Sola Scriptura?
Objection: “I am not going to believe anything unless it is in the
Bible!”
A Christian who believes that the Bible is the sole rule of faith (Sola
Scriptura) believes that all questions relating to faith and morals can be
answered completely from the written word of God as contained in all the
books from Genesis to Revelation. That being the case, there is no need for
any other rule to guide the Christian, whether it be tradition, a teaching
authority, philosophy, or nature. These inhibit a Christian’s path to
salvation.
However, a Bible-only approach, when applied logically, runs into
immediate and numerous problems. For example, can a Bible held in the
hand of any Christian answer the following questions: “How do I know that
my Bible was correctly translated?” “Does my Bible have the correct
number of books in both the Old and New Testaments?;” “Is the
interpretation of this or that verse the correct one?” Ordinary Christians
lacking an extensive knowledge of the languages, cultures and history of
the Holy Land and its surrounds would be hard-pressed to answer with
certainty any of these questions, with or without a Bible.
Does the Bible actually teach that it is the sole rule of faith? According to
self-described ‘Bible Christians’ it certainly does. They cite as proof the
following verses:
“But these are written so that you may come to believe that Jesus is the
Messiah, the Son of God, and that through believing you may have life in
his name” (St. John 20:31).
“All scripture is inspired by God and is profitable for teaching, for reproof,
for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may
be complete, equipped for every good work” (2 Tim. 3:16-17).
“These Jews were more receptive than those in Thessalonica, for they
welcomed the message very eagerly and examined the scriptures every day
to see whether these things were so” (Acts 17:11).
 |
 |
 |