I received a response from the anti Catholic apologist that I had replied to a week ago. I sent him a response over the weekend.
Here is his reply without links to his website. It is not much of a response. I checked out some of his writings on authority, which is what I responded to.
Thanks for summarizing the Catholic arguments for papal authority. I am well aware of them, and I have written several Q&A’s on these subjects, if you care to read them.
Here is my reply. I don’t hold out that he will take the time to reply, as he is dealing with a challenge from a well known Catholic apologist at the moment.
Thank you for your reply. I do want to point out one problem with your argument that Bishops are not apostles. The Bible clearly gives some evidence that Apostles were Bishops in Acts 1:20. It also gives evidence that this office was passed on.
“For it is written in the Book of Psalms:
‘Let his encampment become desolate, and may no one dwell in it.’
And:
‘May another take his office.’
The word that is translated as office or bisphoric is ἐπισκοπὴν. This is the greek word episkopēn which means office of bishop. This definition comes from here.(this is not a Catholic source) The Bible clearly states that the Apostles held the office of bishop or overseer as early as Acts 1:20. While public revelation stopped with the death of the Apostle John, the authority of the Bishops continued and was passed down to this day in the Catholic and Orthodox Churches. The authority of the Bishop of Rome comes from the special authority that was passed down through Peter the Prince of the Apostles. Do you honestly think Jesus would leave his Church without authority? Sola Scriptura as authority has led to anarchy and division in the Church. Where did you get your authority?
If faced with the two options. 1.)Take your fallible interpretation of the Bible or 2.) Take the interpretation of the Catholic Church, whose leaders received their authority from Apostles, passed down through their successors. Logically, whose interpretation should I take?
Since there is a disagreement over this, who should we take it to. The Bible clearly says the Church. Whose Church should we take it to? The Church that was founded by Jesus Christ or some newly established Church?
I know how the Church of the Bible handled the disagreement over circumcision. They did not use Sola Scriptura as the authority. The leaders of the Church led by Peter made a binding decision at the Council of Jerusalem. Many did not like the decision and many(the Judaizers) thought it was unscriptural but nevertheless it was binding.
Once again I ask you the question…Why don’t you use your time to preach to non believers of Christ rather than mess with Catholic Christians? You could use your talents to bring Muslims, Hindus, Buddhist and others to Christ.
Cheers,
Chris
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Here is the original post with the first reply sent to the apologist.
That’s great! Keep up the good work!
Thanks Tim! I try to defend the faith if called on to do so. Your words of encouragement are greatly appreciated.
You have a wonderful blog yourself that has alot of wonderful information on it. I wish more Catholics would have the zeal to spread the faith like you do.
Thanks again,
Chris
Wow, I just ran into thes sites on Catholic apologetics and feel so blessed to read responses that are so scriptural and really unapologetic about being catholic. I am so fed up with what is “politically correct”! Kudos!
Jose Luis,
Thanks for the kind comments. I hope to post some new material shortly. Things have been busy the last month and I have not been able to post. It really is great when I do get feed back like this.