If the Catholic Church was fallible, and therefore the bishops too, who over time came to agree on the canon of books that constitute today's Bible, what if they erred in choosing those books? Many believe the Catholic Church of the fourth and fifth century was not infallible. So, what guarantee do we have that the Bible they gave us is infallible? How can we be sure?
Friday, February 13, 2009
Infallible Bible vs. Fallible Church
Dr. Frank Hermann asks this question in his story in the Feb. 2009 Coming Home Network newsletter:
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R. C. Sproul, a Presbyterian theologian, defines the Bible as "a fallible collection of infallible books." Perhaps you can explain to me how this solves the problem -- I haven't been able to figure it out.
ReplyDeleteI have no clue either, Dale. Sounds like double-talk -- as a last ditch effort to explain the obvious which he can't accept.
ReplyDeleteAs a Protestant, I would have put the Bible on the floor and stood on it: this is the infallible truth and here I stand. In my two-year journey to Catholicism (four years ago) my only question was "Is the Catholic Church the infallible guardian of the truth in faith and morals as it claims?" If so, I need to be there and trust that all my difficulties (Mary, purgatory, etc.) will get resolved. If it is not, I'm in the right place.
ReplyDeleteI clearly remember the wobbly afternoon when I had one foot on the Bible and one foot on the Church -- I confronted the question in your post and realized that underneath the Bible I was standing on had to be the pillar of the Church. It was a very scary moment of fundamental change in my foundational belief.
That's a good picture of the "foundational" moment in time.
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