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The False Claim that the Bible is the sole source of authority for Christian life and doctrine
"Sola Scriptura: The Proof-Texts
"Jesus answered and said unto them, "Ye do err, not knowing the Scriptures, nor the power of God" (Matt. 22:29 KJV).
"It is evident that the Protestant principle of sola Scriptura entails much more than a mere affirmation of the authority of the Bible. It is, in fact, a complex of interrelated ideas and assumptions. When Protestants read the Scriptures, they bring these assumptions with them, whether they realize it or not.
"For those reared, as I was, in an Evangelical milieu, passages such as 2 Timothy 3:16 and other texts mentioned below "obviously" support the doctrine of sola Scriptura. The "self-evidence" of this support, however, is due not to the text istelf, but to the assumptions that one brings to it. If one takes one's Bible, consisting of exactly 66 books -- no more, no less -- and opens it with the a priori assumption that the text is self-authenticating and self-interpreting and that Christian faith itself is capable of being reduced to verbal formulae, then one will find in the text exactly what one expects to find there.
"The truth of the matter is -- and this is an irksome truth for Evangelicals to confront -- that the doctrine of sola Scriptura is not scriptural. In other words, the claim that the Bible is the sole source of authority for Christian life and doctrine is not found in the Bible. It is analogous to saying, "It is absolutely true that there is no such thing as absolute truth." To understand this, we must carefully examine those texts that are usually offered as proof of the doctrine of sola Scriptura. ...." [pages 120-121: THE WAY: What Every Protestant Should Know About the Orthodox Church. by Clark Carlton. Salisbury, MA: Regina Orthodox Press, 1997.
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God bless you. Amen.
In Erie PA Scott R. Harrington
"Sola Scriptura: The Proof-Texts
"Jesus answered and said unto them, "Ye do err, not knowing the Scriptures, nor the power of God" (Matt. 22:29 KJV).
"It is evident that the Protestant principle of sola Scriptura entails much more than a mere affirmation of the authority of the Bible. It is, in fact, a complex of interrelated ideas and assumptions. When Protestants read the Scriptures, they bring these assumptions with them, whether they realize it or not.
"For those reared, as I was, in an Evangelical milieu, passages such as 2 Timothy 3:16 and other texts mentioned below "obviously" support the doctrine of sola Scriptura. The "self-evidence" of this support, however, is due not to the text istelf, but to the assumptions that one brings to it. If one takes one's Bible, consisting of exactly 66 books -- no more, no less -- and opens it with the a priori assumption that the text is self-authenticating and self-interpreting and that Christian faith itself is capable of being reduced to verbal formulae, then one will find in the text exactly what one expects to find there.
"The truth of the matter is -- and this is an irksome truth for Evangelicals to confront -- that the doctrine of sola Scriptura is not scriptural. In other words, the claim that the Bible is the sole source of authority for Christian life and doctrine is not found in the Bible. It is analogous to saying, "It is absolutely true that there is no such thing as absolute truth." To understand this, we must carefully examine those texts that are usually offered as proof of the doctrine of sola Scriptura. ...." [pages 120-121: THE WAY: What Every Protestant Should Know About the Orthodox Church. by Clark Carlton. Salisbury, MA: Regina Orthodox Press, 1997.
Regina Orthodox Press Online Store
God bless you. Amen.
In Erie PA Scott R. Harrington