Honest question for catholics: has it ever even been proposed to you that the church of Matt 16:18 does "not" mean one institution, but the existence of believers at all?
Catholic Questions
Joshua Cook
Carson Miller
Luke Roberts
Yes, multiple times.
Of course I never get a COMPLETE hold of what that means. What does it mean that Peter is the head of the church, then?
Jonathan Gomez
Peter is not the head of the church, "this rock" is the confession of Christ as Lord found in verse 16
Lucas Howard
What is that icon depicting? I don't know all the biblical stories that well.
Michael Sanchez
I am not a Protestant because the Protestant tenets make no sense whatsoever.
Sola fide – but fide in what, exactly? Faith needs a content. If this content of faith is just "Jesus Christ is God Incarnated and died to save us and is the source of our salvation", then, well, the Catholic believes that too, which puts the Protestant in a kind of Pascal's Wager situation: if this sort of faith is enough, then both Catholic and Protestant are saved; if the Catholic is right, however, the Catholic is saved and the Protestant is damned. A broad sola fide is thus entirely compatible with Catholicism, since the sacraments are just derivatives from the faith in Jesus Christ.
But if sola fide is more restrictive than that – if it encompasses a certain set of beliefs beyond the divinity of Christ and His redemptive gift – then this too is a problem for Protestantism because there are severe differences in belief among Protestant Churchces. Some consider Mary theotokos, others consider her just a noble woman; some believe Christ is present in the Eucharist, others believe the act to be entirely symbolic. In a restrictive view of sola fide, Protestantism becomes a gamble, as there are many roads to which the free examination of scripture can lead.
Sola scriptura and free examination – but texts don't read themselves. Just like law needs an interpreter to be applied and to say what the text is actually conveying, scripture needs an authoritative interpreter or else it is a gamble, since it is a mixture of symbolic and literal descriptions often without a clear guide to describe which is which. Is Christ speaking literally of the Eucharist being His blood and His flesh? I can read it both ways, but there is only one true answer, answer which I need in order to properly live in Christ. Or else I am, again, gambling with my soul.
In short, the Protestant approach to the faith seems completely incompatible with a mechanism designed to guide mankind to salvation.
So why Catholic? Because I trust it to be the church Christ founded. It is old and despite its up and downs it has been involved in too much good and survived too much evil for me not to believe there is something divine about it. Indeed, if it turns out that the Catholic Church is false, then by no means that will mean that Protestantism is correct. Most likely the true church would have been lost to time and we all would be completely hopeless.
Ian Sanchez
Sola scriptura emphasizes the Bible alone as the source of authority for Christians. By saying, “Scripture alone,” the Reformers rejected both the divine authority of the Roman Catholic Pope and confidence in sacred tradition. Only the Bible was “inspired by God” (2 Peter 1:20-21) and “God-breathed” (2 Timothy 3:16-17). Anything taught by the Pope or in tradition that contradicted the Bible was to be rejected. Sola scriptura also fueled the translation of the Bible into German, French, English, and other languages, and prompted Bible teaching in the common languages of the day, rather than in Latin.
Sola fide emphasizes salvation as a free gift. The Roman Catholic Church of the time emphasized the use of indulgences (donating money) to buy status with God. Good works, including baptism, were seen as required for salvation. Sola fide stated that salvation is a free gift to all who accept it by faith (John 3:16). Salvation is not based on human effort or good deeds (Ephesians 2:9).
Sola gratia emphasizes grace as the reason for our salvation. In other words, salvation comes from what God has done rather than what we do. Ephesians 2:8-9 teaches, “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.”
Solo Christo (sometimes listed as Solus Christus, “through Christ alone”) emphasizes the role of Jesus in salvation. The Roman Catholic tradition had placed church leaders such as priests in the role of intercessor between the laity and God. Reformers emphasized Jesus’ role as our “high priest” who intercedes on our behalf before the Father. Hebrews 4:15 teaches, “For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin.” Jesus is the One who offers access to God, not a human spiritual leader.
Soli Deo gloria emphasizes the glory of God as the goal of life. Rather than striving to please church leaders, keep a list of rules, or guard our own interests, our goal is to glorify the Lord. The idea of soli Deo gloria is found in 1 Corinthians 10:31: “So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.”
from gotquestions.org/five-solas.html
Jackson Ross
Careful using that as justification. Buddhism is old too and a Buddhist could also say
Austin Wright
Hence why I didn't restrict my position to just the church's age.
I understand this, but that doesn't answer the problem I have with sola scriptura. Unstated in the comment is that the text dispenses the need of an interpreter, but that opens the door to people having wildly different interpretations of the text; in other words, having faith in different things.
That excerpt also doesn't answer my issue with sola fide. Accept it by faith, sure – but faith in WHAT? What is the content of this faith? How exacting must it be? If it is broad enough, then even the Catholic is put inside it (which puts Protestants in front of their own Pascal's Wager); if it is restrictive, then choosing a Protestant denomination is a gamble, as they all have wildly differing beliefs (caused partly by the free biblicam exam that is corollary to sola scriptura).
Camden Scott
We're told to judge a tree by its fruit, and following church history you can see there a several ups and downs yet it still stand strong on its rock. I believe that gives justification. I can't believe in any denom made in the last few hundred years. It's just too early. There may be a crisis now, but that's all the more reason to stand with it and work through the tough times. The church is married to Christ, and He won't abandon her.