Apologetics for the Masses - #274

Topic

Born Again = Infallible?

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General Comments

Hey folks,

Happy Atheists Day! (Psalm 14:1). I hope all of you had a wonderful Easter day and that this Easter Season has been a profitable one for you - in a spiritual sense. Just a reminder about our Evangelization Conference here in Birmingham on May 17-19. It's going to be awesome! For more information, or to register, check out: http://www.alabamaevangelization.com.

Also, please please please remember to use the social media links at the top or bottom of this newsletter to share this newsletter on Facebook, Twitter, and elsewhere. I would love for you to get into the habit of doing that with each newsletter. The more folks who hear about us the more folks we can reach with the truths of the Catholic Faith!

Introduction

Today I'm going to respond to a question that someone sent in to me. Unfortunately, it's pretty much impossible for me - between my four jobs, my family, sleeping, eating, and so on - to respond to each of the questions (hundreds) that I receive on an individual basis. However, I can respond to some of them in the newsletter, as I've done from time to time, and as I'm doing here in this issue. This will be a relatively short read and not as involved as the last few newsletters - giving the apologetics cells in your brains a little bit of a break for a week or so...

Challenge/Response/Strategy

Question

Hello John,

I am in a debate with a friend of mine about interpretation of scripture verse. He claims that God is correct and that those who are really 'born again believers'" are led by God and the Holy Spirit and the others are just by name only.

How do you respond back?

Thank you,

Ruben

My Answer

Ruben, there are a few different ways you could handle this. I'll just give you a couple. And what I'm about to say doesn't have to be followed step-by-step, you can make it your own and then use it against this guy.

First of all, yes, God is correct. God is always correct. However, I would ask him how he (your friend) knows he is "really" a born again believer and not just one of those who only thinks they are "really" born again believers. Whatever he says in response, simply ask him: "Wouldn't someone who thinks they're born again but really aren't say the same thing?" And keep asking him that question. That's to point out that he has no way on earth of telling who is or is not born again, based on his theology. The "fake" born again believers will say the exact same thing as the "real" born again believers, so there is no way to tell them apart. And if you can't tell them apart, then how can you tell who is and who isn't guided by the Holy Spirit (supposedly)? Ask him what proof he can give you that he is really born again vs. someone who only thinks they're born again. And whatever he says, keep asking him, where does it say that in the Bible? Because there is nothing in the Bible that says, "This is how you tell the difference between a real born again believer and a false born again believer."

Another thing you can do is ask him if he thinks you are a "born again believer." If he says, "No," then ask him by what authority he makes such a declaration. Tell him you believe in Jesus Christ as your personal Lord and Savior. Furthermore, tell him that you believe in your heart that God raised Jesus from the dead and that you confess with your lips that Jesus is Lord (Romans 10:8-10). So, according to his theology - his interpretation of the Bible - that should make you a born again believer!

If he still says that you are not a born again believer, then simply say to him, "Where does the Bible give you the authority to decide who is and is not a born again believer?" Quick answer: It doesn't. So, just drive home the point that you, as a Catholic, believe in every single verse of the Bible and that you are indeed a born again believer according to your friend's definition of being born again. (For Catholics, being born again means being baptized, as it tells us in John 3:3-5.)

The whole point of that was to establish that you are a born again believer - whether he accepts that or not. If he doesn't accept it, then you stress the point of him not having any authority whatsoever to decide who is and is not born again.

Now, once you've done that, simply ask him: "Are you infallible when it comes to interpreting the Bible?" He should say, "Yes," because he has already said that the Holy Spirit guides born again believers and the Holy Spirit is infallible. If he says, "Yes," I am infallible when interpreting the Bible, then ask him this question: "For the Christian, what is the pillar and ground of the truth - is it the Bible?" If he says, "Yes, it is the Bible," and almost 100% of Protestants will say yes, then take him to 1 Timothy 3:15, and ask him why it says the Church is the pillar and ground of the truth. And ask him how it is that the Holy Spirit didn't get the right answer on that one. But, if he gets the right answer, then follow up with: "Okay, since the Holy Spirit is guiding you when it comes to the Bible, can you give me the one passage in all of Scripture that uses the phrase 'faith alone' or 'faith only'"? He's not going to know that because the only passage in the Bible that uses that phrase is James 2:24, which says we are NOT saved by faith alone. So, he will get one or both of those questions wrong. But, if he is guided by the Holy Spirit, he shouldn't get anything wrong.

