Also, it should be noted that the books of Maccabees WERE Sacred Scripture, at the time of Jesus on Earth.
Since Maccabees CLEARLY supported the ideas of Purgatory and prayers to and for the dead -— Martin Luther stripped them from the Bible.
It should be noted that Luther wanted to remove other Books as well, at least 2 Books which are currently in the King James version.
Yes, human beings are fallen beings. Yes, every Church will be harmed by human failings.
However, it seems odd to me that you can object to “infallibility” (which only happens when so stated, not every thing out of a Pope's mouth is infallible, no Catholic believes that) -—
Anyway, since the Bible itself DID NOT EXIST until the Catholic Church CREATED IT, and since the Canons of the Church which accepted and rejected the various separate works of Scripture as part of that first Bible, all operated under the direction of a Pope -—
You had better hope that the Early Popes were INFALLIBLE!
Thank you for your efforts, but you are wasting your time here.
My first comment on this thread was to the thread’s author. I did not engage the committed catholics to debate, because it is worthless to do so.
You will not change my understanding of the Word of God—understanding that is given by the Holy Spirit ONLY, and I will not change your belief in catholicism.
There is no need to engage in useless arguments (even though I have wasted plenty of time in my life doing so).