Who are Protestants?
Protestants Are
Those who continue to follow the doctrines of Martin Luther, John Calvin, or Ulrich Zwingli.
Sola Fide
Those who still insist that a person is justified, and also saved, by grace through faith alone, that nothing else but belief in Jesus Christ is necessary for Salvation.
However the Apostle James points out that the demons also believe that Jesus is Lord, yet they are neither justified nor saved! James 2:19
If the above confession is true it means that the following numbered items are also true, or else FAITH in Jesus Christ IS NOT truly the ONLY cause for a person's eternal salvation.
But, do Protestants really believe all these things? If not, their belief in Sola Fide is neither logical nor reasonable.
And isn't this belief, this Protestant tradition of self-commendation, nothing more than a premature and unwarranted anticipation of the final judgment, which our Lord Jesus Christ alone will pass? 2 Corinthians 10:18
1.) Eternal Security
Those who insist that once a person is saved, that person is always saved and cannot lose his salvation for any reason after he is saved.
But isn't it necessary to persevere in Christ to the end of life as Jesus relates in: Matthew 10:22, Matthew 24:12-13, Mark 13:13 and shouldn't we pay special attention to Jude 20-21.
Speaking of the Gospel, St. Paul warns us in 1 Corinthians 15:2 to hold fast to his preaching and in 2 Corinthians 6:1 to not receive the lord's grace in vain. Salvation can be lost by sinning against God or else Hebrews 10:26-31 must be false. Also, in Romans 11:17-24 St. Paul explains that salvation, even for those who believe, is not as certain as the reformers said it was.
Finally, in Galatians chapter 5 The Apostle tells them "You are severed from Christ" (verse 4), if this does not indicate a loss of salvation, what does it indicate? If you have lost Christ, you have lost everything that matters to a Christian!
For in Christ Jesus "only faith working through love" counts for anything! (verse 6)
Do not be caught picking nits about alternate meanings of the scriputures, especially on judgement day!.
"If you believe what you like in the gospels, and reject what you don't like, it is not the gospel you believe, but yourself." - St. Augustine
2.) Repentance
Those who deny the necessity of our repentance for sins in order to be saved. Since a person who accepts Jesus as his savior is always saved and cannot, for any reason, lose this salvation.
Those who avow, if a person's faith is strong God will always cover his sins and those sins will not be held against him when he is judged. A person will be judged only on the basis of his faith in Jesus.
In 2 Corinthians 5:10 Paul was not in error when he informed us that we will be judged for all of the things we do. In Revelation 20:12 the dead were judged according to what they had done, so why would we think that will not happen to us also? And we should not discount what Jesus said in John 5:28-29.
Early in the Gospel of Matthew Jesus tells us to repent (Matthew 3:2) and early in Acts Peter tells the Jews to repent (Acts 2:38), in Mark Jesus Sends Out the Twelve Apostles and they proclaimed the need to repent, (Mark 6:12), in Luke Jesus tells us to repent or die (Luke 13:3), in Acts Paul tells us that God commands our repentance (Acts 17:30), Paul emphasizes this even more in Acts 26:20, in Romans 2:4 Paul tells us that God's grace (kindness) leads us to repentance, in 2 Corinthians 7:10 Paul tells us that repentance leads to salvation, Peter tells us that God wants us to come to repentance (2 Peter 3:9), and finally, in Luke chapter 15 Jesus emphasizes the importance of a sinner who repents.
Will Protestants go to their graves hoping these verses really do not mean what they say?
3.) Obeying the Commandments
Those who maintain that obeying the laws of God (The Ten Commandments) is not necessary for Christian salvation since a person cannot lose his salvation for any reason after he accepts Jesus.
Obeying God's Commandments is necessary. See John 14:20-21, Matthew 7:21, 1 Corinthians 7:19, and Matthew 19:17
When Paul said in Romans 3:28 and Galatians 2:16 that we are not justified by works of the law he not speaking of God's Commandments. That would conflict with what he said in 1 Corinthians 7:19. Paul was speaking of practices & rituals of the Jewish Torah (Mosiac Law) such as circumcision and dietary restrictions, which are not required for Gentile Christians.
