One question Protestants can’t answer

In this episode Trent follows up his discussion on Monday with a look at one important question that Protestants can’t uniformly answer.

Video Contents:
00:00 - Introduction
00:25 - The "one question"
04:02 - Eternal security
05:39 - Does baptism save infants?
09:21 - Sola scriptura and sola fide
13:15 - Which Christology is essential?
16:52 - Are Catholics Christians?
20:00 - Conclusion

[kmtm]

Anyone: “Are Catholics Christians?”
Me 10 years ago: “definitely not”
Me 7 years ago: “yeah, they are our brothers and sisters in Christ”
Me now: “yes, and I am a Catholic Christian”, after being confirmed in November 2019, thanks be to God!

[phoult]

The disagreement over "once saved, always saved" seems like a pretty big deal to me. I've read some intense protestant arguments on both sides of that issue, yet both sides still claimed sola scriptura and accused the other of being "false teachers" and not Christian. Seems like Jesus should have left an authority to help the Church interpret Scripture...

[TurkeySmashR]

I went from being a non-practicing Christian to now I'm Catholic, and one of the problems I immediately ran into with the Protestant understanding of Christianity was: if Sola Scriptura is true, how did they ever come to conclude that as an authoritative doctrine? Because no where in the Bible does it say or imply that the Bible is the only source of divine revelation there is. Same with Sola Fide, by who's authoritative interpretation did we conclude that we only need faith to be justified? If that's the case, then why is there even a Bible?

Authority. This is what Protestants do not have, and this is why they are so confused and divided even with each other.

[skuttsupreme]

I am a former Methodist and baptist. Recently I felt something pulling me toward Catholic Church out of nowhere. I began to pray the way Catholics say to pray. And now, I am ready to convert but I live in a sea of Protestants who will scorch me and my family. I began to believe we should move, and now we’re moving to Florida, again, out of nowhere. The prayers are what showed me I’ve been wrong. Protestantism is false and I know that now.

I studied the theology with an unbiased look, and again, it appeared to me that I’ve been wrong.

Thank you for the video. The part about “then you weren’t saved anyway” is spot on. I never knew how illogical Protestants were until I looked objectively and prayed the way Catholics say. It’s amazing what has happened, and I still don’t know what to do or where this all came from.

[raymondomobhude]

Romans 8:14, “For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God”. In the end with God, there won’t be Catholics, Protestants, Christians etc, there will just be “sons of God”.

[trailrvs]

In a way, Sola Scriptura is actually giving primacy to one’s own opinion. It’s one’s own opinion about how they interpret the Bible. It makes everyone the final authority.

[cinemadolce]

As a Protestant, though I don’t agree with everything you believe, obviously, I applaud you and appreciate that you did seem to outline the various Protestant beliefs accurately, and pretty fairly.

Keep up the good work. You got my subscription 😎👍🏼

[JasperOferral]

Thank you Trent. I will keep watching. You are a clear communicator. I appreciate it.

[zsvdnps]

The more I learn, the more Catholicism seems compelling.

[ZanethMedia]

I have had moments in my walk with Christ in the last couple of years where I had come to one particular conclusion and upon reading church councils I have overturned some of those beliefs because I am willing to accept them my personal interpretation does not outweigh tradition. I’m saying this as a protestant that has been investigating in Catholicism and being drawn more toward it. Please pray for me!

[BlueCielo]

I would consider myself a Protestant but recently I've been feeling this huge conviction about the understanding of my faith. I've been trying to research more and have stumbled upon many Catholic videos and literature, and although I currently still feel disagreement with regards to certain doctrine and dogma I still can't help the overwhelming feeling of needing to understand more. To deepen my faith. I've been reading about church history and then going to study the church fathers. I really wish I knew a Catholic priest or someone well rounded in their Catholic knowledge that could help me with these questions I have. If anybody has any book recommendations I will gladly take any advice! Thank you!

