Common Sense
is Not so Common
Anymore!
Holy Scripture warns us to test all spirits. "Beloved, do
not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are of GOD;
'because many false prophets' have gone forth into the world."
1John 4:1
Just how many, are the "many false prophets"?
That question is easy, for
all save one, teach a "variance" of the truth, or not the full truth.
This
can be the only a logical conclusion, since if any taught all truth they would
be united with the only Church which Jesus Christ founded.
All it takes
to find the truth is a little common sense, but then, where is common sense
today?
There is the question of proper Biblical Interpretation:
I am sure that
most people are aware that the New Testament was written in the Greek language,
except for maybe Matthew, for which many scholars agree that it was originally
written in Aramaic and very soon after was translated into Greek.
Every time
one language is translated into another, something is either gained or lost.
That is why, for proper Bible interpretation, it is best to go back to the
original language in which it was written in order to grasp the full
meaning.
For Example:
"(31) Simon, Simon, behold, Satan demanded to have
you, that he might sift you like wheat, (32) but I
have prayed for you that your faith may not fail; and
when you have turned again, strengthen your brethren." Luke 22:31-32
In
English, the word "you" can be either singular or
plural. However in the Greek there is a different word for the plural "you", and it is "humas", the singular "you" is "sou". The meaning of these verses then becomes
clear as in verse 31 Jesus spoke to all of the Apostles, whereas in verse 32, He
addressed Peter alone.
English translations become problematic when we
consider another example, the words "brethren" or "brothers". Non-Catholics will
consistently take the word "brothers" as meaning a blood brother or a sibling.
They do this all the time to try and "prove" that Jesus Christ had siblings, "other
children of the Blessed Virgin Mary. One of the examples
they use is Galatians 1:19, "But I saw none of the other Apostles, except James
the brother of the Lord." By going to the Greek text, the word used for
brother is "adelphos", and its meaning from a Greek dictionary
is:
Adelphos (ad-el-fos)
1. A brother, whether born of the same two parents or
only of the same father or mother.
2. Having the same national ancestor,
belonging to the same people, or countryman.
3. Any fellow or man.
4. A
fellow believer, united to another by the bond of affection.
5. An associate
in employment or office.
6. Brethren or brothers:
6a.
brothers by blood
6b. all men
6c. Apostles
6d. Christians, as those who are exalted to the same heavenly
place
As you can see, this dictionary shows 6 classes of meanings for the
Greek word adelphos, and one of those classes has multiple
meanings.
How do we determine which meaning is the true meaning?
We must
put the verse in context, as with all verses in Scripture, to get the true
meaning.
In this case, the most obvious meaning of the word in Galatians
1:19 is 6c. How do we know that? One way is that the verse infers that James is
an Apostle, and the true parents of both Apostles named James, are shown in Holy Scripture. Some of the other
options could be chosen also, but certainly not 1 or 6a because of the context.
Detractors of the Blessed Virgin Mary, ignoring the context, will consistently
choose the first meaning only, and will ignore the rest. In some verses, the
meaning is blood brothers, but in other verses it means something else. You can
readily see that by putting the verse in context it works in two ways. It gives
you the true meaning, while at the same time eliminating the spurious
meanings.
The meaning always depends upon the context in which the words are
used.
By ignoring the context they fall into the trap of 2Timothy 3:7,
"Ever learning yet never attaining knowledge of the truth".
Now if
you gave all of the present 33,800+ ecclesial communities the same Bible and
asked each for their interpretation of it, you would get 33,800+ different
interpretations, all based solely upon private opinions. That is because,
for them, it is "every man for himself in Bible interpretation".
However,
individual interpretation of Holy Scripture is forbidden by Scripture itself.
Read Acts 8:26-40, 2Peter 1:20-21,3:16.
Aren't these verses ignored by
those who are guilty of private interpretation of Holy
Scripture?
Everyone is entitled to his or her own personal opinion.
However, a person's personal opinion has no bearing whatsoever on doctrinal
truth.
