He did not say He would build His church on Peter, but on the truth that Peter had just affirmed:
“Simon Peter answered and said, "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God."” (Mt 16:16 NKJV)
If the church of Christ was to be built on Peter, it's surprising that not once do any of the letters/epistles to local churches in the New Testament make any mention of the fact. Indeed, one mention of Peter goes against such a notion:
“Now when Peter had come to Antioch, I withstood him to his face, because he was to be blamed;” (Ga 2:11 NKJV)
You said that if there were no such Church and we had to rely on our own understanding, but we don't - we have the Word of God. Yes, of course there are differences in how various people understand the bible, but the same is true of how different people understand church teaching.
And all of them go astray like sheep. Bible alone is not looking too good. Why were solid Christian teachings abandoned? It was human understanding that would not submit to the Church Christ built. It was not reformed, rather discarded.
Christ gave us His flesh and blood for us to eat and drink. For 1500 years it was clearly understood that the Lord’s supper was His real flesh and blood. In fact to figuratively eat someone’s flesh and drink their blood meant to persecute, assault and destroy that person. The modern day equivalent is to urinate on someone’s grave. To translate a Jesus’ words in John 6 as figurative or symbolic is absurd. Would you really contend that Jesus said unless you urinate on my grave, you have no life in you?
Modern men could not accept the literal translation of John 6. They became as the scoffers, How can this man give is his flesh to eat? Ooo I know it’s symbolic. Wrong
We believe God said let there be light and there was light, in the same way we believe that God said this is my body and it is. That teaching was abandoned after 1500 years. Transubstantiation is only an attempt to explain the consecration. It was not invented. The Church believed it to be the flesh and blood of Christ all along. God said it, we believe it, it is so.
The so called reformed church abandoned clear teaching
The teaching on holy living was abandoned in favor of muttering a few words and thereby legally binding God to save a soul, and that soul does nothing
I can only say as Paul did my good man, who has bewitched you? We do not earn justification. That is a free gift given at baptism. The gift given also is not Faith alone, rather Faith, Hope and Charity. Those three come from God alone, by grace alone. Once we have them, we are required to develop them out of love. The virtues we develop by works of love are justice, prudence, temperance and fortitude. They are the cardinal virtues and must be developed by human effort cooperating with God’s grace
Do you not read scripture that says we will be judged by our works? Some gold, silver, precious stones, others wood, hay and stubble?
The Bible says that there is an elect, but we do not have divine knowledge to know who those elect are, but we know from whom they will come. Those that strive to make their calling and election sure by walling the narrow path and entering the straight gate. Jesus says if you love me keep my commandments, they can be summed up in Matthew 5-7. Jesus also says to follow Him, we must give up everything and take up our cross, mortify the deeds of our flesh. We are dead to the world, how can we continue to live for material things and esteem of the World?
Thar teaching is abandoned by modern reformed teaching in favor of dead works. Tithing is a dead work. In apostolic teaching, everything belongs to God. According to tithing, 90% belongs to you. Instead of being the widow that gives all she had, we think it is cool to give 10% and pat ourselves on the back The born again Christian is a babe in Christ who should begin good works to bear fruits of repentance. The simple works are prayer fasting and almsgiving, which sacrifices our time, talent and treasure to God. That teaching has been abandoned in favor of some word play game, where we say to God, I have said these words, now you have to save me, even though he clearly says not everyone that says to me Lord, Lord will enter the kingdom of heaven. Why was that teaching abandoned ?
The teaching on sexuality was abandoned after 1900 years. Now they say contraception is ok, even though it is clearly against the teaching to mortify the deeds of the flesh. To keep it holy, sexual intercourse cannot be deliberately separated from procreation. Contraception is a sin against temperance, and it is a failure to restrain the lust of the flesh, yet that teaching has been abandoned. Is it any wonder that there is the problem of homosexuality today? If sex is just about pleasure, what is the difference between contraceptive sex and homosexual sex? It becomes a matter of taste only. If sex is just for pleasure, we may as well argue the morality principle the taste of chocolate over vanilla. It’s absurd. When we understand that God gave us genitals to pro-generate, and to profane that purpose for useless pleasure of contraception and homosexuality is to gravely sin
Human understanding scratched that teaching after 1900 years in 1930 at the Lambeth conference of Anglicans and all Protestants quickly followed suit, and failed to note that a contraceptive mentality gave us the logical conclusion of abortion. Way to go. Still think Bible alone is sufficient?
Another teaching abandoned is that of Our Blessed Mother. She is abandoned and shamed in five ways.
Deny her immaculate conception. God says in Genesis that He would make Mary and Satan enemies. If Mary was a sinner, she would not be Satan’s enemy, rather his slave, as anyone that sins is a slave to sin. Could you not hear Satan crying from hell that God is unjust? Satan says God is unjust, he let himself be brought forth in sin and has the nerve to condemn me? No that will not happen. God created Eve sinless. God made Mary sinless and Satan’s enemy not his slave. Mary proclaims God her savior because He kept her from sin by His grace, as she had it to the full
Deny her perpetual virginity. Some say Mary had other children and think nothing of it. Well what do you call a woman that has children from two fathers while both fathers are still alive? That is an adulteress by definition. Can you hear the cries of Satan from hell again? For all eternity Satan screams God commands adultery a sin, yet is an adulterer himself. That is not going to happen. Mary is a perpetual virgin and the Ark of the New Covenant. Compare Luke 2 with the book of Samuel when David welcomes the Ark. no one can touch the Ark and live. Mary did not have a child with anyone but God.
Deny her divine maternity. This is easy because if Jesus is God, Mary is His mother and therefore the mother of God. Well you say she did not predate God and my mother predates me. Ok, who created your soul? God did, not your mother, but the fact that she did not create you does not make her any less your mother. Same for Mary
Teach children to mock and hate Mary for one of the three reasons refuted above. It is pure ignorance to do that and I grieve for children taught this way
Profane her images. Well I have to stand against idolatry. Ok what is an idol? An image made by human hands to be adored as God.
Mary is made for us by God and not human hands, nor do we worship her as God. She is the queen of heaven that stands at the right hand of Christ as described in Psalm 45 (44 Douay/Rheims). It says beside you stands the queen in gold of Ophir
Mary was the first and only Christian on holy Saturday as Jesus lay in the tomb. She was present for His birth, His first miracle, His death and resurrection, and was present in the hope room when the tongues of fire came on the Apostles.
She is the mother of the Church and our Mother.
Why didn’t she teach? She did so without words. The primary Christian virtue is humility, as Christ said he who is greatest among you shall be your servant. God wanted the Apostles to teach, and Mary obediently took a supporting role.
Why was this Church teaching abandoned, some early Protestants had no problem believing Mary to be sinless and had no children but Jesus
Mary is not an idol. She was made by God’s hands and she is our mother as she bore Christ our savior
So far this Bible only stuff has abandoned a lot of teaching
