My opponent’s opening statement gives us many points to chew on. Regrettably, they exemplify the types of misrepresentations that many a Roman Catholic apologist has presented about the Sola Scriptura position; and demonstrate the flimsy apologetic Rome has for its own views. Below, I have excerpted some of my opponent A’s comments and answered them accordingly.

Rebuttal: The Church, the Kingdom of God

“Jesus did not promise new Scripture. He promised a Church.” - A

My opponent’s first assertion is that Jesus Himself did not promise new Scripture, which isn’t an old argument. Indeed, the inscripturation of the New Testament has been a matter by which the Roman Catholic apologist has tried to point to the supremacy of the church. The Church, it is said, was the original intent of Christ. The writing of canonical Scripture by the Church was just one of the methods by which the Apostles left us their voice. This then leaves us to wonder, was inscripturation intimated at by Christ and was it assumed by the Apostles that a written record should be left?

One of the first allusions we see towards inscripturation comes in Jn.14:26: “But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all that I said to you.” We also read: "I have many more things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. But when He, the Spirit of truth, comes, He will guide you into all the truth; for He will not speak on His own initiative, but whatever He hears, He will speak; and He will disclose to you what is to come.” (Jn.16:12-13) When we examine these passages of Scripture we see intimation towards a further action of the apostles under the guidance of the Holy Spirit. However, these verses remain implicit by themselves and could potentially have another meaning. Dr Eric Svendsen writes:

“A number of things may be said in response to this. First, while it is by no means certain that Jesus has in mind here the inscripturation of the New Testament, neither can that possibility be ruled out of hand. For, although we cannot start with this passage, if we can first determine elsewhere that the apostles understood Jesus to want a written record of certain teachings and events, there can then be no objection to the notion that John understood Jesus’ words here in precisely the same way.”

Indeed, as Dr. Svendsen shows later in the chapter, there are verses which intimate upon an idea of inscripturation. One such statement is found in Mark 14:9, "Truly I say to you, wherever the gospel is preached in the whole world, what this woman has done will also be spoken of in memory of her." Seeming as though the recount of this woman is not contained in any other form but Scripture, what other way do we have of knowing her story? Or in Mat 24:35, where Jesus tells us, "Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will not pass away.” What concrete account of His words do we have but in Scripture? Tradition is not outlined and defined by the Roman Catholic Church, so any assertion that Tradition would contain them cannot be backed up. Scripture, however, tells us the words of Jesus.

Also, we have the acknowledgement by the apostles that their own writings and the writings of others that they are indeed Scripture. Paul writes in his letter to Timothy, “For the Scripture says, "YOU SHALL NOT MUZZLE THE OX WHILE HE IS THRESHING," and "The laborer is worthy of his wages."” (1Ti 5:18 ) What is significant about this is the fact that Paul is quoting Luke’s Gospel as Scripture as soon as the early 60’s AD. The latter quote, “The laborer is worthy of his wages” comes to us from Luke 10:7. Peter declares Paul’s writings as Scripture in 2 Pet. 3:15-16 when he states, “and regard the patience of our Lord as salvation; just as also our beloved brother Paul, according to the wisdom given him, wrote to you, as also in all his letters, speaking in them of these things, in which are some things hard to understand, which the untaught and unstable distort, as they do also the rest of the Scriptures, to their own destruction. “

Finally, the point must be made that if the Scriptures are theopneustos (God-breathed) as Paul tells Timothy in 2 Tim. 3:16-17, that with the confession of new Scripture from Paul and Peter comes the implicit assertion that these Scriptures would likewise be inspired. That in and of itself tells us that Jesus, as God the Son and second person of the Trinity would have foreknown and decreed further Scripture. That is, unless my opponent is willing to state Scripture to being a divine accident.

