Why I Am a Catholic
Why I am a Catholic
Sola Scriptura
Sola Scriptura and Unity
Unity among Christians was clearly one of the chief concerns of Christ (John 17) and the Apostles (ex. 1 Cor. 1, 10; Eph. 4). This unity is not only a spiritual reality, but a physical one as well, for Jesus teaches that the oneness of the Church would be a witness to the world (Jn. 17:23). I have come to realize that Protestantism, in principle, cannot unify Christians. Sola scriptura effectively makes unity in moral code, doctrinal creed, and liturgical practice impossible, for every appeal to Scripture is an appeal to an interpretation of Scripture, and men interpret the Scriptures in radically different ways. As the attached article, “Jason Reed on Sola Scriptura,” argues, I cannot believe that Christ would set up His church in such a way that would necessarily lead to division and dissent. In fact, the principle of sola scriptura makes answering the question, “What is the Christian view of _______?”, impossible to answer; hence, Christians divide.
To resolve the interpretative problem the protestant has recourse to one of two options: 1) appeal the perspicuity of Scripture or 2) attempt to establish the leaders of the church as the authoritative interpreters of Scripture. The sheer amount of denominations clearly indicates that the former is false (i.e. the Bible is not so clear). The latter cannot escape the initial problem of interpretive authority because the individual believer must decide which church has teaching authority. In order to decide this he must find which church he believes interprets the Scriptures correctly. Hence, the individual is still the authority on the true teaching of the Church. An excellent essay which develops the latent problems in the second attempt to resolve the interpretive mess that is Protestant theology is written by Bryan Cross, PhD. In the essay, Dr. Cross responds to Keith Matthison’s book, The Shape of Sola Scripture, and is well worth
Sola Scriptura
Sola Scriptura and Unity
Unity among Christians was clearly one of the chief concerns of Christ (John 17) and the Apostles (ex. 1 Cor. 1, 10; Eph. 4). This unity is not only a spiritual reality, but a physical one as well, for Jesus teaches that the oneness of the Church would be a witness to the world (Jn. 17:23). I have come to realize that Protestantism, in principle, cannot unify Christians. Sola scriptura effectively makes unity in moral code, doctrinal creed, and liturgical practice impossible, for every appeal to Scripture is an appeal to an interpretation of Scripture, and men interpret the Scriptures in radically different ways. As the attached article, “Jason Reed on Sola Scriptura,” argues, I cannot believe that Christ would set up His church in such a way that would necessarily lead to division and dissent. In fact, the principle of sola scriptura makes answering the question, “What is the Christian view of _______?”, impossible to answer; hence, Christians divide.
To resolve the interpretative problem the protestant has recourse to one of two options: 1) appeal the perspicuity of Scripture or 2) attempt to establish the leaders of the church as the authoritative interpreters of Scripture. The sheer amount of denominations clearly indicates that the former is false (i.e. the Bible is not so clear). The latter cannot escape the initial problem of interpretive authority because the individual believer must decide which church has teaching authority. In order to decide this he must find which church he believes interprets the Scriptures correctly. Hence, the individual is still the authority on the true teaching of the Church. An excellent essay which develops the latent problems in the second attempt to resolve the interpretive mess that is Protestant theology is written by Bryan Cross, PhD. In the essay, Dr. Cross responds to Keith Matthison’s book, The Shape of Sola Scripture, and is well worth