Paul the Apostle emphasized this because he was opposed to the Judaizers who were saying that it was necessary to be circumcized and observe the Mosiac laws along with all of the dietary restrictions to be saved. In other words, the Judaizers were essentially saying that it was necessary for the Gentile Christian converts to first become Jews in order to be justified and saved and Paul emphatically disagreed with them!
However, the Apostle Paul never said that we should not observe the Ten Commandments. In fact, he said the exact opposite in 1 Corinthians 7:19. All of the other New Testament writers agreed with him, including Jesus Christ, who said in Matthew 19:17, "If you wish to enter into life, keep the commandments."!
Will Protestants ignore all of this and continue to believe only what suits them?
4.) Good Works
Those who insist that good works have nothing to do with a person's Salvation.
They are wrong! See Matthew 7:21, Acts 26:20, In John 5:28-29 Jesus tells us that all who have done good deeds will be resurected to life, but all who have done wicked deeds will be condemned, And in John 15:1-12 Jesus tells us that He expects us to bear good fruit (to do good deeds), and we should also consider Titus 3:14.
Protestants frequently quote Ephesians 2:8-9 to show that works have no place in our Salvation, yet they conveniently omit the following verse from any consideration.
Ephesians 2:10 clearly shows that good works are expected by God of his followers and in many cases it is a sin to ignore them and/or not perform them. James 1:22-25, James 2:14-17 and finally James 4:17 are in agreement.
These verses cannot be ignored just because they do not agree with one's beliefs. Our good works, after we have been justified, may not directly save us, but they can be the cause of our damnation if ignored and not performed.
Remember Jesus' pertinent question in Luke 6:46.
Genesis 4:7 highlights ancient truth which is the same as what has always been taught by the Catholic Church.
5.) Baptism
Those who deny the necessity of Baptism for Salvation saying faith is all that is necessary.
Baptism is necessary since our Lords commands - "Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them . . . "
Matthew 28:19-20
See also: John 3:3-7,
Mark 16:16, Acts 2:38, Acts 22:16, Romans 6:3-4. Colossians 2:11-12, Galatians 3:27, 1 Peter 3:21.
These verses show that Baptism is essential for Christians and is much more than symbolic.
Baptism cleans us of our sins and regenerates us. Baptism is not something we do for God (God wants much from us, but needs nothing from us), but something God does for us, since without God's grace we are nothing!.
See also from Catholic Answers: Baptism Is Logically Necessary by Parker Manning
6.) Love
Those who ignore or deny the necessity of love (Christian charity) for Salvation, since they believe a person is saved by faith alone.
That love is necessary is demonstrated in 1 Corinthians 13:2, 1 Corinthians 13:13, Matthew 22:36-39, John 13:35, and remember Paul said faith works through love Galations 5:6
Should a person believe Our Lord Jesus and the Apostle Paul or rely on Martin Luther's pronouncements?
It is true that without Faith salvation is essentially impossible, however the same is true (to an even larger extent) of Love. Ultimately, it is our Love that identifies us as children of God 1 John 3:10, rather than our Belief alone James 2:19-24.
Martin Luther's doctrine of (Justification) and/or Salvation by Faith alone was a tragic oversimplification of Paul's teaching in his letters. Our belief in Jesus must always work through Christian Charity (Love) or it is as Paul tells us in 1 Corinthians 13:2, NOTHING!
Paul even goes so far as to say that, Love never fails 1 Corinthians 13:8. He never says that about anything else.
7.) The Eucharist
Those who deny the reality of the Eucharist, that during the Mass the consecrated bread and wine truly become the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ.
Those who insist that the Lord's Supper is merely symbolic.
Those who assert this must ignore both Jesus' and Paul's emphatic words in scripture:
Matthew 26:26-28,
John 6:48-64,
1 Corinthians 10:16-18 &
1 Corinthians 11:23-26.
Neither Paul, nor Jesus made any statement saying that they were speaking symbolically. And, in addition, many of Jesus' disciples left him after his declaration to them in John 6:48-58 because they could not accept what he said, especially in John 6:53 and 6:57.
Those who interpret Scripture literally in almost every other place, but strangely assume he was speaking symbolically in this case! (Fearing that it would make them appear too catholic?)
Jesus might have prevented them from leaving by simply explaining that He was speaking symbolically. Yet, He said nothing of the sort. He let them walk away!
