EXCHANGE WITH AN ANTI-CATHOLIC APOLOGIST ON THE BIBLE AND PRIVATE INTERPRETATION, Part 1

St. Philip and the Ethiopian Eunuch

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Gerry Soliman said...

Good afternoon Fr. Abe and happy new year!

I have a few questions regarding this article. It is based on this statements:

[St. Peter reminds us that our private interpretation of the Bible must be avoided. Why? We are not gifted with grace to give the correct interpretation of the Bible.

THE PILLAR AND GROUND OF TRUTH IS THE CHURCH. That is why the Church was founded by Jesus so that it will teach us God's Word purely and unadulteratedly. And also to guide us in our journey of salvation until the Second Coming of Christ.]

If you don't mind me asking, how does one arrive at the conclusion from the Bible that the Roman Catholic Church is indeed the church established by Christ (among other churches that have the same claim) if "we are not gifted with to give the correct interpretation of the Bible"? Does a person simply accept the claims of the RCC without doing a personal verification?

And if ever the person can do a verification on his own, how can he be sure that he has the right understanding since you said "we are not gifted with to give the correct interpretation of the Bible"?

I'm sorry if that is a series of questions but I hope you can be of assistance. Thank you and God bless.

January 10, 2010 1:51 PM

Fr. Abe, CRS said...

Reply to Bro. Gerry Soliman

[Good afternoon Fr. Abe and happy new year!]

Hello there. Good afternoon, Bro. Gerry and Happy New Year too.

Nice to hear from you again. I haven't heard from you again about the Woman Clothed with the Sun. It's alright, I understand that you are busy.

I am enjoying your exchange with Bro. Isahel Alfonso of CFD Davao. I'm planning to collect your exchange and post it here completely because it's very hard to read them in separated parts from one blog to another.

[I have a few questions regarding this article. It is based on this statements:

If you don't mind me asking, how does one arrive at the conclusion from the Bible that the Roman Catholic Church is indeed the church established by Christ (among other churches that have the same claim) if "we are not gifted with to give the correct interpretation of the Bible"?]

My statement that you have quoted above is interconnected with the quote from St. Peter that no prophecy of scriptures is of any private interpretation. The warning is given because the Scriptures are subject to various personal interpretations and there is also the danger of errors and heresies. In addition, Apostle Peter insists that the individual Christians can interpret the Scriptures but they have to avoid private interpretations. He thus reminds the believers by saying so that there is an official interpreter of the Scriptures and it is not the individual Christians since not all are given the grace to be the official and definitive interpreter of the Sacred Scriptures. And St. Paul named that authority: The Church.

What I mean then is that the truth of faith contained in the Scriptures is being given to the faithful through the Church whose members wrote the Bible under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit and whose leadership was tasked to teach and maintain orthodoxy [Luke 10:16/ Matthew 28:19-20/ Acts 16:4-5]. And, the individual believers are not the official interpreter of the Scriptures but the Church Authority. Relying then to the belief of ME AND THE BIBLE ALONE is dangerous because it makes each and every Bible carrying believer the definitive interpreter of the Scriptures. That belief is dangerous because it leads to doctrinal chaos. Each Christian reader will become Supreme Authority on Faith and Morals. And each personal doctrinal or moral opinion will become absolutely correct even though they are essentially contrary to each other. Thus, since both of us are reading the Bible and are heavily quoting from it then we can both claim to be correct which is absurd.

Now going to your question: "how does one arrive at the conclusion from the Bible that the Roman Catholic Church is indeed the church established by Christ (among other churches that have the same claim) if "we are not gifted with to give the correct interpretation of the Bible"?

I consider this question defective by nature [sorry to say] because it is already operating by Sola Scriptura standard. It is based on the conviction that one will find the identity of the true Church by following the Bible Alone. This is absurd for me because the Bible doesn’t categorically states that the true Church is not the Catholic Church, the true Church is the Reformed Baptist Church but the Southern Baptist is wrong, the Jesus Is Lord Movement of Eddie Villanueva is the true Church but the Jesus Miracle Crusade of Almeda is not.

The fact that the debates among Christian apologists are intense and on-going without any end in sight testify to the fact that operating in Sola Scriptura principle is defective and unworkable.

How can we know the real Church then if not by Sola Scriptura alone?

First, finding and having the true faith is a GRACE from God. It is God’s gift. He leads the people whom He wants to receive the fullness of revelation to the right path according to his plan:

Matthew 16:17 [Good News Bible] "Good for you, Simon, son of John!" answered Jesus. "Because this TRUTH did NOT come to you from ANY HUMAN BEING, but it was GIVEN to you DIRECTLY by my Father in heave..."

Acts 18:27 [GNB] "Apollos decided to go to Greece, so the believers in Ephesus helped him by writing to their brothers in Greece, urging them to welcome him there. When he arrived, he was a great help to those through God's grace had become believers."

1 Corinthians 12:9 [GNB] "One and the same Spirit GIVES FAITH to one man, while to another man he gives the power to heal."

1 Timothy 1:14 [New International Verstion] "The grace of our Lord was poured out on me abundantly, along with FAITH and LOVE that are in Christ Jesus."

St. Paul was led to the true Church by the divine intervention of Christ in Damascus incident and not from Sola Scriptura [cf. Acts 9:1-19/ 22:2-13].

Second, by being guided by a faithful teacher of the true Church as the Ethiopian Eunuch had experienced [cf. Acts 8:26-39 ]. There is the presence of the Scripture but there is also the presence of the Apostle St. Philip. This is to show that studies the Sacred Scriptures must be guided by the authority of the Church.

"How does one arrive at a conclusion from the Bible"... Who told you that we can arrive at a conclusion which is the true Church by simply reading the Bible? Where did Jesus state or promised that the people will arrive at a true faith simply by reading the Bible Alone? Where is that in Scripture? In fact, some converts during the Apostolic Time such as the jail guards believed in Jesus not from reading the Bible but from actual preaching of the Apostles or the early Christians. There is a case of a village in Tibet, after watching a film about the life of Jesus they converted to Christianity en masse.

Sorry for the late reply. You sent the question on Sunday which was a busy day for us priests and ministers of the Church. Then yesterday, I only answered short questions from Catholic leaders because my mind was pre-occupied by practical concerns in our school.

Thank you and God bless you too.

January 12, 2010 3:11 PM