Erik DiVietro, closet Roman Catholic?

Erik Divietro of the "KJV Only Debate Blog" (http://kjvonlydebate.com/) has left some interesting comments in his post called "Dr. Gipp Is At It Again" in response to someone named 'amigodana'. I don't know Erik DiVietro or 'amigodana', but I do know that Erik is against the purity of the King James Bible.....and it looks like he could be a closet Roman Catholic.

"You seem unwilling or incapable of examining the context of Scripture, relying on your own "God's simplicity" rather than engaging with the Scriptures with the necessary intelligence and skill."
--Erik DiVietro of the "KJV Only Debate Blog"

Genesis 40:8 And they said unto him, We have dreamed a dream, and there is no interpreter of it. And Joseph said unto them, Do not interpretations belong to God? tell me them, I pray you. "It is a specific statement about the interpretation of dreams, not about interpreting the written Scriptures" --Erik DiVietro of the "KJV Only Debate Blog"


2 Peter 1:20 Knowing this first, that no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation. "Individual Christians are not free to interpret the Bible on their own. The interpretation must be in keeping with the counsel of the Scriptures and the consent of the Church."
--Erik DiVietro of the "KJV Only Debate Blog"

Apparently Erik believes that the interpretation of the Bible does NOT belong to God.

He states that it is "necessary" to have "intelligence" and "skill" to "engage" the Scriptures....But Erik does not believe that he has the 'Scriptures" which are defined as being "holy" and "given by inspiration" (2 Tim. 3:15-16). He says that neither the King James Bible, neither the Textus Receptus (any edition), and neither the Nestle/Aland (any edition) are the PURE word of God. He actually believes that the "critical/texutal apparatus" of the Greek texts are the authority on what words are "pure" and which ones aren't.

Now about this 'skill' and 'intelligence' stuff that is "necessary' to 'engage' the Scriptures.

King David, perhaps one of the greatest Old Testament saints and greatly used of God as a prophet, was a Shepherd. Not any kind of scholar or 'intellect'.

The prophet Amos was a 'herdman'. He said "I was no prophet, neither was I a prophet's son; but I was an herdman, and a gatherer of sycomore fruit:" (Amos 7:14)

The 12 apostles were hardly scholarly material either...Acts 4:13 Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were unlearned and ignorant men, they marvelled; and they took knowledge of them, that they had been with Jesus. They were fishermen! Probably not very educated.

Does the Bible teach that you must first be intelligent and have skill to interpret the Bible?

1 Corinthians 2:5 That your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God.

Matthew 11:25 At that time Jesus answered and said, I thank thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them unto babes.

The intelligent 'scribes' and 'pharisees' could not 'engage' the Bible if their soul depended on it because they did not have faith. Faith in God and His word is what gives someone the qualifications to 'engage' the Bible (1 Pet. 2:2, 1 Cor. 2:9-16). Erik thinks we need 'intelligence' and 'skill', how about the mind of Christ and the Holy Spirit?

1 Corinthians 2:
[9] But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him.
[10] But God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit: for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God.
[11] For what man knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of man which is in him? even so the things of God knoweth no man, but the Spirit of God.
[12] Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is of God; that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God.
[13] Which things also we speak, not in the words which man's wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth; comparing spiritual things with spiritual.
[14] But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.
[15] But he that is spiritual judgeth all things, yet he himself is judged of no man.
[16] For who hath known the mind of the Lord, that he may instruct him? But we have the mind of Christ.

Any saved person who studies the word of God can understand it....2 Timothy 2:15 Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. Nobody has to 'interpret' anything in the Bible, you just have to know how to read. The Bible says what it means and means what it says. The Scripture is not of any private interpretation (2 Pet. 1:20).

Then Erik says that individual Christians cannot interpret the Bible without the counsel of other scripures "AND THE CONSENT OF THE CHURCH". Erik sounds like a full-blown closet Pope's-toe-kissing Roman Catholic. No Christian needs the "consent of the Church" for anything. What is "THE Church"? Why did Erik use a capital C? Is he a closet Roman Catholic?

With the "consent of the Church" I could....

commit fornication (1 Cor. 5:1-2)
go to the law against fellow Christians (1 Cor. 6:1-2)
go back to the Mosaic Law (Gal. 4:9-11)
quit believing in the resurrection of Christ (1 Cor. 15:12)
make circumcision a requirement for salvation (Acts 15:5)
and on and on and on......

The 'consent of the Church' means about as much as marital advice from Bill Clinton.

Anyone who studies "the Church" of early Christians (Corinth, Galatia, Jerusalem, etc.) and more modern 'church history' will find out one thing: "the Church" has not and never been united on doctrine and practice. Not in Paul's day, and not in 2015.

