And Jesus answered him, “Blessed are you, Simon Bar Jonah!  For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but My Father who is in heaven.  And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My Church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.                                              Matthew 16:17-18

   And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to Me.  Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you.  And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.   Matthew 28:18-20

So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus Himself being the cornerstone, in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord.  In Him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit.

                                                                                                       Ephesians 2:19-22

   But we ought always to give thanks to God for you, brothers beloved by the Lord, because God chose you as the firstfruits to be saved, through sanctification by the Spirit and belief in the truth.  To this He called you through our gospel, so that you may obtain the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.  So then, brothers, stand firm and hold to the traditions that you were taught by us, either by our spoken word or by our letter.

   Now may our Lord Jesus Christ Himself, and God our Father, who loved us and gave us eternal comfort and good hope through grace, comfort your hearts and establish them in every good work and word.

                                                                                                       2 Thessalonians 2:13-17

But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have firmly believed, knowing from whom you learned it and how from childhood you have been acquainted with the sacred writings, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus.  All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be competent, equipped for every good work.       2 Timothy 3:14-16

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ Jesus,

Glory be to Jesus!  In my devotions this morning (28 January) from the Treasury of Daily Prayer, was this writing from St. Vincent of Lérins, a fifth century Gallic Christian author concerning the necessity of the interpretations of the Church for right interpretation of Holy Scripture.

From: A Commonitory: Chapter II [5-7]

{Please note that “Catholic” in this context is not in reference to Roman Catholicism, as it did not exist as a separate entity at this time, but “Catholic” means the whole, universal, Holy Church.}

   But here someone perhaps will ask, Since the canon of Scripture is complete, and sufficient of itself for everything, and more than sufficient, what need is there to join with it the authority of the Church's interpretation? For this reason—because, owing to the depth of Holy Scripture, all do not accept it in one and the same sense, but one understands its words in one way, another in another; so that it seems to be capable of as many interpretations as there are interpreters.  For Novatian expounds it one way, Sabellius another, Donatus another, Arius, Eunomius, Macedonius, another, Photinus, Apolllinaris, Priscillian, another, Iovinian, Pelagius, Celestiu, another, lastly, Nestorius another.  Therefore, it is very necessary, on account of so great intricacies of such various error, that the rule for the right understanding of the prophets and apostles should be framed in accordance with the standard of Ecclesiastical and Catholic interpretation. 
   Moreover, in the Catholic Church itself, all possible care must be taken that we hold that faith which has been believed everywhere, always, by all. For that is truly and in the strictest sense "Catholic," which, as the name itself and the reason of the thing declare, comprehends all universally. This rule we shall observe if we follow universality, antiquity, consent. We shall follow universality if we confess that one faith to be true, which the whole Church throughout the world confesses; antiquity, if we in no wise depart from those interpretations which it is manifest were notoriously held by our holy ancestors and fathers; consent, in like manner, if in antiquity itself we adhere to the consentient definitions and determinations of all, or at the least of almost all priests and doctors.
   What, then, will a Catholic Christian do if a small portion of the Church have cut itself off from the communion of the universal faith? What, surely, but prefer the soundness of the whole body to the unsoundness of a pestilent and corrupt member? What, if some novel contagion seek to infect not merely an insignificant portion of the Church, but the whole? Then it will be his care to cleave to antiquity, which at this day cannot possibly be seduced by any fraud of novelty.

St. Vincent reminds us that the Holy Scriptures did not drop down into our hands like a rock from God, but more like a dove that was given to us by God by the inspiration of His Spirit through the human authors who first proclaimed the Gospel message by spoken word and then by letter (see 2 Thessalonians 2:15) as the Gospel message began to be written down over the first seven or eight decades of the Early Church. 

He wants us to understand that we need the consistent witness of the Church throughout history in order to know what is the right understanding of Holy Scripture and to then be able to dispute other interpreters that come in after the fact and try to reinterpret the Bible according to their predetermined idea of what they want the Word of God to say.  Much like St. Vincent names those who interpreted Holy Scripture their own way, contrary to the witness of the Church and eventually proclaimed “a different gospel—not that there is another one, but there are some who trouble you and want to distort the gospel of Christ” (Galatians 1:6b-7); we have many today who claim to have a “word from the Lord” that is then used to dispute what the Christian Church has proclaimed to be true for over 200 years. 

We need the two millennia old witness of the Church to avoid a misinterpretation such as led those listed by St. Vincent, beginning with Novatian, into heresy, and those today who, either by design or by accident, are also leading believers astray so as to bring to fruition St. Paul’s words to the Galatian Christians: “I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting Him who called you in the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel” (Galatians 1:6). 

          As we approach the great season of Lent, may He who is indeed the Lord of heaven and earth, bless and keep you by His grace and mercy in all truth.

In Christ’s Service,

Pastor Scott