Please give an example where two different Popes while speaking infallibly (ex-cathedra) have "blatantly contradict(ed) one another in matters of doctrine". I am not familiar with that happening.
I agree with you. The bible is the infallible word of God. Doesn't that mean we need an infallible person or magisterium (teaching authority) to properly interpret it? Are you infallible and Calvin, your pastor and the elder you disagreed with wrong?
I became a member of the Catholic Church recently. Why?
Mary
We don’t need a person who is only human and, therefore, fallible to interpret the Bible because we have the truly infallible Holy Spirit, who is God. IOW, a human interpreter not absolutely necessary.
Many Protestants settle on one side of a biblical dichotomy (like predestination v. free will) because that’s what makes sense to them as they study the Bible. IMO, in order to do that, we have to ignore certain scriptures. So, we can err by not looking at the whole counsel of God, which is what the whole Bible is.
The main problem I see with Catholic doctrine is that some of it, if not a lot of it, is based on sources outside the Bible and is decided upon by fallible men who contradict each other. That’s very different from emphasizing one side of a biblical dichotomy. The article I’ve been quoting gives examples of popes contradicting each other and themselves in matters of doctrine.
Edit: As far as properly interpreting the Bible, I've observed that a problem is created when people try to make perfect sense of
all that's in the Bible. This results in one-sided doctrine or, even worse, unbiblical doctrine. Paul said, "For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known."
We ALL know in part, but I believe that in heaven we will know fully even as we are fully known.... There are many things about this life I don't understand, but I don't have to understand everything because I put my trust in the One who does know and understand everything. (If anyone says they understand everything in the Bible perfectly, I run the other way!!!)
When we're children, we don't understand all of the things that our parents understand, but we trust them to make the right decisions for us. Of course, we find out that our parents are imperfect. We should trust our perfect God even more than we did our parents, but it seems that often we get hung up trying to force an explanation about doctrine that makes complete sense to us instead of trusting the Holy Spirit guide us into all truth.
Please don't get me wrong! I'm not saying that understanding basic Bible doctrine is unimportant. We should read and study the Bible every day! But we have to keep in mind that ultimately it's the Holy Spirit, not man, who gives us the understanding we need, and sometimes He gives it to us directly (not through a Bible teacher). No matter how we get the understanding, we must always measure that understanding against Scripture to make sure that what we hear is from the Spirit. When the Holy Spirit shows me something in Scripture that I didn't understand before, it means so much to me, and I know how to apply it to my life. It's wonderful!
I didn't mean for this post to be so long, buy your questions have me thinking about all of this. I don't mind answering honest questions.
