-—The teaching that the Bible contains in it all that a person need to find salvation and live a life pleasing to God is EXACTLY what St. Paul taught the early Christians.-—
Was St. Paul speaking of the entire NT, including the books that had not yet been written?
—You are free to choose not to believe St. Paul if you wish.——
More fundamentally, How do you know that these are the words of St. Paul, if the Church that wrote, preserved and canonized these Scriptures is fallible?
Am i free to reject your fallible interpretation of St. Paul?
16All Scripture is God-breathed...
Yes, but this begs the question of What constitutes Scripture? Catholics offer a coherent answer: The Church that Christ founded tells us.
...and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness,
“Is useful for” does not mean “all that is necessary for.”
17so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.
Who is “the man of God”? Some believe that this is a reference to priests. Is it possible to be thoroughly equipped, but not sufficiently equipped to do a good work? For example, a soldier may be thoroughly equipped for combat, yet still lack the will to fight.
Are good works alone sufficient for salvation?
Because this passage does not refer to faith, which is also necessary for salvation, this passage does not prove that scripture alone can supply us with everything that is necessary for salvation.
Finally, this passage again begs the question, What constitutes Scripture? The answer to this question requires an extra-biblical authority.
http://www.catholicsource.net/articles/ssmadrid.htm
OTOH, I am puzzled by the fact that Protestants ignore the following words of Jesus: “If he refuses to listen to the Church, treat him as a pagan or tax collector.”
Additionally, the Church is referred to in Scripture as the, “the pillar and foundation of truth.”
Additionally, the Church is referred to in Scripture as the, “the pillar and foundation of truth.”
Mat 18:17 And if he shall neglect to hear them, tell it unto the church: but if he neglect to hear the church, let him be unto thee as an heathen man and a publican.
It is not Church...It is church...
And what is church??? The church is a called out assembly...That's puts a whole different light on the subject, doesn't it...
The churches in the bible are called out assemblies...Local assemblies...The church is not some organization in Rome...
So as we can see, if you have a problem with someone, you take it to the local assembly of Christians where this person is a member...
The local assembly is the pillar and ground of the truth...That's what the bible says...You can't pervert the scripture into claiming that your religion is Rome is the pillar and ground of the truth...Won't work...