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To: marajade; dollars_for_dogma; Barnacle; Iscool
So when presented with a scripture that says to do this and when presented with the Pope that says to do that instead, who are you going to follow?

The Catholic Church from the very beginning accepted 73 books, 46 written before Christ’s arrival for the Israelite people and 27 written after Christ’s arrival for the Christian faithful, as divinely inspired. These books are gathered together into one book called The Bible, or Holy Scripture.

So where did the Bible come from?

St. Athanasius in his Festal Letter, § 39, in 367 AD, published a list of books suitable for reading during the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass as a regional canon for the Eastern Church.

Pope St. Damasus I in 382 AD approved the work of the first Council of Constantinople, accepting St. Athanasius’ list as divinely inspired, and indicated that if any bishop used a list of books inconsistent with the Roman canon he would need a convincing explanation. Then the Council of Hippo, a regional council for some of the bishops in the Diocese of Africa, in 393 AD reaffirmed The Decree of Damasus. The third Council of Carthage was far more authoritative than the Council of Hippo. The Diocese of Africa then had its see at Carthage, so Carthage had authority to speak for all of the northwest African bishops. The Council of Carthage in 397 AD also reaffirmed The Decree of Damasus. Carthage, unlike Hippo, sent its decisions to Rome for ratification. Pope St. Boniface I (418-422) ratified the decision and declared the canon settled for the Western Patriarchate. He also sent the decision to the Eastern patriarchs in Alexandria, Antioch and Jerusalem. At that point, the Catholic Canon of Sacred Scripture was informally accepted worldwide. The Fourth Council of Carthage in 419 reaffirmed Pope St. Boniface. The Council of Nicea II in 787 ratified the same canon as authoritative for the Eastern Churches. Finally, the Council of Trent, a worldwide Ecumenical Council, formally proclaimed the Catholic Canon of Sacred Scripture in 1546 as authoritative for the whole world.

From this we see that while each Pope in his time has supreme authority over the Church, and may exercise his authority at any time, Holy Mother Church often works by a consensus of the Pope and the bishops developed over time. The faithful who see a teaching proclaimed by the Pope and all the bishops worldwide recognize in it the Holy Spirit’s silent authorship.

Were it true that the Holy Spirit guides each individual to a right understanding of Scripture, all Christians whether Catholic or Protestant would arrive at the same interpretation for every passage of Scripture. However, the number of Protestant interpretations, or denominations, today approaches thirty thousand, a theological bedlam.

The Catholic Church has Christ’s authority to interpret Scripture. St. Peter explicitly denied that individuals have such authority: 2 Pet 1:20 “First of all you must understand this, that no prophecy of scripture is a matter of one's own interpretation.”

310 posted on 07/09/2006 5:42:56 AM PDT by NYer (Discover the beauty of the Eastern Catholic Churches - freepmail me for more information.)
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To: NYer; american colleen; Aquinasfan; B Knotts; BlackElk; Blue Eyes; Campion; Chi-townChief; ...
Excellent writeup NYer. If you aren't teaching at the university level, you should be.

Ring

(If you want on or off my Catholic ring list, please FReep mail me)

322 posted on 07/09/2006 10:02:48 AM PDT by Barnacle (Happy Birthday America!)
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To: NYer
So when presented with a scripture that says to do this and when presented with the Pope that says to do that instead, who are you going to follow?

That's easy for me...For you, your church is Holy...For me, the scriptures are Holy...

Rom 1:2 (Which he had promised afore by his prophets in the Holy Scriptures,)

And how do you know if what the church or anyone tells you is true???

Act 17:11 These were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness of mind, and searched the Scriptures daily, whether those things were so.

So where did the Bible come from?
St. Athanasius in his Festal Letter, § 39, in 367 AD, published a list of books suitable for reading during the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass as a regional canon for the Eastern Church.

You left out the history up to 367 AD...As you know, it's a matter of history that your church scoured the world in search of copies of the scripture and burned every one they could get their hands on...And of course, these copies were deemed heretical, by your church...

That fact that your church deemed what should be scripture is meaningless...

Jesus told his prodigal son Peter, Jn 21:15 “Feed My lambs  Tend My sheep  Feed My sheep.” Jesus had earlier said, Jn 10:11 “I am the good shepherd.” By directing that Peter become the good shepherd,

Jesus did no such thing...You're trying to insert something in the scripture that's just not there

Jesus gave Peter the keys to the kingdom, ordaining his office and primacy. Peter became Christ’s vicar, or personal representative, on earth. Peter’s prestige as the head apostle was so great that people Acts 5:15 “Â carried out the sick into the streets, and laid them on beds and pallets, that as Peter came by at least his shadow might fall on some of them.”

Pure conjecture...No scripture to back it up...All of the Apostles performed signs and wonder, including Paul...The focus was supposed to be on Jesus, not Peter...

Mat 21:42 Jesus saith unto them, Did ye never read in the Scriptures, The stone which the builders rejected, the same is become the head of the corner: this is the Lord's doing, and it is marvelous in our eyes?

Lookin' like you folks have rejected the real 'stone'...

Jesus told His apostles, and by extension their successors, Mt 10:40 “He who receives you receives Me, and he who receives Me receives Him who sent Me.” That authority has crossed the centuries in a continuing line of apostolic succession. Every Catholic bishop, priest, and deacon was ordained by a bishop who was ordained by a bishop who was ordained by a bishop  who was personally ordained by Jesus Himself.

Does this include the Popes, Bishops and Priests that were homosexual, or the ones that had illegitimate children??? Were they ordained by God as well??? Nothing but more conjecture...

”Fully incorporated into the society of the Church are those who accept all the means of salvation given to the Church  through the Supreme Pontiff and the bishops.”

You have to reject the scripture if you chose to believe this...

I don't care what the Catholic church does...I don't care anything about the Catholic church...But when you guys try to twist and pervert the scripture to try to make it line up with your church and publish that kind of nonsense, I'll jump in every time...

326 posted on 07/09/2006 12:10:22 PM PDT by Iscool (President Bush loves AMNESTY...But he hates the DICTIONARY...)
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