Will you walk away also? John 6:53
Also see: The Eucharist Is Really Jesus and Isn’t the Eucharist just symbolic, since Jesus could only sacrifice himself once? from Catholic Answers
The following are Major items of contention with which all Christians should and must agree and believe but may not directly involve salvation
Marriage and Divorce
Those who deny that marriage is a sacrament and believe that a Christian marriage can be dissolved by divorce in the case of infidelity (adultery).
Jesus and Paul are in full agreement concerning the sacredness of the marriage bond: Luke 16:18, Romans 7:2, Ephesians 5:31.
The Virgin Mary
Those who deny that we should honor the Virgin Mary, the mother of our Lord Jesus Christ, and ask for her intercession with God.
Those who insist that she was merely a sinner like all of us and deny she found favor with God (Luke 1:28), even before her conception, and that she is dead in her grave and we cannot really know whether she was assumed into heaven and could not hear us, in any case, even if she were assumed.
Did her sinless son honor her Exodus 20:12 & John 2:1-5? So why shouldn't we?
Mary agreed to give birth to Jesus Christ, Our Lord and the savior of the world, of her own free choice Luke 1:38, she was not forced.
As the Holy Father Benedict XVI once related, "She made her whole person available, she “agreed” to become God’s dwelling place."
So we certainly should not criticize, shun and/or, ignore Our Lord's mother assuming that who she was and what she did was "nothing special", acting as if Mary was simply the mother of Jesus Christ, the man.
No! "Jesus is one person who has both a human and divine nature. Mary gave birth to this single Jesus, and so deserves the honor and title of mother of God." Council of Ephesus (A.D. 431)
Common sense dictates that all Christians should honor the Blessed Virgin Mary at least as much as we honor the Prophets of God, since through the Prophets God gave us His Word in the same manner that Mary brought the Messiah into the world, all through the power of God!
Even if it were impossible for any Christian to believe that by the grace of God she reigns as Queen of Heaven, we all should, at the very least, thank her and celebrate her each and every day since we owe her so very much!
After all, she is the woman described in the 12th chapter of Revelation and her children are aptly described in verse 17 ("Then the dragon became angry with the woman and went off to wage war against the rest of her offspring, those who keep God’s commandments and bear witness to Jesus.").
For further info see: Blessed Mary ever virgin?, The Brethren of the Lord, and Is Mary worshipped?
The Saints
Those who deny that we should honor our Christian predecessors who have gone before us in Christ, the Saints, and ask for their intercession before God.
Those who insist that we cannot know whether they are saints or not and that they are dead and in their graves since the last judgment has not yet occurred and cannot hear us anyway.
In (Hebrews 12:1) we are told that we are surrounded by a great cloud of witnesses. And also in Revelation 6:9-10 we see that the martyred saints, who are indeed alive in heaven, call upon God to avenge their deaths.
Since the Almighty is the God of the living rather than the dead Luke 20:38, Mark 12:27 & Matthew 22:32 and the saints in heaven can surely hear us as they heard and conversed with Christ upon the high mountain Matthew 17:3, it is right and proper for us to call on those closest to God to intervene and/or intercede with Him on our behalf.
Because the prayers of the righteous are very powerful James 5:16.
After all, Do not all Christians aspire to join the Great Cloud of Witnesses from Hebrews 12, who are again mentioned in Revelation 7:9-10?
Prayers for the Dead
Those who deny the value of praying for those who have died in Christ to reduce or eliminate the temporal punishment of any sins they may have committed during their lives for which they have received eternal forgiveness by God by their repentance before death.
Prayers for the dead are both correct and helpful. See 1 Corinthians 3:10-15 and also Hebrews 12:23 where mention is made of two classes of the saved - the church of the firstborn and the spirits of the righteous made perfect.
For more see HERE and also HERE.
Sola Scriptura
Those who insist that the Bible Alone (Sola Scriptura) is solely necessary for our instruction as Christians in all matters of faith and doctrine.
Those who insist that scripture is clear enough that anyone can understand its meaning and that there is no need for any person or organization to interpret scripture for any of us since it is so easy to understand and also since the Holy Spirit will always aid us to understand the bible correctly.
