Quote:
Originally Posted by Teuthida
I have a question about the bible itself. Who do Catholics believe wrote it? The two testaments are hundreds (thousands?) of years apart. Is it the word of god as written by prophets? Couldn't there have been a mistranslation? Especially the new testament which was first Greek...then Latin...then English? (Not looking any of this up myself so you can answer  ) A lot of the rules seem like they're purely of their time (and if written by a whole bunch of people, they'd surely have their own views on things and include them). Why stick with them in the modern era? Is that why there's the whole picking and choosing thing going on, with some rules being followed strictly and others completely ignored? Who decides which rules to follow? The pope in your case?
Follow up question to that last bit: The pope is the word of God right? Or God is suppose to talk to him? But isn't the pope voted in? Doesn't it seem a bit silly that God would be like: "Oh this is the guy you want me to talk to? Well, ok. You did vote on it and all. " Or do I have that completely wrong and he's just there to govern the religious matters according to his own views on things?
Dunno if you ever saw this. Pretty interesting. Dude follows the bible to the tee for a full year.
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Sorry it's taken me so long to respond. I have been researching this question to make sure I get it right, but I kept running out of time to actually type up a response. I don't have much time now, but I'm going to do my best.
The bible has many writers spanning thousands of years. It is a collection of books with no single writer. The Catholic Church assembled the bible from those works believed to be inspired by God. Through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, these writers recorded what was revealed to them by God. Therefore, God is the author of the bible. Each writing must be taken in context with the time it was written and our understanding of the person who wrote it, but each is divinely inspired.
Mistranslations are possible and do exist, although not to the degree you might imagine. There are several versions of the bible and some are better than others for different reasons. Some are more literal translations and some focus more on accurately transcribing the meaning into our modern languages. However, despite this, we are blessed to have many ancient manuscripts from the bible, some dating to just a few years after the books were originally written. Through these pieces of the bible, we can assure ourselves that our modern translations are accurate.
As far as the rules of the bible, there are a few things that must be understood. First, as mentioned above, everything in the bible must be understood in context both within the time/culture it was written and within context to the rest of the bible. Secondly, there are two main types of laws in the bible. There is the ceremonial law and there is the law of Christ. Jesus fulfilled the ceremonial law and therefore, it is no longer binding on Christians. I never has been. It was only binding on those upon whom it was delivered; the Jews. The ceremonial laws include such laws as many of the ones followed in the video you posted. Because of this, following everything in the bible literally is a pointless (although interesting) exercise. Christians are still bound however by the law of Christ which includes natural law. These include many of the requirements from the New Testament and some from the Old Testament. Most visible would probably be the ten commandments or Jesus's commandment to "Love the Lord your God with your whole heart and love your neighbor as yourself."
The Pope is the leader of the Church on earth and the successor to Saint Peter. The Cardinals choose the Pope, but are guided by the Holy Spirit. This does not mean that all Popes are perfect (they are human), but there election is guided by God. As Jesus said, (I'm not quoting this directly, but the gist is there), "And I say to you, you are Peter and upon this rock I will build my Church and the gates of hell will not prevail against it." If we believe what Jesus is saying (protip: we do), then we can be assured that the Church is protected by God. This is why whenever a new Pope is selected, you should laugh at the media as they stupidly assume it to be like any other earthly election and ask if the Pope will change any of the Church's teachings. The Pope will not. His main purpose is to preserve the Church. Anyone who thinks the Pope will change the Church's teachings on women priests, homosexuality, contraception, etc. doesn't understand the Church and how it is not a human institution, but a divine one.
Sorry if any of that is unclear. I typed this up relatively quickly, so apologies if it is confusing or wrongly worded. I'll answer the other questions as soon as I can.