Where’s Your Authority?

In the practice of apologetics, the main group Catholics encounter who believe differently than us is Protestant Christians, which is any Christian group who are not Roman Catholic or some eastern Orthodox Catholic.  The biggest difference between the beliefs of Protestants and Catholics is the idea of authority.  Catholics believe we have three sources of theological, philosophical, and moral truth: The Sacred Scriptures (Bible), Sacred Traditions (capital “T” traditions are different from lower case “t” traditions.  I will explain that in a later lesson.), and the Magestarium (the teaching authority) of the Catholic Church.  Protestants, in 1517 (and many times in subsequent years), abandoned the last two and claimed “Sola Scriptura” which is Latin for Scripture Alone.

This lesson focuses on why we Catholics rely on more than just the Bible, and how that fundamental idea is backed up by the Bible.

Firstly, in order to say with certainty that Scripture is to be the sole authority in the process of salvation, it must say so within the scriptures.  Many Protestants who know the Bible well will likely cite the following verse.

2 Timothy 3:14-17

"But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have become convinced of, because you know those from whom you learned it, and how from infancy you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work."

They say that St. Paul is telling Timothy that Scripture is sufficient as a rule of faith.  But a closer examination of the text will show that St. Paul says it is “useful” or helpful.  He does not insinuate (let alone blatantly state) that Scripture alone is a basis for a Christian’s faith.  Instead St. Paul is laying down a guideline for Timothy to use Scripture along with Tradition (see verse 14, St. Paul is referring to himself as “from whom you learned it”) in his ministry as Bishop.

There are other Bible verses distorted to “prove” the concept of Sola Scriptura, but if looked at in context, none of them claim that Scripture is SUFFICIENT.  That is always very important to look at.

Secondly, St. Paul says that all scripture is inspired by God, but another idea to bring up is the history of where the Bible comes from and what exactly is “Scripture.”

Here’s a vocabulary lesson: 

Scripture- n. In Christianity, any of the texts deemed by the Catholic Church as inspired by God.  (taken from the Catholic Dictionary of Luke ;] )

That’s right. “deemed by the Catholic Church.”  these few points will explain what I mean:

1. The Gospels (and there were many more than just Matt, Mark, Luke, and John) were not written until approximately 40ad.  
2. The Epistles and Revelation were not finished until approximately 70ad.
3. There were still (Catholic) Christians within these years!  They had masses every Sunday, and they followed the Sacred Traditions, the Old Testament (the new testament was being written during this time and was accepted as truth because the apostles taught it, but not considered Scripture like the Old Testament was; more like the magestarium), and the Teachings of the Apostles (first bishops) and their successors.
4. The Bible was not placed under one cover and called (all together) Scripture until 397ad.  Nearly four hundred years after Christ!  Sola Scriptura would be a very difficult thing for a Christian to practice during these first 400 years after Christ.
5. It was in 397ad that the Catholic Bishops got together at what is now known as the Council of Carthage and (through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit) decided what would be in the Canon of Scripture (under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, they decided which books seemed inspired by God, and therefore belonged in the Bible.).

Therefore, all Christians (whether they like it or not) who claim “the Bible is all I need” have to trust that the Catholic Church was guided by God to place only the right books in the New Testament, with out leaving any out.  But, if we can trust them then, why not now?

Thirdly, we have no reason to believe ANY of the Bible is inspired by God, except that the Catholic Church claims it is.  Now I realize that’s a radical statement but allow me to briefly explain. 

1. The Bible explains that Jesus founded a Church.  Taking the Bible as merely a historical text (not yet the Word of God) we find that in Matt 16:16-19, 18:17, 28:18-20, Luke 10:16, and other verses Jesus establishes a church.  This Church has the keys to the kingdom of heaven (Matt 16:19), has the power to forgive sins (John 20:21), will “be guided into all truth” (John 16:13), and will stand the test of time (Matt 16:18 & Matt 28:19)
2. Because, no other Christian church can trace it’s history back all the way to the apostles of Christ, and since they have all abandoned the Traditions passed on by his apostles (2 Thessalonians 2:15, 3:6), we must conclude that the Catholic Church is the one (Romans 12:4-5), true (1 Timothy 3:15) Church founded by Christ.
3. Because this Church “will be guided into all truth” (John 16:13) and will not be prevailed against by the gates of hell (Matt 16:18), this church has the authority to say which out of many, many books are inspired by God, and how to interpret those books.
4. The Catholic Church, speaking with this authority, made the claim that both the  Old Testament (Greek/Jewish Septuagint) and the New Testament (Gospels, Acts, Epistles, and Revelation) were inspired by the Holy Spirit, and therefore are the Word of God.

We have no other reason to think the Bible is Inspired by God.

Much of this information is lacking, but only because I want to try to keep these lessons as short as possible.  :)

So, for the sake of brevity, I’ll continue with why we believe in the Traditions, and Magestarium of the Church in my next lesson.

Questions received via email:

Q: “I know a huge concern of protestants is that the Pope seems to have been given the authority to prophesy new rules and doctrine - even if its not supported biblically. I think I've heard it said the Pope is viewed as infallible or something. I'd love some clarity on that :)”

1. Well, the idea that the Pope is infallible (cannot err in matters of Doctrine) is definitely supported by scripture (Mt 10:2, 16:18-19, Lk 22:31-32, Jn 21:15-17, 1 Cor 1:12, 3:11, 15:4-5 and more).  The Pope doesn’t really prophesy new rules and doctrines, but rather, through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit (John 16:13), he clarifies and completes pre-existing truths.  This main concern of the protestants is rooted in the suspicion that certain doctrines which light has been shed upon have gone against Sacred Scripture.  That simply is false.  Through out future lessons, I will demonstrate time and again how the Catholic Faith (though not founded on the Bible because it predates the Bible, and part of the Bible was written by Catholics) is deeply ingrained in the scriptures, and corresponds with all of them.

PLEASE send me any questions you may have (lambssupper@gmail.com)!  I love to answer those more than I love putting these lessons together.  ...And Read your Bible!!

Thank you and God Bless,

Luke