Apologetics for the Masses #356 - Problems With Protestantism #3

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Topic

Problems With Protestantism - Binding and Loosing

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Introduction

Okay, in my last email, I gave you guys a homework problem. It had to deal with the next Problem With Protestantism that I want to address: Binding and Loosing. In Matthew 16:19, Jesus says to Peter: "...whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in Heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in Heaven." And, then, in Matt 18:18 He says to Peter and the other disciples, "Truly, I say to you, whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in Heaven and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in Heaven."

Given that, your homework question was this: How is what Jesus said about binding and loosing in Matthew 16 and 18, a "Problem With Protestantism"?

Below is my explanation as to why that is:

Challenge/Response/Strategy

The reason binding and loosing is a "Problem With Protestantism" is related to, as many of you clued in on, the issue of authority. As the Catechism of the Catholic Church states, binding and loosing refers, primarily, to three different things, as we see in paragraph #553:

"The power to 'bind and loose' connotes the authority to absolve sins, to pronounce doctrinal judgments, and to make disciplinary decisions in the Church."

This is a problem with Protestantism because, in all of Protestantism, there is no one who can absolve sins nor is there anyone who can pronounce on doctrinal matters in a way that is authoritatively binding on all other members of Protestantism, or even, for that matter, upon the members of their own particular denomination. Which is why when you read about binding and loosing as taught by Protestants, it is generally referring to those terms in a context related to disciplinary decisions - not allowing the women in the congregation to wear skirts above the knee, for example - and not to doctrinal issues or the forgiveness of sin.

Now, some Protestants will say that they can indeed bind and loose in regard to sins, but what they are referring to is either the sins that a person has committed against them personally, to which they can say, "I forgive you" or "I don't forgive you," or they are referring to kicking someone out of their congregation for obstinence in sin or allowing someone back into their congregation after that person has been forced out, or shunned, or excommunicated, or whatever term they may use for it. But, in essence, this latter rendering of binding and loosing is all about enforcing or remanding a disciplinary action against a member of the congregation. It is not truly about the forgiveness of sin. And the former rendering of binding and loosing is simply referring to my forgiving you for sinning against me, but it has nothing to do with the actual forgiveness or absolution of your sin in the eyes of God.

Again, neither of the above takes on binding and loosing in regard to sin is referring to the absolving of sins in the eyes of God such as what Jesus did with the paralytic in Matthew 9:1-9. "Take heart, my son, your sins are forgiven," (verse 2). And this authority - the "authority on earth to forgive sins" (verse 6) - to absolve sins as God absolves sins, is said to be given not just to one man - Jesus Christ - but to "men"...plural (verse 8). The Bible is telling us that "men" have the authority on earth to forgive sins, in the same manner Jesus forgave sins in Matthew 9. This is what Jesus was doing in John 20:21-23, when He said to the Apostles, "If you forgive the sins of any there are forgiven, if you retain the sins of any they are retained." He was giving them the authority on earth to forgive or retain sins. He was giving them the authority of binding and loosing in regard to the forgiveness of sin.

And, in Matthew 9 and in John 20, the Bible isn't talking about just me forgiving you if you've somehow wronged me. No, it's talking about men having the authority to forgive the sins of others that they have committed against God, not just against them personally. It's talking about the authority to forgive sins as God forgives sins. That is what the binding and loosing in regard to the forgiveness of sins is all about. If I have that authority to bind and loose, then it means if I forgive you of your sins (loose), then God has also forgiven you of your sins. And, just as importantly, if I do not forgive you of your sins (bind), then neither has God forgiven you of your sins. Protestantism generally knows no such authority.

Protestants will also say that they have the authority to pronounce doctrinal judgments. Yes, but not doctrinal judgments that are actually binding on all Christians. There is no authority in Protestantism that would even make the claim to be able to do so. You know why? Because there is no authority in Protestantism that will make the claim of infallibility. (Although, as I have said many times, they may not claim to be infallible, but they will most definitely act as if they are infallible...especially when it comes to their discussions with Catholics.) And if you are not infallible when making a doctrinal claim, then your doctrinal claim is only as good as your ability to convince somebody else that they should listen to you.

And that's a problem with Protestantism because the authority of binding and loosing has the authority of Heaven itself behind it, but no Protestant can claim such authority behind their decisions, therefore no Protestant actually has the authority of binding and loosing. But this is a problem, because God gave His church the authority to bind and loose. Which is why a number of Protestants argue that the authority to bind and loose died out with the Apostles. Because they inherently recognize that there is no such authority in Protestantism, so they just say it no longer exists (Note: the Bible nowhere says such a thing). How convenient. So, if your leaders cannot claim the authority of God Himself and all of Heaven behind their binding and loosing - God saying whatever you bind on earth I will bind in Heaven and whatever you loose on earth I will loose in Heaven - then you are not in the church founded by Jesus Christ.

