“Far better it is for you to say: "I am a sinner," than to say: "I have no need of religion." The empty can be filled, but the self-intoxicated have no room for God.” - Blessed Fulton J. Sheen

Thursday, September 6, 2012

Sola Scriptura: Final Thoughts

Well, that was a roller coaster, wasn't it? No? Well, this is awkward. 

...

Anyway, looking over my posts, it seems that my original point got away from me a bit. I definitely dipped into some Sola Fide and some defense of religion. I'm planning to go into those as well, so this is probably not the last time things will cross over. But I'm hoping, and correct me if I'm wrong (with charity, please), that we've come to a good understanding of Sola Scritptura, and who's been given the authority to interpret scripture. 

In summary, nothing in the Bible supports the idea that the Bible alone is sufficient, nor that we can interpret the Bible on our own. It's a collection of books. Some are historical, some are mythological, some are poetical, some are biographical. How can we understand, unless some man were to show us? And who has been granted that authority? The Church. (Something to pause and think about: Where does the Bible list the books that should be included in it?)

One more thing to consider: What did the earliest disciples do? The Bible wasn't completed until the end of the 1st century. Granted, that's in living memory of the Apostles (which is 150 years, generally), but they certainly didn't have a completed Bible to refer to until then. The only source they had was the tradition handed down from the apostles by memory. Not only that, but until the invention of the printing press, the Bible wasn't widely available, and in any case most people couldn't read. Was there no way for them to learn the Truth of Christianity? Luckily, no. They had the tradition and teachings handed down to them from the apostles and the interpretation of the Bible given by the Church. How blessed are we to have such a lineage.  

We'll get into more of what constitutes the Church, the authority of the Pope, the need for priests (and calling them Father), and lots of other great stuff down the line. Again, if you have a question, leave it in the comments, and we can engage in some awesome dialogue! 

God Bless, 

J

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