"I should not believe the Gospel except as moved by the authority of the Catholic Church."?

Question

(St. Augustine, Against the Epistle of Manichaeus Called Fundamental, 5,6)

Comments?

The First 2 starting from answer #2 are both unresonable. Going through the rest, the Catholic church is Still the Body of Christ, the Church that He died for despite the many year it's been. You People say that you love Christ with all your heart, but you hate His church, or you think that the Catholic church seperates you from Him; Well let me tell you something, the Catholic Church is Christ; where the Body, blood, soul, and divinity of Jesus Christ Reign in the Tabernacle of every Catholic church. The Catholic Church is the only True Church that has the authority to interpret the bible. From it, comes all the Truth, if you want the whole package, the whole Truth, then the Catholic church is. Jesus Christ continues to inspire and teach us through His church, through the Holy Father, and there is no power on Earth that can overthrough Christ.

Answer 1

Looks like I am the only one who is going to agree completely with you and St. Augustine on this.

Me personally, I would find the whole enterprise of Christianity ridiculously stupid if it were not for the Catholic Church. I was headed away from Christianity when I ran into the Catholic Church and I converted to Catholicism. St. Augustine is absolutely right on this, both in terms of Catholicism is the only place where the totality of the Gospel and the Christian life makes rational sense and from the fact that it is by the Catholic Church that we know of the Gospel in the first place. She has done her divine mission well, even though so many people (including the above) hate her so much. May Christ forgive them.

BTW Someday I would like to have a parchment copy of Dominus Iesus and frame it on my wall.

Answer 2

I am currently reading two works of St. Augustine ("City of God" and "On Christian Teaching") so I believe I can answer this question.

When Augustine wrote against the Manichaeans he was writting against a group who held a particular theology of Christianity which differed greatly from the Catholic church. The Manichaens idea in a nutshell was the idea of both a good and a bad, a yin yang if you will, which existed in everything. Therefore God was both good and bad, mankind was both good and bad, etc. The Manicheans had their own doctrines which were contrary to the Christian doctrines which had recently been complied into the Bible. Therefore Augustine wanted to expel the notion that their doctrine was valid over the Catholic doctrine, which was indeed true.

Christianity teaches God is Love, hence God is good, and therefore not Evil or bad. On the Christian doctrines themselves Augustine supports individual interpretation, however he supports traditional which has been used since the earliest days of the church to interpret the hardest of the scriptural passages. He also strongly encouraged reviewing the Bible in both Greek and Hebrew (and I will add Aramaic since it would have existed at this time) to be assured of what was originally meant in the passage since translating a text to another language will by nature change its original context.

Hope that helped

Answer 3

The Catholic Church has no Biblical authority. Christ's Church (meaning all saved by Grace through Faith in Jesus) is the only Church. Any writing outside of the Holy Bible has no specific authority from God.

1 Bible, 1 Savior, 1 Authority!

Answer 4

Under the heading, “How Catholics Regard the Bible,” we read: “Catholics . . . cherish the highest esteem and veneration for the Bible as the inspired Word of God, and regard it as a treasure of unique value.” What finer expression of confidence could you want? But wait! The next sentence reads: “But they [Catholics] consider that the Bible was never intended to be the sole and adequate Rule of Faith, partly because it is not a sufficiently exhaustive account of all Christ’s teaching, partly because its expressions of doctrine are not always clear and need authoritative interpretation.” With your confidence in the Bible now undermined, you are then told that the authority of the Catholic church is the divinely provided means for preserving Christ’s full teaching for all time. In other words, it is not the voice of God’s Word, but, rather, the voice of the Catholic church that should be heeded as having full and final authority.

Answer 5

St Augustine died a long time ago. The Catholic Church has changed. You should believe the Gospel as it is written in the Bible.

Answer 6

The question you pose is very hard to address but it sounds like you want to know if there is any authority outside of the Roman Catholic Church in respect to Scripture. If that is your question then the answer is the Roman Catholic Church is not the only authority on scripture. The Church has for centuries tried to hold a monopoly on authority for all of christianity but that is not accurate.

Answer 7

We should read the Gospel for ourselves and let God speak to us through it.

However, when there is a dispute or question about the meaning of a passage, the key to understanding the passage is within the rich history of the church, were so many other holy men and women have reflected on the same passages, and on the men who have been Pope, Cardinals, etc. who have been given authority to teach, because their teaching (should!) come out of this same rich history, a history that goes back directly to Jesus and the apostles he spoke to, those who he entrusted 2000 years ago to guide his people to Him.

Answer 8

Socratic appraoch:

Why do we believe in Scripture?
Because it is determined to be the inerrant Word of God by those appointed by Jesus to lead His flock.

Where do we find evidence of this appointment?
"I give you the keys to Heaven, the power to loose and the power to bind."

What if the Catholic Church and Scripture disagree?
They rarely do, and on those occasions an ecumenical council has been summoned to discern whether the Church is correct or incorrect in its interpretation. Most recently it was found that the doctrine of limbo, where a blameless but unbaptized soul was believed to go, was deemed to be errant, and so is submitted to further examination.
They certainly do not disagree on the fundamentals of faith, as the Nicene Creed attests.

What is the danger of rejeting the authority of the Catholic Church?
As evidenced by long experience, there can arise various heresies and incorrect interpretations that lead to dangerous conclusions. The Manicheans, Albigensians, Waldensians, Cathars, and others are early manifestations of this danger. The Cathars sought salvation by castrating and flagellating themselves, the Waldensians by living unrestrained lives of filth and lust, the Albigensians by altogether rejecting sex and marriage, etc.

I will differ with Catholic doctrine on this point - while salvation is to be found in the faithful Catholic, I would not presume the mercy of God to be so limited as to not consider there to be merit in those who are not Catholic but follow the Lord's commands. There are significant barriers for non-Catholics to become Catholic, as the history of bigotry and even anti-Catholic violence has attested. However, it is clear that one who receives Jesus in the sacraments, seeks Jesus in prayer, imitates Jesus in living, and follows Jesus in all that he or she does, is bound for salvation. Humility often keeps us Catholics from declaring "I'm heaven-bound" or somesuch, but our hearts yearn for Christ.

At the same time, those who are apostate, who do not know Christ, do not follow Him, do not imitate Him, and only nominally adhere to the Church's teachings find no such comfort. It is unfortunate that the popular image of Catholics is not unlike that in the movie "Dogma" - doubters who are Catholic one hour a week and anything else the rest of the time. There will always be apostasy throughout the Body of Christ, but wonderfully there will always be living and animated members of the Body of Christ.

Peace upon all who seek the Lord Jesus,
V17

Answer 9

There is far more and worse "authoritative" laws in the Catholic church.
The Catholic Church has been described as this...

When in the majority they roar like a lion, when in the minority they are gentle as a lamb....this proves itself in the Jesuit history.

Right now they are in the minority...so "anything goes".

Answer 10

Believing the Gospel is a personal matter. No church holds control over your relationship with the Lord.