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Authority
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Catholic Church Apologetics Index Ex Cathedra Magisterium First Pope One Authority Peter=Rock Sts. Peter & Paul Sts. Peter & Paul II True Church Gates of Hell
BY WHAT AUTHORITY ARE YOU DOING THESE THINGS?
In the Gospel of Matthew, chapter 21, verse 23; we see Jesus' Authority being questioned.
When you are approached by door-to-door or street evangelists, you need to be ready to do battle.
Remembering what Peter, our first Pope; said in, [1 Peter 3:15]
"Always be ready to give an explanation to anyone who asks you for a reason for your hope, but do it with gentleness and reverence"
We are in a battle against the forces of confusion. You need to stand firm in your convictions that the Catholic Church is the TRUE CHURCH established by Jesus on Peter (THE ROCK) in
[Mt. 16:18] "And I say to thee, thou art Peter, and upon this rock will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it."
FIRST STEP: We need to follow the example of Jesus as He went up against the teachers of His day, turning the tables on our opponents by asking them a question.
You need to ask: "By what authority do you teach"?
They in turn will say something like: "Our authority is the Bible alone." Or, "Our only teacher is the Bible."
SECOND STEP: You need to ask them to show you where in the Bible, does the Bible say that it alone has the answers to eternal life? After all, if the Bible is our sole teacher, it must say so somewhere in the book! Because if the Bible does not say that it is the only source of the truth about God, then in order to accept THE BIBLE as the sole rule for teaching the Faith, you would have to accept THEIR WORD and so you would be accepting a source outside the Bible!
AND THERE GOES THEIR ARGUMENT OF "THE BIBLE ALONE" AS THE SOLE RULE OF TEACHING TRUTH!
Of course the Bible does not say any such thing!
The best they can offer is: [2 Timothy 3:16] "All Scripture is inspired by God and useful for teaching, for reproving, for correcting, for instructing in justice".
NOTICE: the word "All" not "Only"! "All Scripture", the words would need to say "Only Scripture" in order to prove their point!
They may choose to point out what Jesus says in [Mk 7:8],
"You leave the commandment of God, and hold fast to the tradition of men.".
Our separated bretheren would have us believe because they only follow the Bible they only follow God's Commandments. And we on the
other hand, because we have Traditions outside Scripture (not
against) are somehow following the "traditions of men".
Jesus was condemning the practice of the religious leaders of His time, in that they would change God's Law to fit their need's which often meant their greed. This particular practice mentioned here was the priests way of getting more money for themselves and the Temple. According to Jewish Custom in the time of Christ, a person was responsible for his parents welfare when they were no longer able to care for themselves. The priests fixed it so the son or daughter could donate to the temple whatever they would have given to the care of their parents (which was called Corban), [verse 11] thereby nullifying their duty to their parents! [Verse 13] "thus making void the word of God through your tradition".
Jesus was not condemning ALL tradition, only that tradition which goes against "The Word of God".
If they point out this verse to you, you show them:[2 Thessalonians 2:15] "So then, bretheren, stand firm and hold to the traditions which you were taught by us, either by word of mouth or by letter."
JESUS DID NOT WRITE THE BIBLE WITH HIS OWN HANDS AND LEAVE "IT" WITH THE APOSTLES!
The Bible was not put together as we know it until the Council of Hippo in 393 A.D.!
WHAT WERE THE EARLY CHRISTIANS SUPPOSED TO DO, WITH NO BIBLE?
They learned directly from the Apostles and those whom they appointed.
Paul was sent out [Acts 13:2-3], Paul chose Timothy [Acts 16:3].
This is what the Catholic Church means by Apostolic Succession.
Only the Catholic Church can trace a direct line to Peter and the Apostles!
When Paul wrote his second letter to the Thessalonians, he wasn't telling them to go against a teaching instituted by Jesus, he was telling them to hold fast to new Christian Church's traditions.
He was telling them to follow the True Teachings of the Church established by Jesus!
Jesus shows this teaching on Authority in [Mt. 18:17]
"and if he refuses to listen even to the Church, let him be to you as a Gentile".
First, I would like to point out that Jesus is talking about a "visible group" or "organization" that can be recognized as "His Church". There has to be a "single" body or "organization" called the "Church", in order for a person to be presented to the "Church". It can not be the "Protestant" idea of an un-unified group of believers, that is, if someone is going to be presented to "it"!
Second, we see here that, Jesus is talking about excommunication! He is telling the Church to separate themselves from anyone who does not accept the Authority of the Church He established!
THE ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH!
Authority to Teach - By Jim Blackburn
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