talking to a fallen away Catholic

This is just one of the many e-mails I have responded to. His (Erik) words are in black, and mine are in blue.

When can a human being who is flawed and a sinner, ever be infallible?Yes! in matters of faith and morals. &nbs p; If individual fathers are capable of erring, then a whole cluster of them can also err in their agreement. We do not need the consent of popes when it comes to Biblical interpretation. Who else is better qualified to guide the christian faithful, then the direct spiritual descendant of Peter along with the Magisterium. We need the guidance of the Holy Spirit. Jesus gave the earthly control of His church to Peter, and Peter in turn said he would see to it that the church would be able to remember all things at "any time." The Bible was never meant to be only in the hands of the few and the learned. It is the very instruction manual of the Christian. Erik, that view is not following scripture, the bible was writen for teaching. (2Ti 3:16 NRSV-CE) All scripture is inspired by God and is useful for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, and it is not just for anyone to make up their own interpretation. If you can remember while in the Catholic church, it is taught that we are to read scripture in light of the church's teachings. This was a big light bulb moment for me, I no longer had to come up with an interpretation to make it make sense. When I gave up my prideful notion that I can the scriputres speak to me, through the church the scriptures came alive. I have never had such a desire to just marinate myself in the words of God, as I do now.

The view of the RCC is that the Scriptures have been entrusted to the church, and the individuals must look to the official pronouncements of the church to know the true teaching of Scripture." Until twenty years ago (more like 50 years ago) Yes the Church does encourage us to look to the Church for teachings. This is how we keep ourselves from falling into error. and the second Vatican Council, that kind of thinking had kept the Scriptures concealed in Latin and had kept the average Catholic lay person in shameful ignorance of Scriptures. Although much of that is changing now, for centuries the Bible was kept from the people. When examining these charges against the Church, we must consider several points. First if the Church truly wanted to destroy the Bible, why did her monks work diligently through the centuries making copies of it? Before the printing press (before 1450), copies of the Bible were hand written with beauty and painstaking accuracy. One reason for Bibles being chained to the walls of churches is because each copy was precious both spiritually and materially. It took a monk about a year to hand copy the entire Bible, so Bibles were scarce. The chain kept it safe from loss or theft, so all the people of the church community (parish) could better benefit from it.

Secondly concerning the vernacular, we must remember that in the 5th century when St. Jerome translated the Bible from the original languages into Latin, Latin was the language of the people. This Bible is commonly called the Vulgate, the common version. Even after a thousand years, Latin still remained the universal language in Europe.

Translating the Bible into the vernacular languages during the Middle Ages was simply impractical. Most vernacular languages at that time did not have an alphabet, so they could not be put into written form. Also only a few people could read. The few educated persons, who could read, could also read Latin. This situation did not create a great demand for a vernacular Bible nor promote a popular devotion to personal Bible reading.

Even though impractical, there are examples of the Church promoting the vernacular. One example is the mission of Sts. Cyril and Methodius to the Slavic people in Moravia during the 9th century. They are both famous for introducing the Slavonic liturgy. In their work St. Cyril had to develop an alphabet for the Old Slavonic language. (It became the precursor of the Russian "cyrillic" alphabet.) In 885 St. Methodius translated the entire Bible into this language. Despite strong political opposition from the Germans, Pope Hadrian II after careful investigation confirmed St. Methodius as archbishop of Moravia and endorsed their Slavonic liturgy. (St. Cyril had already died.) Several later popes continued to uphold their work against attacks; however, Pope Stephen VI recalled the liturgy after being deceived by the German opposition

In 7th century Britain, before English was even a language, Caedmon, a monk of Whitby, paraphrased most of the Bible into the common tongue. During the early 8th century, St. Bede the Venerable also translated parts of the Bible into the language of the common British people. On his death bed in 735, he translated the Gospel of St. John. Also in this period, Bishop Eadhelm, Guthlac and Bishop Egbert worked on Saxon Bibles. During the 9th and 10th centuries, King Alfred the Great and Archbishop Aelfric worked on Anglo-Saxon (Old English) translations. After the Norman conquest of 1066, a need for an Anglo-Norman Bible arose, so the Church produced several translations, e.g. Salus Animae (1250). In 1408 the provincial council of Oxford made it clear that vernacular translations could receive approval from the Church. In 1582 the famous Douay-Rheims New Testament translation was completed, while the Old Testament was finished in 1609. Ironically the Douay-Rheims New Testament influenced the King James Bible. There are writings of popes (and I can quote them for you) which say that the Bible must not be allowed in the vernacular (language of the people). That it would do more harm than good! Scriptures were for the priesthood only (They were prohibited to anyone in the laity without written permission from one's superior. The ban against translating the Bible into local languages originated from the desire to make sure people didn't get inaccurate translations. Case in point: Luther adding the word "alone" after "faith" in his German translation of the Bible when it didn't exist in the original texts. To violate this was considered a mortal sin). The Latin Vulgate could not be understood by the people, only trained priests. Pope Innocent the 3rd forbade Bible reading. One would have to learn latin. The council of Valencia, the council of Trent and pope Clement Xl issued a papal bull to forbid letting people have a Bible in their own language and reading it for themselves. Clement the 11th also issued a papal bull against Bible reading. Reading the Protestant bible only. I have all of these Encyclicals, and they speak only of reading the errored translations of Wycliff and Tyndale.

