Individual Interpretation of the
Bible is Prohibited by Holy Scripture.
It was a sad day when I read that the
internet was being used with avid interest by those who are scrambling to form
their own churches. These people comb the internet searching for the beliefs of
these various sects, just so they can find a niche to make theirs different from
all the others. They completely disregard the teaching of Our Lord when He said,
"...and there shall be ONE FOLD and
ONE SHEPHERD." John 10:16
There are over
38,000 individual non-Catholic sects in the world now, with more being
added every day. With the advent of millions of potential 'customers' who are
easily reached on-line, that number is expected to increase at an accelerated
rate. This hurts the Christian cause, as it is satan's way to divide and
conquer, and it is GOD's way to unite into one Church with one Shepherd. It is
making Protestantism even more and more impotent.
The primary root cause of this is the false belief of individual
interpretation of the Bible. Protestant churches cannot teach that they are the
'One True Church' which Jesus
Christ founded because none of them can trace their origin back 2000 years to Jesus Christ when He
founded His Church in Matt 16:18. If all Protestantism was united in the Holy
Spirit, then how can you explain that Calvinists believe Baptism is a Sacrament,
but Baptists do not? How do you explain that Lutherans say that Mary is the Mother of GOD, but
Evangelicals say she is not? How do you explain that Episcopalians believe man
has free will, yet Presbyterians deny it? You can go on and on through all
38,000 non-Catholic Christian sects and see differences of opinion as presented in this sampling.
If all
Christian Churches taught the same thing then there would be only one Church, as there was for
the first 1500 years of Christianity.
In all of the above examples, the one side interprets the
Bible this way, and the other side interprets it that way. "The simple fact of
the matter is, that it is not possible to put together any selection of words in
which some ingenious person may not find a meaning not meant by the writer of
the verse." Frank Sheed.
"Only a public authority,
divinely guided, can spell out without error, a public message divinely
revealed." Fr. Pere Benoit...
The Pope, in
accordance with the Magisterium of the Catholic Church, is the public authority, divinely guided, of
which Fr. Benoit speaks.
There are many Bible verses which tell
us that individual interpretation of the Bible simply cannot be done without
divine assistance...
Luke 24:45, "Then He
opened their minds, that they might understand the Scriptures."
So it took Jesus Christ to open the minds of the
Apostles so that they could teach others in the truth.
Do you believe
likewise that Jesus Christ opened the minds of each of the leaders of all those
38,000 non-Catholic sects? If so, why is there so much disagreement between
them?
Acts 8:27-40, the eunuch was trying to read Isaiah when Philip
asked him, "Do you understand what you are
reading?" But he said, "Why, how can I, unless someone shows me?"
Since Philip had been filled by the Holy Spirit
in Acts 2:4, he was able to explain the truth of Isaiah to the
eunuch.
2Pet 1:20, St. Peter said, "This then
you must understand first of all, that NO PROPHECY OF SCRIPTURE IS MADE BY
PRIVATE INTERPRETATION." I do not see how Peter
could have said it any plainer than he did here. Why do Protestants ignore
verses such as this one?
2Pet 3:16-17, St. Peter said, "...In
these Epistles there are certain things difficult to understand, WHICH THE
UNLEARNED AND UNSTABLE DISTORT, JUST AS THEY DO THE REST OF THE SCRIPTURES
ALSO, TO THEIR OWN DESTRUCTION. YOU THEREFORE, BRETHREN, SINCE YOU KNOW
THIS BEFOREHAND, BE ON YOUR GUARD LEST, CARRIED AWAY BY THE ERROR OF
THE FOOLISH, YOU FALL AWAY FROM YOUR STEADFASTNESS."
Here is a very clear warning that it is easy to fall into
error by private interpretation of Scripture.
Who would you prefer to believe...
A group of thousands of learned
Bishops with impeccable qualifications, and the Holy Spirit to guide them,
or
some individuals interpretation of the Bible, who has questionable
qualifications, and who does not have the truth of the Holy Spirit to guide
him?
©
Written by Bob Stanley, January
21, 1998
Updated December 28, 2006
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