Just You and Your Bible?

by Sebastian R Fama

The one thing all Christians have in common is the belief that the Bible is the word of God. Obviously then, all would proclaim with one voice that whatever it contains is true. That there may be no misunderstanding, some will even say: “The Bible says it, I believe it, that settles it!” So then, theoretically, there is a unity. But practically speaking, we see something very different.

If there were true unity, we would all believe the same things about God and what He requires of us. And yet, that is not what we see. Denominations and unaffiliated churches number in the thousands, and they all disagree with each other on some point. Jesus said: “You shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free (John 8:32). Where is the freedom in trying to navigate all the differing groups claiming to possess biblical truth?

Since we all agree the Bible is the word of God, and thus infallible, let us open it up and see if we can find the answer to our problem. If God is truly loving, and He is, we would expect to find the answer there. And indeed, we do. And the good news is that you don’t need to be a biblical scholar. If you can read, you got this.

Why do people disagree on what the Bible teaches? Because they interpret it for themselves. Rather than taking God’s meaning out of it, they pour their own meaning into it. That may not be what they intend, but that is the end result. In 2 Peter 1:20, the Bible forbids the private interpretation of Scripture. Two chapters later, we find out why: “There are some things in them [Paul’s letters] hard to understand, which the ignorant and unstable twist to their own destruction, as they do the other Scriptures” (2 Peter3:16).

How then would we know the correct interpretation? Jesus promised not to leave us orphans (John 14:18). And He didn’t. He chose the apostles to be the first leaders of His Church. And so that there would be no confusion, He said to them: “He who hears you hears me, and he who rejects you rejects me, and he who rejects me rejects him who sent me” (Luke 10:16). That is why Paul says the Church is the pillar and foundation of truth (1 Timothy 3:15).

Logically then, those verses would also apply to the apostles’ successors. How else would the Church established by Christ endure until the end of the age (Matthew 28:20). So, what Church would that be? It would be the Catholic Church. Why? Because only she dates from the time of the apostles. Only she teaches the same doctrines written about by the Early Church Fathers. And because it was she who determined which books would comprise the New Testament.

So now we see that God has revealed his basic plan for His Church in the simplest language possible. The question no longer is: “What did God say?” Rather it is: “Will you accept His answer?” Trying to disprove these verses of Scripture with other verses of Scripture is futile as Scripture does not contradict itself.

As Jesus once said: “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by EVERY word that proceeds from the mouth of God” (Matthew 4:4). The Bible says it, I believe it, that settles it!