Looking for answers, I sat down with the leader of an “interdenominational” Protestant organization on campus and asked, “Why must we be married in a church? Why can’t a couple just declare that they are married in their dorm room? Where in Scripture does one find the vows? Where in Scripture does it say that we need to exchange rings?”
The answer: Tradition! I couldn’t believe it. The ring on the finger of the Protestant pastor I so admired was not the product of “Bible alone” theology but of tradition, and a Catholic one at that!
Though none that I knew would ever acknowledge it, I had discovered that Protestants held to a tradition not found in the Bible. Starting here, I began to see the inconsistencies of Protestant faith and practice. My “Bible alone” theology had broken down.
So here my investigation began: at the Sacrament of Marriage.
I wrote anti-Catholic tracts and opened a post office box with the intent of distributing them. I spent long hours in the library researching local Catholic history compiling a “spiritual map” of my community…I marked each Catholic church with an “X”.
The founder of The Coming Home Network discusses his conversion from being a Presbyterian pastor.
“The more we studied, the more the beauty, majesty, weight and history of the whole of the Christian world seemed to open up to us. We had not really left our core beliefs behind at all – indeed we love and greatly appreciate what we had been given in our Presbyterian communities – we had only fleshed them out in a real sense.”
While Catholics are worrying about what will happen if you subtract from Tradition handed down in both written and unwritten form, Christians who are committed to Sola Scriptura, or Scripture-alone,
Those of you who were pastors know from experience your need to steel yourself — to baton down the hatches and get the women and children below — whenever certain
Martin Luther stated the classic Protestant understanding of the perspicuity of Scripture in his own favorite (and arguably most important) writing, The Bondage of the Will.
According to sola Scriptura, any role Tradition, a Magisterium, Bible commentaries, or anything else may play in theology is simply to suggest interpretations and evidence to the believer as he makes his decision. Each individual Christian is thus put in the position of being his own theologian.
The Christian answer to this profound question is that Jesus Himself is the Truth.This is something all Christians agree on, but this answer does, however, raise more questions: How do we come to know Jesus as truth?
Marcus Grodi welcomes former Evangelical and Catholic apologist Mark Shea to discuss 2 Thessalonians 2: 15 and the issue of Tradition.
Marcus Grodi welcomes former Presbyterian Rev. Paul Key to discuss Scripture verses Matthew 16: 19, 18: 19 and John 20: 23 and the issue of authority.
Marcus Grodi welcomes former Associate Reformed Presbyterian Mark Ayers to discuss Scripture verses 1 Timothy 3:15; Matthew 16:19; Isaiah 22:15-25; Luke 22:32; Luke 1:39-56 and Samuel 6:1-14.
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