Catholics VS Protestants Debate Thread

[Edward John]

Ultimately my goal isn't to win an argument, but to win a soul for Christ.

I was going to do this after a few weeks, but I’ll do it now because I have time. Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of man and drink his blood, you have no life in you; he who eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day. For my flesh is food indeed, and my blood is drink indeed. He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood abides in me, and I in him" (John 6:53–56). The Eucharist is the Body and Blood of Jesus, protestants see this as symbolic, but Jesus said this IS my body this, IS my blood not, this is a symbol of my body, this is a symbol of my blood.
 
 

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Edward Johns Wrote: ·        If Jesus intended for Christianity to be exclusively a “religion of the book,” why did He wait 1400 years before showing somebody how to build a printing press? 
 
I'm not sure what you're saying, are you implying that books didn't exist before the printing press?
No, books did exist before the printing press, but the Bible was rare, most people at that time did not own a bible except church fathers and some rich people The Bible Was Not Available to Individual Believers until the 15th Century. The predicament caused by this state of affairs is that millions upon millions of Christians who lived prior to the 15th century would have been left without a final authority, left to flounder spiritually, unless by chance they had access to a hand-copied Bible.   "Faith then cometh by hearing; and hearing by the Word of Christ." (Rom. 10:17). Christ also gave to His Church His guarantee that He would always be with it, never allowing it to fall into error. God, therefore, did not abandon His people and make them rely upon the invention of the printing press to be the means whereby they would come to a saving knowledge of His Son. Instead, He gave us a divinely established, infallible teacher, the Catholic Church, to provide us with the means to be informed of the Good News of the Gospel – and to be informed correctly.
Edward Johns Wrote: ·        If Christianity is a “book religion,” how did it flourish during the first 1500 years of Church history when the vast majority of people were illiterate?

“It wasn't that people were illiterate, it's just that many couldn't read Latin.” Untrue, They couldn’t read anything in general, For the first 1500 years of Christianity, most people couldn't read or write. Every stained glass window and statue in medieval Churches told a story. Illiterate people could look at the stained glass pictures on the windows of the Churches and understand the story. So sola scriptura didn’t even exist at that time, but the Christians submitted to the teaching authority of the church.
Edward Johns Wrote: ·        Where did Jesus give instructions that the Christian faith should be based exclusively on a book? The Doctrine of Sola Scriptura is not taught anywhere in the Bible.

“I do recall Jesus being tempted by the Devil and Jesus quoting nothing but scripture at him, sounds like he was utilizing Sola Scripture to me.” That doesn’t prove that Jesus was instructing Scripture only, just because Jesus was quoting scripture neither did Jesus say anything about sola scripture. The Doctrine of Sola Scriptura Did Not Exist Prior to the 14th Century. Fact: The Doctrine of Sola Scriptura is not taught anywhere in the Bible.
 
Edward Johns Wrote: ·        Where in the New Testament do the apostles tell future generations that the Christian faith will be based solely on a book?

The Bible is not just a book it is the Word, using that context you'll find the Apostles mention the Word quite frequently.  True, The Bible is the word of God, but where in the New Testament do the apostles tell future generations that the Christian faith will be based solely on a book?
 
 
Edward Johns Wrote: ·        Where in the Bible do we find an inspired and infallible list of books that should belong in the Bible? (e.g., Is the Bible’s Table of Contents inspired?)

The book of Isaiah is essentially the bible in compact form. Now your joking right?, The book of Isaiah is the book of Isaiah not the entire Bible. The Catholic Church gave you the Bible through the guidance of the HolyGhost. The list of books in the Bible. Catholic churches Synod of Rome (382 A.D) and the Catholic churches Councils of Hippo (393 A.D) and Catholic churches Council of Carthage (397 A.D) that we find a definitive list of canonical books being drawn up, and each of these Councils acknowledged the very same list of books. From this point on, there is in practice no dispute about the canon of the Bible, the only exception being the so-called Protestant Reformers, who entered upon the scene in 1517, an unbelievable 11 centuries later.
Edward Johns Wrote: ·        some Protestants claim that Jesus condemned all oral tradition (e.g., Matt 15:3, 6; Mark 7:813). If so, why does He bind His listeners to oral tradition by telling them to obey the scribes and Pharisees when they “sit on Moses’ seat” (Matt 23:2)? 5) Some Protestants claim that St. Paul condemned all oral tradition (Col 2:8). If so, why does he tell the Thessalonians to “stand firm and hold to the traditions which you were taught, whether by word of mouth or by letter” (2 Thes 2:15) and praises the Corinthians because they “hold firmly to the traditions” (1 Cor 11:2)?