"They came and said to him, "Teacher, we know that you are a truthful
man and that you are not concerned with anyone's opinion. You do not regard a person's status but teach the way of GOD in
accordance with the truth. Is it lawful to pay the census tax to Caesar
or not? Should we pay or should we not pay?" The sentence in blue is what the Church which Jesus Christ founded
does.
Has anyone noticed the similarities of individual interpretation of
the Bible, and a lack of one central authority, to the events of September 11,
2001? Islam is very similar to the Protestant mindset, as they also have no
single authority and their interpretation of the Koran is based upon opinions
from various disconnected sects.
"A body with two heads is a monster", said
St. Thomas Aquinas (13th century).
All it takes to find the truth is a
little common sense, but then, where is common sense today?
After proper interpretation of Holy Scripture, there is the question of not
reading into it something of which is simply not there, or of ignoring or not
abiding by all of what the Word of GOD has to say.
For example:
Reading
in what is simply not there:
1. The Bible does not say that it is the
final authority, yet many say that it is.
2. It does not say that Mary had other children, yet many
say that she did.
3. It does not say that the Holy Eucharist is a symbol, yet many say that it is.
4. It does
not say that it has everything in it and to ignore other documents, yet some say that it
does.
Ignoring what is there:
5. It does say that we are to call the
Mother of GOD "Blessed", yet most non-Catholics do
not.
6. It does say that it is the Church which is the Pillar and Foundation
of truth, yet this verse is ignored by most ecclesial communities. 1Timothy
3:15
7. It does say that there is a third place to which we could go, yet almost all
except Catholics deny it.
All it takes to find the truth is a little
common sense, but then, where is common sense today?
There is the question of "feelings", and "emotions":
Here are some
real bonafide reasons why people have chosen one assembly over
another:
"The preacher built a fire in me and I was emotionally
charged."
I would say that satan in all his cleverness could build such a
fire also. Don't forget that he would give us 99 truths if he could get us to
swallow just one lie.
"This one has a better choir, and that lifts me."
It is truth we should be seeking for uplifting, and not a better
sounding choir.
"This one has a child care department so we have fewer
distractions."
These people completely ignore such verses as Matthew 19:14,
"...but Jesus said, "Let the children come to me, and do not hinder them; for to
such belongs the kingdom of heaven"."
"I simply felt good."
This is a
major problem with our society today. "What feels good for me is all that is
important."
"You shall not do as we are now doing; here, everyone does
what seems right for himself."
Deuteronomy 12:8
If people had proper
understanding of Holy Scripture they would soon realize that worship of GOD is
not based on feelings or emotions, but on faith and sacrifice.
All it takes to find the truth
is a little common sense, but then, where is common sense today?
Then there is the all important question of which Church did Jesus Christ
found:
1. This question is so simple to answer, yet hardly a single
non-Catholic Christian can, or is willing to answer it in truth.
Every
Christian denomination on earth was founded by a person with a name. Simply
trace the origins of your denomination back through its history and you will
find that all non-Catholic ecclesial communities are only traceable back a few
years for most, and a few hundred years for some. You will also find that it was
founded by a mere human person.
This takes us back to the question of
authority which was discussed earlier.
Did any of these human persons have
GOD given authority to found your ecclesial community?
If you think so, then
I ask for a second time to please show me the verse in Holy Scripture?
2.
There is only one Christian Church on earth that is traceable back for almost
2000 years to its founder Jesus Christ. This can be done by many different routes and by using many genuine historical documents. Since GOD does not ever
change, then the Church which He founded is still with us today for we have His
promises of protection and perpetualty...
His promise of
protection:
"And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my
church, and the powers of death shall not prevail against it." Matthew
16:18
His promises of perpetualty.
"And I will ask the Father, and he
will give you another Advocate, to dwell with you forever, the Spirit of truth
whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But
you shall know him, because he will dwell with you, and be in you."
John
14:16-17
"I will not leave you orphans; I will come to you."
John
14:18
"Go, therefore, and make disciples of all* nations, baptizing them in
the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the holy Spirit, teaching them to
observe all* that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you all* days,
even unto the consummation of the world."