All of that is done to show him that while he may think he is guided by the Holy Spirit, he really isn't. And, if he's not guided by the Holy Spirit, then how can he say that he is truly a born again believer, at least, according to his theology?

Now, what if he agrees that you are a born again believer? Well, if both of you are born again believers, yet you disagree with each other on the proper interpretation of Scripture, then how can he say the Holy Spirit is leading all born again believers in their interpretations of the Bible? Does the Holy Spirit disagree with himself, giving you one interpretation and him another? No, of course not! Furthermore, ask him if the interpretations of all born again believers - everywhere and in every denomination - of all Scripture passages, are the exact same. If all born again believers infallibly interpret the Bible as guided by the Holy Spirit, then all interpretations of all Bible passages should be the exact same. Yet, I don't know of one Protestant who has the exact same interpretations of all Scripture passages as another Protestant. That's why they have all those different denominations. So, no matter how you look at it, his logic makes no sense at all.

Also, when you ask him if he is infallible when it comes to interpreting the Bible, if he by some chance says, "No, I'm not infallible," then simply point out to him that that means he is not being led by the Holy Spirit, because the Holy Spirit is infallible when He interprets Scripture. So, if you are being led by the Holy Spirit when you read the Bible, you have to be infallible in your interpretations.

Finally, one other thing you could do, is pick any passage of the New Testament and ask him if he could tell you what the Greek words used in that passage are. If he can't tell you, then ask him: Does the Holy Spirit not know Greek? And tell him that he has given you no evidence that he is infallibly guided by the Holy Spirit when it comes to the Bible.

Comments

These comments are specific to what Ruben has asked, but any one of you could take what is being said here and apply it to any situation where someone is claiming to be directly guided by the Holy Spirit when they are reading Scripture. The points to be made are about authority and infallibility. Most Protestants will tell you that no man is infallible - and when they are talking to Catholics, they are specifically referring to the Pope. "He can't be infallible because no man is infallible!" they will say.

Well, if no man is infallible when it comes to the areas of faith and morals - which is what we are referring to when we talk about papal infallibility - then how can any man claim to be directly guided by the Holy Spirit when reading the Bible? The Holy Spirit is infallible, and if He is guiding you in your interpretations of the Bible, then your interpretations of the Bible have to be infallible. And, if your interpretations of the Bible, from which you get all of your beliefs on faith and morals, are infallible, then that means you are infallible when it comes to faith and morals. But, Protestants claim the Pope can't be infallible because no man is infallible. If no man is infallible, then how is they claim they are guided by the Holy Spirit when reading the Bible? Huge contradiction in the theology of most Protestants.

In regard to the issue of authority, how is it that they declare themselves really saved and other people not really saved? Who gave them such authority? Where is their name in the Bible that tells me they have such authority? I always ask people who believe in once saved always saved this question: "Do you believe that there are people who think they're saved, but really aren't?" And, 100% of the time, I have the once saved always saved folks tell me, "Yes, there are people who think they're saved, but they really aren't." 100% of the time! So then I ask them, "Are you saved?" And they say, "Yes, of course I'm saved." And then I ask, "Wouldn't someone who thinks they're saved, but really aren't, say the same thing?" And, after thinking about it for a second, they say, "Probably." Then I ask again, "So how do you know that you're really saved and not one of those who just thinks they're saved?" And they generally reply, "I just know in my heart." And I repeat the same line of questioning again, and again, no matter what they say.

The fact is, if you allow that there are people who think they're saved, but they really aren't saved, then no one can really know, with "absolute assurance," that they are saved. So all of these folks who think they're definitely saved, but pity the poor slobs who only "think" they're saved, are all fooling themselves. None of them have any authority whatsoever to make such a distinction between the "really" saved and the "thinks they're saved but not really" saved. So keep hammering away at them about authority and infallibility. Infallibility, or rather the lack of infallibility, is the Achilles heel of Protestantism.

Closing Comments

Again, a happy and holy Easter season to all of you. Please remember to keep the repose of the soul of Mother Angelica in your prayers. Her legacy will be felt for many years to come. She impacted the lives of millions of people. And, even though most of you are probably like me and think she went straight to the Pearly Gates, we can't individually canonize her, so just pray for her until such time as the Church says she's home. I personally owe her a great deal. Without Mother Angelica's EWTN radio, the Bible Christian Society would be an organization that probably not a whole lot of people would know about. It was a few of my talks being played on EWTN's Global Catholic Radio back in January of 2000 that enabled this whole thing to take off like it has and helped us to reach folks now in all 50 states and some 70-75 or so countries.

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