Radio Claims
I listen to a fair bit of Christian radio. One think I notice as a Catholic that I never paid much attention to as a protestant is how they constantly use phrases like “scripture tells us”, “we know from the bible”, “the bible clearly teaches”, etc. Often the show itself is called something like Let The Bible Speak or Through The Bible. The times they use this phrase the most is when they are attacking some teaching by other Christians. Sometimes it is a Catholic teaching. Sometimes it is another protestant group. So how do they explain this group continuing to teach what they think is contrary to the scriptures? Well there are 3 options:
1. They are apostate. They simply have rejected biblical Christianity. This was the position the early reformers took with everyone who disagreed with them. The trouble is it becomes more and more untenable as time goes on. As generation after generation goes by it just becomes impossible to believe that those who disagree with you are not serious about their faith and not saved. Some people still teach this but it really relies on not interacting with those on the other side of the controversy.
2. The bible is unclear on this point. The problem is this is the very opposite of what they say. They say the only way they know their position is right is because the bible is clear. Often they try and have it both ways on this issue. So they will acknowledge a controversy until you scratch them. How do you know the other side of this controversy is not right? Then they retreat to the “bible is clear” line.
3. The Holy Spirit has blessed us and made scripture clearer to us than to them. This is always good because they can always say this is just a mystery of God as to why He did this. This is convenient because there is absolutely no imaginable reason why this should be true. It is good to have a way out of a rational argument when your position is irrational. The trouble is anyone can make this claim. Jehovah’s Witnesses make it. Why is your claim better then theirs? It also starts to sound like a claim to have a special authority to interpret scripture. Really a violation of Sola Scriptura.
Of course the Catholic church does make pretty much that same claim. But the church has a reason why we should take it seriously. It can maintain that all these groups are sincere and doing the best they can by the lights they have. They just have inferior lighting because Sola Scriptura is a flawed rule of faith.
The point is that from the protestant point of view all 3 of these positions are problematic. But there are no others. Either sincere Christians can legitimately disagree about this or they can’t. If they can then the bible is unclear. There is something more than the bible required. There is just no other place to go.
The bottom line is protestants want to teach with authority. People are looking to faith to provide a firm foundation and that is exactly what Jesus claims the church should give us. But the protestant idea of making the scriptures rather than the church the firm foundation just does not hold up. It collapses when exposed to scrutiny.
Now radio preachers are worse than most in this area. A typical brick and mortar church will not have to make so many explicit claims to be telling you what the bible says. Normally they will use emotional appeals to gain credibility. Moving music and friendly fellowship allow the church to establish a trust relationship week after week. Radio programs need to make the claim more explicit because they don’t have time to build up that trust. But the fact is there is no logical reason to accept their reading of scripture in either case.
