Hi Frank,
1. Where does the New Testament Authorize a Pope?
Cf. My response above to Mr. Curtis and visit
http://www.catholic.com/library/Peter_and_the_Papacy.asp
2. II Thes. 2:15 authorizes following the inspired traditions of the apostles who had the gift of inspiration.
The New Testament does not teach that the apostles "had the gift of inspiration". The traditional and conservative Christian doctrine of Biblical inspiration is derived from St. Paul's statement to Timothy in 2 Tim 3:16 - that God is the primary author of Scripture and that the human authors of Scripture are the instrumental authors. Therefore, "inspiration" is a technical term that applies only to Scripture, not to Tradition.
Where in the New Testament did Jesus Command the keeping the traditions of men (uninspired catholicism). Jesus, in fact, condemned that which you approve. Mat. 15;8,9.
Jesus does not command the keeping of traditions of men. He also does not condemn all traditions of men. Jesus condemned only corrupt traditions of men that nullify God's Word. What I am speaking of when I refer to 2 Thes 2:15 is neither corrupt traditions of men that nullify God's Word nor traditions of men that do not run contrary to God's Word. I am defending what is commonly referred to as big "T" Tradition or what the early Church referred to as "the rule of faith". This is the unwritten Tradition that is one of the two ways that the deposit of divine revelation is handed down to us. The other way is that of inspired Scripture. I believe that the Holy Spirit inspires Scripture and animates Tradition. Paul tells me to "stand firm and hold fast to the traditions that you were taught, either by an oral statement or by a letter of ours." The Catholic defends this Tradition, and the Protestant rejects it.
3. The Bible teaches that a man that is inspired and teaches the word of God by direct revelation and inspiration proves his message by the Miraculous. II Cor. 12:12, Mk. 16:17-20. Where when and how has any Catholic Pope or Bishop done so? Who gave them the power? Acts 8:17,18.
2 Cor 12:12 speaks of a particular form of apostleship. The term "apostle" means essentially "one who is sent". Paul, in this passage, is referring to those immediate apostles who were sent with charismatic gifts to build the Church. The bishops that form the Catholic Magisterium are not apostles in this sense; the Church is no longer in the apostolic age, which ended with the death of the last apostle.
Mark 16:17-20 is a passage wherein Jesus commissions the eleven apostles and describes the signs that "will accompany those who believe". He is speaking of the general believer - not of those in authority. I have personally witnessed three of the signs described in this passage in my own ministry.
Our bishops receive authority through ordination, which is known in the Bible as the "laying on of hands": Acts 6:6; Acts 13:3; Acts 14:22; 1 Tim 4:14; 2 Tim 1:6; Titus 1:5.
If you believed the New Testament of Christ was all one needed as Jesus claimed. Mat. 28:18-20, Rev. 22:18,19, I Cor. 4:6, you would not need the edicts and papal bulls of Rome.
The edicts and papal bulls of Rome? I believe that you are using high-handed language that evokes emotions while failing to grasp at the reality that the words supposedly signify. I believe that public revelation ended with the death of the last apostle, and the Magisterium does not have the authority to teach doctrine that runs contrary to this deposit of divine revelation that was once and for all delivered to the saints nor to teach doctrine that is not a part of this deposit of divine revelation.
One may not argue from silence. Hebrews 7:14, Hebrews 8:4. He must have the word of Christ on matters of faith. Col. 3:17. Jesus ALWAYS APPEALED TO THE INSPIRED WORD OF GOD. Mat. 4:4,7, 10, Lk. 24:44-50.
You are incorrect. Jesus did not always appeal to the inspired Word of God. In the Sermon on the Mount, described by Matthew in Chapters 5-7 of his Gospel, Jesus quotes Scripture and then gives his own authoritative command that supercedes Old Testament Scripture. This is what we refer to as "divine revelation" and it was given to the Church through the person of Christ and the work of the Holy Spirit.
Jesus said, It is written. I have asked the same thing Christ required. Where is it written in the word of God the things you claim? Book, Chapter and Verse,please.
John Henry Cardinal Newman once wrote, "It is quite evident that this passage [2 Tim 3:16-17] furnishes no argument whatever that the sacred Scripture, without Tradition, is the sole rule of faith; for, although sacred Scripture is profitable for these four ends, still it is not said to be sufficient. The Apostle [Paul] requires the aid of Tradition [2 Thess. 2:15]. Moreover, the Apostle here refers to the scriptures which Timothy was taught in his infancy.
"Now, a good part of the New Testament was not written in his boyhood: Some of the Catholic epistles were not written even when Paul wrote this, and none of the books of the New Testament were then placed on the canon of the Scripture books. He refers, then, to the scriptures of the Old Testament, and, if the argument from this passage proved anything, it would prove too much, viz., that the scriptures of the New Testament were not necessary for a rule of faith."
Paul’s reference to Scripture is only part of his exhortation that Timothy take as his guide Tradition and Scripture. The two verses immediately before it state: "But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have firmly believed, knowing from whom you learned it, and how from childhood you have been acquainted with the sacred writings which are able to instruct you for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus" (2 Tim. 3:14–15).