[IsThereAnyHandleThatIsntTaken]

There is a difference between a main doctrine and an important one. Whether baptism saves infants or not is certainly important, but not essential. A main doctrine is something that determines whether you're a Christian or not. These are the ones that I think make you a Christian(as a Protestant):

1. You believe the Trinity
2. You believe the resurrection
3. You have faith in Jesus as God the Son

It might be an incomplete list if I think about it more, but I think that's it. I'm still not entirely sure whether Roman Catholics(ones that follow all the doctrines) are saved, but I'm leaning towards yes at the moment(I'd have to change my list if it's a no). My main problems with Roman Catholicism are these:

1. The gospel of it. Romans 11:6 is a pretty clear refutation of it, and Ephesians 2:8-10 shows that salvation is by grace through faith, which results in works.

2. The doctrines about Mary that the Roman Catholic church says are required for salvation. They are not supported by scripture. I'm not going to pretend I'm an expert on this, but I know that 3 of them are the bodily assumption, the perpetual virginity, and the immaculate conception. There is nothing in scripture that supports any of these, and certainly nothing clear. If you believe these three, fine; while I think you're wrong, it's not heretical(but saying you must believe them to be saved is nonsense), though praying to Mary is. It's idolatry.

3. Giving the Roman Catholic church the authority to interpret scripture. Not just to interpret it, but to tell you how you have to interpret it. "But it's tradition" is not an argument. If tradition said that you have to accept whatever the government says, obviously that's wrong, because scripture does not support it. The government frequently says wrong things. If a teaching is wrong, don't accept it. We are supposed to do good, and accepting wrong teachings is bad.

4. Placing tradition over scripture. Kind of the same thing as number 3. If scripture is against tradition, then tradition is wrong. I would cite the verse about how all scripture is profitable for teaching, correction, reproof, etc., but I don't remember what it was and I can't look it up because YouTube might delete my comment.

I think that's pretty much all I have to say.

[skiamach]

I have always thought there was a very easy Biblical answer to the question of the essentials: "Confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, and you will be saved." If a person has done these things then they are a fellow Christian. I know that there will be questions about what the phrases within the statement mean, but that is where we begin. In regards to the place of scripture: The Bereans were praised when they checked with scripture to confirm that what Paul was preaching to them was accurate. If the teaching of tradition conflicts with the teaching of scripture, which should you follow? The answer to that question seems obvious to me. I do not think protestants dismiss tradition entirely. We can learn from what has been handed down to us. But we need to be careful with tradition or else we become like the pharisees who taught the traditions of men as the commandments of God. This problem is universal and can happen in protestant churches as easily as Roman Catholic or Orthodox. Finally, certain doctrines can be very important and yet not be essential. The security of the believer is a doctrine that protestants do not agree upon, and yet we still acknowledge that those on both sides of the doctrine are still Christian. There is more that can be said, but this is getting too long. I appreciate your perspective and consider you a brother in Christ.

[KSTrekker]

The lack of authority regarding what is/isn’t Christianity is what drove me into the arms of the Catholic Church. It all depends on someone’s narrow or wide interpretation of the Bible.

[triconcert]

Excellent listening! Thanks Trent Horn!

[Josephy]

for me here is root of every thing to be a Christian, 1) you believe in the trinity and they are one 2) you believe in Jesus Christ as our Lord and savoir 3) and you try to do the will of God the Father, this are the things you need to believe and do to be save because only Christians are allowed to go to heaven

[everydaycatholic]

Thanks for this video Trent! What started me off in the pursuit of “the Church God wants me in” was the disunity within Protestantism, when Scripture calls us to be one

[SaHayes-ituw]

I'm protestant and as I listened to you, I realized how I have never heard pushback on many of my protestant beliefs. I've learned so much from you so thanks for your content.

[donatist]

Episcopalian here... The Nicene Creed is a good summary of essential doctrines.

[MicheMoffatt]

I’m an evangelical Christian - and I’m so glad I found your channel. Whilst I do believe Sola Scriptura and sola Fide, I believe that is that we are saved by the grace of God if we put faith in him…… works are important, but not what earns us salvation.
I think anyone who believes in Jesus as Lord and as the son of God - it would be strange for them to make a blanket statement saying catholics are not Christian. It is not biblically accurate for those saying scripture and faith alone can rule out Roman Catholics from the faith. Just my thoughts. I’m going to find more of your videos - this was a good watch! Thank you x