I’ve been discussing sola scriptura with some people I know. And they’ve recently come up with these arguments. If anyone can help that would be great. This is what they said:
You shall not add to the word which I am commanding you, nor take away from it, that you may keep the commandments of the Lord your God which I command you. Deuteronomy 4:2
Every word of God is pure: he is a shield unto them that put their trust in him.
Add thou not unto his words, lest he reprove thee, and thou be found a liar. Proverbs 30:5-6
For I testify unto every man that heareth the words of the prophecy of this book, If any man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book:
And if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life, and out of the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book Revelation 22:18 - 19
A few things to remember which will answer all of the questions you’ve raised here. (1) The Bible was originally a collection of books. (2) Not adding to the Bible is **very **different than believing in something not in the Bible. And (3) Apostolic Tradition comes from God. Oh yeah, and related to #1, (4), the Protestant Bible is much younger than the Catholic Bible. Find me a single Protestant Bible pre-Reformation, anywhere.
Deuteronomy 4:2 is specific to the law in Deuteronomy, and Jesus fulfilled that Law. So if they’re claiming we’re still bound by it, they’re the Judaizers Paul condemned. And in Matthew 5:17-48, Jesus repeatedly says, “you’ve heard it said,” (and then quotes the Law), “
but I say,” and then goes beyond what the Law says. That is, He required people to believe and practice something beyond the scope of the Law. If Deuteronomy 4:2 means we’re bound to obey the Law, no more, no less, then Christ and the Christians sinned. Blasphemy, of course.
As for Proverbs 30:5-6, every word of God IS pure. And Sacred Tradition comes from Him, as 2 Thess 2:15 shows.
Revelation 22:18 - 19 is specific to “this book,” that is, Revelation. And no one sanely argues that the Catholic Church altered Revelation to insert Catholic beliefs. But that’s what’s being warned against: don’t tamper with Scripture (particularly, the Law and John’s Revelation). Don’t alter the text, etc.
If you want to be clever, point out that Martin Luther knowingly added the word “alone” to his translation of Romans 3:28, in order to “prove” sola fide. So if those texts apply to the whole of the Bible, he’s in trouble.
The 72 books of the Bible were originally separate books, and were lovingly collected by the Jewish, and then Christian, faithful. There were differences in Biblical canons, though, and questions of the canonicity of a number of books. The Church settled it in local North African councils at Hippo and Carthage. St. Augustine put his full weight behind the decision, and so a lot of people who’d held alternate views were convinced. Pope Damasus I commissioned the Latin Vulgate, containing the 72 books.
After the Reformation, the books we call the Deuterocanon were taken out from the Bible, Esther and Daniel were taken apart to remove all the Greek parts (including all of the mentions of God in Esther). No Church Council sanctioned this, no pope, etc. Who gave them the right to tear apart the Bible like this, to second-guess over a millennium of universal agreement? And if they (the person you’re talking to) have the right, might they rip out the Gospel of John tomorrow? What’s stopping them?
