catholicsince33ad

Before we go through the bible passages that protestants give as proof text for Sola Scriptura let us start with some quotes from St Francis De Sales when he dealt with this matter with the Calvinist.

These first quotes refer to the how these “Reformers” have no mission to set off teaching what the scriptures mean or what the faith is since they were not commissioned by the historic church. As Romans 10:15 says “And how are they to preach unless they are sent?”. I don’t think it necessary  for us to go through all the passages in the previous page that show not any lay believer can go preach the faith or if they do it cannot contradict what the officials of the church teach who are guardians of it.

St Francis De sales says:  “First your ministers had not the conditions required for the position which they sought to maintain, and the enterprise which they undertook. Wherefore they are inexcusable and you yourself’s also, who knew and still ought to know.”

“The office they claimed was that of ambassadors of Jesus Christ our Lord; the affair they undertook was to declare a formal divorce between our Lord and the ancient Church his Spouse; to arrange a second and new marriage with this young madam, of better grace, said they. For to stand up as preachers of Gods Word and pastor of souls ; what is it but to call oneself ambassador and legate of our Lord, according to that of the Apostle “We are therefore ambassadors of Christ.”

“And they say that the whole of Christendom has failed, that the whole church has erred and all truth disappeared, what is this but to say that the Lord has abandoned his Church, has broken the sacred tie of marriage with her? and to put forward a new church? is it not an attempt to thrust upon this sacred and Holy husband a second wife? This is what the ministers of the pretend church have undertaken, this is what hey boast of having done”

“To be legates and ambassadors they should have been sent, they should have credit from him who they boasted of being sent by.”

“Tell me , what business had you to hear them and believe them without having any assurance of their commission and of the approval of Our Lord, whose legates they called themselves? You have No justification for having quitted that ancient Church in which you were baptized, on the faith of preachers who had no legitimate mission from the Master”. (De Sales, Francis. 1989. The Catholic Controversy pg 11-13. Rockford, Illinois: TAN Books and publishers. )

Passages used as proof text’s for Sola Scriptura

2 Tim 3:14-17 “But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have firmly believed, knowing from whom you learned it 15 and how from childhood you have been acquainted with the sacred writings, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. 16 All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, 17 that the “man of God” may be complete, equipped for every good work.

