The True Church
I can tell which writers to your web site are true Christians. They are the ones who quote the Bible as the only source for their beliefs, (sola scriptura). And you either do not answer such questioners or you give answers which are scripturally vague or totally unscriptural, and malign the questioner. But you can do this because the belief source is not just the Bible, but church tradition and papal pronouncements. In other words, you make your religion up. It's true source is not God, but human tradition and imagination. Jesus called his Church a "little flock". It is not an enormous, misguided, unscriptural ritualistic human organization with no foundation in the Word of God. And I am not anti-Catholic, just pro-Bible. May God bless you.
QUESTION from Wes on July 31, 2003
ANSWER by Staff on August 6, 2003
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Dear Wes: Thank you for deigning to give us your novel opinions. Unfortunately your opinion is not shared by the Jesus, the Apostles, and the early Church fathers. Sola Scriptura is an UNBIBLICAL and man-made doctrine. The Christians in the first three centuries never heard of such a thing. The bible itself says that not all the teachings were written down (Jn 21:25) and that we are to hold fast to divine traditions (1 Cor 11:2) whether they be oral or in writing (1 Thess 2:15). Further we are to SHUN people who refuse to act in accord with Divine Tradition (2 Thess 3:6). It is not the Catholic Church with no foundation in the Bible, it is you and your fellow protesters. There is no doctrine of the Catholic Church that contradicts the Bible -- none. Manuscripts from the first, second, third, and fourth centuries show how the early Christians interpreted the Bible and how they practiced their faith. These manuscripts PROVE the Catholic position. Just two of many, many examples are: St. Athanasius (360AD): "...let us note that the very tradition, teaching, and faith of the Catholic Church from the beginning, which the Lord gave, was preached by the Apostles, and was preserved by the Fathers. On this was the Church founded; and if anyone departs from this, he neither is nor any longer ought to be called Christian..." (Four Letters to Serapion of Thmius" 1, 28) Origen (c. 230AD): "The teaching of the Church has indeed been handed down through an order of succession from the Apostles, and remains in the Churches even to this present time. That alone is to be believed as the truth which is in no way at variance with ecclesiastical and apostolic tradition." ("Fundamentals of Doctrine 1", preface, 2) And I can go on and on and on with documentary evidence that the early Christians believed in what the Catholic Church teaches. Protestant can come up with zip. There is no evidence, other than their personal opinions, to suppose these novel and man-made notions like sola scriptura and sols fidei -- none. The only Church that is consistent with the way the early Christians practices their faith is the Catholic Church. She alone has the fullness of the faith. Opinions like the one you have expressed was an opinion born about 1500 years after the Cross and was invented by sinful men who were arrogant and prideful. You can have any opinion you wish to have. I will mortify my opinions to the Lord Jesus Christ and follow him -- which is exactly what I did when I converted to the True Church that Jesus personally founded after being a Baptist (sola scriptura) preacher for 15 years. I will pray that your eyes will be opened to the Truth and that you abandoned these man-made doctrines such as sola scriptura.
God Bless, |