SPSE’s Las Vegas team recently were evangelizing again in front of the Mirage hotel. They reported handing out more than 150 Rosaries, 25 CDs, and about 40 crosses and Miraculous Medals during the session. The following was one memorable encounter that veteran evangelist Paul recounted for us.
A man approached Paul, saying, “I am a ‘sola scriptura’ adherent.”
Paul ended up speaking with him for about 45 minutes. He began by asking the man, “If ‘sola scriptura’ was correct, then what happened in the first 300 years after Christ’s Resurrection when there was no complete Bible?”
Paul also pointed to 2 Thessalonians 2:15: “So then, brothers and sisters, stand firm and hold fast to the teachings we passed on to you, whether by word of mouth or by letter.”
Paul reported that they had a lively discussion on many issues. Overall, Paul emphasized to him that the Bible is a Catholic book. By the time he left, the man and Paul had become friends, and he had given Paul his card and email address.
Good job, Team Las Vegas!
Thank you very much for this enlightenment. The information given is very helpful in my trying to explain why Catholics do not advocate ” solo scriptura”. What I kept on quoting is only John 21:25. May the Holy Spirit continue to guide and empower you in your mission,
I noticed the strongest way to get the attention of a,”Sola Scriptura” advocate, is to ask them to show in the Bible where it say, “Sola Scriptura”. Their entire theological premiss doesn’t even exist. It changes their entire attitude toward what they assumed was emphatically true, to being open to receiving more information about the truth.
Another tremendous point that was made was the authority of the Church. He thought that he was capable of interpreting the bible himself. He realized that the cumulative efforts of the Church’s resources, theologians, and historians to interpret scripture was much more valuable than what his pastor’s interpretation of what he thinks the Bible means. Did Jesus mean for us to cut off our right hand, or take the kingdom of heaven so seriously that we would be willing to sacrifice even one of our most precious gifts to obtain it? If we try to interpret the Bible by ourself, We throw away centuries of spiritual evolution that the Church provides. It doesn’t make sense to do that, and leaves us with our own ego’s biased interpretation of what we think the Bible means.
Wow..impressive! I would love to be able to do the same.