Showing posts with label bible. Show all posts
I always wondered what exactly is a “Bible Church”. How many times have you driven in the country and seen a small protestant church with that sign on it? I see bunch of them on my way to Myrtle Beach. I think the term “bible church” is perhaps backwards. The term "Church Bible" I see more fitting. Does the term an "Engineer CalTech" mean anything, or is it better to say an "CalTech engineer"? After all, CalTech produces engineers, not the other way around. The phrase “Bible Church” is supposed to tell the passer-by that the church is in accord with everything that is in the Bible[King James Version probably]. Is it that the church has to conform to the bible, or did the bible come to us from the church?
The Bible proceeded from the Church, which, according to the Bible, is the pillar and bulwark of truth (1 Timothy 3:15). Back in 382 AD, Pope Damasus I sent a list of the canon of the New Testament to his bishops. At the councils of Rome (382 AD), Hippo (393 AD), and Carthage (397 AD), this list was approved by the Holy Catholic Church as being the official canon of the New Testament.
The early Church Fathers did a great job[and I am thankful] handing on the faith orally for the first 400 years, before there even was an official New Testament proclaimed by The Church. Protestants still adhere to this Tradition by including all of the New Testament books in their sixteenth century Bible that the Catholic Church had in their fourth century Bible, although there are numerous text changes.
Is it the Bible alone or Bible and Tradition? What is the pillar and foundation of truth? If we believe that the Bible is the infallible inspired word of God, 1 Timothy 3:15 tells us we find that the Church is the pillar and foundation of truth.
Most non-Catholic Christians believe that the Bible is the sole rule of Faith. Martin Luther claimed this when he broke away from the Catholic Church, i.e. the claim of "Sola Scriptura." Catholics have, on the other hand, always accepted the teaching authority of the Church together with the Bible as the basis for our Faith.So then, how do Catholics come to this position?
Well we didn't actually come to this position; we have been simply living it out since the very inception of the Church. A brief historical perspective might be helpful in understanding this.
From a previous post (Is the Bible Inspired?), we saw that the New Testament books were not really put together as a completed Bible until approximately 400 AD. So we know that the earliest Christians did not have access to the written word. We also know that until the invention of the printing press in the 1450's, the Bible was not accessible to most people due to the difficult and time consuming task of making copies by hand. It wasn't even until fairly recently that faithful Christians were educated enough to be able to read the Bible.
Make you wonder how the Christian faith was passed on to believers during this period of when access to the Bible was quite limited.
The answer is that practically all of the teaching during this time was done by oral instruction relying on the teaching authority of the Church for the proper interpretation of the Scriptures and for the passing on of Apostolic Tradition.
The Bible itself is quite clear regarding the significance of tradition (see John 21:25, 2 Timothy 2:2, 2 Thessalonians 2:15 and 1 Corinthians 11:2). Since these scripture references, along with many others, refer to both tradition and the spoken word, they MUST be integrated into the Christian understanding of revelation. Since the Word of God can not contradict itself, the only choice we have as Bible believing Christians is to accept tradition as well as scripture as our source of faith.
I know. That sounds like a crazy question, but I have ever seriously considered it. It seems to me that most Christians (Catholics and non-Catholics alike) just accept that the Bible is inspired without giving it a second thought. What is the reason for this? Perhaps it is because our parents and teachers told us it was or because when we read scripture we feel inspired by it or because scripture itself states that "all scripture is inspired by God and is useful for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, so that everyone who belongs to God may be proficient, equipped for every good work" (2 Timothy 3:16-17)?
If you really take the time to think about it, none of these reasons are good enough for us to build our system of beliefs on. Parents and teachers have no direct proof or authority to teach us that the Bible is inspired; it comes from their own traditions! The feeling of inspiration one gets from reading scripture does not guarantee that scripture is inspired. And, many other religious books claim to be inspired, e.g. as the Koran and the Book of Mormon.So then, how do we know that the Bible is truly inspired?
First we will not assume the Bible is inspired but will look at it strictly from a historical perspective. We can easily support the historical accuracy of the New Testament from many other writings existing today. Since we know that it is historically accurate, we know that a man named Jesus actually existed and that He worked numerous miracles during His lifetime and that He claimed to be the Son of God. From this we can make two statements about Jesus. Either He was who He said He was, or He was crazy. If He was crazy, then how do we explain the many miracles, the eye witness accounts of His resurrection and the numerous people willing to die for him? We can't! Quite to the contrary, these facts actually point to the conclusion that Jesus was who He said He was; the Son of God.
Now, if He was the Son of God, we know that He would accomplish all that He said He would. One of the things He said He would do is to found His Church; "And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build MY church, and the gates of Hell will not prevail against it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven." (Matthew 16:18-19).
Well, now we have a Church founded by Jesus himself which was given the authority to bind and loose; so now let’s take a look at the Bible.
In the early years of the Church, there was no New Testament. In fact, it was not until around the year 400 AD that the final version of the books of the Bible was actually compiled. How do we know that those books of the Bible actually represent the word of God? The answer is now fairly simple! It doesn't depend on our parents or teachers and their traditions, our feelings or a statement in a scripture claiming inspiration. We know the Bible is inspired because the Church that Christ founded used the teaching authority given by Christ to discern which scriptures were inspired and which were not.
The Turkish man who attempted to assassinate Pope John Paul II in 1981 has said he wants political asylum in Croatia, where he plans to write a new Bible. In a message delivered through his lawyers, Mehmet Ali Agca told the influential Vecernji List newspaper in Zagreb (Jan. 24): "Croatia is a Catholic country and I am a Catholic. I am preparing to write a new Bible and correct mistakes and I would like to do that in Catholic Croatia since Italy and Spain refused to grant me asylum." Agca was released from a Turkish prison in January after serving nearly three decades behind bars. In rambling letters from prison, he has given a number of indications suggesting he is mentally disturbed. Agca, for example, also said in a written statement that he would prove he is the Messiah "through Vatican documents."
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| Blessed John Paul II forgiving the man who shot him |
