On the Journey, Episode 157: If We Hadn't Become Catholic...

Former Protestant pastors Ken Hensley and Kenny Burchard continue their series looking at how they began to rethink their commitment to the Bible alone as the sole and sufficient rule for faith and practice. Matt, Ken, and Kenny look back at the history of the early Church to ask some key questions about "sola Scriptura." For instance, why did it take so many centuries for the Church to formalize the New Testament? And if "sola Scriptura" was the belief and practice of the early Church, why do the most ancient Christian creeds make no mention of it? More episodes: https://chnetwork.org/on-the-journey-show/ Our Online Community: https://www.chnetwork.org/community Support our work: https://www.chnetwork.org/compass

Former Protestant pastors Ken Hensley and Kenny Burchard continue their series looking at how they began to rethink their commitment to the Bible alone as the sole and sufficient rule for faith and practice. The two passages of Scripture most often cited in defense of sola Scriptura are the account of the "noble Bereans" in Acts 17, and Paul referring to Scripture as "God-breathed" in 2 Timothy 3:16. But do these passages truly teach sola Scriptura, or are there better ways to understand them? More episodes: https://chnetwork.org/on-the-journey-show/ Our Online Community: https://www.chnetwork.org/community Support our work: https://www.chnetwork.org/compass

Former Protestant pastors Ken Hensley and Kenny Burchard continue their series looking at how they began to rethink their commitment to the Bible alone as the sole and sufficient rule for faith and practice. In this episode, they discuss whether the case for "sola Scriptura" is something that is clear from the teachings of Scripture itself, or whether one has to come at Scripture already having a "sola Scriptura" mindset in order to argue that Scripture teaches "sola Scriptura." You followed that, right? More stories and episodes: https://www.chnetwork.org Our Online Community: https://www.chnetwork.og/community Support our work: https://www.chnetwork.org/compass  

  We're taking a short break this week from our series on sola Scriptura to invite you to a special event, exclusively for Protestant pastors who have become -- or are thinking seriously about becoming -- Catholics. There are certain things that only clergy converts to Catholicism can truly relate to -- such as planning your last sermon before resigning from ministry. In this episode, Ken and Kenny share how that last sermon played out for each of them, as well as who they were most afraid to tell about their decision to become Catholic, and which pastor convert was most helpful to them personally as they entered the Church. The uniqueness of this shared experience among clergy converts highlights why we are so excited to be able to partner with the St. Paul Center for a special conference designed exclusively for converts to the Catholic Faith whose background in Protestant ministry, academia, or the mission field had to be left behind when they became Catholic. The event will take place May 30-June 1 at the St. Paul Center in Steubenville, OH, near the campus of Franciscan University. We're keeping the event small so everyone can have a chance to talk to everyone else and share experiences, but many of the names of those involved are ones you already know: Dr. Scott Hahn, Dr. John Bergsma, Msgr. Jeffrey Steenson, and of course, Ken Hensley and Kenny Burchard, all of whom served as Protestant pastors of some kind before becoming Catholic. If you're a Catholic convert from a professional ministry background, we'd love to see you there! Please reach out to us if you're interested. More information: chnetwork.org/clergyconference We'll be back next week with another episode in our ongoing series on sola Scriptura!

Former Protestant pastors Ken Hensley and Kenny Burchard continue their series looking at how they began to rethink their commitment to the Bible alone as the sole and sufficient rule for faith and practice. In the last episode, Matt, Ken, and Kenny discussed how "sola Scriptura" was clearly not the authority model followed by the early Church. But are there any clues in the writings of the New Testament that indicate whether or not the apostles expected "sola Scriptura" to be the norm for the generations of Christians that followed them? More stories and episodes: https://www.chnetwork.org Our Online Community: https://www.chnetwork.org/community Support our work: https://www.chnetwork.org/compass

Former Protestant pastors Ken Hensley and Kenny Burchard continue their series looking at how they began to rethink their commitment to the Bible alone as the sole and sufficient rule for faith and practice. In the previous episode, they discussed how sola Scriptura does not, and cannot work. But if sola Scriptura is indeed Biblical, then Christians are obliged to observe it. This time around, Matt, Ken, and Kenny begin to reflect on whether or not sola Scriptura is the teaching of the Bible, starting with what we see recorded about how Christian authority functioned in the New Testament itself. More episodes: https://chnetwork.org/on-the-journey-show/ Our Online Community: https://www.chnetwork.org/community Support our work: https://www.chnetwork.org/compass

Former Protestant pastors Ken Hensley and Kenny Burchard continue their series looking at how they began to rethink their commitment to the Bible alone as the sole and sufficient rule for faith and practice. If the Bible Alone is the sole source of authority for Christian faith and practice under sola Scriptura, then why are so many Christians who hold to sola Scriptura divided against one another over what the Bible means? Matt, Ken, and Kenny talk about the implications intrinsic to sola Scriptura that ultimately make it unworkable on its own as a foundation for Christian authority. More stories and resources: https://www.chnetwork.org Our Online Community: https://www.chnetwork.org/community Support our work: https://www.chnetwork.org/compass

Former Protestant pastors Ken Hensley and Kenny Burchard continue their series looking at how they began to rethink their commitment to the Bible alone as the sole and sufficient rule for faith and practice. One of the key effects of the Reformation was that the right of private judgment -- which had always been allowed in a limited way by the Catholic Church-- was expanded by Luther and others to become a universal right, immediately leading to discord and division even among Luther and his earliest followers. Matt, Ken and Kenny argue that this is one of the main reasons that the Reformation doctrine of sola Scriptura simply does not -- and cannot -- work. More stories and resources: https:///www.chnetwork.org Our Online Community: https://community.chnetwork.org Support our work: https://chnetwork.org/donate

When Ken Hensley and Kenny Burchard were Protestant pastors, they believed and taught what many Christians profess: the doctrine of sola Scriptura, which holds that the Bible alone is the sole and sufficient rule of faith. Along with fellow Catholic convert Matt Swaim, they begin a series unpacking the basic conditions and consequences of sola Scriptura, and share the ways that each of them began to question its workability, its historicity, and whether or not it was even a biblically sound doctrine. More stories and resources: https://www.chnetwork.org Our Online Community: https://community.chnetwork.org Support our work: https://www.chnetwork.org/compass

If you've only ever been to Protestant church services, what should you know before you visit a Catholic Mass? Ken Hensley was a Baptist pastor, Kenny Burchard was a Foursquare pastor, and Matt Swaim came from the Wesleyan Holiness movement. Now that all three of them are Catholic, they share some of the things they wish people had explained to them before they went to Catholic Mass for the first time. More stories and resources: https://www.chnetwork.org Our Online Community: https://community.chnetwork.org Support our work: https://www.chnetwork.org/compass