Matthew 28:19-20
*All
nations, all truth for all days, have overtones of universality
don't they? It is a portent of the "Universal Church" founded by Jesus Christ.
Here is another "portent" of the Universal Church:
"But you shall receive
power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be my witnesses in
Jerusalem (local) and in all Judea and Samaria (spreading out) and to the end of
the earth (covering the whole world)."
Acts 1:8
All it takes to find
the truth is a little common sense, but then, where is common sense today?
Then there is the question of those who say that the Church which Jesus
Christ founded, apostatized soon after the last Apostle died:
1. First of
all, those people do not have one shred of authentic historical documentation to
show anyone for this false charge. Ask them for evidence and you will find that
they are unable to produce any genuine historical records.
This charge is
merely a smoke screen in order to try and legitimize their own ecclesial
community.
However, there are literally thousands of genuine historical documents, written
by scores of authors, and dating in every century from the first on down to ours
which testify to the unbroken continuity of the Church which Jesus Christ
founded. The notion that His Church apostatized, would certainly be a monumental
event, and would surely be recorded in mountains of historical records, yet not
one can be found anywhere in any century before the reformation. With no proof,
how can anyone believe those who propagate this deliberate untruth?
What
credibility is there for those who make this preposterous false
charge?
2. Secondly, and much more seriously, they have just called Jesus
Christ a liar for His promises of protection and perpetualty, which He made in
the preceding session.
"He who does not believe the Son, makes Him a liar;
because he does not believe the witness that GOD has borne concerning His
Son."
1John 5:10
If you study the last line in Matthew 28:20, it says that
Jesus Christ will be with the Church He founded, every day in every century,
until the end of time, and with no gaps, not even one single day. Many would try
to have us believe that there was an almost 1500 year gap from the time that the
last Apostle died until Martin
Luther came along and started the Protestant reformation.
Now, with no
evidence whatsoever, and with those making this false charge deliberately
ignoring the verses in the preceding session, and therefore being found guilty
of calling Jesus Christ a liar, where is their credibility?
"But nothing
unclean shall enter it, nor any one who practices abomination or falsehood, but only those who are written in the Lamb’s
book of life."
Revelation 21:27
Oops! For those who make false charges against the
Church which Jesus Christ founded, they had better remember that verse, and not
add it to their list of verses to ignore.
Here are a few more verses which
fit our theme here very nicely.
"For I am the least of the apostles, unfit to
be called an apostle,
because I persecuted the church of
God."
1Corinthians 15:9
"For you have heard of my former life in Judaism,
how I persecuted the church of God violently and tried to destroy
it;"
Galatians 1:13
"I was once a blasphemer and a persecutor and an
arrogant man,
but I have been mercifully treated because I acted out of
ignorance in my unbelief."
1Timothy 1:13
All it takes to find the
truth is a little common sense, but then, where is common sense today?
A Summation of what we have discussed here:
1. Truth is one. There
can be only one truth. Truth is the person of Jesus Christ.
2. There is only
one Church which Jesus Christ founded. Matthew 16:18.
3. There can be only
one authority for that one Church. Luke 10:16, John 20:21-23.
4. Those who
labor building a house not built by GOD, do labor in vain. Psalms 127:1
5.
The Holy Spirit is GOD, and GOD never changes, so He cannot be teaching opposing
viewpoints.
6. GOD is not the author of
confusion, man is. 1Corinthians 14:33
7. There must be proper interpretation
of Holy Scripture in order to arrive at the full truth.
8. We must not read
into what is simply not there in Holy Scripture.
9. We must not ignore what
is contrary to our beliefs, in Holy Scripture.
10. A person's private opinion
has no bearing whatsoever upon doctrinal truth.
11. God would not have given
us an inerrant book without first giving us an infallible interpreter for
it.
12. Our salvation depends upon expressing the truth and not
falsehood.
13. If the Person who is Truth said it, we have the obligation to
believe and practice it.
14. Those who refuse to believe, or who ignore what
Jesus Christ taught, have called Him a liar.
All it takes to find the
truth is a little common sense, but then, where is common sense
today?