If the early Church believed in sola Scriptura, why do the creeds of the early Church always say “we believe in the Holy Catholic Church,” and not “we believe in Holy Scripture”?
For example, the Apostle's Creed, dating within 50 years of the New Testament and ascribed to the original Apostles, said:
I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy *catholic church,
the communion of saints,
the forgiveness of sins,
the resurrection of the body,
and life everlasting.
http://www.reformed.org/documents/index.html?mainframe=http://www.reformed.org/documents/apostles_creed.html
2007-11-30 06:26:07 · 13 answers · asked by Bruce 7 in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
For the several people who pointed out that "catholic" means universal, I understand that. My question is why they believed in the Church, rather than in the written scriptures? Of the several statements about what the Apostles believed, not one mention of scripture. Doesn't exactly support the a Bible-only view, wouldn't you say?
2007-11-30 08:04:39 · update #1
Greengo, if the Creed was formulated about 150 AD, that would have been during the papacy of Pius I; there were nine previous popes.
# St. Peter (32-67)
# St. Linus (67-76)
# St. Anacletus (Cletus) (76-88)
# St. Clement I (88-97)
# St. Evaristus (97-105)
# St. Alexander I (105-115)
# St. Sixtus I (115-125) -- also called Xystus I
# St. Telesphorus (125-136)
# St. Hyginus (136-140)
# St. Pius I (140-155)
http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/12272b.htm
2007-11-30 08:12:24 · update #2
What do the bible-only Christians do with the years between 33 AD and 50 AD? This is the period of time from Jesus' death to the appearance of the first written word of scripture, the book of Thessalonians, I believe. See that little 17 year gap? There was no NT during that time. How, then, do they explain the flourishing and teaching of the Faith (underground I might add), when they didn't have any NT scripture to teach it from?
2007-11-30 07:47:35 · answer #1 · answered by Danny H 6 · 6⤊ 0⤋
Perhaps the crisis is that you're pressured approximately what the early Christian believed? Heresy was once creeping into the church throughout the primary century. So bear in mind as you learn the writings of the early church, now not the whole lot you can be studying shall be proper. The publication of Galatians was once written considering the fact that individuals had fallen clear of Christ for educating that Christians had been required to nonetheless comply with the Law of Moses.
2016-09-05 17:06:35 · answer #2 · answered by mcguinn 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
catholic means universal, or world-wide. It does not mean "Roman Catholic"
The early Christians developed this creed prior to the Roman Catholic church being founded.
The early Church did not have the "sola Scriptura" doctrine, as the canon of the scripture had not yet been finally determined, except for the four gospels, which had circulated very early on. The authority of the early church came from the apostles.
2007-11-30 06:40:38 · answer #3 · answered by greengo 7 · 0⤊ 2⤋
The early church did not profess Sola Scriptura, that was a doctrine that came about at the time of the Reformation. The New Testament didn't even exist until the 4th century.
2007-11-30 06:29:31 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 9⤊ 1⤋
The word 'catholic' here, means universal, not Roman Catholic in particular. Creeds became necessary to keep a mainstream linear faith together in the face of many variants. Nowadays it is acceptable to recognise that there are many strands of Christianity from the bizarre and deviant to the orthodox and mainline. In those days, the church recognised it had to use discipline to protect orthodoxy.
2007-11-30 06:36:10 · answer #5 · answered by John G 5 · 0⤊ 3⤋
Because the Catholic Church invented the New Testament ,The Catholic Catachism , and continued to invent 'holy scripture' such as Papal Proclamations and Council Dogmas ( such as the Dogma of the Communion of Saints ).
2007-11-30 06:33:05 · answer #6 · answered by allure45connie 4 · 0⤊ 5⤋
God set up the Church and appointed its members.
Sola scriptura was used by Martin Luther
2007-11-30 06:35:48 · answer #7 · answered by Bob N 3 · 6⤊ 1⤋
Do you really expect any protestant to know anything about the history of Christianity and the bible. They think the KJV floated out of the sky. They cant get past their own bigotry.
2007-11-30 06:33:45 · answer #8 · answered by Benny 3 · 5⤊ 1⤋
The Holy Catholic Church is the church as the body of Christ, which is headed by Jesus. Not the Roman Catholic Church, which is headed by the Pope.
2007-11-30 06:30:22 · answer #9 · answered by L.C. 6 · 4⤊ 6⤋
catholic meant (and continues to mean) universal, it wasn't a denomination of Christianity at that time.
2007-11-30 06:29:53 · answer #10 · answered by Anonymous · 9⤊ 4⤋