Apologetics for the Masses #227 - Blue Collar Apologetics (cont'd)

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General Comments

Hey folks,

A few things:

1) I want to thank all of you for your tremendous response to my semi-annual appeal. I cannot keep this apostolate afloat without your very generous support - both prayer support and financial support - and it's very humbling to see God work through all of you in order to keep us up and running and reaching out to more and more people each year with the truths of the faith.

And, for those who were thinking about donating but just never got around to it, just a little reminder that you can do so at: http://www.biblechristiansociety.com/donations. You can donate via credit card or PayPal. Or, send a check to: Bible Christian Society, PO Box 424, Pleasant Grove, AL 35127. Please know that my family and I keep all of you in our daily prayers!

2) For all of those that would like to hear the Balaam's Ride radio program, but simply cannot listen to it live on Wednesday mornings, the shows are posted on the "Balaam's Ride" page of our website: www.biblechristiansociety.com. We have not yet posted our last program, the one on centering prayer, but I am hoping to do so in the very near future.

3) I've posted another YouTube video in the "Questions Protestants Can't Answer" series. The question in the video is: "What is the only perfect offering that has ever been offered to God?" You can find it here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SUj6ZH_WCwI

Introduction

Continuing with my book, Blue Collar Apologetics. In this issue I start chapter 2.

Blue Collar Apologetics - Chapter 2

CHAPTER 2 - THE CHURCH AND AUTHORITY

Jesus Founded a Church That Teaches Error?
In the last chapter, I focused on the question of authority from the perspective of the individual - whether an individual Protestant minister, Protestant apologist, or Protestant lay person. I pointed out that since no man is infallible, according to Protestant theology, then the best possible scenario one can have in a disagreement as to what is or is not authentic Christian teaching between two God-fearing, Jesus-accepting, Bible-reading, Holy Spirit-praying men, is one man’s fallible opinion of what the Bible says vs. the other man’s fallible opinion of what the Bible says.

The end result of this being that no man, in Protestant theology, can speak with an authority that binds others in the areas of faith and morals since, again, each man is, essentially, just giving his fallible opinion as to what is or is not the truth, and since he is fallible he could be wrong, and one cannot bind someone to an opinion that just might be wrong. No man can be bound by error. And since no one in Protestantism has the authority to bind anyone to their particular fallible opinions about faith and morals, we see the inevitable consequences of this in the thousands upon thousands of divisions within Protestantism.

In this chapter, though, I want to ask the question: What authority does the church have? Okay, so no individual within Protestantism is infallible and, therefore, no individual within Protestantism has the authority to bind any other individual to their fallible teachings, but what about the church? Is the church infallible in Protestant theology? Does the church have the authority to bind individuals to its teachings?

I ask these questions because in the Bible we see Jesus giving the Apostles the power to bind and loose here on earth. We see this first with just Peter, in Matthew 16:19, but then with other disciples in Matthew 18:18. And this binding and loosing is something that carries the authority of Jesus Christ Himself, because Jesus tells them, “Whatever you bind on earth will be bound in Heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in Heaven.” In other words, Jesus is telling Peter and the other disciples that He is backing them 100% in whatever it is they bound or loosed. So much so, in fact, that whatever they bound or loosed on earth was also bound or loosed in Heaven. What an awesome and incredible authority he gave to Peter and His other disciples!

So, we see Peter and the Apostles being given the authority to bind and loose, and this authority is the authority of Christ Himself. It is Christ’s own authority which He is allowing to be exercising through Peter and the other disciples. Which means this authority had to be exercised in an infallible manner, because if not, then Christ was putting Himself in the position of possibly binding and loosing error in Heaven itself, and this simply cannot be! So, we see the Apostles, the first Bishops, the first leaders of the church, being given an infallible authority - the authority to bind and loose here on earth.

