Protestants Have a Magisterium and Pope Too. They Just Won't Admit It.
I was recently listening to an interview of former Catholic-now evangelical- Chris Castaldo. The host of the program Chris Fabry was discussing the recent papal conclave and they were attempting to point out the major difference between Catholicism and Protestantism: authority. In giving his explanation, Chris Fabry states what I have been saying about Protestants all along: they do indeed submit to a higher authority over them through their pastors or their denominational confessions, and not just Jesus and the bible.
They claim their only authority is from God's word, but in reality, the authority in their lives is from the interpretation of God's word by way of their denomination or pastor. Their denomination is their magisterium and if they submit to their individual pastor and his interpretation of scripture, he becomes their pope, so to speak. If they deny they submit to anyone, and that God alone is their own authority, then by default they are electing themselves as pope. Listen to the host Chris Fabry:
"Where I get the authority, for me, it comes straight from God's Word and I put myself under the authority of Jesus and those who are in authority over me, you know, people....but there is no, um....I don't have to have anybody between me and God. Right?"
Huh?
They claim their only authority is from God's word, but in reality, the authority in their lives is from the interpretation of God's word by way of their denomination or pastor. Their denomination is their magisterium and if they submit to their individual pastor and his interpretation of scripture, he becomes their pope, so to speak. If they deny they submit to anyone, and that God alone is their own authority, then by default they are electing themselves as pope. Listen to the host Chris Fabry:
"Where I get the authority, for me, it comes straight from God's Word and I put myself under the authority of Jesus and those who are in authority over me, you know, people....but there is no, um....I don't have to have anybody between me and God. Right?"
Huh?
posted by Russ Rentler, M.D. | 8:15 PM
6 Comments:
He's absolutely right - he doesn't have to have anybody between him and God... unless God designed the Church to function that way. Because if God set up a Church founded on Peter, the Rock, a Church with real authority, with priests who have the power to forgive or retain sins, with bishops to whom Christians owe their obedience, and he just blows all this off - he's going to have a tough time explaining at the Judgment why he ignored all that, preferring instead to embrace his man-made "Just me and Jesus" theology.
Between the Gospels and Acts Jesus went to a Whole Lotta Trouble to set up a visible, permanent, living authority. Some people just wanna argue with Jesus.
Prots have a 'Mini-Me' Magisterium!
It does amaze me that after the reformation some think we don't need any " man-made " authority (AKA the Church) to help us understand and live the faith. If Jesus didn't intend to have a teaching authority established on his vicars(popes), he would have:
1) Told the disciples to write everything down
2) Given them the plans for a low cost sustainable printing press
3)Taught a new method of literacy to the entire world so that every believer could interpret the bible for himself..... once they learned to read, that is.
4) Give each and every believer a Captain Solo Secret Decoder Ring to use with each bible distributed (assuming you could decide on your own which books make up the bible)
5)Taken back those troubling statements to Peter about being the rock on which He would build his church and changing his name.
6)Rescinded his offer of the keys of the kingdom
Maybe He got distracted....
Simply stated, and simply true. We have attended or visited nearly half of the 44,000 denominations. With the education about Catholicism I have received through EWTN over the past two years, my eyes have been opened to the true nature of the Catholic church and the personal compromises of truth that drove Luther in the reformation. Church hopping is a phenomenon that is driven by the same need of individuals to have the church validate their personal desires...I will shop until I find a church that agrees with me. I pray continually that the Catholic church will remain faithful to the Magisterium and to the Pope. It is a bright light to those like me.
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