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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: "I don't know the answer to your question." Well, if I were Catholic, it would trouble my sense of papal infallibility if I couldn't even point out with certainty WHO was the Pope for seventy years. "Now, which one of the 30,000 Protestant human leaders and teaching authorities is correct." On every point? Probably none of them. The church is not infallible. There are many denominations that are more reliable than others, and those are the ones which adhere to the unique infallibility of Scripture and recognize the reliable creeds that have been developed by the early church based on that infallible apostolic revelation. " And, don't tell me that all 30,000 groups are basicly one, because we all realize that one Protestant denomination will not have any problem testifying to another Protestant (of a different denomination) that their denomination is the truer way to Christ.' I wouldn't dream of telling you that, because it simply isn't true. There are a number of different reasons for different denominations, many of them good ones. Here are a few: 1. Geographical or ethnic differences (e.g. Presbyterian bodies in Scotland and the U.S. which are technically different denominations but hold to the same standards). 2. Differences in styles of worship. 3. Differences in non-salvific issues (forms of church government, use of the sacraments, the familiar Calvinist/Arminian debate, etc.). Yes, at least one group has to be wrong, but we can still call each other evangelical Protestants. 4. Denominations are often formed as a result of a split caused by modernist/liberal tendencies within a previously existing denomination (such is the case with the denomination to which I belong, which holds to the infallibility of God's word and to the historic confessions of the denomination, but split off from a denomination that has largely abandoned biblical truth for more liberal, humanistic traditions). 5. And yes, denominations also form from biblical error and petty and personal reasons. As stated previously, the church is not infallible. I will happily deny that all Protestant denominations are basically one. However, many of them have no trouble calling each other members of the true church of Christ. At the same time, many of them have abandoned doctrinal distinctiveness, booting the infallibility of Scripture, the bodily resurrection of Christ, the Trinity, and a whole host of other important key biblical truths. My problem with such groups is not due to different interpretations of Scripture, but on the fact that they have abandoned Scripture as a binding authority altogether. And has been stated in previous posts, there is not a monolithic view of truth in the RCC, either. Historically we have seen both internal controversies and major splits over matters of doctrine. I have already mentioned the Great Schism, but we can look at controversies surrounding other reformational orders within the Catholic Church, such as the Fransiscans and the Jesuits. Both of these groups have faced fierce opposition in ages past from other Catholics. The very notion of papal infallibility was first put forward by a member of the Order of St. Francis in order to keep succeeding popes from opposing the concessions made to the order. In addition, we have seen other large groups completely sever ties with the church over matters of doctrine. The Protestants were preceded by the Eastern Orthodox church, and the Monophysite Christians (such as the Coptic churches) and the Arian party (the sizeable Visigoth forces were Arians, complete with their own bishops and priests). Even today there exist differences of opinion among Liberation Theologists and those who oppose their interpretations of the Bible, among those who support homosexuality and abortion rights within the church and those who oppose them (both groups remaining in fellowship with the Mother Church). The bottom line is where one finds one's ultimate authority. I agree with your position on many of the issues above, but the ULTIMATE authority on those issues is not a papal pronouncement or church council. The early church councils looked to Scripture for their authority, and that is why I can gladly adhere to the Apostle's Creed, the Nicene Creed, the Athanasian Creed, and the Definition of Chalcedon. The writings of the apostles all attest to the truths found in these church pronouncements. Once we start looking at issues on which we disagree (and over which the Catholic Church has changed its official stance in the ensuing centuries), we find little solid biblical basis for such statements. When the traditions of the visible church and the traditions set down in Scripture are not moving in precisely the same direction, inevitably one has to choose which horse to ride. --Joe! |