Crossed The Tiber

An Evangelical Converts to Catholicism

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Location: Pennsylvania, United States

I was born into the Catholic faith. At 14, I was "born again" and found Jesus personally but lost His Church. After thirty years as an evangelical protestant, I have come full circle to find that He has been there all the time, in the One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church. I wish others to find the beauty and truth of the Catholic faith as I have found.

Saturday, May 20, 2006

What Makes the Bible Different from the Koran? Part 2

Getting back to the original question. How and why do we believe that our Bible is God's words to us and why is it "authoritative"compared to the Koran or other "holy books"? The Koran as well as the Book of Mormon each say they are the "words of God". The difference is this: God came to earth as a man, Jesus. He died on the cross for our salvation and rose again. Before He left the earth physically, He established his church and gave his authority to Peter. Jesus's words to Peter actually mirrored the passages in Isaiah(22:22) when the king passed on his authority (represented by keys) to his prime minister giving him all authority. Peter was the spiritual "prime minister" given the power by Jesus to bind, loose, forgive sins etc. All things sufficient for establishing and growing His church. When Jesus "passed the torch" to Peter, the disciples would totally understand this transaction based on their knowledge of Jewish history, tradition and Old Testament writings.
Over 300 years later, the church then prayed and debated and with the power of the Holy Spirit decided which letters, gospels and books should be considered the inspired Word of God. How did they know that the Gospel of Thomas shouldn't be included? We have to trust that this church that God established had the authority to decide on which books the final canon of Scripture should contain. At the Council of Rome in 382, the Catholic Church "discerned" the 27 books of the New Testament to be inspired Scripture. In conclusion, Jesus established a church giving it His authority. This Church which had been called the Catholic (universal) church as early as 107 AD, decided under the power of the Holy Spirit which books should be Scripture in 382 AD. Our bible is different from the Koran because it's authority can be traced directly back to the Church that Christ established here on earth.
http://www.catholicapologetics.org/ap030700.htm

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