S
".. "liberal" and "conservative" Protestants both pride themselves on moving beyond what
they regarded as the unnecessary constrictions of Holy Tradition and apostolic authority,
into a utopian world of individualistic Bible interpretation, social change, millennial prosperity
and personal freedom, based on the idea of "Sola Scriptura." (1)
"It was, after all, in the name of Scripture that Anabaptists became anarchists as they
searched the Word and received "messages" direct from God which told them to burn
property deeds in the name of a new, improved, egalitarian Christianity. It was Scripture
that convinced Quakers to abandon baptism, Eucharist and sacramental church weddings
in favor of do-it-yourself desacralized, "hand-fast" marriages. It is in the Bible that
today's rapacious T.V. "evangelists" find verses with which to confuse people into giving
them money. It was in the Bible that David Koresh found arguments to convince his
followers to obey him, even to burn themselves to death in the Branch Davidian
compound in Waco, Texas, on April 19, 1993. The Bible is the primary witnessing tool
with which Mormons confuse ignorant Protestant, Roman Catholic and Orthodox
Christians into abandoning Christianity and joining their nineteenth century cult. And the
"liberal," secularized leaders of the World Council of Churches, that colluded with the
Communist persecutors of Christians, often quote the Bible to justify their coercive,
utopian political crusades.
"SCRIPTURE
"Today, confused and well-meaning Protestants of all denominational persuasions, having
little or no historic foundation at all, take Scripture -- in other words, their interpretation
of Scripture -- as their only source of spiritual authority. They replace the historic
Church's Holy Tradition with themselves -- personally. Each individual becomes his or
her own "ecumenical council," "bishop" and "priest." Each is a law unto himself as he
reads the Bible and claims, "God is speaking to me." This fervor of individualized faith is
practiced outside of the context of the historical Church. Each Protestant claims to base
his or her ideas -- which are often contradictory one of another -- "on Scripture." The
battle cry, "Sola Scriptura" often turns out to be nothing more than the final verse to the
song "I Did It My Way!"
"Unfortunately, Protestants do not read the Bible in the context of Christian history. They
more often than not study it in a historical, liturgical and spiritual vacuum. Yet it is the
historical Church, out of which the Bible came that alone provides us with the contextual
key to begin to understand the meaning of the Scriptures. And it is only in the context of
the living continuity of sacramental worship, through which all Christians in all ages of the
Church are bound into one family, that the Gospel comes to life and is given its proper
place." (2)
(pages 194-195: DANCING ALONE: The Quest For Orthodox Faith in the Age of False
Religion. Frank Schaeffer. 2002. Salisbury, MA: Regina Orthodox Press.).
Notes.
1. In this regard the work of the twentieth century Protestants on the political and
theological Right, like Carl Henry, J.I. Packer, and others, is just as ahistorical as the
theology of the Protestant Left. ...
2. "What is the Bible? Is it a book like any other intended for any occasional reader, who
is expected to grasp at once its proper meaning? Rather, it is a sacred book addressed
primarily to believers. ....
God save us in Christ our Saviour. AMEN. In August 2011 AD Scott R. Harrington
they regarded as the unnecessary constrictions of Holy Tradition and apostolic authority,
into a utopian world of individualistic Bible interpretation, social change, millennial prosperity
and personal freedom, based on the idea of "Sola Scriptura." (1)
"It was, after all, in the name of Scripture that Anabaptists became anarchists as they
searched the Word and received "messages" direct from God which told them to burn
property deeds in the name of a new, improved, egalitarian Christianity. It was Scripture
that convinced Quakers to abandon baptism, Eucharist and sacramental church weddings
in favor of do-it-yourself desacralized, "hand-fast" marriages. It is in the Bible that
today's rapacious T.V. "evangelists" find verses with which to confuse people into giving
them money. It was in the Bible that David Koresh found arguments to convince his
followers to obey him, even to burn themselves to death in the Branch Davidian
compound in Waco, Texas, on April 19, 1993. The Bible is the primary witnessing tool
with which Mormons confuse ignorant Protestant, Roman Catholic and Orthodox
Christians into abandoning Christianity and joining their nineteenth century cult. And the
"liberal," secularized leaders of the World Council of Churches, that colluded with the
Communist persecutors of Christians, often quote the Bible to justify their coercive,
utopian political crusades.
"SCRIPTURE
"Today, confused and well-meaning Protestants of all denominational persuasions, having
little or no historic foundation at all, take Scripture -- in other words, their interpretation
of Scripture -- as their only source of spiritual authority. They replace the historic
Church's Holy Tradition with themselves -- personally. Each individual becomes his or
her own "ecumenical council," "bishop" and "priest." Each is a law unto himself as he
reads the Bible and claims, "God is speaking to me." This fervor of individualized faith is
practiced outside of the context of the historical Church. Each Protestant claims to base
his or her ideas -- which are often contradictory one of another -- "on Scripture." The
battle cry, "Sola Scriptura" often turns out to be nothing more than the final verse to the
song "I Did It My Way!"
"Unfortunately, Protestants do not read the Bible in the context of Christian history. They
more often than not study it in a historical, liturgical and spiritual vacuum. Yet it is the
historical Church, out of which the Bible came that alone provides us with the contextual
key to begin to understand the meaning of the Scriptures. And it is only in the context of
the living continuity of sacramental worship, through which all Christians in all ages of the
Church are bound into one family, that the Gospel comes to life and is given its proper
place." (2)
(pages 194-195: DANCING ALONE: The Quest For Orthodox Faith in the Age of False
Religion. Frank Schaeffer. 2002. Salisbury, MA: Regina Orthodox Press.).
Notes.
1. In this regard the work of the twentieth century Protestants on the political and
theological Right, like Carl Henry, J.I. Packer, and others, is just as ahistorical as the
theology of the Protestant Left. ...
2. "What is the Bible? Is it a book like any other intended for any occasional reader, who
is expected to grasp at once its proper meaning? Rather, it is a sacred book addressed
primarily to believers. ....
God save us in Christ our Saviour. AMEN. In August 2011 AD Scott R. Harrington
