The Difference by L. A. S.

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Washington, D. C. · Feb 8, 1906

The Difference

By L. A. S.

In a recent issue of the Catholic Mirror a Roman Catholic writer defines the gospel as being an “inspired record of a portion of the life and teachings of Jesus Christ, the Saviour of mankind,” and says that on the significance of the words, “a portion of the life and teachings,” hangs the whole rule of Christian faith. The statement follows that “the Protestant doctrine . . . is that the Sacred Scriptures contain the entire revelation of faith and morals for the guidance of mankind. In regard to the subjective element [the interpretation of doctrines defining what must be believed and done in order to be saved], they say that the interpreter of this body of doctrine is the individual reason. Certainly that principle can not be right which results in so many conflicting opinions. In regard to the text, ‘This is my body,’ there are in vogue over one hundred different explanations, which shows how the individual mind may wander when it is a question of interpreting a plain statement. Now the Catholic Church teaches that the Sacred Scriptures are a divine revelation of the life and teachings of Christ, but not a complete one, and that the interpreter, the one interpreter of this revelation, is the Catholic Church.”

True Protestantism always appeals to the Scripture, and on this point the plain statement of inspiration is that the Holy Spirit is the Guide into all truth. The Holy Spirit, and not “individual reason,” is for Protestants the interpreter of Bible doctrine. For Roman Catholics, on the other hand, the church is the “one interpreter” of divine revelation. But divine revelation explained and interpreted by a human agent loses both its divinity and its character as a revelation. A human explanation and interpretation of God’s Word, though the Word itself is divine and infallible, is but the product of a finite mind. “The individual reason”

has much more to do with papal doctrine than with that of Protestantism. The rule of Protestantism, indeed, expressly excludes it.

It is true that many people holding divergent views of Christian doctrine class themselves as Protestants, but this does not vitiate the Protestant rule that the Word of God, as interpreted by the Holy Spirit to each individual believer, is the true foundation of Christian faith.

It is a choice between the Word of God and the traditions of men; between the Holy Spirit as the interpreter of the Scripture, and the church as the interpreter. It is, therefore, a choice between the divine and the human, as the basis of our hope of salvation. Protestantism chooses to base its hope on that which is wholly divine. L. A. S.