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Question Title	Posted By	Question Date
sola scriptura	stacey	Thursday, September 18, 2008
Question: Where does the teaching of sola scriptura come from? I've heard this term alot growing up Protestant. Does the Catholic church teach this? Seems as if I remember reading that the Church was actually in existence some time before the Bible was even put together. I do believe that the bible is the inspired word of God but something about the sola scriptura doctrine just doesn't seem quite right to me. Can you explain what you know about this? Thanks and God Bless!
Question Answered by Bro. Ignatius Mary, OLSM Dear Stacey: Your instincts are correct. Sola Scriptura (meaning the bible is the sole authority) is an unBiblical invention of Martin Luther. The Bible itself says that it does not contain all the teachings of Jesus (John 21:25) and that we are to hold fast to the Traditions passed down whether oral or written (2 Thess 2:15; cf. 1 Cor 11:2) and that we are actually to shun people not acting in accord with Tradition (2 Thess 3:14). The Bible also tells us that it is the CHURCH, not the Bible, that is the foundation and pillar of truth (1 Tim 3:15). And you are correct, the Church existed before the New Testament was even written. Even then, there were many manuscripts being passed around as Scripture in the first centuries that were not inspired. Thus, the Catholic bishops in the 4th century had to make some decisions about which of these manuscripts were inspired Scripture and which were not. One of the tests these bishops used to determine which writings were inspired was whether or not they conformed to Sacred Tradition of the Church. If they did not, they were not accepted as genuine Holy Scripture. The New Testament that Protestants use today is a result of these determinations of the Catholic Bishops. The Bible comes from the Church, not the Church from the Bible. You can learn more about this from these articles: Scripture and Tradition Proving Inspiration God Bless, Bro. Ignatius Mary Footer Notes: This forum is for general questions on the faith. See specific Topic Forums below: Spiritual Warfare, demons, the occult go to our Spiritul Warfare Q&S Forum. Liturgy Questions go to our Liturgy and Liturgical Law Q&A Forum Liturgy of the Hours (Divine Office) Questions go to our Divine Office Q&A Forum Defenfing the Faith Questions go to our Defending the Faith Q&A Forum Church History Questions go to our Church History Q&A Forum

Question Title

Posted By

Question Date

sola scriptura

stacey

Thursday, September 18, 2008

Question:

Where does the teaching of sola scriptura come from? I've heard this term alot growing up Protestant. Does the Catholic church teach this? Seems as if I remember reading that the Church was actually in existence some time before the Bible was even put together. I do believe that the bible is the inspired word of God but something about the sola scriptura doctrine just doesn't seem quite right to me. Can you explain what you know about this? Thanks and God Bless!

Question Answered by Bro. Ignatius Mary, OLSM

Dear Stacey:

Your instincts are correct. Sola Scriptura (meaning the bible is the sole authority) is an unBiblical invention of Martin Luther. The Bible itself says that it does not contain all the teachings of Jesus (John 21:25) and that we are to hold fast to the Traditions passed down whether oral or written (2 Thess 2:15; cf. 1 Cor 11:2) and that we are actually to shun people not acting in accord with Tradition (2 Thess 3:14).

The Bible also tells us that it is the CHURCH, not the Bible, that is the foundation and pillar of truth (1 Tim 3:15).

And you are correct, the Church existed before the New Testament was even written. Even then, there were many manuscripts being passed around as Scripture in the first centuries that were not inspired. Thus, the Catholic bishops in the 4th century had to make some decisions about which of these manuscripts were inspired Scripture and which were not.

One of the tests these bishops used to determine which writings were inspired was whether or not they conformed to Sacred Tradition of the Church. If they did not, they were not accepted as genuine Holy Scripture. The New Testament that Protestants use today is a result of these determinations of the Catholic Bishops.

The Bible comes from the Church, not the Church from the Bible.

You can learn more about this from these articles:

Scripture and Tradition
Proving Inspiration

God Bless,
Bro. Ignatius Mary

Footer Notes: This forum is for general questions on the faith. See specific Topic Forums below:
Spiritual Warfare, demons, the occult go to our Spiritul Warfare Q&S Forum.
Liturgy Questions go to our Liturgy and Liturgical Law Q&A Forum
Liturgy of the Hours (Divine Office) Questions go to our Divine Office Q&A Forum
Defenfing the Faith Questions go to our Defending the Faith Q&A Forum
Church History Questions go to our Church History Q&A Forum