But thanks to men like Wycliff and Tyndale, the Holy Bible was translated in English. And that changed history forever. Yes, you are right here. This is where the Protestants stepped away from the guidance of the church in the interpretation of the scriptures. (1Co 1:10 NRSV-CE) Now I appeal to you, brothers and sisters, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you should be in agreement and that there should be no divisions among you, but that you should be united in the same mind and the same purpose.

One of the hallmarks of the Protestant/Evangelical faiths is that the church and its ministers are judged by Scripture, and not vice versa.To judge the Holy Bible, God's Word, is to judge God. The Holy Spirit is the One Who inspired the writing of Scripture, and He is the most qualified One to interpret its meaning to each reader. Everyone has the right to read the bible and come up with their own interpretation. This is why there are over 50,000 christian denominations today. All of them claiming to be true to the bible. So, are all of them right? Is the Holy Spirit guiding them in all truth? 30,000 different truths? Erik, this is not following scripture. The bible tells us to go to the church for truth. (1Ti 3:15 NRSV-CE) if I am delayed, you may know how one ought to behave in the household of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and bulwark of the truth.

This is why unregenerate man who is an enmity of God cannot understand the Scriptures because it is spiritually discerned. The Bible is foolishness to those who are perishing.

Jesus assured us that the Holy Spirit would indeed guide us into all truth. “Howbeit=2 0 when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth” (John 16:13). Accurate Biblical interpretation is based on the revelation of Jesus Christ throughout the Scriptures. Nowhere is this more clearly demonstrated than on that walk on the road to Emmaus. Or these,

(Act 8:29 NRSV-CE) Then the Spirit said to Philip, 'Go over to this chariot and join it.'

(Act 8:30 NRSV-CE) So Philip ran up to it and heard him reading the prophet Isaiah. He asked, 'Do you understand what you are reading?'

(Act 8:31 NRSV-CE) He replied, 'How can I, unless someone guides me?' And he invited Philip to get in and sit beside him.

(Act 8:35 NRSV-CE) Then Philip began to speak, and starting with this scripture, he proclaimed to him the good news about Jesus.

The disciples had been personally taught by Jesus for three years. However, they still did not understand the Scriptures from which He taught. They were distracted by the conflicting interpretations of contemporary scholars. It was not until Jesus began with Moses and all the prophets and explained how they revealed Him that they understood the true meaning of Scripture. “And beginning at Moses and all the prophets, he expounded unto them in all the scriptures the things concerning himself” (Luke 24:27). They later recalled, “Did not our heart burn within us, while he talked with us by the way, and while he opened to us the Scriptures?” (Luke 24:32).

(2Pe 1:12 NRSV-CE) Therefore I intend to keep on reminding you of these things, though you know them already and are established in the truth that has come to you.

(2Pe 1:13 NRSV-CE) I think it right, as long as I am in this body, to refresh your memory,

(2Pe 1:14 NRSV-CE) since I know that my death will come soon, as indeed our Lord Jesus Christ has made clear to me.

(2Pe 1:15 NRSV-CE) And I will make every effort so that after my departure you may be able at any time to recall these things.

The scholars of Jesus’ day carried out heated debates over the correct interpretation of Scripture, but Jesus counseled them to search the Scriptures on the b asis that they testified of Him. “Search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me” (John 5:39) Many times Jesus would say things like: "You err." or "You do not understand." because you have not read the Scriptures. Over and over Jesus would say: "It is written," to show the primacy of the Word of God. He rebuked the pharisees for elevating traditions which were made of no effect. Mark 7:9 And he said unto them, "Full well ye reject the commandment of God, that ye may keep your own tradition."Jewish traditions, yes I agree. Vs. 13 "Making the word of God of none effect through your tradition, which ye have delivered: and many such like things do ye"