#1 w/Vicky
Vicky:
I saw your rant about the Bible, but you forgot that you wouldn't have a Bible if the Catholics hadn't nurtured it and written it down and preserved it for 15 centuries.
David Larson:
Aside from the fact that none of the apostles were Roman Catholic, here's my response:
The Jews preserved the 39 books of the Old Testament for centuries before (and after) Christ.
Are you Jewish?
Just because scribes have accuracy in transcription doesn't mean they hold right views about the content. Remember the scribes of Jesus' day?
"For I say unto you, That except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven." (Matthew 5:20)
"And, behold, certain of the scribes said within themselves, This man [Jesus] blasphemeth." (Matthew 9:3)
"Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye are like unto whited sepulchres, which indeed appear beautiful outward, but are within full of dead men's bones, and of all uncleanness. Even so ye also outwardly appear righteous unto men, but within ye are full of hypocrisy and iniquity. Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! because ye build the tombs of the prophets, and garnish the sepulchres of the righteous, And say, If we had been in the days of our fathers, we would not have been partakers with them in the blood of the prophets. Wherefore ye be witnesses unto yourselves, that ye are the children of them which killed the prophets." (Matthew 23:27-31)
There is so much more, but I think you get the idea. Right faith is key. You can accurately preserve the Holy Scriptures for thousands of years and still not see the Kingdom of God.
Jesus said in John, chapter 3: "Except a man be born again, he cannot see the Kingdom of God." (verse 3) You must be born again.
I will be praying for you, Vicky.
God makes certain promises regarding prayer:
"And I say unto you, Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you. For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened." (Luke 11:9-10)
"But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly." (Matthew 6:6)
"If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him." (James 1:5)
Think on these truths. They are in the Bible. They are God's.
#2 w/Vicky
Vicky:
The Bible as we know it today includes the New Testament which, of course, assumes the Jewish portion or Old Testament. However, the Catholic Church at the Council of Carthage in 397 determined which books to include in the New Testament. The Bible as we know it continued in this form (in various manuscripts) until the changes made by Martin Luther when he omitted several books from the Bible, because, as he said, "Martin Luther would have it so."
No, I am not Jewish.
David Larson:
You have your historical facts jumbled up.
The Council of Carthage canonized (i.e. measured) 66 books (39 OT and 27 NT.) However, It wasn't until the Council of Trent in 1545 (over 1100 years after the Council of Carthage) that the Apocrypha was added as "deuterocanonical" or secondary-canon. This decision by the Roman Catholic church was in direct response to the Protestant Reformation. Before then, those "extra" books were never universally upheld as Divinely Inspired. They contain historical, geographical and theological inaccuracies and contradictions with the 66-book canon. Thus, they were never included in the original canon of Scripture.
The Catholic Church was criticized for not having Scriptural support for many of its practices and beliefs. In response to those allegations:
The Council of Trent declared that Tradition is of equal authority with the Bible in 1545
By tradition is meant human teachings. The Pharisees believed the same way, and Jesus bitterly condemned them, for by teaching human tradition, they nullified the commandments of God. (Read Mark 7:7-13; Col. 2:8; Rev. 22:18).
The apocryphal hooks were added to the Bible, also by the Council of Trent, in 1546.
I've found about 40 historical heresies of the Catholic Church from approx 310 A.D. - 1950 A.D.
Time and time again they see fit to openly contradict Scripture. I tell you, if Scripture is Divine Revelation and Tradition is Divine Revelation, how can it be possible for one to openly and simply contradict the other?
A choice must be made. Do you wish to follow the never changing, God-Breathed Word of God recorded in the Holy Scriptures? Or, do you wish to follow the perpetually shifting teachings of a Church, which tries to earn its way to Heaven?
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