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NASB | Matthew 1:25 but kept her a virgin until she gave birth to a Son; and he called His name Jesus. |
AMPLIFIED 2015 | Matthew 1:25 but he kept her a virgin until she had given birth to a Son [her firstborn child]; and he named Him Jesus (The LORD is salvation). |
Subject: Was Mary a virgin her whole life |
Bible Note: Brian: "I have always agreed that Scripture is the inspired word of God (2 Timothy 3:16-17), but doesn't the Protestant viewpoint completely disregard the truth and wisdom of God, brought to us through the ongoing relationship between God and man through the Holy Spirit?" Not at all, Brian. The classical Protestant understanding is the Augustinian view that all enlightenment that comes to our fallen selves is due to the illuminating work of the Holy Spirit. It is the Spirit who convicts us of our sin, convinces us of the truth of the gospel, persuades us to embrace Jesus Christ, and empowers us to love God's law and to obey it. I also, as a Protestant, acknowledge an ongoing relationship with God and man (i.e. His church) through the Holy Spirit. He still gifts individuals to be teachers of the word, to exercise that gift within the context of the church. What the classical Protestant tradition holds is that, since the apostolic age, the Holy Spirit primarily works through the written Word. He works in the church through the Scriptures. There is no need for any additional revelation, because the Bible contains everything that God wants us to know about Himself and His ways. Those individuals gifted by the Holy Spirit to be teachers comment upon and explain the message of the Bible to the church. We do not hold teachers to be infallible like Scripture is. Nor do we hold teachers to be a source of additional revelation; the church does not tell us anything new, but rather preserves the truth and explains it. That is why I subscribe to the early church creeds such as the Nicene and Athanasian, as well as the Chalcedonian definition. Everything in those documents is a codification and classification of things that are clearly taught in the Scriptures. For example, the source of the doctrine of the Trinity is the Bible, not the council of Nicaea. The council of Nicaea did not invent the Trinity, but wisely and (I believe) reliably provided a definition of the Trinity which is faithful to the apostolic tradition revealed infallibly in the Scriptures. It is only when the teaching magisterium of the church gradually began to see its own writings to be as authoritative as those of Scripture that we begin to see the problems emerge which gradually led to the need for a Reformation. It is in the Middle Ages when we see the development of most of the Catholic teachings with which Protestants disagree. And, despite the attempts of canon lawyers to try and place the source of these teachings within the apostolic and early-church traditions, Protestants remain unconvinced that their arguments are convincing. You wrote: "Also, where does the Bible specifically say it is the ONLY source of teaching? 2 Timothy 3:16-17 does not say it is the only source of teaching." No it doesn't, and many Protestants like myself see other valuable sources of teaching. We, however, hold that the Bible is the only INFALLIBLE source of authority. Other teaching is inerrant only to the extent that it agrees with Scripture. What Paul writes to Timothy is that all Scripture is "theopneustos," which means "God-breathed." That claim is made of nothing else. The church has authority, and the source and basis of that authority is Christ. That is not to say, however, that it is impossible for the church to stray from the teachings of the apostles. In other words, the apostolic traditions are not infallible because they come through the Church; they are infallible because they come from Christ. The true church is the church which adheres to what the apostles taught, not the church which claims that by continuing the offices of the apostles that they maintain the same infallibility. --Joe! |