Bible Alone (This recipe for confusion)
Sacred Scripture itself show this to be unworkable when it shows us that the bible verses clearly had to be explained in some instances such as in: Nehemiah 8:1-9, Matthew 13:18-23, Luke 24:27, Luke 24:45, Acts 8:30-31, Acts 18:11, 1 Tim. 4:13, and especially these last two 2 Peter 1:20 and 2 Peter 3:16
And as Martin Luther discovered to his chagrin after he opened the floodgate of self-interpretation of the Bible, many of his own followers challenged his interpretations of scripture and left him because they found things in the bible that caused them to disagree with his doctrines because they disagreed about how he was interpreting scripture.
Five Hundred years and twenty thousand Christian sects (churches) later, Sola Scriptura is still causing division and dissention in the Christian community.
The only thing that is clear is that the bible is not as easy to understand and interpret as Luther claimed and that it has become evident that the Holy Spirit has not and will not intervene, much less to always help any individual to a proper understanding of scripture as the Apostle Peter relates to us in: 2 Peter 1:20
This Sola Scripture tradition
Where is this in the bible? The 1647 Protestant Westminster Confession of Faith expressed a key aspect of sola scriptura this way: “The whole counsel of God, concerning all things necessary for his own glory, man’s salvation, faith, and life, is either expressly set down in Scripture, or by good and necessary consequence may be deduced from Scripture.”
"If Sola Scriptura were true, it would have to be explicitly spelled out in Scripture itself. Yet it is not." (100 Biblical Arguments Against Sola Scriptura - Dave Armstrong)
Has this, or any other tradition of man helped the disparate and segregated Christian sects and divisions either stay together or come back together as Christ envisioned for His disciples? John 17:21-23.
Sadly, the Protestant's traditional knee-jerk reaction has been, from the beginning, to deny anything which may agree with any Roman Catholic position.
Jesus warned us about this sort of thing in Matthew 7:15-20.
The fact is, that Jesus Christ established a Church (the body of Christ) — not a book — to be the foundation of the Christian faith. (Matthew 16:15-18, Matthew 18:15-18, Ephesians 2:19-20, Ephesians 3:10, Ephesians 4:11-15, 1 Timothy 3:15, Hebrews 13:7, Hebrews 13:17, Luke 10:16)
Judge Not!
When criticizing the sins and misdeeds of those in the Catholic Church consider this - The Catholic Church is not a hotel for saints but is a hospital for sinners since Christ came to preach to and to save sinners rather than simply the Just. As is related in Luke 5:32 and also in 1 Timothy 1:15.
Never forget Matthew 7:1-2
What does a contemporary Catholic author say about Sola Scriptura?
"Protestants Say: Scripture is self-interpreting; therefore, the believer's private interpretation is what the Holy Spirit intended.
The Catholic Response: This assertion is problematic for several reasons.
First, the Bible nowhere says it is self-interpreting; rather, it explicitly states or shows that it is not. See for example 2 Chronicles 17:7-9; Nehemiah 8:1-9; Matthew 13:18-23; Luke 24:27, Acts 8:30-31, Acts18:11; 1 Timothy 4:13; and 2 Peter 1:20, 2 Peter 3:16.
As it is related in scripture, (Luke 24:45) not even Jesus' closest disciples could fully understand scripture until He opened their minds to it!
Second, it is hard to believe that all Christians will arrive at the same interpretation of any given Scripture passage. The thousands of Protestant denominations in existence and their disagreements on major doctrines - baptismal regeneration, the real presence of Christ in the Eucharist, sanctification, and eternal security, to name a few-show how this has played out. If Scripture interprets itself, why don't all Protestants agree on its meaning?
Third, you can easily test the veracity of this assertion by referring to passages such as Matthew 16:18, Mark 16:16, and John 6:53. The Protestant understanding of these passages is a novelty. Why doesn't it agree with how the Church has always understood them if Scripture is self-interpreting?
Fourth, Martin Luther disagreed with John Calvin and Ulrich Zwingli, two of his Protestant contemporaries, on major doctrines such as the Eucharist. Nor did Calvin and Zwingli agree with each other.
How does one account for this discrepancy from the start of Protestantism?