Well since this question is based off protestant "claims" im going to skip it since protestant beliefs vary, personally I'm not sure what you mean by the condemnation of oral tradition.  The Point not all tradition are bad, the Catholic Tradition is Holy handed down by the apostles, The question to ask when examining any particular tradition is “where did it come from?”  Its value depends on its origin.  Did it come from Jesus?  His apostles?  Some pious believers who lived centuries later?  The traditions Paul passed down were divine (from the Lord) and apostolic traditions, like the meaning and importance of the Eucharist (1 Corinthians 11:23-34) or the death and resurrection of the Lord Jesus (I Cor 15:3-11) and so were of the utmost importance.
Edward Johns Wrote: ·        If the meaning of the Bible is so clear—so easily interpreted—and if the Holy Spirit leads every Christian to interpret it for themselves, then why are there over 33,000 Protestant denominations, and millions of individual Protestants, all interpreting the Bible differently?

One word; Tradition. Tradition doesn’t answer the question since, protestants are Bible only and anti Tradition.

There is a story in the bible where the Hebrews would gather manna (bread that fell from heaven) every day, for they were expressly forbidden to store any of it, because it would be rotten by the next day. True

The manna represented the Word of God, did not Jesus state:

"I am the true bread that came down from heaven. Anyone who eats this bread will not die as your ancestors did (even though they ate the manna) but will live forever." True


Jesus is the word made flesh right? Yes


How this applies to your question is that each age of the church had a measure of light to walk in, and as the ages progressed they received a little more light (Revelation). 

If I were to make an analogy I'd say picture a dark room, if I a shone a weak light into the room, you'd be able to see into it but not very well, as I turn up the brightness more will be revealed. So where you weren't able to make out much initially, each subsequent person that comes along will see more than the last. But how come? All is revealed in the Bible right and the Bible is all you need to know about Christianity right? If the Holy Ghost guides each individual shouldn’t they reach all the same conclusion?

Martin Luther had part of the picture, he did NOT have all of it. after his death the majority of his followers held to the TRADITIONS of Martin Luther's teachings and formed the Lutheran denomination which held to the doctrine of Justification and they never progressed to sanctification.  The Traditions of Martian Luther are not Holy because they are not apostolic.

Therefore their doctrine (manna) is rotten since it is from days past.

The same goes for the Methodist denomination. John Wesley came along with Justification AND Sanctification, but after his death his followers held to their traditions and formed the Methodist organization, and their doctrine too became rotten. They never progressed to the baptism of the holy spirit, that was the Pentecostals... see the pattern?
Jesus Explained The Eucharist The Day After Feeding The 5000" Amen, amen, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you do not have life within you. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him on the last day. For my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me and I in him." John 6:53-56
 Jesus Gave Us The Eucharist For All Time The Night Before He Died "While they were eating, Jesus took bread, said the blessing, broke it, and giving it to his disciples said, "Take and eat; this is my body." Then he took a cup, gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, "Drink from it, all of you, for this is my blood of the covenant, which will be shed on behalf of many for the forgiveness of sins. " Matthew 26:26-28
 Today Some Cannot Accept The Gift Just As It Was In The Time Of Jesus 'But there are some of you who do not believe.' Jesus knew from the beginning the ones who would not believe and the one who would betray him. And he said, 'For this reason I have told you that no one can come to me unless it is granted him by my Father.' As a result of this, many (of) his disciples returned to their former way of life and no longer accompanied him. Jesus then said to the Twelve, 'Do you also want to leave?' Simon Peter answered him, 'Master, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.'" John 6:64-68
 
