In the book Letters Between a Catholic and an Evangelical - From Debate to Dialogue on the Issues That Separate Us Father John R Waiss and Pastor James McCarthy wrote letters back and forth discuss differences between each others faith. Each topic they touched on will be presented. I am an Evangelical and the purpose of these blogs are to present both sides and come to a better understanding of each. While I cannot blog on every letter and response I will touch on each topic and respond accordingly to each supporting or conflicting views.
God's Word: Is it found in Scripture alone or Scripture plus Tradition?
Pastor James (Evangelical):
The written Scriptures are the inspired, authoritative, and trustworthy Word of God. They are the supreme norm or standard to which Christians must submit, the final court of appeals in matter of doctrine and morals. In the Bible we find all truth essential for Salvation and Christian living. The Scriptures have no equal on earth, for they alone are the Word of God.
Father John (Priest):
The Church "forcefully and specifically exhorts all the Christian faithful...to learn the surpassing knowledge of Jesus Christ, by frequent reading of the divine Scriptures. Ignorance of the Scriptures is ignorance of Christ." Catholics do not believe that Scripture is our sole source for the truth and certainty of God's revelation. Does the Holy Spirit entrust us with sound and authoritative doctrine only through Scripture? Where does Scripture claim this?
Pastor James:
Unfortunately we do not even agree on what the Word of God is. Evangelical Christians hold that God has preserved the revelation received from Christ in the inspired writing of Scripture. Your church says that the Christian faith is contained in Scripture and Tradition. Together they make up the Word of God. We have come to significantly different understandings of the Christian faith.
My thoughts: I believe the Bible is the sole source Scripture. I also do not understand why the Catholic church does not promote bringing you Bible to worship (I understand Catholics have Scripture readings). I would also be interested in hearing if the Catholic Church believes the whole Bible is true or just the parts of the Bible that the Catholic church has governed as true. Do you believe the Bible is true and the sole Word of God or do you believe that Popes and hierarchy are in the Bible and directed to make regulations and doctrines on an ongoing basis? Do you believe that when Jesus died on the cross for our sins and a way to God that we received a direct relationship to God, to repent our sins to God directly (unlike the Catholic faith that practices confession of sins through a priest) and eliminated the need for a human intervention on our behave?
I also have future thoughts on Baptism, the Sacraments, priest being called "Father", the Virgin Mary and more but will wait for the topics to be addressed in the order as they are in the book. Again, please take note I hope to use this as a learning experience to understand the Catholic faith better. I know a number of Catholics who I love dearly, but as I learn the Bible and come across things that seem to directly conflict with the Catholic faith I am hoping for additional insight.
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