The apostles repeatedly say to read their letters and stick to what they said and wrote. The Bible is our only sure source of apostolic teaching. Any other other interpretation equates the apostles with the Roman Catholic Church which creates some very weird interpretations. My favorite is that the church is build upon the apostles, but if the church is equal to the apostles, then the church is built upon itself.
What Happened for the 1st 4 Centuries when there was no BIBLE?
What tripe! The apostles wrote letters. The churches shared letters. The apostles said to read the letters they sent to other churches. The Bible only includes letters that have been read in the churches from the beginning.
What happens to the Illiterate who can’t read?
They heard the scriptures in the church. Other people read to them. You don't have to be able to read the Bible yourself to be saved.
Of the 33576 Protestant sects in USA which one is the ONE TRUE sect representing the CHURCH?
What a misunderstanding! A sect is a smaller group with somewhat different beliefs than the larger group to which they belong. I like the term synod better; those who walk together in faith.
There is no ONE TRUE sect. While we all strive for correct doctrine, we all accept that our truth is not infallible. While we know we can make mistakes, we also accept that others can make mistakes as well. While we can choose to submit ourselves to the judgement of another so that we can maintain our synods, we understand that it is our duty to promote correct doctrine and question those who promote error.
Excellent answers.
Which is fine advice! But they also say to hold fast to the traditions they taught, whether by letter or by word of mouth (2 Thess 2:15), and they say that the men they ordain have the authority and power to teach (2 Tm 2:2) and that they are to be obeyed (Heb 13:7, 17) and that Scripture can be hard to understand and can be easily misunderstood by the "ignorant and unstable" (2 Pt 3:16).
Sola scriptura fails to "stick fast" to that.