That's irrelevant because they had the OT, which the Berean's searched to verify what Paul was teaching, and it was the OT Scripture which made Timothy wise to salvation.
Nobody needs the whole Bible to be saved and grow.
These Christians heard Scriptural Truths but they obeyed the Church obedient to Rome.
There is no Scriptural support for that.
In the days of 3 hour sermons lacking air conditioning, I think you overestimate how much Scriptural Truth the flock retained. They, many of them uneducated, didn’t look only to their limited knowledge of Scripture they heard for truth, but they looked to the Church.
Maybe illiterate, but not stupid. I am so sick of everyone acting like people who lived 2,000 years ago were morons. If they weren't literate, they had to do it all by memory. They had to have incredible memories.
Why would they obey those teaching Scriptural Truth, if those teaching it had no authority?
Because Scripture itself has authority. The Holy Spirit leads into all truth. Truth stands on its own and doesn't need man administering it. All believers have the Holy Spirit living in them.
There you go again!
Where in Scripture does it say THAT???
ACTS 8:26:35
Now an angel of the Lord said to Philip, “Go south to the road—the desert road—that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza.” 27 So he started out, and on his way he met an Ethiopian eunuch, an important official in charge of all the treasury of the Kandake (which means “queen of the Ethiopians”). This man had gone to Jerusalem to worship, 28 and on his way home was sitting in his chariot reading the Book of Isaiah the prophet. 29 The Spirit told Philip, “Go to that chariot and stay near it.”
30 Then Philip ran up to the chariot and heard the man reading Isaiah the prophet. “Do you understand what you are reading?” Philip asked.
31 “How can I,” he said, “unless someone explains it to me?” So he invited Philip to come up and sit with him.
32 This is the passage of Scripture the eunuch was reading:
“He was led like a sheep to the slaughter,
and as a lamb before its shearer is silent,
so he did not open his mouth.
33 In his humiliation he was deprived of justice.
Who can speak of his descendants?
For his life was taken from the earth.”
34 The eunuch asked Philip, “Tell me, please, who is the prophet talking about, himself or someone else?” 35 Then Philip began with that very passage of Scripture and told him the good news about Jesus.