An excellent quotation, thank you for sharing. Why, though, did you not bold the latter half of this sentence?
(Underlines mine)
Same thing with the one sentence after it. Aquinas is careful to note that "Scripture Alone," to borrow from Luther, isn't sufficient.
And I agree, which is my point regarding Arius. Arius had Scripture, too. Just like the Jehovah's Witnesses do today. Quite frankly, in the Arian case, the systems of private revelation and private interpretation would have been inadequate to deal with the challenge. A position based SOLELY on Scripture interpretation (as Arius' was) cannot be refuted by another mere human opinion. There must be an overarching authority that offers a definitive interpretation to which all the faithful must submit.
Without it, there is chaos, heresy, division. Without it, we have the situation I mentioned in the previous post, where Person A is "told" X by God, and his friend, Person B, is "told" something contrary to that.
I don't want to bring up a whole debate on Sola Scriptura, but as this thread is about personal revelation, I suppose personal interpretation of Scripture would be relevant, too. God made us in His image, but yet it seems we want to spin that on its head and make God out to suit what we want Him to be, not what He is.
(Underlines mine)
Same thing with the one sentence after it. Aquinas is careful to note that "Scripture Alone," to borrow from Luther, isn't sufficient.
And I agree, which is my point regarding Arius. Arius had Scripture, too. Just like the Jehovah's Witnesses do today. Quite frankly, in the Arian case, the systems of private revelation and private interpretation would have been inadequate to deal with the challenge. A position based SOLELY on Scripture interpretation (as Arius' was) cannot be refuted by another mere human opinion. There must be an overarching authority that offers a definitive interpretation to which all the faithful must submit.
Without it, there is chaos, heresy, division. Without it, we have the situation I mentioned in the previous post, where Person A is "told" X by God, and his friend, Person B, is "told" something contrary to that.
I don't want to bring up a whole debate on Sola Scriptura, but as this thread is about personal revelation, I suppose personal interpretation of Scripture would be relevant, too. God made us in His image, but yet it seems we want to spin that on its head and make God out to suit what we want Him to be, not what He is.
But even more so, salvation is of grace, which is drawing near to God, coming into contact, close and personal contact, with the living God. This is done in faith, through Jesus Christ. And in faith, we receive the Spirit of truth.
It is simple why there is such a lack of agreement in the body of Christ. She has denied her truth, which is Jesus, living in us by His Spirit, teaching and correcting and healing and making us one in Him. Instead we have replaced the Spirit of truth with the scriptures, which came from the Spirit.
I love the scripture, and as I seek to understand God, I ask God to teach me. He most often does so through the scriptures. Oddly enough, this is how Paul was taught his doctrine, and I believe every other disciple of Christ, who was willing to listen.
The body of Christ, the bride, is not a structure, (well, other than being the temple of God, a spiritual structure.) No, the body of Jesus is a living organism, living and breathing and added to by the Spirit as God sees fit. To think that this living body would or could be structured according to what we understand is ludicrous. It is God's work, not ours. As Jesus said about those who love the light, (Jesus is the light,) that they would come to the light that their deeds might be revealed as having been wrought in God.
Our brains are wondrous things. They are also deceived, and can be deceived easily. Arrogance lives and breaths with intelligence. The smarter one is, the easier it is for arrogance to enter, because he is able to explain and understand so many things, easily. And things make sense to him. And he is wrong.
Let everyone know that truth comes by the light of God, Jesus in us, the hope of glory. If we would please Him, we would reject everything which is of the flesh, including our intelligence. Trust not in your own understanding, even if it is understanding of the scriptures. Rather trust in the Spirit of God.