Site Visit Guide: British Libary site visit

Question for Students:

Historically, the Roman Catholic church has insisted that the original teaching of Christ and his apostles has been protected and nurtured by the church.  This perhaps may be the reason that the church was in no hurry to translate the Bible into the vernaculars (the languages people speak), and why the church was happy to use the Vulgate (written in Latin) as its authoritative text.

Protestants, however, raised concerns about the Roman Catholic church’s role as the guardian of the  apostolic teaching. Protestants would argue that the teaching of Jesus and his apostles is found first and foremost in the Scriptures (not in the church). It is therefore imperative that: 1) Christians have access to the Scriptures in their own language, and 2) Our printed Bibles be based on the oldest, best manuscripts available.

One of the consequences of the Protestant approach is that, for many people, the biblical text is now ‘untethered’ from any particular community or authority. And this can lead to what Brennan Breed calls the ‘nomadic’ character of texts. They can go anywhere and do anything, without reference to a place of ‘origin’ or belonging.

Most evangelicals would agree that Breed represents one extreme, while the position of the Medieval Catholic church represents another extreme.  As you take into consideration the story of the biblical text as represented at the British library – do you see the possibility for a middle ground?  This is to say, can we argue that the apostolic teaching is grounded both in the church AND in the Scriptures themselves.  Post your 300-500 word response, and then interact with the other students.