Apostolic Succession or Sola Scriptura? Epistemology, Elephants, and Germs

This blog entry inspired this note.

The link above records that in February 2010 some important intellectual leaders in the Reformed world discussed Sola Scriptura and that Bryan Cross, a Roman Catholic (convert from Reformed faith) involved with the blog Called to Communion, was invited.  The discussion that ensued apparently centered on the dialogue between Cross and Michael Horton.  It was published in Modern Reformation. However, due to space constraints Cross's full final reply to Horton was not included.  However, on the link above you can find his full (and lengthy) reply to Horton's closing remarks. 

Below is Cross's abbreviated reply, which also turned out too big for the published dialogue as it appeared in Modern Reformation.

I post this below because it contains what seems to me to be some of the fundamental points a Roman Catholic should make in defense of Catholicism and its rejection of the doctrine of Sola Scriptura. 

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Protestantism and Non-Provisional Doctrines

Protestantism: it's obviously difficult to define, except sociologically.   Social groups defined as Protestant don't always have definite creeds or sets of belief, even less so individuals self-professedly Protestant.  But most accept certain doctrines as non-negotiable and non-provisional.   Here are three:

(1) God is three persons in one being; God --Deity-- is Trinity.

(2) Jesus is a single person --the second person of the Trinity--with two natures, one human, one divine; Jesus is God-Incarnate.

(3) The Bible was written by humans though inspired by God; Scripture is Theologically Authoritative.

This trifecta of doctrine, perhaps more could be added, is treated as non-negotiable and non-provisional by scores of individual self-professing Protestants and also by many Protestant social groups (institutions, denominations, 'para-church' groups, etc.)

But why are they non-negotiable and non-provisional? 

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About Homosexuality and Marriage

(NOTE: this is part of a conversation I'm having here .  See my comment at the above blog if you want the context.)

My second point is that the Church does hold that only marital sex is permissible and it holds that only opposite sex couples can possibly be married.   The Church holds that marriage is a humanly natural thing.  I say humanly natural in the sense that it is something that exists whether any government grants marriage licenses or says to a couple 'you are no longer married'.  The essential fact of being married can remain even if one is civilly divorced.

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"That they may be one"

In a recent reflection (6/29) by Benedict XVI, the Holy Father said, “The aim of the Church’s mission is a humanity that has itself become a living glorification of God, the true worship that God expects.  This is the profound meaning of catholicity.”

I love this picture of the Holy Father!

He later refers to the great Passion psalm, Psalm 22. This was the psalm that our Lord cried out on the cross, those famously chilling and mysterious words, “My God, my God, what hast thou forsaken me?”  But less known is the conclusion of the psalm:  “All the ends of the earth shall remember and turn to the Lord and all the families of the nations shall worship before Him.” In this Psalm we see Christ’s work vividly mirrored from beginning to end:  His Most Sorrowful Passion, His Death on the Cross, and in verse 27, the Victory of God in the Resurrection.  It is the conclusion of this psalm that forms the core of our Faith and leads Benedict to contemplate what unity is.

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