4a-Church index
<http://www.cin.org/users/jgallegos/contents.htm> The Bible states in1 Timothy 3:15, "The church is the pillar and foundation of truth."
Cardinal Henery Neuman was a convert from Calvinism to the Anglican Church and finally to the Catholic Church. He stated “to be deep in the study of the History of the church is to cease to be Protestant”. Its Collary is also true, “to be deep in the study of the History of the church is to become Catholic”.
Rules for interpreting Scripture: Established by Pope Leo XIII in Providentissimus Deus (1893) seconded and confirmed by Pope Benedict XV in Spiritus Paraclitus (1920) and by Pope Pius XII in Divino Afflante Spiritu (1943) Pope Pius XII declared in Divino... that Leo’s encyclical Providentisisimus for interpreting the bible to "the supreme guide in Biblical studies"
Four rules for interpreting the Bible for the Catholic Church 1. Always pay attention to the Magisterium the authority of the Church 2. Beguided by what the early fathershad to say about a particular passage.
3. Always to be guided by what the Bible has to say as a whole (not key phrases here and there for defining ones theology and ignoring passages which do not fit one’s theology, see opening quote) 4. Always take the Bible Literally unless it is reasonably unattenable
I will maintain that a anyone who follows the last three rules will well over 90% of the time arrive at the same truths as the Catholic Church!! The true church must be that church which follows the teachings of those immediate successors of the Apostles. These are the Apostolic fathers who learned the faith at the foot of the Apostles. The Catholic church teaches the same things as those taught by the Apostolic fathers. It has not veered to the left or ritght but teaches the same today. If a Church comes a long 1,500 years later and teaches something different how can they have the truth. They claim truth based on their own authority yet teach things that are in contradiction to the Apostolic fathers. While they maintain a portion of the same teachings as the Apostolic teachings professing Christ as redeemer and savior and hence have portion of the Catholic heritage never the less they only have a portion of the loaf of bread. For since the Catholic churche teaches the same as the Apostolic Fathers only they have the complete loaf of bread.
Church. From the Greek kuriakos,"belonging to the Lord" which translates the Greek ecclesia, the holy people, particularly its assembly for worship. This section will deal with various aspects of the One Holy Catholic Apostolic Church in patristic thought.Topics that Corunum will conver will include such things as: the visible nature of the Church, the divine authority/infallibility of the Church, the hierarchial nature of the Church and the meaning of ’Catholic’.
Catholic: Documents illustrating the meaning of ’Catholic’ Church in the ancient Church. The Fathers from the get go affirm that the Catholic Church as a visible authoritative institution distinct from other heretical groups.It is through this Church alone by which one is saved. Does your use/meaning of the word ’Catholic’ agree with the Fathers?.
Canon: The Catholic Church, not the individual Christian or any other faith tradition, was the appointed authority that determined/recognized the canon of the Bible. These documents in the early Church illustrates this fact.
Deuterocanonical Books The Church Fathers with varying degrees of recognition embraced the larger Old Testament Alexandrian/Septuagint canon not the Hebrew Palestinian canon. This canon included the proto-canonical books of the Palestinian canon and the deutero-canonical books of Judith, Tobit, I/II Macabees, Wisdom, Sirach, Baruch and the minor additions in Daniel(Three Youths, Susanna, Bel & the Dragon) and Esther.
Hierarchy: The Catholic Church is hierarchical in nature consisting of deacons, priests and bishops. The early Church Fathers affirmed the ministerial priesthood and hierarchy.
Indefectibility of the Church: The Church Fathers believed that the Catholic Church is always visible and will never fail. If the Church was not indefectible it would cease to be visible.
Infallibility of Ecumenical Councils: The Church Fathers believed that the pastors of the Church when convened in an Ecumenical Council have the commission to define, explain, and propound to the faithful what it has received from Christ and His Apostles. These pastors have always been recognized as infallible judges of faith.
Sunday Worship: The Early Church from the beginning worshipped on the first day of the Week, the Lord’s day, not on the Sabbath. The Lord’s day was so called, as our Lord rose from the dead on this day. The Visible Church: The Church Fathers believed that the Catholic Church is both a spiritual as well as a visible body.
Schism: The Church Fathers believed ecclesiastical unity was one of the marks of Catholic Church. Schism according to the Fathers was a breach of ecclesiastical unity and was considered a crime. In the long run schism leads to heresy, because it leads to denying the authority of the Catholic Church.