I am nearly finished with this semester of teaching at Hannam University. All along, despite problems with apathetic students who refuse to do homework or prepare for tests, even when I merely pluck the same questions from their grammar book to serve as test questions, I have taken comfort in the primary goal of Hannam University, which is as follows:
The primary goal of Hannam University is to educate competent leaders who will serve their nation and their church based on Christian principles.
Having this goal provided me with considerable liberty to comfortably require students to treat each other according to The Golden Rule, which often rubbed them the wrong way. I look forwards to moving on campus. I expect we will live in 511 Rice Circle. Stop in to say hello if you have time and the inclination. We will be glad to see you.
Love, Nathaniel
Where is the Reference?
ReplyDeleteBible Christians, believers in Sola Scriptura, teach that the Bible is complete and that it is all that is needed. They teach that all answers are given by Scripture.
I wish to refute that thinking by showing that there are a lot of questions brought up in Scripture that are not answered therein. So where do we go to find those answers so that we have the fullness of truth and not just some of it?
Matthew 11:21, "Woe to thee, Corozain...For if in Tyre and Sidon had been worked the miracles that have been worked in you, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes."
What are these miracles in Corozain? Where is the reference?
Matthew 23:2, "The Scribes and the Pharisees have sat on the chair of Moses."
Where is this 'chair of Moses' referenced in Scripture?
Acts 20:35, "In all things I have shown you that by so toiling you ought to help the weak and REMEMBER the Word of the Lord Jesus, that He Himself said, 'It is more blessed to give than to receive.'"
Show me the verse where Jesus said these words.
Matthew 2:23, "And He went and settled in a town called Nazareth; that there might be fulfilled what was spoken through the prophets, He shall be called a Nazarene."
In what verse did the prophets say this?
James 4:5, "Or do you think that the Scripture says in vain, "The Spirit which dwells in you covets unto jealousy.""
Where does Scripture reference this?
2Timothy 3:8, "Just as Jannes and Jambres resisted Moses, so these men also resist the truth..."
Who are Jannes and Jambres? Where is the reference? If you know, by what means did you find it?
Hebrews 11:35, "Women had their dead restored to them by resurrection. Others were tortured, refusing to accept release, that they might find a better resurrection."
Who are these 'others', the ones searching for a better resurrection? Where is the Bible reference?
Jude 1:9, "Yet when Michael the Archangel was fiercely disputing with the devil about the body of Moses..."
Where can this 'dispute' be found in Holy Scripture?
Jude 1:14, "Now of these also Enoch, the seventh from Adam, prophesied, saying, 'Behold, the Lord has come with thousands of His holy ones.'"
Where is this prophecy in Scripture? Where is the reference?
Since non-Catholics are bound to Scripture and Scripture only (Sola Scriptura), the purpose of this post is to show that everything is not in the Bible.
Answers to some of the questions asked here can be found through Tradition, and others through the seven books that non-Catholics do not have in their Bibles.
Some can be found in the multitude of apocryphal writings, and in the very large library of writings by the Church Fathers.
Others simply cannot be found anywhere but have been lost forever for various reasons. It is thought that about 400,000 priceless historical writings alone were lost due to the great fire in the library of Alexandria Egypt in 48 B.C. (the actual date is debatable).
Others have been lost simply by the deterioration of the scroll media used by the various authors of antiquity.
Catholics have the fullness of truth since they can draw on so many resources outside of Scripture as mentioned above.
Protestantism has many pieces missing to their puzzle of GOD's salvation history unless they are willing to search the Catholic sources listed.
As long as they cling to the false doctrine of sola scriptura, they will never see the full picture. They will never have the fullness of truth.
Dear Michael,
ReplyDeleteI am going to give you a short response here, which I hope is better than none at all, which is what happens when I think I will get back to it later, but being a primary childcare provider to and sole bread winner for five young ones ... somehow it as often as not never gets done as I had wished.
Michael Quote: "Since non-Catholics are bound to Scripture and Scripture only (Sola Scriptura), the purpose of this post is to show that everything is not in the Bible."
I: As God is Self-Generated (or perhaps better, without cause), so I believe His Word to be self-sufficient, or if you like, "Self-referential." Each snippet of Scripture you quote looks like the spitting image of a divine source for me. I believe it lacks value for the reader if he lacks faith that what he is reading is the bona fide word of God.
The testimony of John gives us the following from Revelations 22:18 - 21.
18 For I testify unto every man that heareth the words of the prophecy of this book, If any man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book:
19And if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life, and out of the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book.
20He which testifieth these things saith, Surely I come quickly. Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus.
21The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen.
If you want a fuller and better response than I could here give, I suggest you seek a better source, one the theologians from my seminary (www.sebts.edu), or any protestant seminary which is committed to the a strong form of the Doctrine of Inerrancy.
Some people just have difficulty believing the Bible is the Word of God. A Catholic friend of mine from New Zealand told me a couple of years ago that the Pope's more important decisions regarding the faith of the Roman Catholic Church have greater authority than Scripture. This emphasized for me that there are quite strong differences between the two faiths.
My friend did not feel compelled to stand corrected by Scripture so much as to obey the Pope.
Love, Nathaniel