Bible Alone is False Doctrine
Mr. Ken Samples is either trying to skirt the issue of determining the canon of the Bible or else he does not understand the problem it is for Protestantism or the Catholic position.
When beginning the discussion with Protestants, non-Catholic Christians, it is important to state that I, or any reasonably good Catholic apologist, am not in any way casting doubt on the Sacred texts, and I am not in any way minimizing their value, rather my aim is to point to the only solid rock of assurance that can be found anywhere for their authority and authenticity which is the Catholic Church. And so by exposing the weakness of the Protestant position in their misguided claims to the contrary I wish to point to the rock solid assurance we find in Catholicism.
Ken Sampes correctly states that the Sacred Scriptures have their authority because of what the Holy Spirit did in helping to bring them about, not because of what the Catholic Church did in canonizing them. So, yes their authority came before canonization.
However, the whole issue of canonization is determining which books constitute Sacred Scripture.
Peter’s letter mentions Paul’s writings being Scripture but it does not list which books it is talking about. Are all of Paul’s writings Scripture? What about books or letters he would write after this statement by Peter ? And which books were written by St. Paul ?
What about the following, what infallible source determines whether they were included as the writings of St. Paul that Peter was talking about : Epistle of Paul to the Laodiceans, Third Epistle of
St. Paul to the Corinthians, Acts of Paul, Acts of Sts. Peter and Paul, Acts of Paul and Thecla, Pseudo-Correspondence of St. Paul and Senec, or The Apocalypse of St. Paul.
And what infallible source determined that Peter really authored those two letters we call by his name today. And who said that the Apostles could write inspired Scripture. And what about the Gospels of Mark and Luke. And how do we know that Matthew the Apostle wrote the Gospel associated with his name. All of these titles are not part of the Sacred Text, but what were placed on them later.
saintjoe.net/the-bible-alone/
1. The Doctrine of Sola Scriptura is not taught anywhere in the Bible
Perhaps the most striking reason for rejecting this doctrine is that there is not one verse anywhere in the Bible in which it is taught, and it therefore becomes a self-refuting doctrine.
Protestants often point to verses such as 2 Timothy 3:16-17 or
The Apocalypse (
Revelation)22:18-19 in defense of
Sola Scriptura, but close examination of these two passages easily demonstrates that they do not support the doctrine at all.
In 2 Timothy 3:16-17 we read, “All scripture, inspired of God, is profitable to teach, to reprove, to correct, to instruct in justice, that the man of God may be perfect, furnished to every good work.”
Notice, it does not say the Bible Alone.
I can send a more detailed examination of this verse if you like.
2. The Bible Indicates that In Addition to the Written Word, we are to accept Oral Tradition
St. Paul both commends and commands the keeping of oral tradition. In 1 Corinthians 11:2, for instance, we read, “Now I praise you, brethren, that in all things you are mindful of me: and keep my ordinances as I have delivered them to you.”
in 2
Thessalonians 2:14(15), where Christians are actually commanded: “Therefore, brethren, stand fast; and hold the traditions which you have learned, whether by word, or by our epistle.”
3. The Bible Calls the Church and not the Bible the "Pillar and Ground of the Truth."
It is very interesting to note that in
I Timothy 3:15 we see, not the Bible, but the Church –
2 Peter 3:16 that in St. Paul’s epistles there are “certain things hard to be understood, which the unlearned and unstable wrest [distort], as they do also the other scriptures, to their own destruction.”
The Doctrine of Sola Scriptura Produces Bad Fruit, Namely, Division and Disunity.
The Doctrine of Sola Scriptura Did Not Exist Prior to the 14th Century.
The Canon of the Bible was not settled until the 4th Century.
John
