I recently had a discussion with several catholic brothers and sisters where I asked this question. Can the mass save by itself? Here's what I mean:
If a man, who'd never heard of Jesus, or Christianity, were to find a bible on the side of the road, he could find salvation within its pages without an outside influence.
Now if that same man, never laid hands upon that bible, but walked into a mass every Sunday, and never knew the what lay in the pages of the word, could he find salvation?
The response was that the bible is a part of a mass. They missed the point. For centuries, this was exactly what was happening. The mass was always performed in Latin, and the people did not understand it. They got nothing of the word, only the wafer at the end. So my question still remains. Can a man find salvation in a mass, without the bible? The short answer, no. Can that same man find salvation in the pages of the bible without the mass? Short answer, yes. This is the essence of Sola Scriptura. That the bible, the inerrant word of our most Holy God, is sufficient for salvation. Is there anything wrong with tradition? No, of course not, provided it lines up with God's word, and does not attempt to supercede it.
If a man, who'd never heard of Jesus, or Christianity, were to find a bible on the side of the road, he could find salvation within its pages without an outside influence.
Now if that same man, never laid hands upon that bible, but walked into a mass every Sunday, and never knew the what lay in the pages of the word, could he find salvation?
The response was that the bible is a part of a mass. They missed the point. For centuries, this was exactly what was happening. The mass was always performed in Latin, and the people did not understand it. They got nothing of the word, only the wafer at the end. So my question still remains. Can a man find salvation in a mass, without the bible? The short answer, no. Can that same man find salvation in the pages of the bible without the mass? Short answer, yes. This is the essence of Sola Scriptura. That the bible, the inerrant word of our most Holy God, is sufficient for salvation. Is there anything wrong with tradition? No, of course not, provided it lines up with God's word, and does not attempt to supercede it.