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BASIC R.C. BELIEF
Together with apostolic and ecclesiastical traditions, the
rule of faith and practice of the Roman Catholic Church, as
interpreted by the Magisterium.
The books recognized by the Roman Catholic Church and not by Christians
are Tobit, Judith, Wisdom, Sirach, Baruch, I and II Machabees and
portions of Daniel and Esther. These were included in Jerome's Vulgate,
but were not given the same standing as the scriptures.
From RADIO REPLIES, Vol I, #560ff. "Protestants have not a true copy.
Their copy contains many mistranslations and omits entire books. The
characters of the translators of the KJV were not such as to command
the respect of men. A committee of revisers whose names are not known
produced what is known as the Authorized Version in 1611. The
Douay
Version far surpasses the AV for accuracy. Pope Clement XI in
1713 condemned the theory that it is necessary to read scripture in
order to attain Christian knowledge.
(Pope Clement XI's encyclical UNIGENTIUS (9/8/1713) stated, "the holy
obscurity of the Word of God is not sufficient reason for the laity to
excuse themselves from the reading thereof.")
From CATHOLIC RELIGION PROVED FROM THE PROTESTANT BIBLE. "It
is indisputable that the Bible must have an authorized interpreter." (This
is true; He is the Holy Spirit, see John 14:26; I John 2:27.)
See tract
Who is the Vicar of Christ?
From THE BIBLE, Catholic Enquiry Center, page 30, "It is not surprising
that for a time the Catholic Church warned people against the
private reading of the Word of God."
From THE CHURCH TEACHES, by Jesuit priests Clarkson, Edwards, Kelly and
Welch, page 30. "Moreover, by divine and Catholic faith everything must be
believed that is contained in the written word of God or in tradition, and
that is proposed by the Church as a divinely revealed object of belief
either in a solemn decree or in her ordinary, universal teaching.
POST VATICAN II
From an address by John Paul II to the World Council of Churches, Geneva, 6/12/84, "The
Second
Vatican Council
affirmed, `It follows that all the
preaching of the Church, as indeed the entire Christian religion, should
be nourished and ruled by sacred Scripture.'"
From the NEW CATHOLIC ENCYCLOPEDIA, "The Bible as a literary work had
traditions that included myth" (Vol. 10, page 184). "Some of the miracles
recorded in Holy Scripture may be fictional and include imaginative
literary exaggerations. The episode of Noe and the Ark is imaginative
literary creation" (Vol. 9, page 887). The Gospels are not biographies of
Jesus and still less scientific history" (Vol. 12, page 403).
The Roman Catholic view of the Bible is changing, and Bible studies are
being held. They are often taught that Bible stories are meaningful, but
not literal.
From THE COMPASS, National Catholic Reporter. "As with anything, there is a
danger in the new appreciation of the scripture. This is the evident or
literal approach. Efforts to ground faith in the Bible have led to its
being utilized unintelligently, which has perverted the message and the
spirit of the scripture. Fundamentalism demands little knowledge of the
makeup of the Bible and tends to dismiss revelation as an ongoing force."
From FUNDAMENTALISTS GIVE THE BIBLE A BAD NAME, U.S. CATHOLIC,
Sister Ann Walsh, as quoted in Dick Knolls' prayer letter, May/June, 1980.
"`The Bible is the record of people's human experiences' says Fr O'Grady,
editor of the Biblical Theological Bulletin. `It is inspired, it's true, but
it's not perfect.' O'Grady explained that the Bible as a human
record of people's religious experiences is necessarily limited by
its human participants. For that reason, he noted, it's not perfect.
In fact, one might conclude that the biblical writer, though he earns
an A+ in theology won't get over a C- in history, geography or science."
Walsh goes on to say that O'Grady compared Biblical stories to legends
in American folklore. "In reality there was probably neither the Sermon on
the Mount or a Sermon on the Plain. Probably one evangelist took the
teachings of Jesus, perhaps given over 35 different occasions, and put
them all together in one speech. Some passages of the Bible which
are attributed to Jesus might not even have been Jesus' words."
From INERRANT NOT LITERAL by Dianne Abbott, CATHOLIC CHRONICLE,
11/23/90. "A Franciscan Sister once said to me, `I heard the children
singing "Jesus loves me, this I know, for the Bible tells me so."
This disturbed me greatly because children need to know Jesus
loves them by the active presence of him in their hearts, not because the Bible (true statements) says so.' She hit the nail on the head."
