Questions about Catholics (From a Protestant)

[ChristIsSovereign]

One more question for you @ChristIsSovereign,

I won’t be seeing your response until tomorrow, but I want ask you; what do you think of St. John 6:22-69?

I interpret that at face value. We must believe on Him.

 

[Meowzltov]

1. What do you think verifies the Catholic Church as the true Church of Christ?

If you study history, you can trace the Catholic Church all the way back to its origins at Pentecost.

2. What is your ultimate source of belief in such?

Historical sources such as the NT, the Church Fathers, and other historians. The Church in the NT came to be called Catholic in the first century (Ignatius). We can't point to any particular person or date where a different Catholic Church suddenly started: various nominees and dates for such a position fall apart when under greater scrutiny.

3. What is your position on the authority of Scripture?

Scripture is inspired by the Holy Spirit. The early church had only the Septuagint (a Greek translation of the longer version of the OT). At first there was no NT, and the Church relied entirely on the oral teaching of the apostles, presbyters, and bishops. It went through a time when it felt no need of a NT. Then it went through a time when it wanted a list of books, but couldn't agree on a canon. Finally, in the fourth century, the Church canonized the NT. Thus, while the Holy Spirit inspired the NT (makings it reliable for teachings on faith and morals), it is also a book of the Church, as it was written by Catholics, copied and preserved by Catholics, and canonized by Catholics. The only reason we even have a New Testament canon is because have Church authority to say so.

 

[ripple the car]

1. What do you think verifies the Catholic Church as the true Church of Christ?

History

2.What is your ultimate source of belief in such?

Constancy

3. What is your position on the authority of Scripture?

That Scripture is authoritative and True because the sources that wrote, compiled, canonized, and taught the meaning of Scripture were lead by the Holy Spirit, through His Church. History and constancy come into play here, too.

If you go back far enough, we were all Catholic. Why not, as a Christian, discover those roots? And learn about them? Many Protestants have learned a good deal from and admire great Saints like Francis of Assisi, Catherine of Sienna, Augustine of Hippo, Teresa of Calcutta, and Jerome. Why not enter the Church that gave the world these Saints? Would that not be amazing, and worth doing?

Realizing that none of these people had been Protestants kind of shook me up.

 

[Tigger45]

 

[JesusLovesOurLady]

I interpret that at face value. We must believe on Him.

Interesting answer...

 

[Paidiske]

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[PanDeVida]

1. What do you think verifies the Catholic Church as the true Church of Christ?

2. What is your ultimate source of belief in such?

3. What is your position on the authority of Scripture?

Honest questions. I'm curious.

Hello,

1. What do you think verifies the Catholic Church as the true Church of Christ? AUTHORITY!
Authority, Jesus gave specific instructions regarding dealing with members of the Church who were in sin. Matthew 18:15-18 says “If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault between you and him alone. If he listens to you, you have won over your brother. If he does not listen, take one or two others along with you, so that ‘every fact may be established on the testimony of two or three witnesses.’ If he refuses to listen to them, tell the church. If he refuses to listen even to the church, then treat him as you would a Gentile or a tax collector. Amen, I say to you, whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.” What Evangelical/Protestant Church has the authority to remove someone completely from the church? None. If an individual is removed from a ‘congregation’ then he/she can go down the street and join another ‘congregation’ of the same denomination. The congregations are individualized and have no authority outside their own denomination. That is not true with the Catholic Church. If removed from the Catholic Church, one cannot go to another city and join another Catholic Parish. (Catholic 365.com)

2. What is your ultimate source of belief in such? Matthew 16: 18And I say to thee: That thou art Peter; and upon this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. People can not be built, but a Church building on ROCK can, where it houses the Christians, like that of Noahs Ark, that housed Noah and His Family.

3. What is your position on the authority of Scripture? The Authority in Scripture lies in the interpretation of Scripture guided and given to the Church on Rock by the Holy Spirit. Any other interpretation of Scripture that came in the 15th century aka Protestant reformation or any church later is by men and not by the Holy Spirit, thus why immediately after Martin Luther's reformation, came the Calvinist, etc... etc... etc... with there own interpretation of Scripture, totally different from the First interpretation of the Scriptures given by the Holy Spirit, to the Catholic Church. Amen Amen

The Catholic Church is the Church founded on Rock, who Jesus Christ says to It, as your profile picture states: "The Holy Spirit will be your Teacher and will bring to your mind all that I have told you"

PanDeVida

 

[Erik Nelson]

You can see this in the Patriarchs, with Jerusalem, Antioch, and Rome as places Peter was at. Leaving Jerusalem for Antioch, and then Antioch for Rome. As to the Patriarchate of Alexandria, that was founded by Mark, who was Peter's secretary and commited Peter's oral gospel into writing. The Patriarchates are all significantly Petrine. At least the original four.

St. Peter may have dictated his First Epistle of Peter from Antioch c. 45-53 AD, after his Liberation from Prison (Acts 12) in 43-44 AD.

Church Tradition ascribes St. Peter 7 years as Bishop of Antioch, until Evodius was elevated in 53 AD. St. Peter residing in Antioch from 45-52 AD or so would accord well with Acts and St. Paul:

He was in Jerusalem again for the famine visit of Paul and Barnabas in 46 and for the Apostolic Council of 49. He visited Antioch (Galatians 2:11) and had associations with the churches in northern Turkey (I Peter 1:1). In 54 Paul can speak of Peter 'leading around a wife', presumably moving from place to place in missionary work (I Corinthians 9:5).

Luke was nearby during Paul's two-year stay at or near Caesarea about 57-59, and this would make a very suitable period for the final preparation of his material for publishing. Is it conceivable that Mark was written [from Rome] even earlier?​

http://www.tyndalehouse.com/tynbul/library/TynBull_1972_23_04_Wenham_PeterInRome.pdf​

​

Sending the letter, from Antioch, up north to Asia Minor, to the same areas to which St. Paul also wrote around that time, he very reasonably also included word from major Christian figures from "Babylon", i.e. Jerusalem "where their Lord was Crucified" (Rev 11). The "exiles of the dispersion" would obviously have been very curious to know about the happenings there. As just observed, St. Peter frequently returned to Jerusalem while he was Bishop of Antioch.​

It makes much more sense, that St. Peter wrote to Asia Minor from Antioch, than from Rome. "Babylon" (Rev 11) signifies spiritually-oppressive 1st century Jerusalem, then still dominating Christian communities. It never meant "Rome". St. Peter wrote to Asia Minor, from Antioch, sharing with them news from Jerusalem as well.

Note that St. Peter plausibly first reach Rome around 54-55 AD, perhaps stopping in Corinth on the way. Mark then wrote his Gospel right around the time that Luke was writing his (and using Mark as a source). Paul was also writing prolifically at the time. And St. James, Bishop of Jerusalem, wrote his Epistle around 60 AD also. Plausibly, the years leading up to 60 AD were very prolific for early Christian literature. Perhaps one reason why the High Priest Ananias viewed James as such a threat, so as to martyr him in 62 AD?