I'm consistently given the chore "Prove it in the Bible" from a friend- I'm Catholic,she is non-denominational

Question

She believes there is no need for 4 walls for a church, that the Bible alone is only needed. She is the daughter of a pastor, who also preaches non-denom ways - where only the Bible matters. I'm trying to learn to defend my faith, and I need help. Thanks!

Answer 1

Pastor Billy says: send me an email I love this stuff btw is it true what they say about the pastor's daughter?

She is going to naturally deny the 4 walls because she has been taught to deny Christian history. I usually get the old non-denom cliche of "you know the Church is not a building right". In reality the believer is the living stone of the Church yet the buildings and customs and holy traditions are the physical stones of the Church which fulfill and complete God's revelation. If you belonged to a group which didn't have theologians who could explain why their community doesn't exist for 2000 years right back to Jesus and didn't have any ancient stones to discover as evidence wouldn't you also deny the 4 walls like your non-denom pastor's daughter here? They do it because they live in a fallacy of what the Christian Church is and dare not discover Christianity from a 2000 year old history.

email me I'll provide the answers when you need it and/or direct you to other Catholic sources which officially speak for the Church.

here is my first tip for you which you can use by yourself or share with your friend

read this "What's Your Authority?"

http://www.catholic.com/library/What_Your_Authority.asp

Oh btw, sola scriptura or bible alone doctrine wasn't created as a doctrine until the 16th century and even than it is not a very honest presentation of how non-Catholics holding to it see authority within their communities. For example they resist the idea of a papal figure yet often the local congregational pastor or elders act very much like in a Pope like fashion. Another issue is tradition many so-called "bible alone" or "bible believing" sects claim they don't have tradition lol. At least Catholics are honest about holy tradition as I know many persons claiming to be bible alone and yet they also have the traditions of alter call, the sinners prayer, child blessings instead of infant baptism, endtime rapture of dispensationalists etc etc... all not found ... in the bible :D

Answer 2

First of all, check with your priest and find out when and where you can take an apologetics class or if their is any training available for lay ministers.

In the meantime get these two books:

Catholicism and Fundamentalism by Karl Keating

Does the Bible Really Say That by Patrick Madrid.

To understand the Eucharist better Scott Hahn has a couple of books that will help but their names escape me.

Catholic Christianity by Peter J. Kreeft is also very helpful in understanding the Catechism.

Read the Ante-Nicene fathers: especially the writings of St. Ignatius and St. Irenaeus "Against Heresies".

Rest assured that there is no Catholic teaching that cannot be supported in Scripture. Catholicism is the true Bible Church, the heart of Sacred Tradition.


In Christ
Fr. Joseph

Answer 3

I have a non-denom friend who thinks the same way. The arguement is over interpretation. My friend believes that only the bible and the Holy Spirit is needed to properly intrepret the bible, which makes sense on the surface, that there is no need for a central authority for biblical interpretation. However, I pointed out several flaws in the arguement.

The first and most obvious is just to look at protestantism as it is. Every single denom we see is the result of someone prayerfully reading the bible, under the "inspiration" of the Holy Spirit, interpreting it to mean a certain thing, and starting a church based on that interpretation. That's why we have 54,000+ denoms.

I further pointed out that if the final authority for doctrine was left to personal interpretation, then the bible can be made to mean whatever anyone wants it to mean.

He argued, "If the Holy Spirit is guiding you, than you can't go wrong."

I said there are 6 billion people on the planet. Put that one in your imagination and try to see what comes back.

Secondly, I pointed out history. The truth of the matter is that Jesus handed down one Faith, and set down one Church. The apostles spread that faith to the world. New Christians learned that one faith from the Church. They were not free to interpret it their way and then teach their version to others. They had to accept the interpretation of the Church, or else it wasn't the Faith. This Tradition has been carried down for 2,000 years to the present day.

Now, there is nothing wrong with private prayer. Everyone is at a different station in their life and the bible can apply differently to different people, but on matters of faith and doctrine that determine one's eternal fate, those doctrines are not open to interpretation. Consider the Eucharist, the salvation message - repentence, baptism, following Jesus, the Trinity. These are central doctrines that cannot be changed and are not open to interpretation. To change them is to discard the Faith Jesus gave us. Under personal intrepretation, though, even those central doctrines can be made to mean whatever someone wants them to mean.

Hope this helps. God bless.

