Bibliolatry

Did y’all know that evangelical Protestants have been accused of idolatry? Specifically of idolizing the Bible over Christ or over God.

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One of the most interesting parts of the above encyclopedia article is the reference to UNITATIS REDINTEGRATIO, (Restoration of Unity) the Catholic Church’s concession to ecumenical dealings with Protestants and with Orthodoxy. While, this Papal bull promotes ecumenical relations and outwardly congratulates Protestants on the degree to which they have taken scriptural studies, the tone of parts of it seems to imply that we are, while perhaps not heretical, certainly misguided…

21. A love and reverence of Sacred Scripture which might be described as devotion, leads our brethren to a constant meditative study of the sacred text. For the Gospel "is the power of God for salvation to every one who has faith, to the Jew first and then to the Greek".

While invoking the Holy Spirit, they seek in these very Scriptures God as it were speaking to them in Christ, Whom the prophets foretold, Who is the Word of God made flesh for us. They contemplate in the Scriptures the life of Christ and what the Divine Master taught and did for our salvation, especially the mysteries of His death and resurrection.

But while the Christians who are separated from us hold the divine authority of the Sacred Books, they differ from ours-some in one way, some in another-regarding the relationship between Scripture and the Church. For, according to Catholic belief, the authentic teaching authority of the Church has a special place in the interpretation and preaching of the written word of God.

But Sacred Scriptures provide for the work of dialogue an instrument of the highest value in the mighty hand of God for the attainment of that unity which the Saviour holds out to all.