Luther took the same approach elsewhere. In 1521, at an imperial assembly called the Diet of Worms, he said, "Unless I am convinced by Scripture and plain reason - I do not accept the authority of the popes and councils, for they have contradicted each other - my conscience is captive to the word of God. I cannot and I will not recant anything, for to go against conscience is neither right nor safe."
In other words, since there is no other authority to interpret it, Scripture has to bow to Luther's intellect, will, and conscience - and to ours.
But it should be the other way around. The human heart - the seat and center of all the operations of life - is deceitful and corrupt (Jeremiah 17:9), and it has been hardened (Ephesians 4:18). The human mind also has been darkened by sin (Romans 1:21, Ephesians 4:18) and needs renewal (Romans 12:2). A conscience must be formed correctly (1 Timothy 1:5, 1 Timothy 1:19; Hebrews 9:14) and subject to the ultimate judgment of an agency set up by God. We therefore cannot trust these things on their own.
We must be guided by God through Scripture, but never apart from the spiritual and theological authority he has paired with it.
Jesus knew exactly what he was doing when he founded his Church: he was keeping our flawed intellects and consciences from leading us astray. His Church is guaranteed his divine guidance; our personal reading comprehension is not. But since Luther expressly rejected the authority of Christ's Church, he was left with only his ego to guide himself and others.
Jesus cares deeply about us, and he desires intimate fellowship with us. Just as he is the visible sign of the Father (John 14:8-9), his Church is the visible sign of him. This is, no doubt, why he explicitly gave the Church his authority. The doctrine of sola scriptura, however, diminishes that authority and distorts Jesus' arrangement."
Why? Because the Church is the body of Christ.
'If you believe what you like in the gospels, and reject what you don't like, it is not the gospel you believe, but yourself.' - (St. Augustine)
The first head of the Christian church
Those who deny that the Apostle Peter was the first Pope because they believe there is no scriptual justification.
See the following verses: Matthew 16:18-19, Luke 22:31-32, and John 21:15-19
Also consider this explanation.
Addition to the "Our Father" (AKA Lord's Prayer)
Those who profess that the scriptural verse Matthew 6:9-13 ends with: "For the kingdom, the power and the glory are yours now and for ever." and that this doxology should be added and always recited at the end of the "Our Father".
First, this is false because the phrase is absent from the earliest Greek New Testament manuscripts.
further, this claim in favor of adding the phrase is refuted on this page. and is also discussed and refuted on this page, which concludes with the a statement that includes: "The doxology for thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever was probably not originally in Matthew's Gospel."
This seems to be a clear case of "adding words to scripture" & "putting words in Our Savior's mouth".
For more see: Who Added the Doxology? from EWTN
Why was it added? This was simply another way for 17th Century English Protestants to further differentiate themselves from Catholics and the Catholic Church.
References:
New American Bible, Revised Edition (NABRE)
The Bible Gateway
Roman Catholic Shrines and Pilgrimage Sites
Catholic Tradition vs Protestant Traditions
Why Catholic
Do Christians have a license to Sin?
The Reformers’ Distorted View of Salvation - Tom Nash
100 Biblical Arguments Against Sola Scriptura - Dave Armstrong
TULIP - the doctrine of the reformer John Calvin
Twisted Unto Destruction: How "Bible Alone" Theology Made the World a Worse Place - Donald J. Johnson
Does Sola Scriptura Make Sense - Listen to or read the Podcast debate from Catholic Answers
Christians with No Bible! How could the Bible be the sole rule of faith before there was a Bible?
A Bad Argument for Sola Scriptura
25 Reasons Peter Was NOT The First Pope! (REBUTTED) listen to or read the podcast from Catholic Answers
(John 14:26-27 "The Advocate, the holy Spirit that the Father will send in my name — he will teach you everything and remind you of all that I told you. Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give it to you. Do not let your hearts be troubled or afraid.")
|
"SO FAITH, HOPE, LOVE REMAIN, THESE THREE; BUT THE GREATEST OF THESE IS LOVE." (1 Corinthians 13:13)
“The world’s problems today are not economics, global warming or over-population. The world has one problem which, if corrected, will correct all other problems. This major and destructive problem is what is in hearts.
Hearts today do not embrace love of God above all else and love of neighbor as self."
|
|