A Prophetic Word

[historyb]

Paul tells us us that all scriptures are inspired to us and for us, and so to be used to correct doctrines and practices!

He also tels us that the Church is the pillar and foundation of truth not a book

 

[Randy Kluth]

I understand but I don't see it that way. I do not go by the Bible alone because to most Traditional Christians that is chucking a great portion of Christianity.

Please note that I did *not* say that we go by the "Bible alone." I do not reject the authority of teachers called and anointed by God, nor do I reject prophets so called and anointed, etc. etc. What most Protestants mean by "sola Scriptura" is that it is the final arbiter of what is orthodox--not that it is the only source of God's word in our experience.

St. John stated that not everything Jesus did could fit in one book and St. Paul tells us that the Church is the pillar and foundation of truth. The problem is the west splintered so much that there is no one universal Church like the east, where the Orthodox Church is the Church.

The Orthodox Church is only the biggest denomination in the East--not the only church in the East. Denominations are the product of the history from which they originated. If a church began with a government in a state, then it became a state church, like Roman Catholicism or like the Lutheran State churches. If the denomination originated as a revival within a higher church, then it became a movement within the stream of that higher church, such as Methodism did in Anglicanism. If the denomination began within a more separatist or independent tradition, its denomination reflected the character of its own brand of missionary zeal, such as the baptists or the pentecostals.

There never was one single church structure. The unity to which Christ called the church was spiritual unity, and not organizational unity. The Catholic Church tried to retain its original imperial character dating back to its formation within the Roman Empire. But that became oppressive and corrupt over time, as all powerful organizations do. The Orthodox Church would be no different.

So in that light I follow my own Church and do not think I can pick up a Bible and figure it out, for me it is at St. Paul says that the Church is the pillar and foundation of truth not a book. I look to the Church Fathers, my Church, and the Bible but I do not ever at all believe a book has any authority. Of course Catholics follow their Church (I am not a Catholic btw), Anglican follow their Church, and etc and than evangelicals, non denominations folk and other types follow a book that never says to go by it alone but insist that it must be gone by alone.

To me truth is just not preserved in Scripture but in oral and written both as St. Paul tells us, which includes the Church and the Fathers

You don't believe the apostles were specially called to establish orthodox doctrine for the Church? The Orthodox Church certainly believes that! The Church Fathers helped establish Trinitarian Doctrine, and set a good example of Christian character. Of course there is more than reading a book!

 

[historyb]

You don't believe the apostles were specially called to establish orthodox doctrine for the Church?

Of course I do! Never said I didn't.