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To: St_Thomas_Aquinas
"What angel preached sola scriptura to Luther? There’s no mention of his doctrine in the Bible, or Christian history, prior to Luther."

If what you posted is a reflection of your belief, than you do not understand how the words "sola scriptura" are used. I can try to help by posting a good summary so that you will not have to search.

WHAT SOLA SCRIPTURA IS NOT

1. First and foremost, sola scriptura is not a claim that the Bible contains all knowledge. The Bible is not a scientific textbook, a manual on governmental procedures, or a catalog of automobile engine parts. The Bible does not claim to give us every bit of knowledge that we could ever obtain.

2. Sola scriptura is not a claim that the Bible is an exhaustive catalog of all religious knowledge. The Bible itself asserts that it is not exhaustive in detail (John 21:25). It is obvious that the Bible does not have to be exhaustive to be sufficient as our source of divine truth.

3. Sola scriptura is not a denial of the authority of the Church to teach God's truth.

4. Sola scriptura is not a denial that the Word of God has, at times, been spoken. Rather, it refers to the Scriptures as serving the Church as God's final and full revelation.

5. Sola scriptura does not entail the rejection of every kind or form of Church "tradition." There are some traditions that are God-honoring and useful in the Church. Sola scriptura simply means that any tradition, no matter how ancient or venerable it might seem to us, must be tested by a higher authority, and that authority is the Bible.

6. Sola scriptura is not a denial of the role of the Holy Spirit in guiding and enlightening the Church.

WHAT SOLA SCRIPTURA IS

1. The doctrine of sola scriptura, simply stated, is that the Scriptures alone are sufficient to function as the regula fidei, the infallible rule of faith for the Church.

2. All that one must believe to be a Christian is found in Scripture, and in no other source. This is not to say that the necessary beliefs of the faith could not be summarized in a shorter form. However, there is no necessary belief, doctrine, or dogma absolutely required of a person for entrance into the kingdom of heaven that is not found in the pages of Scripture.

3. That which is not found in the Scripture  either directly or by necessary implication  is not binding upon the Christian.

4. Scripture reveals those things necessary for salvation (2 Tim. 3:14-17).

5. All traditions are subject to the higher authority of Scripture (Matt. 15:1-9). There can be no understanding of the sufficiency of Scripture apart from an understanding of the true origin and the resultant nature of Scripture. The Reformers had the highest view of the Bible, and therefore had a solid foundation on which to stand in defending the sufficiency of the Scriptures.

From: http://fccphx.homestead.com/SolaScriptura.html


1,242 posted on 10/12/2014 6:48:40 PM PDT by aMorePerfectUnion ( "I didn't leave the Central Oligarchy Party. It left me." - Ronaldus Maximus)
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To: aMorePerfectUnion

-— WHAT SOLA SCRIPTURA IS

1. The doctrine of sola scriptura, simply stated, is that the Scriptures alone are sufficient to function as the regula fidei, the infallible rule of faith for the Church-—

Where’s that in the Bible? Or 2b and 3b? Or 4b?

“If he won’t listen to the church, treat him as a pagan or tax collector.” —Jesus

If Luther’s doctrine is true, how could the Scriptures ever come together to begin with, when the Church preceded the canon of Scripture, and even the writing of some books? By what authority could the Church say, “this new book of Revelation is Scripture”? For this theory to be coherent, the Bible would have to have canonized itself.

If the Church can err, then the canon can be erroneous. As R.C. Sproul famously said, “the Bible is a fallible collection of infallible books.”

By what authority did Luther remove several books from the accepted canon of Scripture? Luther violated his own principle of the Bible as the ultimate authority.
He acted from a position of Scriptural superiority.


1,250 posted on 10/12/2014 7:17:15 PM PDT by St_Thomas_Aquinas ( Isaiah 22:22, Matthew 16:19, Revelation 3:7)
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To: aMorePerfectUnion

Appreciate your posting this. Good to refresh the memory often when confusion has been sprayed into the air handling system.

Was just now reading the Gospel of Mark and was again impressed how alive Scripture is when the reader/hearer is receptive. When Jesus began His earthly ministry, the moment to moment situations were so fluid and unpredictable, although I believe the final outcome of the story had been written previously.

One small example of what I mean is the leper who was cleansed and strictly charged by Jesus to tell no one but instead go to the temple and to do certain requirements as a testimony to the priest and others. The former leper disobeyed Jesus’ direct spoken command and spread the story everywhere.

What if he had obeyed Jesus? Well, the city He was going to wouldn’t have been so crowded that He had to go outside the limits and still face unmanageable crowds there.

Nothing earth-shattering, yet this one episode just impressed me how very alive and spontaneous Jesus was...and is forevermore!


1,252 posted on 10/12/2014 7:26:17 PM PDT by Resettozero
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