{"id":18207,"date":"2013-10-13T07:00:17","date_gmt":"2013-10-13T14:00:17","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/restlesspilgrim.net\/blog\/?p=18207"},"modified":"2015-03-19T14:07:21","modified_gmt":"2015-03-19T21:07:21","slug":"dialog-with-jerry","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/restlesspilgrim.net\/blog\/2013\/10\/13\/dialog-with-jerry\/","title":{"rendered":"Dialog with Jerry: Part 1 (Sola Scriptura)"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"BibleI recently devoted several posts to an exchange<\/a> I had with a sedevacantist called Mike in the hope that, if you ever encounter a sedevacantist like him, you’ll have some idea as to what to expect.<\/p>\n

Well, a little while ago I had some correspondence with a non-Catholic Christian named Jerry and I thought it would also be helpful if I posted some of that exchange here as well.<\/p>\n

As often happens, we began our discussion by focussing on the Reformation doctrine of\u00a0“Sola Scriptura”\u00a0<\/em>(“Scripture Alone”),\u00a0<\/em>the subject of my recent four-part series<\/a>. As you can see from our exchange below, Jerry was a little confused as to the meaning of this Latin phrase…<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\n

> You said you didn’t understand how I could not believe Sola Scriptura, but I say I can’t understand why Catholicism teaches it.\u00a0<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n

I believe there might have been some miscommunication and misunderstanding here.<\/p>\n

There’s a very good reason why you can’t understand that Catholicism teaches\u00a0“Sola Scriptura”<\/i>\u00a0– it\u00a0doesn’t<\/b>\u00a0teach it!\u00a0I’m not quite sure how you could have reached this conclusion from reading the Catechism.<\/p>\n

The Catholic Church has not, does not and will\u00a0never\u00a0teach the doctrine of\u00a0“Sola Scriptura”<\/i>. \u00a0The doctrine of\u00a0“Sola Scriptura”<\/i>\u00a0is a\u00a0Protestant<\/b>\u00a0innovation which was developed in the 16th Century at the time of the Reformation. The exact meaning of\u00a0<\/i>“Sola Scriptura”<\/i>\u00a0will vary depending upon which Protestant group you ask, but it basically means that the Bible is the\u00a0only or highest infallible source<\/b>\u00a0for Christian doctrine.<\/p>\n

This is\u00a0not<\/b>\u00a0what Catholicism teaches. The Catholic Church teaches that Christ commissioned the Apostles to\u00a0“go and teach all nations”<\/i>\u00a0everything He had taught them. This is what Catholics call\u00a0“The Deposit of Faith”<\/i>. The main form of transmission was through preaching. Over time some of\u00a0“The Deposit of Faith”<\/i>\u00a0was written down in what we know call\u00a0Sacred Scripture<\/b>. That which was not written down we call\u00a0Sacred Tradition<\/b>. Guided by the Holy Spirit, the\u00a0Magisterium proclaims, teaches and explains this Faith.<\/p>\n

You can read more about this in\u00a0a document from the Second Vatican Council called\u00a0“Dei Verbum”<\/a><\/i>\u00a0(MP3 version is available\u00a0here<\/a>). Since you have a copy of the Catechism, you can also read about it\u00a0beginning in paragraph 74<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\n

> What I don’t believe is that God stopped speaking after the scriptures were “sealed”.\u00a0<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n

The Catholic Church likewise\u00a0does not\u00a0<\/b>believe that God stopped speaking, although She believes that\u00a0public revelation<\/b>\u00a0has ceased. This is (one of the reasons) why the Church rejects the Qur’an and the Book of Mormon. However, the\u00a0Holy Spirit continues to speak and guide<\/b>\u00a0the Church – if this were not the case, we’d all be in deep trouble…<\/p>\n

And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate to\u00a0help you<\/span>\u00a0and\u00a0be with you forever<\/span>\u2014 the Spirit of truth<\/i>\u00a0– John 14:16<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

> The Holy Spirit lives in us to lead us and teach us and He still speaks.\u00a0In this way I don’t believe Sola Scriptura; the idea that “scripture alone” teaches us and is the final authority.\u00a0I believe scripture is the written word which points to and testifies of Jesus who is the Living Word and He is the final authority.\u00a0<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n

Amen! What you write here is far closer to\u00a0Pope Benedict XVI<\/b>\u00a0than either Martin Luther or John Calvin:<\/p>\n

“Still, the Christian faith is\u00a0not a ‘religion of the book’<\/span>. Christianity is the\u00a0religion of the ‘Word’ of God<\/span>, a word which is ‘not a written and mute word, but the Word is\u00a0incarnate and living<\/span>.'”<\/i>\u00a0– Catechism of the Catholic Church (CCC) #108<\/span><\/p>\n

To me, this sounds almost identical to what you wrote above.<\/p>\n

\n

> What I don’t understand is how Catholics can believe that the Pope’s teachings are infallible and stand as high if not higher than scripture, yet say they believe Sola Scriptura.\u00a0<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n

As I’ve hopefully now made it clear, Catholics\u00a0don’t<\/b>\u00a0believe in Sola Scriptura. I feel a few things should be said here to clear up some misconceptions that I fear you may have:<\/p>\n

1. The Pope’s teachings are\u00a0not\u00a0<\/b>higher than Scripture:<\/p>\n

“Yet this\u00a0Magisterium\u00a0is not\u00a0superior\u00a0to the Word of God, but is its servant<\/span>. It teaches only what has been handed on to it. At the divine command and with the\u00a0help of the Holy Spirit<\/span>…<\/i>\u00a0– CCC #86<\/span><\/p>\n

2. Papal infallibility is only exercised under\u00a0certain, extremely restricted circumstances<\/b>.\u00a0Not everything the Pope says is infallible. He can err on politics, economics or sociology. He can even err on theology when he is not speaking\u00a0“ex cathedra”<\/i>.\u00a0For example, In the opening of Pope Benedict’s book\u00a0he spells it out very clearly that the book’s contents are just his\u00a0fallible opinion<\/b>\u00a0as a theologian:<\/p>\n

“It goes without saying that this book is\u00a0in no way an exercise of the magisterium<\/span>, but is solely an expression of my\u00a0personal<\/span>\u00a0search ‘for the face of the Lord’ (cf. Ps 27:8).\u00a0Everyone is free, then, to contradict me<\/span>. I would only ask my readers for that initial goodwill without which there can be no understanding.”<\/i>\u00a0– Jesus of Nazareth, Joseph Ratzinger\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0Having said that, Benedict is a first class theologian and that book is superb!<\/p>\n

It is probably worth noting that you\u00a0do<\/b>\u00a0actually believe in infallibility in some sense. For example, you believe that that the Holy Spirit kept St. Peter from error when he wrote his two epistles, correct? You don’t believe that St. Peter was sinless or of necessarily of great intellect, but you believe that through a special act of God’s grace God preserved St. Peter from error when authoring those documents. From this starting point, Papal infallibility isn’t really that much of a stretch.<\/p>\n

\n

I’ll pick this up again tomorrow…<\/p>\n

Part 1\u00a0| Part 2<\/a> | Part 3<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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