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Originally Posted by Tj3
No, your outright appear to ignore what I say in many cases and too often use strawman arguments to bolster your point.
You keep saying but simply repeating it won't make it so.
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By the private interpretation of the teachings of your denomination.
The Church is not private. It is very Public.
Your teachings on the other hand, they are private.
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This is the crux of the matter. That is your standard for doctrine, mine is what scripture says prohibiting communication with those dead in the flesh. Since your establish your standard as being the teachings of your denomination and mine is the scripture, we have no common basis of understanding and no hope of coming to common ground on this issue.
Again, your standard is not Scripture but your INTERPRETATION thereof.
A good example would be the Government of the United States. We have a Constitution. But we aren't allowed to interpret it privately. We have a Supreme Court to do that.
The US Government is not wiser than God.
God inspired the Christian Constitution. The Bible. And He has provided one Institution to interpret it, the Church.
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Bingo! I'll stick with scripture.
Scripture says:
Matthew 18 17 And if he will not hear them: tell the church. And if he will not hear the church, let him be to thee as the heathen and publican.
So, if you really stick to Scripture, you'll listen to the Church.
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I disagree. You have redefined the word "church" to mean your denomination which did not exist at that time.
Not so. I have identified my Church as the one described in Scripture. Its easy and logical to do so.
After all, Jesus built one Church and He said it would never fail. I believe in Jesus and in His Promises. Therefore, the Church He built is out there. But which is it?
I believe it is the Catholic Church because I went through the Scriptures and identified all the points which described the Church.
Then I went through history and compared the teachings of the early Churches to Scripture. They all believe in Tradition and never heard of Sola Scriptura.
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That is your private interpretation and does not align either with the English or Hebrew texts.
I disagree.
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I could argue from the early Christians also,
Be my guest.
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but what believers were earlier than those who penned scripture?
None. But the believers which followed those who penned Scripture confirm by their behavior what they were taught by those who penned Scripture.
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And we know that scripture is inspired by God
Yes. In men.
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and therefore is not a private interpretation of man.
Correct. We must strive to interpret Scripture in the same Spirit as those who penned Scripture.
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Yep. As long as you rely upon your denominational private interpretation as the standard, and I go to the Bible as interpreted by itself, we have no hope of ever coming to common ground.
Actually, we do. My "interpretation" is based upon the Word of God in Sacred Tradition. That is, in Word and Scripture. Yours is based on the Word of God in Scripture alone. But the Word of God does not contradict. We know the Word of God is not in error. One of us is. All that one has to do is identify the error.
Now, when I used to believe in Sola Scriptura, all I did was go through the centuries and observe that no one believed that doctrine until right before Luther. And Luther picked it up and ran with it.
I believe I've identified the error.
And I have an institution which has stood for 2000 years to back me up.
Sincerely,