• First lets start in the beginning. Timothy is told to continue in what he has learned about the scriptures. While we can learn by studying on our own if you keep reading it says “remembering from whom you learned it”. This seems to imply that it was not Timothy’s private interpretation but him receiving the faith or true interpretation from those before him that ultimately came from a person in the position to preach. As St Paul says in Romans 10:15 “15 And how are they to preach unless they are sent”. St Paul reminds Timothy that he was picked by him and that he was given a position of Authority especially when it came to teaching the meaning of scriptures to the church which came by the imposition of hands 1Timothy 4:13 “13 Until I come, devote yourself to the public reading of Scripture, to exhortation, to teaching. 14 Do not neglect the gift you have, which was given you by prophecy when the council of elders laid their hands on you. 15 Practice these things, immerse yourself in them, so that all may see your progress. 16 Keep a close watch on yourself and on the teaching”.When a teaching is passed on by someone it is called a “Tradition”. This seems to be consistant with the story of the bible and how it is the leaders that tend to have the job of interpreting scripture to the congregation by virtue of their office. We see something that shows our point besides the example on the previous page.Acts 8:31 “So Philip ran to him and heard him reading Isaiah the prophet and asked, “Do you understand what you are reading?” 31 And he said, “How can I, unless someone guides me?”. Here the bible is not at every instant clear to its readers. Every document is prone to misinterpretation.
• The second thing to note is that the “sacred writings” that is being talked about is the Old Testament scriptures. If this verse is talking about Sola Scriptura then on a literally reading it says that all one needs is the Old Testament writings.
• “All Scripture is inspired”.Ok well we all agree. This also begs the question “how do you know what scripture is?”.  Many protestants either are sick of hearing this and so blow it off , but this is a serious question. People have many assumptions on the compilation of the canon. Some just except that the Bible is the word of God and the actual books that are contained in it are the right ones. Most don’t ask the question “are there more inspired books that should be in the Bible or ones that should be left out? While this may seem silly its actually a serious question. Martin Luther and many other christians debated whether these books were actually inspired. So who has the Authority to make the final decision? Put your self in the position of an unbeliever, if someone came to your door  and said these books in the Bible are the word of  God.  I would ask why should I believe that. Because it flows well? It has some fulfilled prophecies in them ? Most of scripture never claims to be inspired. Some of scripture is dry and has no prophecies. Some of the bible was not written by Apostles but by companions. Most of the Apostles never wrote anything.  With much debate for the first few centuries on what books were actually inspired how do we know that those books are actually the word of God? Many early writings were said to be written by the apostles like the Didache so why is this or others not contained in scripture? Who made that official decision? Or is it as Protestant teacher R.C Sproul said “We have a fallible collection of infallible books”. The fact is that the Historic Church (Catholic Church) founded by Jesus Christ declared with infallibility that these books belong in the canon and are indeed the  Word of God. When it declared these books belong in the official canon of the bible at the Council of Hippo and Carthage it did not make the scriptures inspired but rather recognized that they were. Like When Peter said in the Council in the book of Acts “It seemed good to the holy spirit and to us”, it is under that same spirit that the church could declare the canon.
  “All” here in Greek “Pas” means all or every. It could be said that every single scroll or book or scripture is “Profitable”. To imply that just one book of scripture is sufficient or even that all of the Old Testament is crazy. Even if we include the New Testament it says still that it is “Profitable” not the only thing necessary.
• In dealing with the last part of this text like the word “perfect” or “complete” we need to first look at the phrase “Man of God” in which these words are describing. While many people say the Man of God is the christian believer that actually is  not what is being talked about. The bible tells us in another verse that the “Man of God” is actually the Priest or Bishop the elder over the flock! This phrase is seen talking about Moses in Dt 33:1 “This is the blessing with which Moses the man of God blessed the people of Israel before his death.” Moses was the elected head leader over Israel.
• Also Timothy who is “Bishop” is called the “Man of God” 1Tim 6:11 “11 But as for you, O man of God, flee these things. Pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, steadfastness, gentleness. 12 Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called and about which you made the good confession in the presence of many witnesses”.
• So it is the Elder the pastors who are entrusted to preaching and teaching, they are the “Man of God”. 1Tim 5:17 “the elders who rule well be considered worthy of double honor, especially those who labor in preaching and teaching”.
• The greek word describing Scripture as being “Profitable” or “Useful” is “Ophelmios” which means exactly that it does not mean sufficient.
• Now the word that everyone gets excited about is the word “Perfect” and many say see that all we need is Scripture to make us perfect unto salvation. The greek word here is “Artios” which means “Fitted or complete”. Now if we say that all scripture is inspired by God that the man of God may be fitted , equipped for every good work it hardly implies that all one needs is the Scriptures alone. Even if we change the word to Complete , that the man of God may be complete , equipped for every good work it still does not mean what Protestants want it to mean. First this sentences assumes more than people will credit the passage for. All the passage is saying is that when Scripture is added to the Man of God and all his gifts  (laying on of hands, recieving of faith from those before him) he then is complete but Scripture by itself does not make him complete rather it and many other things make him complete. Also this passage also presupposes that the Man of God has had training and teaching preparing him to use the Scriptures accurately. A military person can be given all the tools to complete his mission and cane said he is now complete but unless he has training in how to use the equipment he is a dangerous man. 1Tim2:15 talks about how Timothy a Bishop needs to “rightly handling the word of truth” . This implies that the Scriptures can be wrongly handled. The more one calms down and takes time to read the scriptures one might ask themselves is not all this common sense?
• Now to even further close the case on the word Perfect in this passage let us look to James 1:4 which reads ” And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing“. The Greek word here is different “Teleios”. This word means “Perfect” ,”of full age”. While it is a different word it still has the meaning of Perfect or of full age. Some say because it is a different word for perfect it does not mean perfect. That is absurd. Repeat that sentence and see how sill that sounds. The word by definition that means perfect does not mean perfect. The point is that it is crazy to think that steadfastness makes you perfect and nothing else. If the other verse teaches only scripture this teaches only steadfastness. Lets move on.

I will temporarily stop and address Rev 22:18 which reads “18 I warn everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: if anyone adds to them, God will add to him the plagues described in this book, 19 and if anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God will take away his share in the tree of life and in the holy city, which are described in this book.

• It is common for many to take scripture passages out of context and run with it and get heated over it. One problem that most people have is that they “Assume” that the book of Revelation was written as a future book mostly regarding the “End Times”. This is contrary to what the book itself describes and the history of whats going on. The book is being written to the “Seven churches” which no longer exist today so its immediate context was to them. The book of Revelation was what was about to “Soon take place” Rev 1:1. While the book does contain for future stuff a lot is about what is coming in the life of the people being spoken too. If anyone wants a really full discussion from a great theologian check out Michael Barbers book “Coming Soon: Unlocking the Book of Revelation and Applying Its Lessons Today”. Now some say that “Tradition” is evil and that it adds to Gods word and the book of Revelation gives a warning when it says “18 I warn everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: if anyone adds to them, God will add to him the plagues described in this book, 19 and if anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God will take away his share in the tree of life and in the holy city, which are described in this book”.  The problem is John is talking about those who take away from the book of Revelation. In fact if this verse in true in the sense that they say it is then those people who believe in any scripture after Deuteronomy has a problem for Moses says Dt 4:2 “2 You shall not add to the word that I command you, nor take from it, that you may keep the commandments of the LORD your God that I command you”. So are we not to accept any thing after this point whether written or oral? No New Testament? No standing firm in the “Word of God that you heard from us, you accepted it not as the word of men but as what it really was the Word of God” 1Thessalonians 2:13.

