the church

• the church expresses what christ is and is the means by which christ is present in the world in a particular recognisable form
• the roman catholic church claims the church only full exists where there are bishops in a continuous line of succession from the apostles. baptism incorporates people into the body of christ
• protestants say the church exists where the gospel is preached and the sacraments of baptism and the eucharist are celebrated
• maurice wiles

  hard authority and soft authority
• hard authority - bible is like the law
• soft authority - bible is like an expert on a subject, but doesn't mean they are always correct
• protestants believe in sola scriptura, meaning scripture is the most important source of authority
• catholics have the concept of tradition as an unbroken transmission of oral teaching from the time of jesus to the present
• the magisterium is the teaching authority of the church, it is the teaching of the pope and bishops
• the roman catholic stance is that the authority of scripture and authority of the church are bound together
• augustine "but i would not believe in the gospel had not the authority of the catholic church already moved me"
• in the protestant view, the whole of christian truth is found within the bibles pages and anything extraneous is non authoritative, unnecessary or wrong
• evidence for sola scriptura

  2 timothy, all scripture is god breathed

  • scripture is real because.. it says it is? lol
• catholics believe the bible doesn't endorse the view that it alone has authority - the rule of faith is scripture and apostolic tradition
• dei verbum (the word of god)

  a close connection and communication between sacred tradition and sacred scripture (...) flowing from the same divine wellspring in a certain way merge into a unity and tend toward the same end

  tradition and scared scripture are to be accepted and venerated with the same devotion and reverence
• scripture supporting the catholic perspective of the church

  2 thessalonians - stand firm and hold to the traditions which you were taught by us, either by word of mouth or letter

  2 timothy - entrust to faithful men who will be able to teach others also
• 2 thessalonians 2:15

  stand firm and hold to the traditions which you were taught by us, either by word of mouth or by letter
• 2 timothy 2:2

  what you have heard from me before many witnesses entrust to faithful men who will be able to teach others also
• the authority of the pope scripture

  matthew 16:18-19
• matthew 16:18-19

  you are peter, and on this rock i will build my church

  • peter became first bishop of rome and passed on apostolic authority to the next bishop (apostolic succession)
• problem with the authority of the pope

  1 corinthians - for no one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid which is jesus christ
• evaluating tradition

  paul praised those following tradition in 1 corinthians - i commend you because you remember me in everything and maintain the traditions even as i have delivered them to you

  • contradicted by matthew, why do you transgress the commandment of god for the sake of your tradition
  • and again - so by these traditions of yours you have made god's laws ineffectual