Apologetics for the Masses #322 - Do All Churches Teach Error?

Topic

Do All Churches Teach Error? Part 2

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General Comments

Hey folks,

I want to tell you about an apologetics program for teens that is run by a guy I know in Boise, Idaho. His name is Rob Sower. The name of their program is apologhetti. They got the name from combining a spaghetti dinner with apologetics. They have weekly meetings during the year and each summer they host a camp for teens in the wilds of Idaho. Below is an announcement from them about that camp. If you're interested in the camp for one of your kids, or someone you know, or you're interested in finding out more about what they do and how they do it to maybe start something in your area, get in touch with them through their website (www.apologhetti.com).

I wanted to let you all know that there is a fantastic apologetics camp for teens happening this Summer in Idaho. This year’s guest speakers are Dr. Peter Kreeft, Patrick Coffin, and Sean Forrest!

Not only do teens get the opportunity to hear from some of the best Catholic apologists in the nation, and get the chance to ask them their own personal questions, but this camp also provides teens with the spiritual aspects of our faith through talks from Dominican priest, Fr. James Moore, which will help the teens mature in their daily walk with Christ.

There will also be daily Mass, Eucharistic Adoration, and Reconciliation. Plus, all the fun stuff like camp fires, S’mores, great music, canoeing, other outside activities, and friends.

Camp dates are July 30 to August 2nd in beautiful Donnelly, Idaho at the Cascade Lake 4H Camp. To learn more go to apolghetti.com, and be sure to check out the promo video!

Introduction

Okay, last week, I gave you a homework assignment based on the statement below, from one Brian Norton, who is a rather anti-Catholic Protestant I have had run-ins with on Facebook. I asked for your thoughts on what, if anything, was wrong with his quote. I'll give you the answer from the winner, and then I'll give my own explanation of the problems that I see with Mr. Norton's quote.

Challenge/Response/Strategy

Brian Norton

"Well, scripturally, I believe ALL churches have at least SOME errors, though not always essentials. I've served in 7 churches and all did or taught SOME things differently."

Question: What's wrong with the above quote?

And the Winner Is...

There are several errors in the above statement:

1. Scripturally, multiple churches cannot exist. Christ founded only one Church.

2. Church founded by Christ is a foundation and pillar of truth. Truth cannot contain error, otherwise it is not truth anymore.

3. Once you admit the possibility of error in your own teaching, there is no basis anymore to know what is true and what is not.

4. To separate oneself from true Church is the essential error. When someone is wrong on a principle, cannot be right on the details.

Regards,

Stasys Maksvytis

Stasys nailed it with #3 above. The others are correct, too, but #3 is the absolute destroyer of Protestant theology. If no one is infallible, then there is no basis for them to know which of the doctrines and dogmas, and which of their moral teachings, are true and which are false, outside of the fallible, non-authoritative, private opinion of each and every person who can pick up the Bible and read it for themselves.

Stasys, if you would send me your address, I will mail you your prize!

My Explanation

Overall, pretty good responses. Just about everyone who responded got it right on one or more of the key points. A few came pretty close to hitting the core problem with Brian Norton’s quote, but not quite a bulls eye. Three or four hit the nail on the head.

Here are the problems - for Protestantism - with Brian Norton’s quote, as I see them (this is not intended to be an "all-inclusive" list):

First the quote: “"Well, scripturally, I believe ALL churches have at least SOME errors, though not always essentials. I've served in 7 churches and all did or taught SOME things differently."

Problems:

1) “Scripturally” - Where does Scripture say that ALL churches have at least SOME errors? It doesn’t. Where does it say the Church founded by Jesus Christ and guided by the Holy Spirit has at least SOME error? It doesn’t. You guys were all over that one. To actually believe that Jesus founded, and the Holy Spirit guides, a church that teaches error is mind boggling to me.

2) “I believe” - Who cares what he believes?! As noted by many of you, this is all his OPINION. His fallible, error-proned, non-authoritative, private opinion. And, by what authority does he declare that ALL churches teach at least SOME error? Well, he declares that by his own private interpretation of Scripture which carries absolutely no authority whatsoever and which, by his own admission, in other Facebook posts, is prone to error. Can anyone say, “faulty logic?”

Here's the logic in conversation form - Person P: “ALL churches have at least SOME errors.” Person C: “Are you infallible?” Person P: “No, of course not, no man is infallible.” Person C: “Then, since you are not infallible, you could be wrong when you say that ALL churches teach at least SOME errors.” Person P: “Yes, of course I could be wrong.” Person C: “So, ALL churches might NOT teach at least SOME errors, then.” Person P: “No, since no man is infallible, that means ALL churches teach at least SOME error.” Person C: “And that statement is based on your fallible interpretation of Scripture?” Person P: “Absolutely.”