The next passage cited has to do with the Bereans. Many Protestants like this passage and declare that this is proof of Sola Scriptura. While a quick reading like most passages that protestants cite can appear to prove their point but a deeper looks shows that it is actually the opposite. Acts 17:11 says “11 Now these Jews were more noble than those in Thessalonica; they received the word with all eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see if these things were so“.

• Ok lets first start in the beginning of Acts and look at the context and see what is going on. Acts 17:1 tells us that Paul came to Thessalonica where there was a synagogue of Jews.
• Paul then argued with them from the Scriptures that it was necessary for Christ to suffer and rise again. Some were persuaded but not all! This also proves that Scripture is not clear to every reader. Now if one wants to conclude that Sola Scriptura is at play then we can see the problem with Sola Scriptura right here in this text. Paul came preaching orally the Word of God but the people at Thessalonica did not heed Pauls oral teaching. They examined the Scriptures and decided that he was not telling the truth! They determined that the teaching was unbiblical! Oh but americans 2000 years separated do not be be guided like a sheep with a shepherd? Lets also remember that throughout history not every command to the people of God came straight from the written Word of God but by the mouth of the leader who had the power to speak on Gods behalf. Also when the leaders of Israel did use Scripture it had to be explained to the hearers could understand. As we will see later the “Word of God” in the bible itself does not always refer to the “Written” word but the “Oral word” spoken.
• So lets look why the Bereans were “More noble minded”. Acts 17:10 “10 The brothers immediately sent Paul and Silas away by night to Berea, and when they arrived they went into the Jewish synagogue. 11 Now these Jews ( Not christians rather Hellenistic Jews) were more noble than those in Thessalonica; they received the word with all eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see if these things were so”. Now why where they more noble minded? Because they “received Pauls oral teaching with all eagerness”!  They then searched the scriptures but it was not searching the scriptures that made them more noble. Remember the Thessalonians searched as well and concluded Paul was wrong. Also the Jews had a strong Oral tradition that accompanied their reading of the Bible. It was a light that illuminated the Scriptures. Jesus does not condemn all Tradition if you read the whole bible closely. If you want more on Tradition check out that section. So it was the Jews willingness to listen that made than more noble.
  • Here is a copy of Steve Rays article on this issue “But what were the Bereans doing when they listened to Paul? 

They were examining the Scriptures because the Old Testament Scriptures were the only point of common ground between the Christians and the Jews. Paul often related to the Greeks by quoting from their philosophers (Acts 17:22 ff.), using the source of authority the Greeks understood, were familiar with, and respected. The Jews in Berea and Paul the Christian claimed the Old Testament in common, and it was upon this common ground that they reasoned.

The Bereans were eager to accept words of God from the mouth of Paul, in addition to what they already held to be Scripture, that is the Law and the Prophets.

 Even if one says that Paul preached the Gospel and not a “tradition” it is clear that the Bereans were accepting new revelation that was not contained in their scriptures. 

This was definitely a new teaching. These Berean Jews were actually accepting oral teaching, the tradition of the apostles, to be equal to Scripture — the actual word of God — in addition to, and an “extension” of, the Torah. 

This is further illustrated by the reception of Paul’s epistles as divinely inspired scripture (see 2 Peter 3:16).

 when the Jews had no reason to believe God would provide further revelation in addition to the Old Testament, which is exactly what the New Testament is”(DID THE NOBLE-MINDED BEREANS BELIEVE IN THE BIBLE ALONE? By Steve Ray)

The next set of objections come when Jesus rebuked Satan he did it using scripture. How this shows Sola Scriptura is beyond me but people believe it.

• First if the Bible is the “Word of God” then we should use it, read it and live it. What is being said by the reformers is that “Only” Scripture and no other Authority is the believer under. This is problematic in a bunch of ways and this statement really leads to the Issue of Authority. It is true that Jesus said “It is written” but he also told his Apostles Jn 20:21 “21 Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, even so I am sending you.” 22 And when he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit. 23 If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you withhold forgiveness from any, it is withheld.” Jesus sent his Apostles on a mission to teach and forgive Sins in his name with the Authority of the Holy Spirit. He also says in Luke 10:16  “The one who hears you hears me, and the one who rejects you rejects me, and the one who rejects me rejects him who sent me.” Does the christian understand what this means? If you were to reject the Apostles you reject Christ!. The Apostles were witnesses of the resurrection but they were also Bishops of the church. What did the Apostles do in building the church they appointed successors. Paul appointed Timothy  and he told Timothy to appoint others to lead the flock. There is no where in scripture evidence of a invisible church all operating on their own running around with bibles!. There is Apostles, Bishops, Priest, Deacons. There is councils (Acts 15). Just look and read the early christian’s writings in the 1st century and see how christendom functioned. People who despise authority are not their brothers keeper , for the  body has many functions with some positions higher than the other. For the Elders of God deserve “Double Honor” 1Timothy 5:17.