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The Church as Authority: - Coggle Diagram
The Church as Authority:
CATHOLIC VIEW:
- rests on the apostolic tradition & apostolic succession
- the ongoing tradition of the church, continued through the apostolic succession meant that the church, specifically the magisterium of the pope & bishops, alone have authority to interpret scripture correctly
- scripture and the teaching authority of the church therefore are joined togethher- neither can stand alone
- bible & church have equal authority being inextricably linked through the work of the Holy Spirit
- Apostolic Tradition:
- Jesus commanded his Apostles to preach the gospel to all.
- The Apostles only taught what Jesus and the Holy Spirit had preached to them.
- This is supported by Scripture
- this is maintained by apostolic succession
- Apostolic succession:
- The Apostles passed on their authority to new bishops throughout the centuries.
- These bishops were given teaching authority to continue the work of the Apostles.
PROTESTANT VIEW:
- Luthers doctrine of SOLA SCRIPTURA : by scripture alone
- church teaching must be in line with the bible and if its not then it is false.
- without scripture there would be no church , so the church cannot be the judge of scripture
- christianity stands or falls by the authority of scripture
MARTIN LUTHER
- SOLA SCRIPTURA: the bible alone has authority
- christians should not say that some parts are true and some are false
- the bible gives the standard of measurement for deciding on the truth of church teachings
- without the bible there wold be no church
- this precedence of the bible > church comes from Luthers belief that salvation coms from faith not through institutions of the church
- all christians have equal access to god through prayer
- this belief is known as the 'priesthood for all believers'
BAPTIST CHURCH
- Baptists are evangelical christians , but most are not fundamentalists
- they combine sola scripture with the use by the individual of reason and conscience
- the new testament takes priority over the Old Testament and as the inspired word of god, it provides the standard by which all other teachings should be assessed
- they reject the authority of the church as an institution