1. You can't interpret the New Testament without the Holy Mother Church!
Answer: What do you mean I can't interpret a first century document without "Holy Mother Church"? Why is it that I (and plenty of other people) can interpret other works of antiquity just fine without the Roman Catholic Church? Why does the Roman Church's interpretation reign supreme here?
The common response I get when asking these questions is: because the Roman Church is God's true church! But then I ask, "how do I know they are God's true church?" Catholic answer: because they go back to the first century! As you can see (click on to make bigger) in the diagram below, this is circular reasoning and can be dismissed as illogical.
2. You're a biased Protestant who will give credence to Protestantism and Lutheranism instead of Roman Catholicism!
Answer: No, I am not a protestant, in the strictest sense. Protestants are those who originally protested against the Catholic church in the 1500s. Modern day Protestants are commonly known as Reformed and hold to the beliefs of the original Protestants and Reformers. This would be true of any church that completely holds to any of the detailed reformed confessions and the Bible as a dualistic authority - scripture + church tradition (note: reformed guys claim sola scriptura but still treat their confession as if it were a sort of sub-scripture: not the inspired word of God but what we should believe nonetheless because it goes back in history, aka tradition). The reason I do not identify myself as a protestant or "reformed" is because I do not hold completely to any of the detailed reformed confessions. I only believe the King James Bible as God's book. I'm a Bible Believer. That doesn't mean I think Protestants are of Satan, but simply that we hold different non-essential beliefs stemming from different origins. They are my brothers in Christ. I'm grateful for the work of the Protestants to free the people from the control of the Catholic church (without which I wouldn't have the right to do this study), but that doesn't mean I follow the original reformers as a source of my doctrine. The Protestant derives his doctrinal beliefs from scripture plus the reformed tradition and I derive it straight from the Bible. So no, I'm not a biased Protestant who will give credence to strict protestantism. I'm a Bible Believer who will give credence to whatever the Bible (in this case, the New Testament) says. In that case, it will be extremely unbiased. You Catholics then have nothing to worry about! If the New Testament clearly teaches and affirms Roman Catholicism like you say it does, then I should accept it as well as an unbiased Bible Believer!
3. Forget the New Testament! Catholics existed in the first century! It's true!
Answer: all of the alleged quotes of early church fathers in support of Catholicism come after the first century. Why do you want me to avoid the New Testament? Are you afraid it might actually expose you as being of Satan?
Now that the objections are laid aside, let's dig in to the New Testament!
