Questioner: Gary
Subject: Accurate interpretations?Question:
- In regards to all of the Christian denominations, which of them tend to be the most true in accordance with the teachings of the Bible? Personally I was raised Protestant and have since married a Catholic woman. In the three years we have been together, the views,
practices and overall beliefs that my wife has instilled in her from Catholicism, I have found it very hard to see Catholic's as strictly followers of the teachings. The little quirks here and there make the beliefs seem more like Christianity with a separate set of rules handed down
throughout time. Any translation or explanation would be great, thank you!
John of AllFaith's reply
Hi Gary,This is always a tough one to answer.
For instance, should the teachings of the Bible be taken as literal truth or as metaphor, as a base on which to build doctrine etc.?
Likewise, is the Bible the only legitimate source of doctrinal truth?
Roman (Western) and Orthodox (Eastern) Catholicism are the oldest surviving Christian denominations and many of their teachings are based upon the attempts of people living in the early centuries of the Church to explain and apply Church teachings to real-life circumstances. As a result, many Catholic teachings are only slightly (if at all) 'biblical'.
This does NOT make Roman Catholicism "wrong" etc. The Catholic Church simply draws on many sources besides the Bible, something rejected by most Protestants. They believe this is the correct thing to do (although many Catholics deny they do this, they are hard pressed to explain many of their views otherwise).
When the Protestant Reformation happened, the Reformers attempted to remove many of the non-biblical teachings from the Catholic Church.
Instead of successfully reforming the Church however they were excommunicated.
For Catholicism authority is 1. Church tradition, 2. the Bible and 3. the magisterium (Papal authority). For Protestants authority stems from the Bible alone (although Protestant/denominational views and traditions still have great influence).
Which is correct? Its a matter of personal belief.
I'd say that the most literally Bible-based Christian denomination would be the Baptists (although not completely from my reading of the Bible). Most Protestants accept the doctrine of sola scriptura (the Bible as the sole authority) however most hold views that, in my opinion, are biblically inaccurate. For instance, the biblical doctrine of eternal security as taught, not from the Calvinist view of predestination, but from the Baptist view is biblically essential. This doctrine states that a person, once they have accepted Jesus as savior and lord, are "adopted into the family of God" for all time. This doctrine, often called, "Once saved, always saved" is, in my opinion, of critical importance to the understanding of grace as taught in the New Testament. Those denominations that reject this biblical doctrine, in my opinion, err. Again, all such points are debatable of course. This traditional Baptist belief however, among other important doctrines, makes the Baptists the most biblically aligned denomination from a literal reading of the text.
Hope this helps.
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~John of AllFaith
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