As far as I'm concerned, that's what we're talking about here. The idea that the Holy Spirit can't directly teach you the truth is not Biblical. Jesus said that by continuing in the his word, you will know the truth and 1 John says the anointing of the Holy Spirit will teach you, not man.
Another man-made rule that keep God's people in bondage.
If I may, I think the point NYer was making was that the letter (of St. John) was written to address a heresy taught by other men.
This is the context of “But the anointing which you have received of him abides in you, and you need not that any man teach you” (1 John 2:27).” No one is saying that the Holy Spirit “can’t” directly teach truth.
We aren’t to listen to the inventions of Man. (what Man teaches from his own mind, his own invention). We are to listen to and obey what God instructs. This knowledge is transmitted (not invented by, but transmitted by) the Church, who is given Her knowledge by God.
One point not given due consideration is, that eventually, someone is going to be sharing, at least what they think is the “truth” with other people. Either someone who’s read the Bible on their own “with the help of the Holy Spirit” or the Church.
So we have a choice to make, all of us, do we listen to that voice in our head, hoping it’s not the Devil deceiving us, hoping we can prove to ourselves it’s not the Devil by reading more Scripture alone, or do we ask for help when needed, and have enough humility to say, “I don’t agree with what you’re saying, but I can’t find an objective reason to disagree”.
This is what we’re all called to do, really, to empty ourselves of our own spirit so that the Holy Spirit can find room to teach us as He normally wills, which is through other people. Other people who are witnesses for Christ in their own life, who show us by their example how it’s possible to live this way.
The great commission has no meaning, if all we’re supposed to do is go around telling people to “read the Bible”. That’s not evangelization, that’s not sharing a personal testimony. That’s not being a witness. That’s not the method of Christianity. The method hasn’t changed since Jesus was here. The method is to be a witness of Christ’s power in your own life. Your OWN life. Not a Scriptural scholar. (If our salvation is based on how well we know the written Word of God, then we’re ALL destined for Hell with no hope. Because surely, Satan knows the Bible better than you, me, NYer, and even the Pope.)
Otherwise the term “witness for Christ” has no meaning. Scripture itself is just a collection of dead letters if Christianity isn’t first and foremost a present event in one’s own life to be shared with other people, taught to other people in the present day.
Taught by authority given only by God. An authority recognizable because it can only have come from Another, and not by Man’s effort. This is so recognizable because such authority would not have lasted for 2,000 years if it were based on Man’s invention. Surely the history of the Church, replete with all the “bad Popes” and ensuing scandals proves this divine protection.