3) “ALL churches teach at least SOME errors” - this means, then, that nothing any church teaches can be trusted to be the truth. A few of you were on this one. This is the heart of the problem. I agree 100% with this portion of Brian Norton's statement, as long as you confine the “ALL” to Protestant churches. You see, this is the Achilles heel of all of Protestantism. In their reaction against Catholic teaching in regard to the infallibility of the Pope, they made it impossible - according to their own theology - for any believer, in any Protestant church, or reading the Bible on their own, to “know the truth” that will set them free (John 8:32) or to hear the voice of Jesus (John 18:37) with any degree of certainty.

If you admit that your church teaches error because there is no one in your church, or any church, who can interpret Scripture infallibly and who can teach infallibly, then you have essentially admitted that you have no way of knowing the truth. HUGE problem!

4) “Though not always essentials” - As noted by many, what is essential and what is non-essential, and who decides? Does Brian Norton decide? Which Protestant church, or churches, of which it is admitted they all teach at least some error, decides what is essential and what is non-essential? Is their decision infallible? And, if all of your doctrines come straight from Scripture, then which part of Scripture are you calling “non-essential”? Which part of the Word of God is “non-essential”?

Is Baptism essential or non-essential? Some Protestant churches say essential, many say non-essential. What about infant baptism? Some say yes, some say no. What about the Rapture? Yes and no. What about Once Saved, Always Saved? Yes and no. And on and on we could go. Which error-prone church, or individual, decides this whole essential vs. non-essential thing?

Furthermore, if you admit to teaching error in the so-called “non-essential” doctrines, then what makes you so sure you are getting it right when it comes to the “essential” doctrines? Jesus tells us that if He can trust us in small matters, then He can trust us in larger matters (Matt 25: 21, 23). Which means that if He can’t trust us in small matters, then He can’t trust us in larger matters, as the third servant in the Parable of the Talents found out. So, if you can’t get the small matters of doctrine right (the non-essentials), how can you be trusted to get the larger matters of doctrine (the essentials) right? You can’t!

Plus, he's also admitting that some churches make errors even in the "essentials"!

5) He’s served in 7 churches from, apparently, 7 different denominations, since all of them did or taught some things differently. So, if you can’t decide which one of them was right, what does that say about your ability to discern truth from error? It says you absolutely suck at being able to discern truth from error!

***And that, folks, is the absolute core take-away from this statement. If you know that something you believe is wrong, but you don’t know what that something is, or you admit that pretty much anything you believe "could" be wrong, since you are a fallible human being, then you are, essentially, unable to identify and root out error in your beliefs. Which means that you do not have the ability to discern truth from error...at all! Would you want your child to be taught by someone who says they undoubtedly believe in something that is wrong, and that, when it comes down to it, pretty much everything they believe "could" be wrong? Of course not! Even if they are only wrong in the "non-essentials"! I mean, if you can't discern error in the “non-essentials,” what confidence does that give me that you can discern it in the “essentials”? Absolutely none!

You have to take 20 pills every day. You get your pills from a pharmacy that you know occasionally dispenses pills that have poison in them. So, you know at least one or two of your pills, maybe more, probably contain poison - maybe a little poison, maybe a lot. You can't tell which ones contain the poison and which ones don't. Yet, you continue to get pills from that same pharmacy and, what's more, you want me to take the same pills from the same pharmacy! Why should I trust you to tell me which pills to take and from which pharmacy? I shouldn't! And why do you insist that I take pills that you know have at least SOME poison in them?!***

Brian Norton, with his statement, admitted that he cannot tell truth from error. He admitted, essentially, that he has no business telling Catholics that any of their doctrines and practices are wrong. Yet, he does it anyway. They all do. Why? Because of what I call the Fallible in Theory, Infallible in Practice Syndrome.

But, and here’s my last word on this, the dirty little secret is that every Protestant who denies infallibility - which is basically every Protestant - is in the exact same boat as Brian Norton. If you deny infallibility, then you deny that there is any way to authoritatively settle disputes between Christians regarding matters of faith and morals...which means you deny anyone the ability to know, with certainty, what is true and what is false in regard to Christian teaching. You have no rock to build your house upon, only the sand of your own fallible interpretations of the Bible."

Closing Comments

This issue of infallibility is, in my opinion, the issue that causes the house of cards that is Protestantism to come tumbling down. They often speak of "absolute assurance" of salvation, but if there is no way to determine - definitively and authoritatively - what is true and what is false doctrine, other than each person's fallible opinion on the matter, then there truly is nothing they can be "absolutely" sure about.

I hope all of you have a great week!

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