Protestants Get It wrong

 This is a follow up to my video, found here: Could This Bible Verse Destroy Protestantism?

With over 75,000 views, 4,500 likes, and 3,400 comments in its first year, it is probably the most popular video on my channel.

But almost no one gets the purpose. Even after responding with explantions to hundreds of comments, people continue to overlook the message of the video – if they even want to know what it is.

I actually think, by now, that a great many don't want to know; they really just want to argue their own point.

So I decided to clarify it here. Ready?

This is the point of the video:

When it comes to handling Scripture, Protestants inconsistently accuse Catholics of doing the same thing they themselves do.

Yep, that’s basically it.

Here is the form of handling I refer to, which Protestants follow in their arguments:

• The Bible says “X” (insert text "proof").

• Catholics teach “- X”.

• So, Catholics are unbiblical.
  
  

That conclusion is stated in various ways:
“Catholics ignore the Bible...”
“Catholics elevate tradition over the Bible...”
“Catholics follow the Pope instead of the Bible...” etc., ad nauseum

But the important thing here to understand is that:

A. Protestants WANT to argue with those who disagree with them.

B. It is in the interaction between what the Bible says and how Protestants and Catholics understand what it says (in other words, what is said vs. what is actually meant or taught).
It is this juxtaposition between what is said and what is understood, aka, interpreted, ... when those two can be turned in some way to favor Protestant notions, then Catholics are attacked for being everything from satan worshipers to clueless dolts who are incapable understanding as well as Protestants.

See What I Did There?

At this point, I decided to turn the tables.
So, I made an argument based on what James 2:24 says that (allegedly) shows that Protestantism is unbiblical.
I focused on this verse, among many like it, because it seems to contradict not just a teaching, not even just an important teaching, but a core and essential teaching of Protestantism.

A little history is needed here. The Protestant Reformation was caused because Martin Luther came up with two “solas”: sola fide (justification is by faith alone) and sola scriptura (the Bible and nothing else can ever be the authority in matters of faith and practice).
The first was the driving force of the rebellion, while the latter was the excuse applied to the former.

But since sola fide is a direct verbal contradiction to James 2:24 (the only verse that even comes close to those terms), not only is Protestantism’s chief theological position challenged, the justification (pun intended) for sola fide (sola scriptura) is as well.

Okay, so here it is laid out, according to the formulas Protestants use:

• The Bible says “justification is not just by faith alone, but also by works.” (James 2:24).

• Protestants teach, “justification is by NOT works at all, and IS by faith alone”.

• So, Protestants are unbiblical.*

* Protestants hinge their entire theology on the opinion that all you need is, "faith" - you wave your hands in the air, clutch the Bible, and proclaim, "I believe in Jesus!"
And while that sounds easy on the surface, its a derivation of Martin Luther's idea, called, "faith alone," or "sola fides."
And when I say, "derivation," it is because, curiously, nowhere in the original Bible is sola fide found as a doctrine. That word, "alone," was added by Martin Luther in his own re-write of The Bible.
What it said originally is this: that faith in Christ is outside the workings of the Law (the Old Testament Law) - but if we keep reading the passage from Romans 3 where this is found, we see that same Law is not abandoned because we have faith!
The word, "alone" isn't there; it was added by one man. And while this has finally been acknowledged in our time, thanks to scholarly work, a great many have been taught otherwise.... and they won't let it go.
 - Catholicity

How Not To Respond

Now I know excatly how to get out of this biblical-theological conundrum – I did it for 20 years as an Evangelical.

One simpy makes the side-step argument that what James is talking about is not what Luther was talking about. OK, maybe so.
But it doesn’t matter.
Why?
Because the point is this: No matter what exegetical / historical / traditional explanations are brought in, the fact remains that what the original Bible says is not what Protestantism teaches.

Since that is all it takes for a Protestant to accuse a Catholic of being unbiblical, then it works just as well against Protestants (even more so, actually, because the Catholic does not affirm sola scriptura).

The Protestant, then, has two choices:

a. Admit they do the same thing Catholics do, i.e., interpret Scripture their own way and not just quote it in support of their theology, or

b. Remain inconsistent in their argumentation and could care less if they are – which is no change.

The problem with either is that each undermines Protestantism’s claims with which they support their very existence. THAT is why James 2:24 threatens Protestantism, not because they simply misinterpret the verse (if they even do).

If You Really Want to Comment

The video was an extended illustration (using several examples – not just James 2:24) of why citing prooftexts and ignoring context can be done by both sides but it isn’t what we should be doing.

This is why every comment that tries to prove that the Protestant interpretation of James 2:24, or any other for that matter, is correct is just another moot point.

The best you'll get from that is to open the door for Catholics to do the same thing.

But that is not what Protestants want at all. Nope.

Because their issue is not simply that Catholics interpret Scripture differently (or even wrong, in their mind).
If it were that simple, they could just treat Catholicism the same way they do the 100’s of other denominations with which they disagree.

But that would mean they minded their own affairs and quit worrying about what others do or think – and that 'aint EVER going to hapen.

They prefer, instead, to escalate the issue into one of biblical vs. traditional authority, giving themselves the former, and denying anyone the latter. So, ironically, all their comments only succeed in supporting what I've pointed out.

So, if you think I am wrong, then either justify the accusations Protestants make against Catholics when they do the same thing Protestants do, or, explain the difference between what Protestants and Catholics do with regard to biblical observation, interpretation, and application.
THAT might be interesting!

adited from a post here: https://douglasbeaumont.com/2023/01/22/the-real-problem-with-protestant-biblical-interpretation/