We need to get back to the Bible, not looking to any particular "Church" or assembly of believers. People talk about the "early church" and the "church fathers", heck with them. The 'early church' was proud of fornication and abandoned the resurrection of Christ. We were never told to follow the early church, we were told to

John 5:39 Search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me.

Isaiah 34:16 Seek ye out of the book of the LORD, and read

Jesus said....

Matthew 12:
3) But he said unto them, Have ye not read what David did....
5) Or have ye not read in the law....

Matthew 19:4 ....Have ye not read....

Matthew 21:
16) ...Yea; have ye never read,...
42) Jesus saith unto them, Did ye never read in the scriptures...

Matthew 22:31 ....have ye not read that which was spoken unto you by God..

Mark 2:25 Have ye never read what David did

Mark 12:10  And have ye not read this scripture;

Mark 12:26 have ye not read in the book of Moses

Luke 6:3 Have ye not read so much as this, what David did

Matthew 22:29  Jesus answered and said unto them, Ye do err, not knowing the scriptures, nor the power of God.

Mark 12:24 And Jesus answering said unto them, Do ye not therefore err, because ye know not the scriptures, neither the power of God?

SEVEN RULES OF BIBLE STUDY:

There are many passages in the Bible that are often abused, misused, privately interpreted, and twisted to teach some ungodly or incorrect doctrine. This arises from disobeying the rules that God has set forth in "interpreting" the Bible. God has given mankind certain rules for how to "interpret" His word in such a way that the Holy Spirit will give us understanding in it. If we do not abide by these rules, the Holy Spirit will not lead us into understanding His word.

Rules of interpretation:

Rule #1: Do not "interpret" anything (Gen. 40:8, 2 Pet. 1:20).

Rule #2: Believe what you are reading, have faith in it and do not doubt its authority. Receive it as the word of God, not the word of man (Heb. 4:2, 1 Thes. 2:13, 2 Pet. 1:21, Tit. 2:15).  

Rule #3: Take heed to the Bible "as it is written", do not spiritualize or philosophize the words of scripture. Christ and His ministers preached the Bible plainly as it is written (Matt. 26:24, Mark 1:2, 7:6, 9:13, 14:21, Luke 2:23, 3:4, John 6:31, 12:14, Acts 7:42, 15:15, Rom. 1:17, 2:24, 3:4, 3:10, 4:17, 8:36, 9:13, 9:33, 10:15, 11:8, 11:26, 15:3, 15:9, 15:21, etc.)

Rule #4: Do not alter the words of God by subtracting or adding to them nor be ashamed of them (Deut. 4:2,  Prov. 13:13, 30:5-6, Jer. 23:30, 23:36, Mark 9:38, Luke 9:26, Rev. 22:18-19).

Rule #5: Rightly divide the Bible, acknowledge the proper divisions that exist throughout God's differing dispensations/revelations to man. Put God's dealings in there proper order (2 Tim. 2:15-18).

Rule #6: The Holy Ghost teaches the person that compares scripture with scripture in order to understand it (1 Cor. 2:13, John 6:63).

Rule #7: Handle the word of God in sincerity and honesty. Do not handle it deceitfully, which is "proof texting" and reading what you already believe into the Bible (2 Cor. 2:17, 4:2).

Every heresy in the world of "Christian" religion originates with a failure to obey these 7 rules of Bible study. Those are the rules that the Holy Spirit has set forth in His Book and those are His requirements for you to obey before He will guide you into all truth (John 16:13). Here are some examples...The Baptist Briders will show you John 3:3 to teach that people were born of the Spirit before Calvary and Acts chapter 2. The Brider will ignore scripture rather than compare scripture. If you compare John 1:12-13 with John 3:1-8 with John 7:38-39 the Baptist Brider theology falls apart. The Holy Spirit was not given until Jesus Christ was glorified at the right hand of the Father, those believers in the Gospels were only given the power to become the sons of God, it was not instantaneous like it is under the Grace dispensation (Eph. 1:13). Another example....the "Church of Christ" Campbellites will read their baptismal regeneration beliefs into Romans 6:3-4, Galatians 3:27-28, and Colossians 2:12 to teach that water baptism puts you into Jesus Christ. However, they do this by ignoring the context of the passages and not comparing them with other scriptures. The baptism that puts you into Jesus Christ is done through the faith of the operation of God, performed by God the Holy Spirit (1 Cor. 12:12-18, Col. 2:12). They also ignore the rule of taking the word of God "as it is written", the Campbellite spiritualizes the words "baptized in Jesus Christ" and says that it is really a figurative way of saying that we are baptized into water.
 
--Eli Caldwell