Expert: Rev. Stuart Woodward - 6/10/2011

Question
I am forced to conclude that the Protestant Faith is based on faulty and selective Biblical interpretation as well as erroneous reasoning.While Protestants can of course be good Christians, at its heart Protestantism is religious anarchy which will lead many devout souls to perdition. Jesus prayed that we may "all be one"(JN 17:21) and that there may be "one flock, one shepherd" (JN 10:16). I believe that He established a Church against which "the gates of Hell shall not prevail" (MT 16:18). I don't believe Jesus intended for Christianity to be an eternal debating club, which is the condition to which Sola Scriptura relegates our religion. How is baptist, Methodist, Lutheran, etc;, etc;. etc; any different? There are like 2500 different branches among you all, some liberal some not? Can you not see all the division in Protestantism? Sola Scriptura gives every group their "own" view..which they form their own theology. Thanks!

Answer
Hello Shawn,
Thank you for your question. Many of the points you raise have much validity. I agree that Jesus prayed there would be one flock and one shepherd. I also believe that the gates of hell shall not prevail against the church. I also believe that there are many petty divisions among those described as protestant.
However, you write as if there are no divisions within Catholicism. Over the centuries there have been many including the divide with those who will use only the Tridentine mass, many of who have been expelled. Even today there are many Catholics who profoundly disagree with the church's stance on contraception, on abortion, on women priests and the permission for priests to marry.
At root protestants and Roman Catholics both believe that salvation is by the grace of God. The difference primarily has to do with how that grace is appropriated, the one believing that it is by sacrament and the other by personal faith. Although the battle cry of 'sola scriptura' has been used as a shorthand description of the protestant position it is not as simple as that. We also believe that the scriptures must be understood and applied in the light of the active guidance of the Holy Spirit.
I guess one of the big divides centres in the authority of the Pope. Thankfully most of Protestantism has moved away from believing the Pope to be the antichrist and he is accepted as a Christian leader. However I, and others like me, cannot see how the concept of papal supremacy is right. It certainly does not fit with Matthew 16:18 where the rock Jesus refers to when read in the Greek is clearly Himself and it does not fit with any practice of the church described in the book of Acts or the teaching of the Epistles.
I suspect my comments will not convince you but I do pray that God will continue to shed His grace on us all bringing to us a deeper understanding of His ways and purposes and helping us all (especially myself) repent where we have been wrong.
May God bless you and lead you.
Stuart Woodward