Let's face it. A person can make the Bible say and mean what they want it to. It's really not that difficult. Unfortunately, the most common idea in 20th and 21st century American theology is that every individual Christian should get to interpret the Bible for themselves. Not only that, but also that this is the proper manner in which to read and interpret God's Word. We hear all too often of the idea that one person's interpretation is just as good as the next person's. We've even extrapolated this idea further and people have downplayed the importance of attending church. Many people refuse to attend church at all, instead favoring a do it yourself sort of approach. I don't know what else to call this other than completely wrong. Christians are not islands unto themselves, free to make Scripture say whatever they would like it to - all the while claiming the Holy Spirit's guidance on their own little divine revelations into the proper meanings of Holy Writ, not caring one wit that their ideas and interpretations are nowhere near what Christianity has always taught and believed.
This is precisely why the Christian Church has creeds and confessions of faith. Not to mention, this is the reason the Church has had numerous ecumenical councils in the past.
The three great ecumenical creeds are a great place to start regarding core fundamental Christian teaching. If a person or church denies anything in these three creeds, a red flag should be raised immediately. If you can't affirm these three great creeds, call yourself something other than Christian. They are in essence saying that they, based on their own personal interpretation of Scripture, know certain things and doctrines in Scripture more accurately than the great fathers of the church who convened and agreed upon these great creeds. Imagine if that person were there, present at those councils. Perhaps the great fathers of the church would sway them, who knows.
One common objection that people bring up here is that they only need Scripture and the Holy Spirit, not the creeds. But this objection completely misses the point. The creeds are summaries of core fundamental doctrines that Scripture teaches. True, they are not Scripture itself, but they tell us what the Scriptures actually teach.
The idea of me, my Bible, and the Holy Spirit in a corner actually denies the Bible and the Holy Spirit. It ends up being all me. Both the Bible and the Holy Spirit point a person to Christ, and Christ is to be found in His Word and His Sacraments. This the Bible explicitly states. Moreover, this idea of Christianity that is so popular is actually a rejection of Christianity as well as a rejection of the gifts that Christ gives us. In other words, it's not Christianity at all. It is nothing more than a self-serving individualism that happens to like Jesus - just not the historic one. So it really doesn't like Jesus either on some level.
What Christian rejects the three ecumenical creeds as false? Well, none should. The creeds are core doctrine. If you reject the Apostle's Creed, you reject the most basic teachings of Christianity. If you reject the Nicene Creed, the same thing applies. If you reject the Athanasian Creed, you reject the Trinity and that puts you outside of Christianity and salvation altogether.
But we know better because we've got the Holy Spirit, right? Well, don't you think the Holy Spirit also guided these great fathers of the faith who formulated the creeds? Or do you think they were just hearing from themselves, or worse, evil spirits?
If you are unfamiliar with the three great ecumenical creeds, you can find them here: BOC: Creeds
To summarize here, there is simply no room for interpretation on many core doctrinal teachings of the Christian Church. You don't need to convene your own ecumenical council of me, myself, and I in the corner of your basement, waiting for "God" to talk to you personally and tell you how it really is. In fact, that path is decidedly antichrist. It always leads a person away from core teachings, not towards them.
Just look at the fruits of this idea. Denial of original sin. Denial of the virgin birth. Rejection of the Trinity, usually aligning with some ancient heresy or another. Dualism that separates the natural from the spiritual resulting in a rejection of the Real Presence and of Baptismal Regeneration and ultimately the Incarnation of Christ and the Gospel itself. Not to mention when the Bible gets interpreted by people who flat out admit they are not Christians. Muslims and Atheists do this all the time. We could go on and on.
This idea needs to be outed for what it is: Antichrist. Time has shown us that this leads to nothing but bad theology and usually a rejection of Christianity itself.
+Pax+
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