Apologetics for the Masses #360 - Problems With Protestantism #6: "Teach No Other Doctrine"

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Problems With Protestantism #6 - "Teach No Other Doctrine"

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General Comments

Hey folks,

For those of you in Huntsville and the rest of North Alabama (the Huntsvile TV market), the Bible Christian Society will be airing a couple of commercials on WAFF Channel 48 over the next couple of months, starting tomorrow. Below is a schedule of when they will be airing this coming week if you want to watch the program or set your DVR to record them. Or, you can see them on the homepage of our website: www.biblechristiansociety.com. Just scroll down below the "Newspaper Ads" and "Questions Protestants Can't Answer" series, and it's the first two commercials. I hope you enjoy them!

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Introduction

Okay, this week, continuing with my series on "Problems With Protestantism". In this issue we tackle Problem #6 - "Teach No Other Doctrine".

Challenge/Response/Strategy

Problems With Protestantism #6 - "Teach No Other Doctrine"

1 Tim 1:3, "As I urged you when I was going to Macedonia, remain at Ephesus that you may charge certain persons not to teach any different doctrine." Or, as the King James Version puts it: "...that thou mightest charge some that they teach no other doctrine."

So, why is 1 Tim 1:3 - with Paul's instruction to Timothy to make sure others "teach no other doctrine" - a "Problem With Protestantism"? Well, that's pretty obvious isn't it? Protestantism, with it's tens of thousands upon tens of thousands of denominations and non-denominations, teaches all sorts of different doctrine.

For example, within Protestantism you can find those who believe in the Rapture and those who don't. Those who do believe in the Rapture might believe in a pre-tribulation Rapture, or a mid-tribulation Rapture, or a post-tribulation Rapture. Some even believe there will be more than one Rapture. You will also find those who believe in once saved always saved, and those who don't. Those who believe in sacraments and those who don't. Those who believe in salvation by faith alone, and those who don't. Those who believe in the Trinity and those who don't. Those who have bishops and/or priests, and those who don't. Those who believe in infant baptism, and those who don't. Those who believe we are born again through baptism, and those who don't. Those who believe in soul sleep, and those who don't. Those who believe in the total annihilation of the damned, and those who don't. Those who believe in divorce and remarriage, and those who don't. Those who believe same sex relations are moral, and those who don't. And I could go on and on and on.

In other words, within Protestantism, we have conflicting doctrines, conflicting moral teachings, and conflicting models of authority. Do we see that same scenario in 1st century Christianity? Does the New Testament speak of anything like the doctrinal and moral confusion that we have in Protestantism, and have had since the founding days of Protestantism? Does the New Testament speak of different lines of authority for different denominations? Did the deacons the Apostles ordained in Acts 6 get to then vote on who would be the next pastor of Jerusalem after the Apostles left town? No! - to all of the above.

Which means, the principles that govern Protestantism, were not the principles that governed the early church. The free for all that we find in Protestantism in regard to doctrine, morality, and authority, did not exist in the early church. All of which makes it very clear that Protestantism is not a valid model for Christianity. That is a "Problem With Protestantism".

Let's say Paul was writing to Timothy today, and he gave Timothy that exact same instruction - to make sure others teach no other doctrine than what Paul had taught to Timothy. What would that mean in a Protestant environment? Would Timothy have to write Paul back and say, "Dear Paul, don't you mean that I need to make sure that others not teach any different essential doctrine, but that it's okay to teach different non-essential doctrine?" Yeah, right.

If Timothy was, let's say, a Baptist minister...what would Paul's instruction mean? I'll tell you what it would mean, it would mean that the Baptist faith was the one true faith and that any faith that taught different doctrine was not the one true faith. The same can be said if Timothy were a Methodist minister, an Evangelical pastor, an Anglican priest, a Church of Christ preacher, etc. Whatever faith tradition Timothy was, Paul's exhortation in 1 Tim 1:3 means that Timothy's faith tradition, was THE faith tradition and that there was no other valid faith tradition. "Teach no other doctrine."

That presents a problem for Protestantism because there is no such thing as THE one and only valid faith tradition within Protestantism. It doesn't exist! Oh, there are a few denominations - such as the Church of Christ - that actually get it and claim that their faith tradition is THE one and only correct faith tradition, but they are a very tiny minority within Protestantism.

Now, some will say, and have said, that the situation within Catholicism is no different than what we find within Protestantism. That there are people within Catholicism teaching different things just like the Protestants teach different things. For example, some say no to contraception; others say yes. Some say no to same sex relations being moral; others say yes. Some say Jesus rose from the dead; others say no He did not. And so on. But, big difference between the situation within Catholicism where you have the official teaching of the Church, that everyone knows, and which is easily discovered, and you have those who call themselves Catholic yet dissent from that official teaching; as opposed to having tens of thousands of denominations each with its own set of official teachings which, if you dissent from them, it is perfectly acceptable to break off and form your own denomination.

Catholicism - one central authority; one set of official teachings; dissenters from that authority and/or those teachings are just that...dissenters. They do not form another church within Catholicism with a separate authority structure and a separate set of official teachings.

Protestantism - tens of thousands upon tens of thousands of central authorities - one for each denomination and non-denomination; tens of thousands upon tens of thousands of sets of official teachings - one for each denomination and non-denomination; dissenters from any given central authority or any given set of official teachings are not dissenters, they are merely members of a different denomination.

So, the question is, what faith tradition was Timothy a member of? Because, according to Paul, you should not teach any doctrine outside of that which Paul had taught Timothy, the clear implication being Timothy's faith tradition was THE one and only valid faith tradition. And, this faith tradition of Timothy's was also, obviously, the same faith tradition as Paul's, which was given to Paul by Who? Jesus Christ Himself. So, again, what faith tradition was Timothy?

There are only 3 possibilities:

1) Timothy was Catholic.

2) Timothy was Eastern Orthodox

3) Timothy was one of the Protestant denominations. Which would also mean that out of the tens of thousands of denominations, there is only one that could possibly be THE faith tradition of Timothy, as given to him by Paul, as given to him by Jesus Christ.

Since the vast majority of Protestantism doesn't even make the claim of the existence of only one valid faith tradition, much less claim that distinction for themselves, then 1 Tim 1:3 - "Teach no other doctrine" - is a very big "Problem With Protestantism."

Closing Comments

Okay, even though I have a few other "Problems With Protestantism" I could put out there, I think I'll give this series a little bit of a rest and do something different in the next issue and come back to this somewhere down the line a bit.

The whole purpose of this series is to help you realize that it is not too terribly difficult, with just a single verse from the Bible, and a little logic and some common sense, to blow huge gaping holes in the intellectual underpinnings of Protestantism. From beginning to end, Protestantism is a series of logical and scriptural inconsistencies and contradictions. It just doesn't make sense when you shine the light to it. That's why I always say to get below the surface by asking questions. Make the other guy defend his position as much or more than he makes you defend yours...because his position is built on sand and will crumble upon any kind of close examination.

I hope all of you have a great week!

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