My fellow Catholics: can you help me ask 30,000+ questions here?

Question

I've already lost track of how many times the question was asked today about Pope Benedict's comments. It's nice for the anti-Catholics that we have only one "pastor" leading us here on earth. So they only have to ask a question about one person.

But there are 30,000+ other denominations. And in each of those churches there is a pastor. And the congregation in each church trusts that pastor to help them interpet Scripture, to guide them, etc. Each congregation thinks their church and pastor have the truth. I wonder which of the 30,000+ really does have "the truth", because each of those "truths" is a little different.

So let's find out the names of all those pastors and write a question about each one. We can question their teachings the way our Pope is questioned here ad nauseum.

Who wants to help me?

Island Oasis, my Church already has all the pieces, and has since the beginning.

Answer 1

So how can there be over 30,000 non-Catholic Christian denominations all claiming to have the "truth" (i.e., the correct interpretation of the Bible)? For that matter, aren't ALL non-Catholic Christians as individuals claiming "infallibility" when it comes to interpreting the Bible? Catholics only believe in the infallibility of the Papacy as an office. Which is more believable - one office holding infallibility or 400 million non-Catholic Christians who can't agree on the interpretation of Scripture all claiming "infallibility?" When it comes to interpreting Scripture, individual non-Catholic Christians claim the same infallibility as the Papacy. If one were to put two persons of the same non-Catholic Christian denomination in separate rooms with a Bible and a notepad and ask them to interpret the entire Bible, passage for passage, shouldn't they then produce the exact same interpretation? If guided by the Holy Spirit as Scripture states, the answer should be "Yes." But would that really happen? History has shown that the answer is "No." Now, in the case of Catholics, the Church which Christ founded and is with forever (Matthew 28:20) interprets the Bible, as guided by the Holy Spirit, (Mark 13:11) for the "sheep" (the faithful). The Church (not individuals) interpret Scripture. In Catholicism, Scripture is there for meditation, prayer and inspiration, not for individual interpretation to formulate doctrine or dogma.

Answer 2

You only need one well worded question to throw every protestant denomination off. Where is Sola Scriptura in Scripture? If it's not there, the doctrine excludes itself as heretical.

Problem is, most protestants are willing to live with this contradiction. Although, if you leave some aspect of the question out, protestants will tend to jump on it and use it to take the scriptures out of their historical context to skew the meaning of the scriptures around in their defense.

Unfortunately, this question does not necessarily address the Restorationists. Many of them derive their beliefs from a man who received a private revelation (the Mormons, for example). This is sort of the same thing that Islam has done, derived their faith based on one man's private revelation from God that no one else has received. This is not Sola Scriptura. To be honest, I am not well versed in providing counter-arguments to their arguments and questions because I do not often meet a Restorationist who is inclined to listen to something contrary to their belief.

Answer 3

LOL I love it!

Of course we couldn't possibly cover every protestant denomination ... because brand new ones are started every single day! They're popping up everywhere! It's like an epidemic and the Catholic Church is the only cure!

We can cover all the big denominations though. ;-)

Answer 4

www.scripturecatholic.com has a list of the main churches and who established them and when, as for current pastors and the splinters thereafter we would be here indefinitely, even when we rap things up we'll need to adjust the list daily as the groups and dissentions continue. as you and i know the holy spirit is not the author of this confusion, look to the catholic church for what the holy spirit is the author of and you will find that it is truth. god bless.

Answer 5

A daunting project, to be sure. (And thank you for giving me a smile with my morning coffee!)

I will volunteer to cover those in the metro St. Louis phone book. But since a new book is published every year, and every year there are changes (split-off congregations, new ones, old ones with new names), this could take a while.
:)
.

Answer 6

I'm not a Catholic, but I respect your church and agree that there is a huge amount of hypocrisy and misinformation among different protestants about your Church and what it teaches as opposed to what they teach.

Answer 7

The odd thing is that everyone is in a tizzy about the Pope's comments (actually they were not his comments, he only approved them), yet there was absolutely nothing new in them. The statement only reaffirmed standard Church teaching.

Answer 8

I had to stop laughing before I could even type. Thank you for the very best laugh I have had today! If it is help you want then help you will get.....I could check with my CCW group and see if any of the other ladies have any extra time to dedicate to this worthy cause.....
Peace be with you.

Answer 9

I'll take the Ted Haggard denomination. That should be an easy one!

Answer 10

IF you can get 30,000 answers on here with the name of each pastor and comments on each one, it WOULD BE a "miracle." The most answers your going to get on here is "50" and that will be if you are LUCKY.................