Sola Scriptura

It may seem odd to some that I have spent so much time on one single subject, but for Protestants, Sola Scriptura is a subject that is assumed to be true without any real understanding about what it actually is. Because of that, far too many Protestants assume that any resistance to the concept of Sola Scriptura means that they do not have a valid case for their belief and trust in 'Scripture Alone.' Yet nothing could be further from the truth. So let's start by defining what Sola Scriptura actually means. The leading Protestant Apologist, James White of Alpha & Omega Ministries, defines it as follows:

Sola Scriptura - means that the Scriptures are the sole infallible rule of faith for the Church. Since they are ‘God-breathed’ (Mat 22:31; 2 Tim 3:16-17; 2 Pet 1:20-21), they are ultimate in authority, for there can be no higher authority than God Himself. All other rules of faith, creeds, councils, or anything else produced by the Church herself, are subject to the ultimate correction of God’s Word. [emphasis added]

That is a bold statement but one that can be justified from both Scripture and history. And since there are a lot of facets to this topic, I have split this series into 'bit sized' blogs addressing specific topics intended to demonstrate that Sola Scriptura is both true and defendable. I hope that you will take the time to read each of these and look up the source material provided in each blog entry. 

These are all of the blogs for my Sola Scriptura series:

• Part 1: Meaning and History –– This blog starts of my series on Sola Scriptura by defining what it is and what it is not and presents a number of early Church fathers that understood the sufficiency of Scripture in the believers life. 
• Part 2: Refuting the Rebuttals –– This blog presents and then refutes a so-called 10-step refutation of Sola Scriptura. Since there are a number of these available on the internet, I chose one that seemed to encapsulate the majority of 'rebuttals' to Sola Scriptura.
• Part 3: Tradition: Oral and Written, 2 Th 2:15 –– This blog refutes Scott Hahn's claim that 2 Th 2:15 is proof that there is a body of unwritten oral traditions that have always existed and have been orally handed down over the last 2000 years.
• Part 4: The Canon: Defining, Dating and Quoting –– This blog takes a quick look at the Canon of Scripture to make the point that it was the people of God (i.e., the church) that understood which books of the New Testament were 'canonical', and that is most definitely was not the 4th century Catholic Church that 'chose' which books were canonical. 
• Gnosticism and Colossians –– although not directly a 'part' of the Sola Scriptura series, it is important background information on the beliefs that seem to have influenced the early Catholic Church, and will be referred to throughout the series. 
• Part 5: The Canon: Internal and External Evidence –– This blog looks at the internal evidence – what we find in the pages of Scripture – and external evidence – what we find in the earliest sources that quote from the NT books – for the canon of Scripture. 
• Part 6: General and Special Revelation –– this blog defines the biblical nature of general and special revelation and challenges the belief that revelation can exist outside of Scripture. 
• Part 7: Rome’s Special Revelation –– This blog examines the two source nature of revelation as presented by the Catholic Church: 'written Scripture' and 'unwritten oral tradition' and why Protestants reject it, and it's parallels with Gnosticism. 
• Part 8: God-Breathed Scriptures –– This blog examines the 'God-breathed' nature of Scripture, as presented in 2 Tim 3:16, and presents some quotes of Church fathers that seem to agree.
• Part 9: Fully Equipped: Answering an Objection –– This blog deals with some objections to 2 Tim 3:17 and provides a defense of why those objections are not valid. 
• Self-Attesting Scripture: The Church Fathers Speak –– this is another blog with supplemental quotes from many church fathers and what they actually said in support of the self-attesting nature of Scripture.
• Part 10: 2 Pet 1:19-21: Divine Origin –– This blog digs into 2 Pet 1:19-21 and the divine origin of Scripture, defending the normal understanding of these verses. I also include some historical support.
• Part 11: New Testament Meaning of Tradition –– This blog examines four of the proof texts used to support the Catholic concept of 'tradition' and refutes them.
• Part 12: Scripture: The Only Infallible Standard –– This blog presents expands on Scripture as the Christian's true standard for our faith and practice. I examine whether Scripture or the Church came first, and the fallacy of apostolic succession. 
• Part 13: The Authority of Scripture –– This blog covering the Authority of Scripture, its meaning, Jesus's view and some fun facts about probabilities.
• Part 14: Scripture: Our Only Certain Standard, Pt 1 –– This blog expands on Scripture as the Christian's true standard for certainty for our faith. I point out some of the internal contradictions about that nature of Tradition and examine the importance of the original languages of Scripture.
• Part 15: Scripture: Our Only Certain Standard, Pt 2 –– This blog covers 1) the integrity of Scripture, and how we know we have what was actually written in the 1st century, 2) some information on the Latin Vulgate, some mistranslations and their resulting teachings, and 3) an embarrassing example of what 'scholarship' is not.
• Part 16: The Material Sufficiency of Scripture? –– This blog explores the relatively new concept of the Material Sufficiency of Scripture and whether this concept is even a legitimate way to describe Scripture's role. I present a shift introduced by Newman in the nature of Tradition and touch upon Sola Ecclesia, which seems to be the real reason for rejecting Sola Scriptura.