Paul tells Timothy to continue in what he has learned for two reasons: first, because he knows from whom he has learned it—Paul himself—and second, because he has been educated in the scriptures. The first of these is a direct appeal to apostolic tradition, the oral teaching which the apostle Paul had given Timothy. So Protestants must take 2 Timothy 3:16-17 out of context to arrive at the theory of sola scriptura. But when the passage is read in context, it becomes clear that it is teaching the importance of apostolic tradition!
The Bible denies that it is sufficient as the complete rule of faith. Paul says that much Christian teaching is to be found in the tradition which is handed down by word of mouth (2 Tim. 2:2). He instructs us to "stand firm and hold to the traditions which you were taught by us, either by word of mouth or by letter" (2 Thess. 2:15).
This oral teaching was accepted by Christians, just as they accepted the written teaching that came to them later. Jesus told his disciples: "He who hears you hears me, and he who rejects you rejects me" (Luke 10:16). The Church, in the persons of the apostles, was given the authority to teach by Christ; the Church would be his representative. He commissioned them, saying, "Go therefore and make disciples of all nations" (Matt. 28:19).
And how was this to be done? By preaching, by oral instruction: "So faith comes from what is heard, and what is heard comes by the preaching of Christ" (Rom. 10:17). The Church would always be the living teacher. It is a mistake to limit "Christ’s word" to the written word only or to suggest that all his teachings were reduced to writing. The Bible nowhere supports either notion.
Further, it is clear that the oral teaching of Christ would last until the end of time. "’But the word of the Lord abides for ever.’ That word is the good news which was preached to you" (1 Pet. 1:25). Note that the word has been "preached"—that is, communicated orally. This would endure. It would not be supplanted by a written record like the Bible (supplemented, yes, but not supplanted), and would continue to have its own authority.
This is made clear when the apostle Paul tells Timothy: "[W]hat you have heard from me before many witnesses entrust to faithful men who will be able to teach others also" (2 Tim. 2:2). Here we see the first few links in the chain of apostolic tradition that has been passed down intact from the apostles to our own day. Paul instructed Timothy to pass on the oral teachings (traditions) that he had received from the apostle. He was to give these to men who would be able to teach others, thus perpetuating the chain. Paul gave this instruction not long before his death (2 Tim. 4:6–8), as a reminder to Timothy of how he should conduct his ministry.
Ref.
http://www.catholic.com/library/Scripture_and_Tradition.asp
Finally, to assert a thing and provide uninspired men as authority may satisfy the requirements of Rome, but they will never satisfy the judgment of Christ. John 12:48.
You have asserted that George Washington is the first president of the United States, presumably by providing uninspired men as an authority. Now, is this blasphemy or is this common sense? In providing the writings of Irenaeus, the greatest Christian theologian of the 2nd century (who defended traditional, conservative Christianity from the nasty heretical sects known as "Gnosticism" - and gave us some Church history), I have appealed to extra-Testamental evidence in the same way that you would to prove that George Washington is the first president.
Irenaeus, a bishop in Gaul (Modern day France) witnesses to the historical facts of the time in his famous
Adversus Haereses, "It is within the power of all, therefore,
in every Church, who may wish to see the truth, to contemplate clearly the tradition of the apostles manifested throughout the whole world; and we are in a position to reckon up those who were
by the apostles instituted bishops in the Churches, and to demonstrate
the succession of these men to our own times ... For they were desirous that these men should be very perfect and blameless in all things, whom also they were
leaving behind as their successors, delivering up their own place of government to these men; which men, if they discharged their functions honestly, would be a great boon [to the Church], but if they should fall away, the direst calamity."
He continues in the next paragraph, "Since, however, it would be very tedious, in such a volume as this, to reckon up the successions of all the Churches, we do put to confusion all those who, in whatever manner, whether by an evil self-pleasing, by vainglory, or by blindness and perverse opinion,
assemble in unauthorized meetings; [we do this, I say,] by indicating that tradition derived from the apostles, of the very great, the very ancient, and universally known Church
founded and organized at Rome by the two most glorious apostles, Peter and Paul; as also by pointing out the faith preached to men, which comes down to our time
by means of the successions of the bishops. For it is a matter of necessity that every Church should agree with this Church, on account of its
pre-eminent authority, that is, the faithful everywhere, inasmuch as the apostolical tradition has been preserved continuously by those faithful men who exist everywhere."
By appealing to Irenaeus, I appeal to historical fact. Irenaeus, in an aside, states this fact when he writes circa 180 Anno Domini. In his words, I see not only the historical fact of apostolic succession in every church everywhere but also Petrine primacy.. this structure is quite significantly indicative of what we see today in
Roman Catholicism.
Your fideism is quite hostile to historical fact, which demonstrates historical truth. Jesus Christ refers to himself as the "Truth".
God bless,
Carson
[ August 10, 2002, 12:58 AM: Message edited by: Carson Weber ]