Answer 4

First of all, you do realize that the Catholic's are a denomination of Christianity, right? I am a non denominational Christian. This simply means that I do not claim Catholic, Lutheran, Baptist, etc., you get the idea. I use to be Catholic, I didn't stay with the Catholic church because some of their doctrine, I do not personally agree with. I do believe that JESUS is the only way to salvation, which in turn reflects in the Bible, for Jesus is the Word made flesh. Going to church is not a requirement for Salvation, as only Jesus can give that gift of salvation to any person. The church does not save you, nor does religion. Having said that, Jesus does tell us to fellowship with our brothers and sisters in Christ. Where do we do this most commonly? At church! Any Church should only be teaching BIBLE BASED teachings. If it isn't in the Bible, you must question it seriously, as the Bible is the road map for life given to us by God himslef. If you really want to defend your faith, first, determine what it is you believe and why. Because a man stands at the pulpit and tells you? Or because it is written in the Bible? If your Priest delivers a sermon, God wants you to go back and look in his word, the Bible, to make sure that it is in fact a Biblical Teaching. Your Priest should also encourage this. If he is teaching from God's word, he has nothing to hide. God also wants you to read the Bible yourself. Read and pray for knowledge to understand what you are reading. Don't just sit there and listen and forget because you did not understand what you just heard. Ask! Even ask the Priest to elaborate on it and further explain. You should know what and why you claim to believe as you do. There are true Christians in all denominations and there are counterfiet Christians in all denominations, including non-denominational. God know your true heart, ask him for guidance!

Have a blessed day!

Answer 5

don't know what specific points you need to explain but here are some good sites that will pretty much cover everything

www.scripturecatholic.com
www.catholiceducation.org
www.fisheaters.com
www.newadvent.org
www.ewtn.com
www.salvationhistory.com

try locate a cathecism of the catholic church if you don't already have one. don't let her control the discussion and relate to her by letting her know that the bible is not the sole rule of authority for a christian-ask her to point out in the bible where it says "bible alone","faith alone" etc............try become familiar with how the bible came about,especially as it came about after the church wsa already established,become familiar with why and how the bible is a catholic book. give her some of the information you come across,ask her to read it and be willing to read stuff she may give you etc......hope this helps,god bless and be strong in the truth.

Answer 6

Start making regular stops to catholic.com. That is a website for Catholic Answers Magazine, a publication by and for Catholic apologists. They have over one hundred tracts to help you validate Catholic beliefs and practices, and thousands of articles. They also have a book store with hundreds of apologetics titles. They also have a message board where you can hook up with others like yourself. You can seek, as well as offer, help from others in the same the same boat as you.

scripturecatholic.com - I used this in answering another one of your questions. This website contains Biblical evidence of Catholic beliefs and practices, especially those most often called into question by non-Catholic Christians.

Also, if you have not already done so, start reading the Catechism of the Catholic Faith. Soft-cover versions can be purchased fro $10, and there are a number of electronic versions on the Internet.

Lastly, get out there and talk about the faith with people; in person and/or over the Internet. Debate, discuss, argue, whatever. You will need to hone your skills, control your temperment, and "learn by doing" as the saying goes.

Be ready for many bitter and disheartening experiences. Then again, it's through our mistakes that we learn best.

You will have to grow some thick skin. You WILL draw attention to yourself by proclaiming the Catholic Faith. You will be the recipient of some nasty remarks, dirty looks, and filthy email. Shake it off.


A word of warning - In doing all this, you are going to learn more about the Catholic Church than you ever thought possible. Some of it might come as a surprise, some of it might be confusing beyond understanding (at least for now). If you are going to defend it, you must believe it in - all of it.

Also, you will come into contact with some SEEMINGLY strong evidence against Church beliefs and practices. Is your faith strong enough to remain unencumbered by such claims? If you can remain steadfast in your Faith in the Church despite all this go for it! Learn the art of apologetics.

Answer 7

One cannot have God for his Father, who will not have the Church for his Mother, and likewise, one cannot have the Word of God for his faith who will not have the Church for his teacher. It is the infallible teaching authority of the Church, as promised by Christ, which alone preserves God's Word from erroneous interpretation.

Try these websites. You should be able to find the answers to not only about your faith but also answers for your friend.


http://www.drbo.org/

http://www.catholicapologetics.net/

http://www.fisheaters.com/beingcatholic.html

Christ did not say, "Sit down and write Bibles and scatter them over the earth, and let every man read his Bible and judge for himself." If Christ had said that, there would never have been a Christianity on the earth at all, but a Babylon and confusion instead, and never one Church, the union of one body. Hence, Christ never said to His Apostles, "Go and write Bibles and distribute them, and let everyone judge for himself." That injunction was reserved for the Sixteenth Century, and we have seen the result of it. Ever since the Sixteenth Century there have been springing up religion upon religion, and churches upon churches, all fighting and quarreling with one another, and all because of the private interpretation of the Bible.