CHRISTIAN COMMENT
Recent Catholic
apologists
have pointed out that numerous copies of the
Bible were printed by Roman Catholics after Gutenberg pioneered modern
printing in 1453. An interesting quote is given in Robertson's THE ROMAN
CATHOLIC CHURCH IN ITALY, page 212. "(I)mmediately after the invention of
printing, when every press in Europe was engaged in printing the Bible,
there was one solitary exception, the Pope's press at Subiaco, near
Rome. The first book ever printed in Italy was printed there in 1465,
and from that time it poured forth a perfect stream of literature of all
kinds; but never a book, never a chapter, never a verse of Scripture."
Catholics like to point out that pope Leo XIII granted an indulgence
to all of the faithful who would spend 15 minutes reading the Bible
with due veneration. This indulgence was for 300 days (Vatican II continued
indulgences but removed the time allotment).
However, on the flyleaf of the same Bible (New Catholic Edition, Imp.
Cardinal Spellman), is a prayer to the Holy Spirit that takes 15 seconds to
read. Those who recite (sic) this prayer daily for a month receive a
plenary indulgence of five years.
8 minutes of recited prayer = 5 years indulgence;
15 minutes of Bible reading = 300 days indulgence.
Christians believe that every teaching of man must be biblically
examined (I Thessalonians 5:21; II Timothy 3:16; Isaiah 8:20).
The New Testament scriptures were completed by the end of the first
century and recognized almost immediately as the Word of God. This was
long before the beginning of the Roman Catholic Church. The fact that a
local Church Council (not an ecumenical Council) recognized the same list
does not make it their legislation. (Your correctly identifying the
make of a car does not establish the car's make; it was that when it was
assembled.)
By the end of the 4th century, there were six complete lists of the
same 66 books we have - Augustine, Jerome, Rufinius, Council
of Carthage, Epiphanius and Athanasius. The list of the Council
of Laodicea omitted Revelation.
From A General Introduction to the Bible, Geisler and Nix:
The Incorrect View - The Correct View
The Church is Determiner of Canon - The Church is Discoverer of Canon
The Church is Mother of Canon - The Church is Child of Canon
The Church is Magistrate of Canon - The Church is Minister of Canon
The Church is Regulator of Canon - The Church is Recognizer of Canon
The Church is Judge of Canon - The Church is Witness of Canon
The Church is Master of Canon - The Church is Servant of Canon
Note Jesus' comments on the authority of scripture: Mt 4:4; 4:7; 4:10; 9:13;
12:3; 12:5; 12:7; 15:4; 19:4; 21:13; 21:42;22:31;22:43; 26:31; Mk 12:24; Lu
16:31; Jn 5:46,47; 6:31; 6:45; 10:34; 10:35.
CATHOLIC JOURNALS
THE SEVEN VERSES OF SCRIPTURE AUTHORITATIVELY INTERPRETED
BY ROME (from DENVER CATHOLIC REGISTER, 3/29/90, page 10.)
"Father (Francis X.) Cleary (S.J.), scripture scholar and professor in
the Department of Theological Studies of St. Louis University,
specializes in biblical theology of the Old Testament, writes, `Many
people think that the Church has an official "party line" about every
sentence in the Bible. In fact, only seven passages have been
definitely interpreted. Even in these few cases, the Church is only defending
traditional doctrine and morals. "For example, Jesus' teaching in John
3:5 that we must be born of water and of the Spirit" means that real
("natural") water must be used for a valid baptism.
When Jesus, after instituting the Eucharist,
commanded His disciples to "Do this in memory
of me" (Luke 22:19; I Corinthians 11:24), he meant to confer priestly
ordination. Again, the power conferred on the apostles to bind and loose
sins (see John 20:23) authorized them and their successors in the
priestly office to forgive
sins in God's name. These authoritative
interpretations emphasize the biblical origins of sacramental life.
(The three other defined texts are John 20:22; Romans 5:12 and James
5:14).'"
From Denver Catholic Register, 3/24/93. Question Corner, by "Father"
John Dietzen. "By about the year 400, popes and councils had endorsed
a basic list. Certain confusion remained, however, all the way up to the
Council of Trent which, in 1546, finally defined those books to be
recognized as the church's sacred canonical scriptures.
RELIGIOUS JOURNALS
From CHRISTIAN NEWS, 7/2/90. Excerpts from NEW JEROME BIBLE
COMMENTARY (this has the Imprimatur of Lawrence Cardinal Shehan. Augustin
Cardinal Bea is the author of the commentary's forward).
