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{"id":4484,"date":"2012-04-30T18:04:54","date_gmt":"2012-04-30T23:04:54","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/standingonmyhead\/?page_id=4484"},"modified":"2012-04-30T18:41:31","modified_gmt":"2012-04-30T23:41:31","slug":"savage-attack-on-the-bible","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/standingonmyhead\/savage-attack-on-the-bible","title":{"rendered":"Savage Attack on the Bible"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

The\u00a0sola Scriptura<\/em> position in its simplest Bible Christian understanding: \u201cIf it\u2019s in the Bible, then God said it so that settles it!\u201d plays directly into Savage\u2019s hands. If the\u00a0sola Scriptura<\/em> position is true, and whatever is in the Bible is true, then anybody\u2019s reading of the Bible is as valid as the next guy\u2019s. If it is the Bible and the Bible only, Savage is right. People do pick and choose what to believe, and if that\u2019s so, then who\u2019s to say that Savage is wrong?<\/p>\n

The Catholic Church\u2013that\u2019s who. That\u2019s why Catholics have forever sought to correct the heresy of\u00a0sola Scriptura<\/em>. The Catholic Church, from which the Bible came, and through which the canon of Scripture was defined, and through whom Scripture is always rightly interpreted is the authority that tells us that it\u2019s okay to eat scallops and shrimp and oysters but not \u00a0for two guys to have sexual intercourse.<\/p>\n

The full teaching of the Catholic Church on human sexuality, gender roles, the meaning of the human person help us interpret the Bible. They help us distinguish different levels of importance, how to judge dictums that are culturally determined and therefore dispensable and those which are eternally significant. It is the full 2000 year tradition of the Catholic Church\u2013still growing and developing which sheds light on the complex issues of Biblical interpretation.<\/p>\n

Of course, it would be asking too much for the enemies of the Christian faith to take the trouble to do their homework and understand the nuances of Catholic moral theology, teachings on marriage, the theology of the body and the meaning of the human person. Instead, they can throw out a few self righteous slogans, knock down the fundamentalists and march off triumphantly.<\/p>\n

It is nice to be all ecumenical about our Evangelical brothers and sisters, but the fact that most of the high school students at Savage\u2019s talk did not walk out\u2013but cheered and applauded his message is what is more disturbing. It is very simple: the vast majority of those students in the United States only know a form of Christianity which is popular Evangelical Protestantism. This form of religion is, for all intents and purposes,\u00a0sola Scriptura<\/em> fundamentalism. Not only is this form of religion fundamentalist, but it is often legalistic, puritanical and deliberately anti-intellectual. It is also deeply anti-Catholic.<\/p>\n

When high school and college students start thinking things through, and hear a few arguments from the new atheists and people like Dan Savage no wonder they cheer. The\u00a0sola Scriptura<\/em> fundamentalist position is stupid. Without any other authority than the Bible, Dan Savage\u2019s arguments seem sensible.<\/p>\n

No wonder the young Americans turn away from Christianity, and the greatest sadness is that as part of their fundamentalist teaching they have also been taught that Catholicism is impossible and obviously just plain WRONG.<\/p>\n

Consequently a huge number of American teens are being turned away from Christianity altogether and fundamentalism\u2013rather than making disciples is destroying them.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s an apologetics article on the Bible and the Catholic Church: Which Came First?<\/a><\/p>\n

And here\u2019s a longer article on Sola Scriptura\u2013 What is Truth\u2013An Examination of Sola Scriptura<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"