Posted on 05/19/2011 8:39:41 AM PDT by SeekAndFind
Dunno what to tell you man. Scripture says what it does, and I go with that. I'll take the Word of my Lord, God and Savior Jesus Christ any day of the week over the rantings of some blasphemous heretic, who has a proven track record of being wrong.
Who determines what is heresy?
Didn't we already cover this?
Jeff Chandler asked:
“Who determines what is heresy?”
Like to see the return of the inquisition, would you?
I wouldn’t worry too much about Harold Canning, if I were you. His error will become evident in a day or two. As for more like him, the world will always have plenty of fools willing to have their itching ears scratched by the unscrupulous and deluded.
I just want to know how to decide whose Biblical interpretation to believe. If you quote scripture to back up your assertions, and somebody else quotes scripture to back up his, how do we determine who is right? Sure, Saturday will come and go, but I see biblical end times prophesies all the time here. How do I know one of them isn't correct?
But again, this goes back to reading "But about that day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father." How can someone who reads that and presumably comprehends it go out and say "Ok the day and hour is X"?
It is like memorizing a times table, reading that 2 * 2 = 4, but insisting, very fervently, that 2 * 2 = 3, even after being shown, over and over, that 2 * 2 = 4.
Either the person making that assertion cannot understand what the words in Scripture say, or he is being purposefully deceitful.
They seem sincere. I see posts all the time associating current event with end times prophesy. They never fail to point out the scriptural basis for their assertions. How do I know they are wrong?
I won’t belabor this subject. Put simply the dilemma is this: Where is divine authority to be found on earth. There are three possible answers, with variations of each (whether such variations are valid or not):
1. The Roman Catholic answer. Authority is grounded in and validated by the See of Peter, i.e., the Roman papacy. This became the de facto position of the Roman Catholic Church in the reign of Leo I, (440-461). The rest of the church that is today known as “Catholic” gradually accepted this assertion in the course of the next few centuries. Although it was never accepted by all. It is no coincidence that the last ecumenical council, that of Chalcedon in 451, to be universally accepted took place during his papacy. Thereafter all so-called ecumenical councils were little more than meetings subject to the approval of the reigning pope. Bottom line: one conscience decides the matter for all. Since the papacy asserts that the power of the keys includes use of the sword, heresy can be punished by whatever means are within the church’s ability to administer, up to and including capital punishment.
2. The answer of the first or conservative Reformation (associated with the name of Martin Luther). Authority is grounded in and validated by the written word of God alone, otherwise known as sola scriptura. The reading of the Augsburg Confession at the Imperial Diet of 1530 (June 25th) was an attempt to lead the universal (the original sense of “catholic”) church back to the old and trusted path of the truly ecumenical council, that is, where the church is gathered together and accepts/rejects doctrine on the basis of the Word of God as supreme. Practically speaking, this meant that all doctrine and practice must pass the “smell test” of the Holy Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments. Traditions would be respected and retained in so far as, and only in so far as, they were not in conflict with the plain meaning of the Scriptures. Bottom line: The collective conscience of the church’s preachers and hearers publicly affirms or denies what is truly divine doctrine. Since it is confessed that the church has only the power of the keys, which does not include power of the sword, there is no possible penalty for heresy other than excommunication (refusing to admit to the sacrament of the altar and refusal to acknowledge the pulpit (preaching) of the opponents).
3. The answer of the third or radical Reformation. Authority is grounded in the word of God, but understood in the light of individual experience or guidance. Those who identify with this to varying degrees lay claim to the idea of sola scriptura, but in practice do not uphold it. Virtually all so-called Protestant denominations have emerged from this development that followed the first or conservative Reformation. Bottom line: The conscience of individuals and groups of individuals determines visible allegiance, and hence there have become thousands of so-called denominations. Since there is no agreement as to the nature of the authority Christ gave to the church (the keys) and to civil government (the sword) nor as to the distinction between the two, the penalty for heresy varies hugely.
Disclosure: I identify with answer 2.
I realized what you were saying.
Have a great weekend, and we will see each other via our replies on Monday!
“2 * 2 = 3”
That’s true, for small values of 2.
(stupid old programmer’s joke)
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