Our opponents often poke fun at the fact that our churches are divided into many sects and that no one church can seem to unify wither Evangelical or Presbyterian. There are even schisms within denominations themselves over social issues, with churches splitting in two over same-sex marriage and ordination of homosexuals. Protestantism seems to scholars a fragmented and chaotic lot, especially when compared with Roman Catholicism. The truth is Protestantism is less a organization or group than an commitment to an ideal. While the Roman Church seems to be unified despite its radical sects of Liberal Catholics to Sedevacantists and Charismatics, Protestantism splinters and morphs because it is endeavoring to stick to a important Protestant Principle, Solae Scriptura:
“The term “Protestant” has its origins in the sixteenth-century Protestant Reformation and its challenges to the Roman Catholic Church. Now recognized as one of the principal branches of Christianity, along with Roman Catholicism and Eastern Orthodoxy, Protestantism’s defining features include a commitment to the doctrines of sola scriptura (the Bible is the ultimate source of religious authority), sole fides (faith is the sole sufficient means of salvation), and the priesthood of all believers, or the notion that each individual, through the work of Christ, has direct access to God without the necessity of institutional mediation. In other words, for Protestants, God is equally accessible to all the faithful. As Max Weber famously observed, an important consequence of this principle is that every believer has a religious vocation in the world. This doctrine stood in opposition to the perceived Catholic notion of a spiritual hierarchy, with its division between secular roles and religious vocations. According to Weber, Protestantism injected a religious motivation and vitality into all of human endeavors, effectively sacralizing the secular and providing the cultural engine for modernity. The theological convictions of the Reformers thus eventuated in what theologian Paul Tillich referred to as the Protestant principle, and what Weber called the Protestant ethic—a pervasive cultural orientation elevating the individual in the drama of salvation and refiguring religious and social membership in terms of achievement rather than ascription.; cultural orientation found its fullest expression in the United States, which has been profoundly shaped by the moral and theological consequences of the Protestant ethos.” (The Durure of Mainline Protestantism in America, Introduction, Protestant, James Hudnit-Beumler and Mark Silk)
Unlike the Romanites who are at variance with each others, sharing the name Catholic despite diverse interpretations and disagreements; even lying to the world as they pretend at unity, Protestantism is more honest in that it declares that the goal and aim of Sola Fide and Sola Scriptura by nature will cause schisms and separation; that dedication to the truth in the Bible will lead to fissures as Jesus “separates the goats and sheep.” (Matthew 25:31-46). Protestantism seeks to preserve the Christian faith as laid put in the New Testament and the cost is that divisions must happen as those who refuse to compromise Sola Scriptura must splinter from the goats who compromise truth for cultural acceptance and approval.
The Roman Catholics and Eastern Orthodox Churches are divided, but they believe they can be one church because of ritual and common shared doctrines, despite vastly different views within their churches. Protestantism is the opposite, it does not base unity on preforming the Eucharist or Mass, but unitas hinges on Sola Scriptura, that a Church holds to The Holy Bible as “God Breathed,” (2 Timothy 3:16) and the only source for Christian belief, doctrine, and life. So why Catholics claim to be one, despite Liberal Catholics denying the Bible as literal events and Tridentine Catholics holding to the Bible as literal events, Protestantism declares if you veer away from Sola Scriptura into Prima Scriptura (Scripture and Man Made Tradition are equal) you cease to be Protestant: for to be Protestant is defined by a commitment to Biblical Christianity, “Protestantism’s defining features include a commitment to the doctrines of sola scriptura (the Bible is the ultimate source of religious authority), sole fides (faith is the sole sufficient means of salvation), and the priesthood of all believers, or the notion that each individual, through the work of Christ, has direct access to God without the necessity of institutional mediation. In other words, for Protestants, God is equally accessible to all the faithful.”
The schisms happening now as Methodists, Lutherans, and Presbyterians break in two over homosexuality is simply Protestantism at work. Those who break off to safeguard the Scriptures while refusing to compromise them are Protestants, those who have chosen culture over sound doctrine (2 Timothy 4:3) are heretics and no longer Protestants. Scripture condemn homosexuality (Romans 1:26-27, 1 Corinthians 6:9-11) and so those who side with Sodomy are not Protestants.
Roman Catholicism believes it can be umbrella with opposing camps who believe in old Romanite doctrines and those who seek to evolve into the current culture; conservative and liberal. Protestantism does not allow this hypocrisy, you either stand on the Scriptures and believe them which is to be Protestant or you are not Protestant. This is why Protestantism keeps dividing, to protect the Truth, it splinters, “But, of course, there must be divisions among you so that you who have God’s approval will be recognized!” (1 Corinthians 11:19)
To be a true Protestant is to adhere to The Holy Scriptures:
“All Scripture [in the Bible] is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness” (2 Timothy 3:16)
“Above all, you must understand that no prophecy of Scripture comes from one's own interpretation. For no such prophecy was ever brought about through human initiative, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.” (2 Peter 1:20-21)
“For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised from the dead on the third day according to the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Peter (Cephas),and then to the Twelve. After that, he appeared to more than five hundred of the brothers and sisters at the same time, most of whom are still living, though some have fallen asleep. Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles, and last of all he appeared to me also, as to one abnormally born.” (1 Corinthians 15:3-8)
“For everything that was written in the past was written for our instruction, so that through endurance and the encouragement of the Scriptures, we might have hope.” (Romans 15:4).
Amen.
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