Jesus Explained That Eternal Life Is Gained Through The Spirit - Not Through The Flesh
Jesus' Flesh And Blood Are Of Divine Nature (Spirit) And Not Of This World (Flesh)
"It is the spirit that gives life, while the flesh is of no avail. The words I have spoken to you are spirit and life."  John 6:64-68
 
Not only bread and wine – Not only Crackers And Grape Juice, Jesus Gave Us The Eucharist To Nourish Us Until He Returns, Come Home To HIS Church And Accept HIS Holy Flesh And Blood
 "Whoever listens to you listens to me. Whoever rejects you rejects me. And whoever rejects me rejects the one who sent me." Luke 10:16
 Edward Johns Wrote: ·        If the Bible is the only foundation and basis of Christian truth, why does the Bible itself say that the Church is the pillar and foundation of truth (1 Tim. 3:15)?

I think that you're just playing on words here. No Not Really.

If the Bible is the Word of God, and Jesus is the Word of God made flesh, that makes the Word the foundation of the church. No,  the Word is the Word, Not the Church, the bible does not say the  word is the foundation of the church that’s unbiblical and against sola scriptura. Note that in I Timothy 3:15 we see, not the Bible, but the Church – that is, the living community of believers founded upon St. Peter and the Apostles and headed by their successors – called "the pillar and ground of the truth.
Edward Johns Wrote: ·        If the Bible is as clear as Martin Luther claimed, why was he the first one to interpret it the way he did and why was he frustrated at the end of his life that “there are now as many doctrines as there are heads”?

Already touched on this. You nearly did. Luther interpreted the way he did because he was evil, Luther blasphemed God. He said “Christ committed adultery first of all with the women at the well of Jacob about whom St. John wrote. ‘Was not everyone around Him murmuring: What has He been doing with her?’ After that, with Mary Magdalene, and then with the woman taken in adultery whom He dismissed so lightly. Thus, even Christ, who was so righteous, had to be guilty of fornication before He died.”
Don’t you think that the drunk Christ, having imbibed too much at the Last Supper, bewildered His disciples with his empty prattling? 

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Catholics don't worship statues or worship saints, that's a common myth among protestants.
First, where are you getting worship? The definition of pray is "1) to utter petition to God, 2) to make a fervent request, 3) to beseech, implore, 4) to make a devout or earnest request for." Where in the definition do you see the word worship or anything like worship? To pray is to make a request or petition to God. When we pray to God, we are uttering a petition to Him, and when we pray to Mary and the saints we are making an earnest or devout request for prayers from Mary and the saints. In the medieval times, when people would say "I pray you would do this," were they worshipping whoever they were talking to?
        
The Seventh General Council shows the difference between venerating Mary and worshipping God. It showed that Latria - is adoration that is given to the trinity alone, and always refers to God (John 16:2, Romans 9:4, Heb 9:1-6), and hyper-dulia - which is veneration to Mary. There is a difference. The bible also shows this difference. Take a look at Exodus 18:7, saying, "then Moses went out to meet his father in law, and bowed down and kissed him." This is veneration.
      By praying through Mary, we are not taking away focus from Jesus. In Luke 1:46-49 Mary says, "My soul magnifies the Lord,
And my spirit has rejoiced in God my Savior.
For He has regarded the lowly state of his maidservant;
For behold, henceforth all generations will call me blessed." Praying through Mary magnifies the focus on Jesus and magnifies Him. It's like asking someone for prayers. When you ask someone to pray for you, are you worshipping them? It's no different with Mary. When we pray to Mary, we ask her to pray for us to God, and her soul magnifies Him. Then, we add some respect, or veneration, not worship. If you knew someone was praying for you would you not thank them?
         Thus, we do not worship Mary or take our focus off God to put on Mary, but we pray through Mary, and venerate her, not worship her.
God Bless!