When you tell your Protestant friends or relatives about the “Traditions” of the Catholic Church you’re likely to receive some attention. The antithesis to a church that relies on the “Bible only” is not a church that relies on “Tradition only.” That is what most objectors to Catholicism would like others to think – that we believe that Tradition somehow trumps the Scriptures. That couldn’t be further from the truth.
The Catholic Church teaches that the Bible is an authority, but not the authority. Just as the Church also teaches Tradition as an authority, but not the authority. The Protestant must understand this and in order to make that happen effectively, the Catholic must be able to effectively communicate this.
One thing to bring up is that Protestants actually believe in Tradition more than they think. In fact, using the Bible at all is a step of faith in the Traditions of the Church. Why? Because there is no way of determining what books belong there in the first place, that is, which writings of the early Church are inspired or not. The Bible existed long before the Reformation and was trusted as “inspired” long before Luther removed certain books. Aside from that issue, the very fact that Protestants have the Bible at all is virtue of Tradition and the authority of the Church. How else did they receive it? There is no place in the Bible itself that names which books belong there. And in addition, to assert the notion that, “we know in our hearts which books belong” as Calvin, the Geneva Reformer wrote, is the same sort of self edifying gobbledygook the Mormons use to justify their “inspired” texts.
That point has to stick in the minds of any honest reader. If the Bible were the only source that we need to be guided to salvation, where is the unity among Protestants? If one disagrees with a particular interpretation there is often one more division. The Holy Spirit is not a spirit of division! If someone disagrees with that branch from there, another division starts. Sooner or later the religion and system is unrecognizable. One only needs to look at Lutheranism next to a modern Reformed Baptist to see the fruits of Bible only teachings. One was supposed to be the real deal, and problem solver, but then came along another dissident believer who saw things differently.
And here is the point: if the Catholic Church is so wrong in its authoritative structure, how come we still teach the same doctrine for close to 2000 years? That must count for something to any discerning heart.
For 300 years The Catholic Church taught the Faith by word of mouth or letter-in other words large T,Tradition.
Protestants HATE hearing this and make up nonsense about Constantine etc.The Bible Books all SEVENTY-TWO of them were approved by the Catholic Church.Bibles were written by hand by monks and were kept chained or under lock and key because they were priceless.No one other than the Clergy and SOME scholars could even read.Certainly most of the “nobility”,could not.
1456 Gutenberg Produces the First Printed Bible-PEOPLE STILL CANNOT READ.I have been called a LIAR by former “Catholics”(who never attended mass in their lives) or Pentecostals when I say there are 3 Scriptural readings and a psalm at EVERY mass.In 3 years of Sunday masses the ENTIRE Bible is read.In one year of Daily Mass-same thing.And GEE we even read the CATHOLIC parts.
The Catholic Church issued Holy Scripture not the other way around.
Christ
The Mass
Catholic Church
Tradition
Holy Scripture
In THAT order.
Can’t argue there. Thanks for standing firm in your faith.
That’s the biggest bunch of nonsense catholics spout on these sites, claiming that your bogus, contrived, man-constructed institution gave us the Scriptures! Only the undiscerning and the uneducated would swallow such arrogant drivel; you certainly didn’t give the Hebrews, the Apostles, OR Our Saviour the Scriptures they read, taught by, and lived by, so stop telling that old, stale lie, because NO ONE believes it but you catholics. Get a clue.
http://www.ccel.org/ccel/schaff/npnf214.xv.iv.iv.xxv.html
Canon 24 from the Council of Carthage early 5th Century
I read that long, boring treatise; so what? My original premise still stands; the so-called roman catholic church did Not give the Scriptures our Saviour, the Apostles, and the ancient Hebrews read from to them, so again…what’s your point?
What history/history book do you read from? Yes, The Catholic Faith was man-constructed. Jesus, the GOD-MAN constructed (founded) the Church. As Venerable Henry Newman put it, ” To be deep in history, is to cease to be Protestant.” Please know wiser men than you understand Truth Itself and have converted from prideful self-interpretation of Scripture to The Church who gave us the Canon of Scripture. Learn and appreciate true history and put down the anti-Catholic rhetoric. The rhetoric serves you no purpose. Peace.
“It is an incontestable fact that the sacredness of certain parts of the Palestinian Bible (Esther, Ecclesiastes,Canticle of Canticles) was disputed by some rabbis as late as the second century of the Christian Era(Mishna, Yadaim, III, 5; Babylonian Talmud, Megilla, fol. 7).”
http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/03267a.htm
Tweety,
You wrote…
“….In 3 years of Sunday masses the ENTIRE Bible is read.In one year of Daily Mass-same thing.And GEE we even read the CATHOLIC parts…”
Let’s look at the mathematics of that.
In three years there are 156 Sundays. In my Protestant Bible there are 856 pages of very small print. I just timed the reading of one page at 5 minutes, and I’m a fast reader. That means it would require 27.66 minutes per Sunday to read the entire Bible in 3 years. In my 20 years of weekly attendance at Mass I never recall almost this half-hour commitment given strictly to Bible reading.
Perhaps you could correct my math?