Also, in Luke 10, we see that Jesus sent out the 70 with his authority (verse 19) and told them, “He who hears you hears Me, and he who rejects you rejects Me,” (verse 16). If you were hearing Jesus speak when one of these disciples spoke, then they had to have been speaking infallibly in His Name. Otherwise, if the disciples were not speaking infallibly, again, Jesus would have put Himself in the position of having error taught by one who was wielding His authority, and this simply cannot be.

In John 15:20, Jesus says, “If they persecuted Me, they will persecute you; if they kept My word, they will keep yours also.” Jesus identifies the Apostles’ word with His word. Another clear implication that the Apostles speak infallibly with His authority.

So we see, in the Bible, that Jesus invested Peter and the Apostles, and some other disciples as well, with His own authority - with His own infallible authority. They had to be infallible when speaking of matters regarding the Christian faith because He was putting His own personal stamp of approval on what they said. He was binding in Heaven what they bound on earth. He was loosing in Heaven what they loosed on earth. He was guaranteeing that when someone heard one of these disciples speak they were actually hearing Jesus Himself speak. Since Jesus is infallible, then Peter and the Apostles and these other disciples had to be infallible when they spoke on His behalf with His authority.

In other words, the leaders of the early church spoke infallibly on matters of faith and morals with the authority that Jesus had given them. The church of the Bible had, through its leaders, an infallible authority when teaching and preaching and binding and loosing.

Which brings me back to my question: Is the church infallible in Protestant theology? The simple answer is, it can’t be. It can’t be because no one within the church is infallible. There is no individual, or group of individuals, within the church that can make an infallible decision on any matter pertaining to faith and morals. How can the church be infallible if it has no leader, no representative, no official, who is infallible? It can’t be.

This causes quite a predicament for Protestants, although it’s a predicament most of them are completely unaware of. You see, if there is no one individual who can teach infallibly on faith and morals, as Protestant theology teaches us, which means there is no church that can teach infallibly on faith and morals, then the only conclusion one can draw is that Jesus founded a church that can, and does, teach error!

So, the inevitable conclusion one must draw from Protestant theology is that the Savior of the world, the Son of God, the Word made flesh, founded a church that teaches error. Jesus, Who is the Truth (John 14:6); Jesus, Who came to bear witness to the truth (John 18:37); Jesus, Who told us that if we know the truth the truth will make us free (John 8:32); this Jesus founded a church that teaches error?! How can that be? Yet, that is the conclusion yielded by Protestant theology.

And, that is a conclusion that most Protestants I have talked to readily admit, although they do not do so directly. Quite often I have heard someone say something along these lines, “Well, I don’t claim that my church is 100% right on all of its beliefs, but I know we’re right on the fundamentals,” (I’ll speak about the “fundamentals” more in a later chapter). Such a statement is, essentially, an admission that their church teaches error in some way, shape, or form.

So ask the question: “Did Jesus found a church that can teach error in the areas of faith and morals?” See what they say to that. If they say, “Yes,” then ask them how that is possible. After all, as I’ve shown above, Jesus gave the first leaders of the church His very own authority to teach and preach and to bind and loose, and Jesus’ authority is an infallible authority. Furthermore, as I’ve just mentioned, Jesus is the Truth, and He came to witness to the truth, and He tells us the truth will make us free. In other words, truth is necessary for salvation, yet you want me to believe Jesus founded a church that doesn’t always teach the truth? Really?!

If they answer, “No,” Jesus did not found a church that can teach error in the areas of faith and morals,” then ask them how it is possible for the fallible men who run the church to not teach error, any error. Wouldn’t you need an infallible teacher in order to teach infallibly?

(To be continued...)

Summary

I hope all of you had a very merry and a very holy Christmas! My family and I visited with my mom and family in Huntsville and we had a very good time of it.

I hope to get the next installment of the book out next week. In the meantime, I hope all of you have a very happy and safe New Year's celebration, and I pray that 2014 is a year in which you are drawn ever closer to Christ.