Cary.Melvin said:
Hello all,
I hope no one takes this the wrong way (especialy our Protestant Bretheren), but I have some questions that I have been having concerns about.
Hi Cary - I have some thoughts on this so I will take a shot at sharing them . ..
Can the Devil use the Bible against us without the guidance of the Church?
Yes, he can use the scriptures against us, especially without the guidance of the Church . . he attempted to do this with Jesus in the temptation in the wilderness when he also said "it is written . .. " . . of course, it didn't work with Jesus who knew the scripture and was the very Word of God made flesh . .
Is private interpretation an opening for the Devil to mislead us from the truth?
It can be . . private interpretation divorced from the understanding of scripture as always held to by the Church which gave birth to the scriptures is alike a boat that has lost its anchor and can be tossed around by the winds and the waves . . it does not mean that someone who has no access to the Church which gave us the scriptures and its teachings cannot discern and find truth n the scriptures . . many of us have been in this situation and received revelation through the Holy Spirit regarding truth contained within scripture, but even then, there were many things that seemed hard to understand . . But there are also those who have most definitely been lead astray by the devil . you have the cults like Jim Jones' to show us this . .
Do chuches outside of the Catholic Church have the same protection given by Jesus in Matt 16 "that the gates of Hell shall never previal againt it (the Church)"
well, here are some thoughts on this . . .
The promise that the gates of hell or hades will not prevail is given to the Church founded on the Rock which is Peter . . It is this Church to whom this promise is given . . We see this, at least in part, as promising that the Church will not be lead into formalyl declaring error regarding doctrines that the Church holds that all falithful are to believe and hold to. . . Those outside of it do not have this same protection as they have cut themselves off from the teaching magesterium and authoirty of the Church - they have cut themselves off from the rock which is Peter and if they develop new doctrines or change doctrines, they can easily move into error. We see this especially in Protestant denominations in how different doctrines have developed that are at odds with those taught by the Church . . .
An example is baptism, its nature (a sacrament or merely an ordinance, or not even necessary), to whom it is available or applies to (infant or only adults?) . . Baptism is a central and very important doctrine of the Catholic Church . . but it is not in all Protestant denominations . .there is a list in another thread of those Protestants denomoinations who hold to the sacramental nature of it and infant baptism . . but that is a small list when you look at all Protestant denominations (and non-denominations today) . . . . So no, they do not have the same protection and this is generally evidenced in how they have departed from the teachings of the Church from the time of the Apostles and the Early Church Fathers . .
But there is another side to this . . because the gates of hades will not prevail against the Church, and the Church recognizes that it is made up not only of those who are formally joined to it, but those who are also informally joined to it (whether those indiciduals are aware of this or not), that the effect of this promise extends to these also . . not that they are individually protected from proclaming error, but that they are a part of the Church which is protected, even if they personally hold to some beliefs that are contrary to the inerrant teaching of the Church (because they do so in ignorance) . . . God holds us to be faithful to the truth that we know . . and though we can judge if a particular doctrine is in error, we cannot judge the particular individual that holds to that doctrine as only God knows the heart . . .
Peace in Him!