• Part 17: Formal Sufficiency and Clarity of Scripture, Pt 1 –– This is part of an examination of the clarity of Scripture and how Scripture is and has always been sufficient in matters of faith and practice versus those that would say that the Bible is not clear and therefore not sufficient.
• Part 18: Formal Sufficiency and Clarity of Scripture, Pt 2 –– This is part 2 of our look at the clarity of Scripture and it's sufficiency in matters of faith and practice. I present some of the consistent inconsistencies that have been promoted by the Catholic Church in her attempt to refute Sola Scriptura. 
• Part 19: Irenaeus on Scripture and Tradition – This blog looks at Irenaeus and his view of tradition from his writings where he refutes the gnostic beliefs, using the tradition of the apostles, the inscripturated word of god handed down to the church.
• Part 20: Tertullian on Scripture and Tradition – This blog looks at Tertullian (160-240 AD) and his view of tradition from his writings where he refutes the gnostic beliefs, using the tradition of the faith, the inscripturated word of God handed down to the church.
• Part 21: Real Tradition: Customs and Practices – This blog looks at a number of so-called traditions which were simply customs and practices, such as: Basil’s doxology, the dating of Easter in the East and West, Cyprian’s re-baptism controversy, and Irenaeus’ age of Jesus belief.
• Part 22: Clement, Origen and Cyril on Scripture and Tradition – This blog looks at Clement of Alexandria, Origen and Cyril of Jerusalem and their view of Scripture as divine, holy, the voice of god, Inspired, and that doctrine should be validated and proven in scripture.
• Part 23: Chrysostom On Scripture and Tradition – This blog examines John Chrysostom's high view of Scripture and looks at what he wrote about 2 Tim 3:16-17 concerning the inspiration of Scripture, and about tradition by looking at what we wrote about 2 Th 2:15.
• Part 24: Athanasius On Scripture and Tradition – This blog looks at Athanasius’ view of Scripture and the two strongest cases promoting his view of tradition to see whether they show that he believed in a modern day Catholic concept of tradition.
• Part 25: Augustine On Scripture and Tradition – This blog analyzes Augustine's view of Scripture by examining a lot of his quotes, a case made by Gavin Ortlund, and a failed attempt to rewrite history between Maximinus and Augustine.
• Part 26: The Middle Ages on Scripture and Tradition – This blog looks at the Middle Ages as a whole and Thomas Aquinas in particular to see their view of Scripture which is no different than the patristic Fathers we have already examined. And a little surprise from Thomas Aquinas that very few seem to know about.
• Part 27: Tradition as Interpretation: Unanimous Consent – This blog looks at what unanimous consent is and whether the Church fathers demonstrate that this has ever existed, by looking at the two competing schools of the early Church: Alexandria and Antioch, and a brief look at their conflicting views. 
• Part 28: Tradition as Interpretation: Conflicting Views – This blog continues the look at 'unanimous consent' where we see the interpretive model swing back towards the literal view and some additional differences in Scriptural interpretations among the Medieval Church fathers.
• Part 29: Tradition as Interpretation: Misrepresentations – This blog examines the misrepresentations of Clement, Origen and Athanasius on 'tradition' and presents what they really meant while also showing how the modern view of 'tradition' came from allegorical interpretation. 
• Part 30: Not in Early Church: Argument #9 Against Sola Scriptura - This blog refutes the critique of Cameron Bertuzzi, better known by his social media handle 'Capturing Christianity', that Sola Scriptura was not in early Church history. The early Church fathers placed Scripture above all else.
• Part 31: Fragmentation: Argument #8 Against Sola Scriptura - Refutes the critique that Sola Scriptura created Protestant denominational fragmentation. But it's true cause was errors and omissions from Catholicism and the enlightenment which drove an explosion of knowledge that could not be controlled.
• Part 32: Final Authority: Argument #7 Against Sola Scriptura - This blog dissects the belief that Church authority is above Scriptural authority and the belief that believers should never attempt to interpret Scripture as it is the Church's responsibility not the believer.
• Part 33: Not in the Bible: Argument #6 Against Sola Scriptura - This blog refutes the Catholic belief that Sola Scriptura is NOT in the Bible by expounding upon relevant passages and responds to the attempt to redefine the biblical understanding of ‘sound words’ used in 2 Tim 1:13-14 into the author’s presupposed view that they refer to ‘oral tradition.’
• Part 34: The Canon Problem: Argument #5 Against Sola Scriptura - This blog refutes Cameron’s argument implying Protestant chaos about the Canon of Scripture since they don’t have an authority to define which books are supposed to be in the Bible, but the reality is quite different.

For the best treatment of Sola Scriptura in book form, please consider investing in the 3 volume set of: David T. King and William Webster, Holy Scripture, Ground and Pillar of Our Faith, Volume 1, Volume 2, Volume 3 (Battle Creek, WA: Christian Resource, Inc, 2001). It's the guide I've been using to integrate some of my own study on this important subject. This book set is inexpensive and worth every penny.

Church history has repeatedly and clearly proven one thing: once the highest view of Scripture is abandoned by any theologian, group, denomination, or church, the downhill slide in both theology and practice is inevitable.

James White