The Bible is like the One who created it: 100% Human and 100% Divine. Entirely written by men, it is entirely inspired by God and it is God, through the Holy Spirit, who has determined which writings belong in it. Each book reveals to man some facet of God, of the way in which God works, and man's proper relationship to God. In this way Scripture itself provides evidence of the truth that Christ, who is the true creator of the Bible, is100% Human and 100% divine.
This is why altering the Bible in any way is so dangerous. To remove books, to alter books, or to add them, is to distort the image of God that is received by the reader. It is, in a very real way, to provide a false witness about who God is and what He expects of His people. Though many Protestants do not realize this, Martin Luther did grave damage to those who seek to follow Christ by removing from the Bible 7 books and 7 chapters from the Bible. This causes many to reject important truths about God and about what God desires of men because they lack the knowledge God desired them to have.
Yet Scripture itself does not provide a complete experience of Christ, any more than a photo album, collected letters, and writings about a person's life provide a complete experience of that person. Scripture alone is insufficient to gain a clear insight into Christ. It does not, by itself, provide the cultural contexts or the background necessary to correctly interpret certain passages. For this reason, the Catholic Church does not rely on Scripture alone to provide guidance to the souls in Her care. Rather, She directs them to search Scripture but with the guidance of the Magisterium, the teaching office whose job is to preserve the historical, cultural, and contextual nuances handed down by the Apostles from the beginning so that those things are not lost.
This is why altering the Bible in any way is so dangerous. To remove books, to alter books, or to add them, is to distort the image of God that is received by the reader. It is, in a very real way, to provide a false witness about who God is and what He expects of His people. Though many Protestants do not realize this, Martin Luther did grave damage to those who seek to follow Christ by removing from the Bible 7 books and 7 chapters from the Bible. This causes many to reject important truths about God and about what God desires of men because they lack the knowledge God desired them to have.
Yet Scripture itself does not provide a complete experience of Christ, any more than a photo album, collected letters, and writings about a person's life provide a complete experience of that person. Scripture alone is insufficient to gain a clear insight into Christ. It does not, by itself, provide the cultural contexts or the background necessary to correctly interpret certain passages. For this reason, the Catholic Church does not rely on Scripture alone to provide guidance to the souls in Her care. Rather, She directs them to search Scripture but with the guidance of the Magisterium, the teaching office whose job is to preserve the historical, cultural, and contextual nuances handed down by the Apostles from the beginning so that those things are not lost.
Comments
Post a Comment