Protestantism And The Bible

[theculturewarrior]

Protestants for the most part view the Bible as the only authority in matters of doctrine. My question is, why do so many protestants believe radically different things about Christ and what is true in matters of faith, if the Bible is the only authority for the Church that Christ prayed be one. How can one protestant read one thing in the Bible, and another read the same thing but find it means something else, and state that both are true because they come from the Bible?

[theculturewarrior]

[theculturewarrior]

[kenrockthefirst]

[quote name='theculturewarrior' post='1215781' date='Mar 19 2007, 10:16 AM']Protestants for the most part view the Bible as the only authority in matters of doctrine. My question is, why do so many protestants believe radically different things about Christ and what is true in matters of faith, if the Bible is the only authority for the Church that Christ prayed be one. How can one protestant read one thing in the Bible, and another read the same thing but find it means something else, and state that both are true because they come from the Bible?[/quote]

The answer to your question is self evident within the question, IMHO.

[theculturewarrior]

meaning?

[theculturewarrior]

Is this something else that protestants find irrelavant?

[desertwoman]

One thing is that many people lean unto their own interpretations which Christ warns us of in the Bible. This is what leads to heretical and dangerous doctrines. Another is a pride issue which is connected to leaning unto our comprehension and not letting the Holy Spirit guide us through the word.

[theculturewarrior]

Are you protestant?

[kenrockthefirst]

[quote name='theculturewarrior' post='1215781' date='Mar 19 2007, 10:16 AM']Protestants for the most part view the Bible as the only authority in matters of doctrine. My question is, why do so many protestants believe radically different things about Christ and what is true in matters of faith, if the Bible is the only authority for the Church that Christ prayed be one. How can one protestant read one thing in the Bible, and another read the same thing but find it means something else, and state that both are true because they come from the Bible?[/quote]


[quote name='theculturewarrior' post='1215853' date='Mar 19 2007, 12:12 PM']meaning?[/quote]

Sola scriptura + individual interpretation = many truths.

The logical conclusion of the Reformation doctrine of individual interpretation must ultimately be millions of "Churches of One" (to paraphrase the latest US Army campaign). On the other hand, any stop along that spectrum, i.e. any Protestant denomination that says, "you must believe [i]this[/i] in order to be one of us," logically must lead back to the teaching authority of the Catholic Church.

[desertwoman]

[quote name='theculturewarrior' post='1215861' date='Mar 19 2007, 02:22 PM']Are you protestant?[/quote]


yep

[thessalonian]

Each protestant becomes his own magesterium (pope), interpreting as he sees fit. This is bound to create "every wind of doctrine"

[theculturewarrior]

[quote name='desertwoman' post='1215874' date='Mar 19 2007, 01:37 PM']yep[/quote]

The question I have in reply is that if protestants do not use their own interpretation, whose interpretation do they use, and how do they know that this one is more correct than the others?

BTW: did you get your MLIS yet?

[desertwoman]

[quote name='theculturewarrior' post='1215890' date='Mar 19 2007, 03:02 PM']The question I have in reply is that if protestants do not use their own interpretation, whose interpretation do they use, and how do they know that this one is more correct than the others?

BTW: did you get your MLIS yet?[/quote]



Thats the thing. If someone comes up with something that is so contrary... like saying that Jesus is the archangel Gabriel, then they are shunned. And of course they run off and create something else... Like the Jehova Witnesses.

Many will say that they are being led by the Holy Spirit and will use other verses in the Bible to back up the claim. This causes great riffs in the community (I'm on another message board and the debates and battles between Calvinists and Armenians is crazy). Each will use the Bible as the only source to prove their point, and each will say that they are not using proper exisgeises. Sorry I can't spell it. So, they go round and round in circles about predestination and election, and man having free will and so forth and so on.

Oh, and I havent gotten it yet. Thanks for asking!! Keep me lifted in prayer so I can get crackin on my letter.

[theculturewarrior]

My next question is, if there is a universal interpretation of the Bible, would you agree that this is an interpretation handed down orally from Christians who came before you, and from which other groups of Christians diverged into heresy, on issues such as predestination, OSAS, the Trinity, etc.?

[RezaMikhaeil]

Alot of it's based upon those that are just blantantly evil. Example: Benny Hinn false prophesies constantly, but still has a faithful following of millions [maybe billions] worldwide. A friend of mine is from Cameroon [which is predominently Roman Catholic] and has told me that Benny Hinns sect is the predominent sect of Christianity in Nigeria and is making a substantial amount of converts in Cameroon now [she herself follows him]. I'd once confronted her about his false prophesies and she simply dismissed it as "a common mistake" and still continued to believe that he had "the annointing" upon him. However, she did say that his false prophesies were severely downplayed by his promoters and that most in Nigeria and Cameroon didn't know about that and those that did know, didn't care.

Reza