Sola Scriptura and the Early Church

http://www.christiantruth.com/articles/solascriptura.html ^ | William Webster

[Dr. Eckleburg]

Not only does the Word come persuasively inscribed on paper, but the effectual power of the Word is evidenced when that inscription proclaimed through the Spirit brings life changing conviction with it. That transformation is what regeneration is all about, when the letter of the Word is written on the heart of the hearer.

Amen! As God wills.

Christianity, as taught according to and understood by the word of God, brings with it the good fruit of a life that reflects God's glory; of compassion and clarity and mental well-being and assurance and confidence and satisfaction. It creates the happiest families and the most productive lives. Nothing in history has compared to it. And the truth of Christianity as it reveals God's perfect plan for His creation has been given to men in the holy Scriptures, our only rule of faith and practice.

Those who look to fallible old men and superstitious rituals for answers diminish Scripture by demoting it to merely an augmentation of the traditions of men. Thus they misconstrue Christianity and undermine the meaning of salvation.

No small error.

[Dr. Eckleburg]

The story is told of a young man defending his doctoral dissertation before a panel of academicians. When reprimanded for the number of allusions he had made to hearsay evidence, and challenged on the weakness of such a defense, he facetiously said, “Just because something is written does not make it any more certain, does it?” The chairperson had a brilliant comeback. “All right then, I just want you to know that we will be granting you the degree, but it will not be in writing. You can just take our word for it.” The candidate quickly complied with the documentary demand.

Dr. Ravi Zacharias...from Let My People Think.

lol. Great example of the authority vested in the written word.

And Dr. Zacharias' title, "Let My People Think" is terrific. God intends us to use our "renewed" minds to understand Him according to the written words of Scripture. Not through the carnal senses, but through the mind we know Him, as taught to us by the indwelling Holy Spirit.

"And be renewed in the spirit of your mind" -- Ephesians 4:23

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"And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God." -- Romans 12:2

[caww]

I thought the story brought the point home very well.

I enjoy Dr.Zacharia very much...his testimony is quite amazing as well. I have listened to him throughout the years as he does have a way of answering questions and clarifying the difficult ones. He speaks often at Universities and it’s a joy hearing him answer questions from the students.

[Jvette]

This could surely evolve into a circular argument.

Our church’s early fathers were decidedly Catholic in their beliefs. Yet, the Church does not accept everything they wrote or theologized as binding. I do not accept your original premise that what was quoted in the original post supports the Protestant doctrine of “Sola Scriptura” in the way in which you would like. It is not that I don’t believe them, it is that I think that their position is not the same as yours.

It is interesting to me when they are used to try to disprove Catholicism, yet the vast and overwhelming writings of these men support Catholicism and the Catholic understanding of Jesus, Mary, the Church, the Eucharist, the Clergy, the teaching office of the Church, and the laity.

This is the role of the Magisterium and the Pope under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. It is called discernment and when doctrine is declared as binding, a Catholic can trust that it has been fully explored and understood within the structure of Scripture and Tradition.

[Cronos]

The Reformation was responsible for restoring to the Church the principle of sola Scriptura, a principle which had been operative within the Church from the very beginning of the post apostolic age.

That's hilarious!! Canon wasn't closed until the 4th century

Initially the apostles taught orally but with the close of the apostolic age all special revelation that God wanted preserved for man was codified in the written Scripture

Yup, including the Gospel of Thomas, the Shepherd of Hermas, the gospel of Philip, etc -- would one consider those scripture too?

[maryz]

My guess is the names of the "religious" leaders screaming for Jesus to let them stone the prostitute that they had had sex with themselves.

In the first place, she was "taken in adultery" -- not prostitution. In the second place, Jews were no longer stoning for adultery at the time of Christ -- the tendency of the Pharisees was generally to be more merciful than the Law of Moses required. So they would really seem to be asking whether they had the authority to override the Law of Moses. Christ's answer shifts the terms of the debate.

BTW, it's unclear to me why you seem to think it's a Christian thing to attribute unsubstantiated (even unhinted at!) evil to people who died a couple of thousand years before you were born. Is it sola Scriptura to add to Scripture if you can baselessly slander people long dead?

[maryz]

The story is told of a young man defending his doctoral dissertation before a panel of academicians. When reprimanded for the number of allusions he had made to hearsay evidence, and challenged on the weakness of such a defense, he facetiously said, “Just because something is written does not make it any more certain, does it?” The chairperson had a brilliant comeback. “All right then, I just want you to know that we will be granting you the degree, but it will not be in writing. You can just take our word for it.” The candidate quickly complied with the documentary demand.

LOL! Isn't that an example of the Imitative Fallacy? Using hearsay to undermine hearsay? Incidentally, if you know the guy, you might gently suggest that, the next time he makes up an apocryphal story to prove some kind of point, it might be more convincing if it were at least plausible! ;-)

[bkaycee]

Our church’s early fathers were decidedly Catholic in their beliefs. Yet, the Church does not accept everything they wrote or theologized as binding. I do not accept your original premise that what was quoted in the original post supports the Protestant doctrine of “Sola Scriptura” in the way in which you would like. It is not that I don’t believe them, it is that I think that their position is not the same as yours.

The quote by the Church fathers is very nicely a demonstration of Sola Scriptura. We believe the scripture to be the only infallible authority. We believe in "tradition" or teaching that lines up with scripture. I find most RC's have a false idea of what is meant by Sola scriptura.

[Jvette]

I believe we have reached a dead end:)

I thank you for a very enjoyable debate. More like it is needed on FR between Catholics and Protestants.

May God Bless you.

[bkaycee]

Thank You.

Blessings to you.