CadyandZoe
Well-Known Member
Incorrect. God granted Jesus the gifts of "apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, and teachers "for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the building up of the body of Christ." Ephesians 4:11-12. These gifts are individual men, not a religious organization.Apparently, YOU don’t understand how the Church function.
Allow me to educate you . . .
Jesus left us with a Church that has the Authority to TEACH and to Baptize (Matt. 28:19-20).
But, as Paul argues in 1Corinthians, the role of an apostle is to build the foundation. 1Corinthians 3 where Paul compares his role as an apostle with Apollos' role as an evangelist. The foundation, in that context, is the original gospel message on which all other Christian doctrine is built. And, bless be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, he has supplied us with a written record of the teaching of the apostles.
Your position is a deification of the organization, which was a problem even during the time of Jesus. It was the Jewish religious organization that sensed the threat of a coming King of Israel. (John 11:47-48)
Theoretically, that might be the case. But even so, we measure the authenticity and the reliability of such guidance against the scriptures. I would be unwise to accept the guidance of someone who taught another gospel. Sad to say, Catholic doctrine is filled with false gospels and bad doctrine.The church doesn’t “Tell” us what to believe – but rather, guides us in our walk with Christ by feeding us with knowledge and wisdom.
No, it is up to you to show why the presence of differing Protestant sects necessarily disproves the doctrine of Sola Scriptura. There are many reasons why a church spits but I guarantee it isn't because of Sola Scriptura. In my view, the essential and central question is why members of the Catholic Church felt the need to protest the doctrines of the Catholic Church.Anyway, you have YET to explain your fallacy of “belief Authority” in the light of the fact that there are tens of thousands of perpetually-splintering Protestant sects that ALL believe that teach different doctrines.
Secondly, was it doctrine or force of arms that kept the church united all those years? You know the answer.
Don't you know? I think you can at least guess the reason can't you? What you can't seem to see or understand is that "Unity" under Catholicism was enforced by arms and death threats.If “Belief Authority” is our standard – why don’t you all believe that teach the SAME things?
God is the author of everything.God is not the Author of confusion – but of ORDER.
So what. The only relevant question centers on the doctrines under examination at the time. And the ONLY way to know who was right is to read the Bible.The Catholic Church is the Original Tree from which Protestantism splintered - so any doctrines that differ from it are splinter beliefs.
I did answer your question previously, and my answer was to dismiss the premises on which your conclusion was built. I don't accept your conclusion that Sola Scriptura led to divisions and splits, just as I don't accept your premise that it was Catholic "guidance" that kept the church together.The ONLY reason you refused to answer the question is because you cannot offer a valid explanation for your “Belief Authority” nonsense.
Peter was doing both at the same time. And don't miss the point. If Peter and Paul can disagree, then so can we.Finally - you don’t seem to understand how Papal Authority works, either. Paul had every right to rebuke Peter because of his behavior. Peter wasn’t TEACJING error – he was behaving badly.
Was Christ the one who offered indulgences? I don't think so.Papal Infallibility and Authority is about TEACHING on faith and morals and administration.
When it comes to his negavior - he's on his own . . .