There has for many years been an argument among Christians as to which takes precedence in determining what is orthodox Christian belief: Holy Scripture, The Holy Spirit, or the Ancient Teachings of the Church.

Catholics generally hold that all THREE sources must agree in an individual's understanding before that person can be pretty sure his belief is correct.

Protestants are divided, some saying that Scripture is the paramount authority and some that the Holy Spirit is paramount. Protestants also generally depend much more on the individual as his own authority rather than accepting the authority of the Church's expression of the Ancient Teachings.

Here, now, is an article which uses the Quakers to point out how using only one source for authority can cause a person or group to drift from orthodoxy. The Quakers, and many other Protestants, emphasize beliefs as revealed by the Holy Spirit to the individual over Scripture and the Teachings.

In any case, in Protestantism, the individual is the judge of orthodoxy and correctness of belief. This, however, opens the person, and the group of which he is a member, to belief errors caused by his own ideas and interpretations, or by listening to a spirit who claims to be the Holy Spirit but isn't. That danger is lessened somewhat if a denomination teaches reliance on BOTH Scripture and the Holy Spirit equally. Among Catholics, the authority of the Church and its dependence on all THREE sources of authority provide additional protection to the individual.

Any comments on how best to avoid drifting away unknowingly from God's Word?

In faith, Dave
Viva Texas
[email protected], [email protected]

A blind person asked St. Anthony: "Can there be anything worse than
losing your eye sight?" He replied: "Yes, losing your vision!"

I'll add an example of doctrinal drift here from my personal experience. I used to be Episcopalian, until I realized they had begun teaching apostate doctrines: Homosexuality is blessed by God; this is in contradiction to such scriptures as Romans 1:16-32. And abortion is a blessing God gives to women.

The Episcopal Church resolves the scriptural contradictions in both cases by stating that either God has decided he was wrong earlier and has changed his mind, or that the original scriptural Authors simply got it wrong, and that the Bible needs to be changed by us Humans to reflect what God actually means now.

Don't miss that thought: "The Bible needs to be changed"!

The Episcopal leadership justifies their position by reference to the Holy Spirit: "The Holy Spirit has revealed this to us; God is doing a new thing". By abandoning scripture and the Ancient Teachings of the Church, and listening only to what they believe to be the Holy Spirit, the Episcopalians have been deceived into horrible errors.

Yes, "the Holy Spirit will lead us into all truth". But he will NOT speak in contradiction to the Holy Word; he will speak only as he hears the Word - the same Word taught in Scripture and the Ancient Teachings.

The spirit that speaks in contradiction to either the Scripture or the Ancient Teachings is NOT the Holy Spirit. IMHO.

?????

In faith, Dave
Viva Texas
[email protected], [email protected]

Lord, my car broke down
And I was very late to work;
But I missed that awful accident -
Was that YOUR handiwork?