CRONOS: Do the rest of the sola scriptura adherents agree to this? I’m sorry to put you on the spot, bkay, but I have never heard an SS persoan state this
METMOM: Works for me. God gave us enough in Scripture to lead us to faith. and live a life of faith.
Amen! Every word of God is pure and accomplishes all that God intends which is to bring His family out of the darkness of sin and estrangement and into the light of the righteousness and glory of Jesus Christ. The above understanding by bkaycee is part of the orthodox and historic DEFINITION of Sola Scriptura.
Cronos, your surprise at that fact simply shows that Roman Catholics do not understand what they criticize.
The doctrine that the Bible alone is the ultimate authority was the "Formal Principle" of the Reformation. In 1521 at the historic interrogation of Luther at the Diet of Worms, he declared his conscience to be captive to the Word of God saying, "Unless I am overcome with testimonies from Scripture or with evident reasons -- for I believe neither the Pope nor the Councils, since they have often erred and contradicted one another -- I am overcome by the Scripture texts which I have adduced, and my conscience is bound by God's Word." Similarly, the Belgic Confession stated, "We believe that [the] holy Scriptures fully contain the will of God, and that whatsoever man ought to believe unto salvation is sufficiently taught therein...Neither may we consider any writings of men, however holy these men may have been, of equal value with those divine Scriptures nor ought we to consider custom or the great multitude, or antiquity, or succession of times and persons, or councils, decrees or statutes, as of equal value with the truth of God... Therefore, we reject with all our hearts whatsoever does not agree with this infallible rule" (VII). As the Scripture says, Open my eyes, that I may behold Wonderful things from Thy law....I will bow down toward Thy holy temple, And give thanks to Thy name for Thy lovingkindness and Thy truth; For Thou hast magnified Thy word according to all Thy name....You, however, continue in the things you have learned and become convinced of, knowing from whom you have learned them; and that from childhood you have known the sacred writings which are able to give you the wisdom that leads to salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work. (Psalm 119:18; Psalm 138:2; II Tim. 3:14-17)...
The holy Scriptures do not teach the correct way to hook up a PlayStation 3 so you don't mess up your Netflix account, nor how to put on eyeliner so it's natural-looking because neither of those things is necessary for men to understand the Good News of their redemption by Christ's merciful work on the cross.
All that is necessary for that blessed assurance is found in the Bible, made knowable through the free gift of new eyes and new ears given by the Holy Spirit who "abides with them forever."
The Bible is not exhaustive in every detail. John 21:25 speaks to the fact that there are many things that Jesus said and did that are not recorded in John, or in fact in any book in the world because the whole books of the world could not contain it. But the Bible does not have to be exhaustive to function as the sole rule of faith for the Church.And yet you say that
All that is necessary for that blessed assurance is found in the Bibleit's not exhaustive in every detail about salvation, and yet all that is necessary is found in it?