If a statement of doctrine is bound or loosed by God Himself, that statement of doctrine is necessarily infallible in its essence. God would not bind or loose error. We see this in Acts 15 with the Council of Jerusalem. The statement of the Council was infallible in its essence because, as it says in Acts 15:28, the decision of the Council was the decision of the Holy Spirit, that was effected through the decision of Peter and the other leaders of the Church.

Do you know of any Protestant council, assembly, bishop, pastor, theologian, board of deacons, etc. that claims to be infallible in its pronouncements? Any Protestant council, assembly, bishop, pastor, theologian, board of deacons, etc. that can say, "It seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us," when they make a doctrinal decision? There is none. Therefore there can be no binding and loosing authority in regard to doctrinal pronouncements. Which, again, is why the topic is generally avoided in Protestant discussions of binding and loosing.

Some Protestants will try to get around all of this by saying, "Well, the translations used in most Bible in Matt 16:19 and 18:18 are bad translations." They claim that those verses should read something along the lines of: "Whatever has already been bound in Heaven you will bind on earth and whatever has already been loosed in Heaven you will loose on earth." In other words, they claim, God is not binding and loosing after the fact what has been bound and loosed on earth, rather, His ministers on earth are binding and loosing what God has already bound or loosed in Heaven. If we only knew the Greek better we would all realize that. So, binding and loosing, they claim, has nothing to do with infallibility. It has nothing to do with some supposed authority of a person here on earth that God then puts His stamp on.

For the sake of argument, let's concede the point. Let's say that those verses are not correctly translated. That does not, however, overcome the problem with Protestantism. If you claim you are binding and loosing something on earth that God has already bound or loosed in Heaven, then you are still claiming that whatever proclamation you are making is infallible, because it has the authority of God and Heaven behind it. You are also claiming that God has somehow conveyed this decision of His to bind or loose something in Heaven to you in an infallible manner. Did He appear to you? Send an angel? Email? Call? Perhaps send Mary to you...well, nevermind on that one. How did God inform you? So, if you bind the women in your congregation on earth to not wear skirts above the knee, are you saying that God has given you "a word," infallibly telling you that He has already bound this in Heaven? That's basically the position they are left with.

Oh, it was through the Bible that God told you what He has already bound and loosed in Heaven. Sorry, but that does not solve your difficulty. That means that you have infallibly interpreted the Bible. Which means, you are infallible in your doctrinal pronouncements. But, again, Protestants don't even claim infallibility. So, we're still back to square one.

Do you, Mr. Protestant, claim that all of the authority and power of God is behind your pronouncements on doctrine? No? Then you do not have the power of binding and loosing.

Do you, Mr. Protestant, claim that all of the authority and power of God is behind your forgiving or retaining the sins of others? No? Then you do not have the power of binding and loosing.

If you claim that neither of those is related to the authority of binding and loosing, then I will ask: Do you, Mr. Protestant, claim that all of the authority and power of God is behind your pronouncements on disciplinary decisions? Yes? Then please tell me how you know this is so whenever you bind or loose in regard to some matter of discipline within your congregation? And would you say your disciplinary action is infallible in its nature?

All of this is why the Lord giving His church the authority to bind and loose results in a "Problem With Protestantism". Can you name me one thing that a particular Protestant leader, or leaders, have claimed to infallibly bind upon all Christians? I mean, if the authority of Heaven is behind their binding and loosing, wouldn't it apply to all Christians?

So, in Protestantism, no binding and loosing that can be pointed to as applying to all Christians. No one who can bind and loose in regard to doctrine. No one who can bind and loose in regard to the forgiviness of sins in the eyes of God. Not even the claim of infallibility to put the force of Heaven behind any supposed binding and loosing. In other words, no binding and loosing in Protestantism.

And one last thought on this matter, but this is an important point to make...and one that none of you picked up on (at least, none of you who emailed me)...the fact that no individual Protestants recognize their leaders as having the authority to bind and loose on anything other than a disciplinary matter, or maybe to add on a kitchen to the church building, or maybe elect a new deacon, or put in a new dress code, or some such disciplinary matter. Although, even in disciplinary matters a lot of Protestants would not recognize their leaders as having binding and loosing authority that is backed by Heaven. I have heard, for example, of Protestant congregations that have split over whether or not the men should wear coats and ties to the worship service. Obviously those folks didn't feel bound by their pastor's decision in that matter.

But, again, definitely no authority to bind and loose the individual Protestant in regard to matters of doctrine and morals and scriptural interpretation. No sir. If I have a different interpretation of a particular passage or passages of the Bible than my pastor does, then as a Protestant, I generally do not recognize him to have any sort of binding authority on me in regard to that interpretation. He cannot "bind" his interpretation on me. He has no authority to overrule my individual interpretation of Scripture.

Which is why we have tens of thousands upon tens of thousands of Protestant denominations. All of which points to the fact that binding and loosing is definitely a "Problem With Protestantism."

Closing Comments

I hope all of you have a great week!

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