answer is the Church, then
you are correct. So by accepting
the list of books, you are accepting
an authority outside the Bible, namely
the Church.
St. Paul wrote to Timothy, and said
the pillar and foundation of the
truth is the Church.
(1 Timothy 3:15) We
wouldn't have a Bible without the
Church. In fact, the Church was up
and running, preaching the Gospel
and saving souls, for 382 years before
she gave us the same list we have
today.
The teachings of the Apostles were
handed down from bishop to bishop.
Each time a letter of Paul, or a
Gospel, or any writing was circulated,
it had to go to the Bishop first,
before it could be read in public.
The bishop would weigh the content
of the written manuscript against
what his predecessor had taught him.
If it lined up, then it was accepted.
If it didn't it was rejected, so
it was only by the Church and by
Tradition that we have the Bible
that you now believe is the sole
rule of faith.
You see once you accept the Bible
as the sole rule of faith, you are
indeed in an awkward position. The
Bible was preserved and canonized
by the Roman Catholic Church.
If
the Church is wrong about her doctrines
such as the Sacraments, then it could
have been wrong when it gave us the
canon of Scripture. The very same
process was used to preserve both.
If you say the Church is wrong about
the Sacraments, than you really have
no basis for trusting the Bible.
Ponder this for a while. If you want
more specifics about how the Bible
was canonized, let me know. I'll
be glad to give you more. In the
mean time, think about it and pray
about it.
If you are honest with yourself,
you can only come to one conclusion.
God Bless,
John
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Eric
replied:
Hi, Lily —
I'm not sure what you mean. As you
say, we believe that there is both
the spoken Word of God,
and the written Word
of God. If we believe that some part
of the Word of God is oral, this
explains why not everything we believe
to be revealed by God is found in
the inspired Scriptures.
In short,
we don't believe that everything
needs to be in the Scriptures, because
we don't believe that the Word of
God is confined to the Scriptures.
That being said, most of what you
are referring to has nothing to do
with revelation or doctrine, but
only with discipline and custom.
They wouldn't be part of the Word
of God anyway.
For example, not eating meat on Fridays
is a discipline, and can be changed.
The celibate clergy, while recommended
by Jesus and Paul, is also a changeable
discipline, and in fact not a few
Catholic priests are married.
The existence of the sacraments is
found in Scripture (you can inquire
for details if you like).
The way the sacraments are celebrated,
for the most part, is a matter of
changeable tradition.
Some traditions hold divinely revealed
truth, such as the Assumption of
Mary or the canon of Scripture. Others
we are free to change, such as when
to celebrate certain feasts. In any
case, no church is without its traditions.
I think there is an underlying assumption
in your question that somehow everything
is supposed to be in
Scripture. This is like wondering
why Memorial Day is not listed in
the Constitution as a Federal holiday.
Scripture was never intended to be
an exhaustive reference on doctrine
and worship. The Jews never saw it
that way, and neither do we.
When I was a teenager I once spent
a lot of effort trying to find the
text of the wedding vows in Scripture.
I was sure it had to be there, but
after much fruitless searching, I
had to conclude that it wasn't. I
was ignorant about the purpose of the Scriptures. It's not intended as a ritual
or liturgy guide. It's not intended
as a work of systematic theology.
It's not intended as a Catechism.
- Some books are historical.
- Some are addressed to specific
communities in specific situations.
- Some books communicate wisdom.
- Some are personal letters.
They all vary and have different
underlying assumptions, contexts,
audiences, and so forth.
If it was intended as an A-Z reference,
an exhaustive guide, it wouldn't
have been written that way. Plus,
if you put in all the rules, rituals,
and traditions in there, there would
be no room for adjusting for local
conditions or needs of the time.
Eric
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