Hey all…
Robert (one of the Protestant members in the thread) keeps sending me private messages.
He seems to think that I’m being arrogant by bowing out of the thread…. I’ve tried to explain that you guys will be more than capable of discussion with him, but that I find Protestant “bible-only” theology a joke.
Here’s the PM I sent him:
[quote:2ri08jyg][quote:2ri08jyg]Hey Scott,
Thanks again. Just some quick questions. “Theology”? The study of God right?[/quote:2ri08jyg]You are quite welcome…. I enjoy our chats.
Theology is the study of religious faith, practice, and experience.
[quote:2ri08jyg]I do not consider myself a “Protestant” [/quote:2ri08jyg]As you have a right…. to me it is an easier way to clarify than saying non-Catholic, as I believe all Christians are part of the Catholic faith.
[quote:2ri08jyg] but I do see the only source of God’s revelation to man in the scriptures. That would be Gen. to Rev. Robert[/quote:2ri08jyg]
Well, here is the reason that we’ll have difficulty relating to each other.
God is revealed to man (in my opinion) in various ways. All that is good in this world is of God, for Christ is the very source of truth and goodness.
The problem with the Protestant fideism, is that it fails to recognize the importance of rational knowledge and philosophical discourse for the understanding of faith, indeed for the very possibility of belief in God. One currently widespread symptom of this fideistic tendency is a “biblicism” which tends to make the reading and exegesis of Sacred Scripture the sole criterion of truth. In consequence, the word of God is identified with Sacred Scripture only…. as if the Holy Spirit died with the completion of the Bible.
There is a danger inherent in seeking to derive the truth of Sacred Scripture from the use of one method alone, ignoring the need for a more comprehensive exegesis which enables the exegete, together with the whole Church, to arrive at the full sense of the texts. Those who devote themselves to the study of Sacred Scripture should always remember that the various hermeneutical approaches have their own philosophical underpinnings, which need to be carefully evaluated before they are applied to the sacred texts.
This is the reason that if you take 10 “Bible-Only” Christians and ask them to interpret the meaning of various Scripture verses, you will very likely get 10 different answers.
Most of these “Bible-Only” Christians (yourself included, I imagine) don’t even have a basic knowledge of the history of the Christian faith and can’t explain the formation of the Canon of Scripture. Most act as if for the first 2000 years of Christian existance, the Holy Spirit remained “hidden” to Christianity ….. until they (you) picked up the Bible and “figured things out”.
Your faith in Christ may be strong Robert, and I thank God for that….. but you have to understand that God is more than the Bible you hold in your hands….. the Holy Spirit is not confined to the pages of your Bible.
I imagine that all of this will fall of deaf ears…. I have talked with enough Bible Christians to realize that for them, faith in Scripture is enough for them…. and don’t get me wrong…. IT IS!
> for faith. But it is not enough if you wish to engage in a discussion about your faith with others. Atheists rip apart the Bible only Christians and run them out of here on a daily basis because they have a faith based on circular logic, devoid of any intellectual respect.
Like I said before, faith in Christ as Savior and Lord is all I care about…… if you have that, thank God….. but if you’d like to discuss theology you’ll have to educate yourself a bit more and realize that the Holy Trinity is not dead and stuffed into your Bible, they are alive and well in the Catholic Church today.
I hope I’m wrong about you….. to see, let me have you answer a couple questions:
1. Where did your Bible come from?
2. Why do you believe in the Bible?
Peace be with you,
Scott[/quote:2ri08jyg]
Thoughts, advice…. should I add anything?
Scott