1. The Bible contains fiction.
2. Moses did not write the first five books of the Bible. These books
came from the J-E-D and P sources centuries after Moses died.
3. The Bible does not predict the coming of the Messiah Jesus Christ.
4. Joshua's account of the destruction of Jericho is fiction.
5. Isaiah did not write Chapters 40-66 of the Book of Isaiah.
6. Isaiah did not predict the coming of Jesus Christ, that he would be
born of a
virgin
, and suffer and die for the sins of all men.
7. The Old Testament does not teach any resurrection from the dead. St.
Jerome was wrong when he said Job 19:26 referred to Jesus and the
resurrection.
8. The Sixth century B.C. prophet Daniel did not write the Book of
Daniel.
9. The Book of Daniel contains errors and fiction.
10. Psalm 16:10 does not refer to the resurrection of Christ.
11. The Books of Ruth, Jonah and Esther are fiction.
12. The Book of Matthew contains fiction.
13. The Ascension of Christ may not be historical.
14. Three thousand were not converted at Pentecost.
15. Paul did not write Colossians, Ephesians, I and II Timothy and
Titus.
16. The Bible is not the inspired and inerrant Word of God.
17. Genesis is not historical.
18. Man and the universe gradually evolved from some primary substance.
19. Christian doctrine gradually evolved. The Biblical view of God
changed.
20. The Bible contains mythology.
21. The Biblical story of Noah's flood is a myth.
22. Man does not know who the historical Jesus really was.
23. The Gospels are not true history.
24. Jesus was not all knowing.
25. Jesus did not co-exist with the Father from all eternity.
26. Christianity is not the one and only divinely revealed faith.
27. Christ did not die on the cross to appease the wrath of God.
ROME AND THE BIBLE
by Erick Rothbeck
Out of the estimated (1.1 billion) Roman Catholics in the world today,
it should be stated that over 90% do not realize what the official
stand of the Roman Catholic Church is towards the Bible
Rome will tell the world she treasures the Bible and accepts it as God's
Holy Word, but history and facts speak quite the contrary.
In 1179 pope Alexander III forbade the
Waldensians
to preach, which
preaching they were doing with a common-language translation of parts of
the Bible.
In 1184, at the Synod of Verona, Italy, pope Lucius III decreed the ex-
communication of all Bible-believing "heretics."
In 1199, pope Innocent III condemned the translation into French of
the Psalms, the Gospels and Paul's letters. Any copies found were
burned by Cistercian monks.
In 1211, by order of pope Innocent III, Bishop Bertram of Metz
organized a crusade against all people reading the Bible in the
vernacular, and all such Bibles found were duly burned.
In 1215 the first three canons of the Fourth Lateran
Council
were
directed against heretics who dared to preach. The Dictionnaire
de Theologie Catholique recognizes that this measure was aimed mainly at
the Waldenses, who were preaching with common-language Bibles.
In 1229, Canon 14 of the Council of (Valencia) states, "We forbid the
laity to have in their possession any copy of the books of the Old and New
Testament, except the Psalter, and such portions of them as are contained
in the Breviary; and we most strictly forbid even these works in the
vernacular."
In 1559, pope Paul IV said that no Bible in the vernacular may be
printed nor kept without permission of the Holy Office.
In 1564, pope Pius IV stated, "Experience has shown that if reading of
the Bible in the vulgar tongue is permitted indiscriminately, due to the
rashness of men, more harm than good arises."
In 1590, Pope Sixtus V stipulated that no one could read the Bible in a
common language without special permission from the Apostolic See.
In 1836, pope Gregory XVI issued a warning to all Catholics that the
fourth rule of the Index published in 1564 by Pius IV was still valid.
In 1897, in his Apostolic Constitution Officiorum, pope Leo XIII said,
"All native language versions, even those published by Catholics, are
absolutely prohibited unless they have been approved by the Apostolic See
or edited under the supervision of bishops, with explanatory notes taken
from the Church Fathers and learned Catholic writers."
Today Catholics enjoy more freedom in reading the Bible, but lest they
forget, it can still only be interpreted and understood in the light of
official church teachings and forms only a part of a divine revelation, the
other being held in unwritten oral church Tradition.
Proverbs 30:5,6: "Every word of God is pure: he is a shield to them
that put their trust in him. Add thou not to his words, lest he reprove
thee, and thou be found a liar."
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