Christ sent His Apostles with authority to teach all nations, and never gave them any command of writing the Bible. And the Apostles went forth and preached everywhere, and planted the Church of God throughout the earth, but never thought of writing.



Scala Paradisi -- the Stairway to Heaven -- describes a 4-runged ladder to Heaven, each rung being one of the four steps in method of Bible reading.

lectio (reading): "looking on Holy Scripture with all one's will and wit"

meditatio (meditation): "a studious insearching with the mind to know what was before concealed through desiring proper skill"

oratio (prayer): "a devout desiring of the heart to get what is good and avoid what is evil"

contemplatio (contemplation): "the lifting up of the heart to God tasting somewhat of the heavenly sweetness and savour"





Peace be with you !

Answer 8

One point about Catholics.

Therefore, brothers, stand firm and hold fast to the traditions that you were taught, either by an oral statement or by a letter of ours. (2 Thessalonians 2:15)

The Catholic Church does not use Holy Scripture as the only basis of doctrine. It could not. The early Catholic church existed before and during the time that the New Testament was written (by Catholics).

There were hundreds of Christian writings during the first and second centuries. Which New Testament writings would become official was not fully decided until about 400 AD.

Catholics believe that the Holy Spirit was guiding the early church (and is guiding the church today) to make the correct choices about things like:
+ The Holy Trinity (which is also only hinted at in the Bible)
+ Going to church on Sunday instead of Saturday (which is actually directly against one of the Ten Commandments)
+ The Communion of Saints
+ Which writings include in the New Testament?

Things that are even more modern like
+ Slavery is bad. Slavery is never declared evil in the Bible. This was one of the justifications for slavery in the Confederate States.
+ Democracy is good. The Bible states that either God should be the leader of the nation like Israel before the kings or kings should be the leader, "Give to Caesar that which is Caesar's." This was talked about a lot during the American Revolution.

This second source of doctrine is called Apostolic Tradition.

Do Christians who do not allow the continuing guiding force of the Holy Spirit to make their beliefs more and more perfect, still endorse slavery as Colossians 3:22 commands, "Slaves, obey your human masters in everything"?

We instruct you, brothers, in the name of (our) Lord Jesus Christ,to shun any brother who conducts himself in a disorderly way and not according to the tradition they received from us. (2 Thessalonians 3:6)

I praise you because you remember me in everything and hold fast to the traditions, just as I handed them on to you. (1 Corinthians 11:2)

With love in Christ.

Answer 9

Remember that you don't have to go find evidence in the Bible for every single statement you make just because she tells you to. By all means, debate if you want to, but don't feel like you have to go come up with quotations every single time she disagrees with you. You can just explain where an idea comes from in the Catholic tradition. Since you don't seem to share her notion that the Bible stands alone as the only religious authority that exists, why should you have to argue by her rules?

If you do want to come up with quotations, there are many websites that have online Bibles with search engines (eg. Bible.com) that may help you find what you're looking for.

Answer 10

I delight in all of us s interest in this submit, notwithstanding it type of feels there's a perception that belonging to a denomination is a nasty element. It s under no circumstances. It s no longer a club with regulations that would want to be accompanied. It potential the church identifies with a higher body and that more advantageous body has some authority to regulate the self reliant church. they could t are available in and dictate and wag their finger, yet when the pastor begins practise or preaching concepts that don t line up with the governing body and aren t biblical, he might want to be bumped off. regrettably, non denominational church homes don t have this possibility-free practices. With that being said, we are all to attempt the Scriptures and that i comprehend why human beings can grow to be grew to grow to be off of belonging to a denomination. in case you went to a church the position human beings behaved a particular way it may turn you off of the team as an total. the final analysis is neither are undesirable. I have under no circumstances said I m an assembly of God Christian, I m a Christian, the church i decide on to attend is an AG church. If my pastor begins preaching unbiblical doctrine, he might want to be bumped off. It in simple terms potential he must be in charge to someone, and that the church has help from a higher team. there is no longer something incorrect with both one and we ought to continually all be making certain what's taught is sound doctrine, no longer taking any pastor s observe for it, yet immersing ourselves interior the observe and committing to study. God Bless!