Why does the Vatican have to decree something...?
... if it is already in the Bible? The Second Vatican Council's Decree on Ecumenism explains: "For it is through Christ's Catholic Church alone, which is the universal help toward salvation, that the fullness of the means of salvation can be obtained. It was to the apostolic college alone, of which Peter is the head, that we believe that our Lord entrusted all the blessings of the New Covenant, in order to establish on earth the one Body of Christ into which all those should be fully incorporated who belong in any way to the People of God."268 http://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG0015/__P29.HTM Is it because they make up bogus things like "apostolic college, of which Peter is the head of" and other stuff that is not in canonical scripture? There is absolutely nothing in canonical scripture about Peter being the head of an apostolic college. Paul rebuked Peter for being hypocritical. Does that sound like a leader to you? Why is it that Popes can't be married but Peter was married? Not to mention the bible says nothing about Peter being the head of anything! Jesus is the head and the foundation of the Church. The "Rock" is faith - believing Jesus is the Son of God. That is what Jesus was talking about. Jesus said "this", not "you". He meant Peter's faith was the rock. It is so obvious! Peter was not given authority to make up rules of his own liking, he was given the authority to bind or loose what has already been bound and loosed in heaven. Why do Catholics want to base their whole Pope thing on a misinterpretation of scripture? I think they must decree things they make up and that is why they must have a large book outside of the bible to function. The church of Christ doesn't need anything but the bible to function and doesn't need to support a corporate head in lavish living to function. Why does the Catholic church need to do this?
Religion & Spirituality - 10 Answers
Random Answers, Critics, Comments, Opinions :
1 :
The answer to that should be pretty obvious if you look at Protestantism. Everything they believe is "in the Bible". Yet there are thousands of conflicting denominations who can't agree with one another on the meaning of a single passage. When the Church officially decrees a truth of the faith, it isn't simply repeating what is in the Bible, it is explaining the true and authoritative meaning of what is in the Bible. Which is why the Catholic Church remains united in belief, united in teaching, united in worship throughout the world after 2,000 years, just as its founder Jesus Christ said it would, while unauthorized manmade denominational religion has fragmented into doctrinal chaos in 500 years.
2 :
Because the Big Bosses say so. No matter who they are.
3 :
There are many interpretations of Biblical text.
4 :
I caught you intentionally misleading everybody !!! You say : "The church of Christ doesn't need anything but the bible " -- but WHICH BIBLE ? Catholic ? Protestant ? Which ? -- IT can only be on an authority (your pope Luther and your Church !!) that you say this. Would you contradict St Augustine "I would not believe in the Gospel myself if the authority of the Catholic Church did not influence me to do so." Against the letter of Mani, 5,6, 397 A.D. -- St Augustine Shame on you...but I caught you :)
5 :
The Catholic church issues decrees because it is, and always has been, the primary authority on matters of dogma and interpretation of the faith. If left up to lay people, everyone comes up with their own interpretations void of any experience or qualification, and you end up with 38,000 denominations of people declaring themselves to be right and everyone else to be wrong, without any real authority to say so. The hierarchy of the Catholic church consists of people who have literally devoted their lives to God and nothing else, who have degrees in theology and matters of faith, and who have the experience and information of the 2000 years of history the church has under its belt from the time Christ established it to back it up. Where in the Bible does the Bible establish itself as the authority? Where in the Bible does it establish YOU to be an authority, much less give you the right to declare everyone else who disagrees with you as being wrong? What about all those passages that warn against judging others, having humility lest any should boast, and wasting your time trying to validate your beliefs by nitpicking the beliefs of others? Where's the biblical basis for that?
6 :
It makes them feel important. Peter set up his church. Paul set up his church. James set up his church. Since none of them are based on anything real all you are doing is arguing about the hair colour of your imaginary friend. The Catholics have just as much to support their position as you do to support yours. But you are right in saying that they have nothing of substance in their argument. Edit: Funny how the Catholics here point out the fragmentation of the Protestant church because no two sects can agree on the interpretation of the Bible. If there really are effectively 38,000 different ways to interpret the Bible what makes them so sure that their way is correct. Except that the Pope has declared that it is. And how do we know the Pope has it right? Because the Pope has declared that he is. Dogma, dogma and more dogma. My dogma is better than your dogma. What a joke! I guess God is not quite omnipotent enough to have a set of scriptures that are clear, concise and only open to one interpretation.
7 :
"The "Rock" is faith - believing Jesus is the Son of God. A post reformation novelty at best, the soul product of the flawed sola scriptura arguing parameter. I wonder what all the Christians that have gone to their death with the hope of rising again before the 16th century must be thinking?? You worship a book that the Catholic church edited and canonized, yet think the church is corrupt. Get back to me when you can rationally answer this Q; http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index;_ylt=AisgH0d17It5L14ZmInv7NsjzKIX;_ylv=3?qid=20090318122531AAW6Z2j Peace; DD
8 :
hahahahahahaha. The Catholic Church does not have a schedule of truths that they are working down, issuing a decree on each. Each Bishop and his people are a particular Church. The Bishop of Rome is the vicar of Christ. You play down the Biblical references to Peter as misinterpretations and you play up the role of the Pope as if he were a diety. We have a Bishop in Rome that is a leader of all Bishops and is a leader of the Church founded by Jesus. One of the directions to the Apostles was to teach what Jesus had taught. This obligation belongs to the Bishops. People are always trying, rightfully, to apply the Christian faith to there everyday life in the world; things are different from the age of the Apostles and the writing down of scripture. There must be interpretation and application to modern life. The Church issues a written decree when there is teaching that the Bishops believe is contrary to the teachings of Jesus. They do not completely and forever define what that teaching is; they merely clarify that such-and-such a teaching is contrary. They have the authority to do this because it was given them by Jesus when he sent them forth to teach. The reformation threw out many good practices when it threw out the corrupt ones. The Catholic Church preserves the good ones. The Bible contains all the essential truths for salvation, but why tie one hand behind your back and ignore the experience of Christians before and after the writing of the books of the Bible that are not in the Bible? We seek salvation without that handicap.
9 :
They clutch to their system because of the gathering of power at the top of the pyramid. When nations are not very strong the Vatican is able to wield much influence in the direction they will go. But with that power came the temptation to want more power and to improperly use that power for personal gain. Why must priests remain celibates? Where in Jesus Christ's teachings did He command that His disciples must be celibate? He didn't. In fact, Christ said that each and every person who is born again is a priest of God with Himself being the High Priest. Confession is to be to Him alone and not to anyone else. It has remained a society of men who wish to tell everyone else what to believe or else you are damned. Today there is no inquisition with death to the unbelievers of their doctrinal line, but it is the exact same mindset as centuries ago when they tried to coerce people into accepting Christ or else die. The Crusades are another example of doing things completely opposite to what Christ taught in the Bible. The Catholic Church will one day once again attempt to seize control of one or more nations and coerce people to accept their doctrine or die. It is only a matter of time.
10 :
i'm church of christ and i believe that the vatican is trying to twist the words of the Bible to make life easier. (no offense to those who are Catholic, i don't like to judge others) and peter wasn't the head of the Catholic church, but the church of christ (or what is similar. not the actual modern-day church of christ, but they had the same beliefs as we do). the church of christ was the actual first church, it was just killed by Catholicism before it got too big. we base our beliefs on that of the first church, which was NOT Catholic.
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