Every time we hear a truth, like Mary's Assumption for instance, some immediately ask "Where is it in the bible" ?
It is understandable we are looking for an authority to validate such claims. But my question is, which authority is the Court of final appeal in confirming Christian Truth?
The Church or the Bible?
If you say the Bible, you are not so wrong, but the only problem is: there was a time when the bible was not there, and did the Christians in those times go to hell or believe lies? NO!
The bible is a book of Authority, but it is not to the bible that the Lord said "Whoever listens to you , listens to me" or "Whatever you bind on earth is bound in heaven" (these are words showing DELEGATION OF ABSOLUTE AUTHORITY)
It is not the bible that Christ said "Go around the world and proclaim the good news"
the Bible is the written form of the will of God, while the Church is the LIVING Image of God on earth; it is the Church who is the Minister of Redemption; given power to proclaim the Good news, baptize and forgive sins; the Church gives Salvation through the exercise of the Ministry of Christ. The Bible was canonized by the Church and therefore the Church has more power than the Bible.
Something we fail to know is : Authority was given to Peter and the Apostles to define teachings; to direct the People on what to believe and what not to. The present day Apostles (Bishops) and the Peter (The Pope) also inherited this Authority.
But it has always been a problem with people without faith to believe things from their times; they always found it difficult to believe that a man they can see in their time has Authority from God to teach validly. In the time of Christ, people doubted him because they could see him, they knew his parents; he was their neighbor/brother. They preferred the things of the past; preferred Elijah and other ancient prophets.
In their minds they believed God could delegate authority to men, but they would only believe that if THAT MAN WERE ALREADY DEAD; LONG DEAD. As for a man still breathing before them, this is possible, but they could not stop doubting unreasonably; they could not stop asking for signs.
Today people think like the ancient faithless crowd, that God only gave power to Peter and Paul to teach WITHOUT A BIBLE and not to the Pope to teach without the bible. People do not even understand the extent of Authority given to the Bishops and how they are meant to exercise it. The painful thing is that even Catholics who claim to be "wise" try to challenge the Church. They say "I am a Catholic, but these teachings are wrong because they have no biblical foundation". Like i said, they are understandable since they seek foundation. But the problem is that the truth you deny has the same foundation with the Bible you want to believe; the Two Are founded on APOSTOLIC Authority, and it is this that you should resort to; Apostolic authority wielded by the Pope and Bishops in communion with him.
The one who has the Authority; the Keys to the Kingdom of heaven (given by Christ to Peter, the prince of the Apostles) is the head of the Apostles, not the Bible. We read the Bible today because the bearer of that Key, says we should read it as Book of Authority, how then are we placing the Bible over the Church who gathered it and canonized it ?
The Church believes that the Bible has great Authority, but she also recognized that Tradition has power as well. While the bible is the written form of the Will of God, Tradition is the Oral form of the same will. So, if we were not too fast in condemning the Church and read histories behind these truths, then we will begin to understand why they are believed by the Church. If you think you are wiser than thousands, or even millions of bishops who professed this faith for 2000 years now, then i think you need to think again.
May God help us all.
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Steve,
ReplyDeleteYou say "THE CHURCH HAS NOT BEEN GIVEN THE AUTHORITY TO CHANGE OR OVERRULE THE AUTHORITY OF THE BIBLE".
Who gave the Church authority to decide which books were to be in the bible? For that matter, how did Martin Luther take it upon himself to remove books from the bible.
Face it. Without the Church there would be no bible. Jesus established his Church and gave it authority. The Holy Spirit still guides that same Church. All protestant denominations came out of that one Church. I pray for the day when more protestants will come home (as I did).
RICH PREACHERS??? BY STEVE FINNELL
ReplyDeleteEstimated net worth of some well known preachers.
1. Pat Robertson 100 million.
2. Benny Hinn 42 million.
3. Joel Osteen 40 million.
4. Billy Graham 25 million.
5. Risk Warren 25 million.
6. T.D. Jakes 18 million.
7. Max Lucado 10 million.
8. Franklin Graham 10 million.
9. Joyce Meyer 8 million.
10. Creflo Dollar 27 million.
The list of millionaire apostles that walked with Jesus.
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That is correct there were no millionaire apostles.
Mark 4:19 but the worries of the world, and the deceitfulness of riches, and the desires for other things enter in and choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful. (NASB)
Matthew 19:23 And Jesus said to His disciples, "Truly I say to you, it is hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven. (NASB)
Matthew 6:19 "Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and thieves break in and steal. (NASB)
1 Timothy 6:9 But those who want to get rich fall into temptation and a snare and many foolish and harmful desires which plunge men into ruin and destruction. (NASB)
1 Timothy 6:10 For the love of money is the root of all sorts of evil, and some by longing for it have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs. (NASB)
Titus 1:10-11 For there are many rebellious men, empty talkers and deceivers, especially those of the circumcision, 11 who must be silenced because they are upsetting whole families, teaching things they should not teach for the sake of sordid gain. (NASB)
Are there contemporary rebellious preachers denying the word of God in order to gain wealth? Are some preachers knowingly teaching the false doctrines of their denominations in order to keep the money flowing.
Most denominational preachers would be fired if they preached the whole truth and nothing but the truth. Preaching from the Bible and the Bible alone can hazardous to your employment.
YOU ARE INVITED TO FOLLOW MY BLOG>> steve-finnell.blogspot.com
Steve, you left out the Roman Catholic Church, or the Catholic Church.Fact is Steve, there are churches out there that are Acts 2:42 And they continued stedfastly in the apostles' doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and in prayers. You can disagree with it all you want but fact is,there are churches today teaching the entire bible. The word of God IS the final Authority.
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