“He promised a Church. A Church that is very visible.” - A

When my opponent makes this premise coupled with the previous assertion that Christ did not command new Scripture, the inference made is that Church is above Scripture. However, nowhere does Christ or his Apostles decree the Church to be above the Scriptures or the production agent who gave us the Scriptures. They are “the pillar and support of the truth” (1Tim.3:15), that is that they uphold it and support it. However, the Scriptures define who the church is, what her manner of practice should be, what the Truth is that she should uphold, and how she should contend for the faith. This is because it is the sole source of God’s special revelation for His people today. Dr. Greg Bahnsen writes,

“The grandest expression of God's Word was found in the very person of Jesus Christ, who is called "the Word of God" (John 1:1; Rev. 19:13). Again, what we know of Christ is dependent upon the written word of the gospels by men like Matthew and Luke.”

Keeping this in mind, if what we know about our Lord is solely contained in Scripture, and if the Church itself cannot be known apart from her master, then in what other form can the church find its identity? Furthermore, Paul tells us that Scripture is our sufficient rule for “teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness.” (2 Tim.3:16) which are the functions of the body of Christ. We can rely upon Scripture because the Lord has promised us it would make us “....so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work.”

For the Church to obey her master, be subservient to Him, and identify themselves as His, they must study His Scriptures. In these alone exist the voice of the Lord to His people.

Now, my opponent makes a statement here and elsewhere about the “visibility” of the church, but the premise of this debate is not the nature of the church or what is meant by church visibility, but rather what the infallible rule of faith is for the church. The statement that Christ inaugurated a visible church is irrelevant to our current discussion.

Rebuttal: Bind and Loose and the Keys of the Kingdom

“Now that we know that Jesus established a visible Church, we also know what kind of Church this will be. It is an authoritative Church. This Church has the power to bind and loose (Matthew 16:19; 18:18; John 20:21-23).” - A

Because we are not debating about papal infallibility, I will refrain from an in-depth exegesis of the passages my opponent offers. In brief, these passages are subjected to atrocious eisegesis by the Roman Catholic apologist. No where in those passages can authority be taken the next step into papacy and infallibility, it just is not implied. The fact is that Christ gave Peter authority as an apostle. But it does not follow, and is a gigantic leap of logic, to then state Peter became the first pope. Furthermore, when did the Pope become another rule of faith in Roman Catholicism?

I ask my opponent to please keep in mind the premise of this debate, which is not the nature of the visible church or the infallibility of the Pope, but rather the assertion on my part that the Scriptures are the only infallible rule of faith for the Church of Jesus Christ. In order for my opponent to refute my position that the Scriptures are the sole infallible rule of faith, he must demonstrate another rule of faith equal to Scripture in reliability and inspiration.

“Modern Protestant scholars do not deny this -- they even explain these verses in ways that the Catholic Church and Catholic apologists do today. Notice especially the connection made to Peter as the new "chief steward" (Isaiah 22:15-25) of the kingdom of heaven (the Church) upon earth.” - A

The trustworthiness of the quotations my opponent cites is very questionable. As was the crime of Scott Butler when he wrote “Jesus, Peter, and the Keys”, many excerpts are taken out of context and misinterpreted. Dr. James White notes:

“Jesus, Peter & the Keys attempts to present a "scholarly" air through the citation of numerous Protestant sources. The problem is, most of these citations do not fully appreciate the issues at hand, and do not fairly acknowledge the full positions of the scholars cited. Important points are often based upon a very strained and stretched exegesis of the text....”

Once again, I am left to comment that, unless my opponent wishes to state that the Pope is a rule of faith for the Roman Catholic Church, then the point my opponent makes on Papal infallibility is moot.

“Where in the Bible does it say that the Apostles passed their authority ONLY to their letters?” - A

Scripture was not seen by them (and is not seen by the Protestant) as a passing of their apostolic authority, but rather a duty of it. Christ had given the apostles the authority to stand as His representatives in declaring His word. Therefore, the work of the apostles in their letters was their written proclamation of the Gospel entrusted to them. What we who espouse Sola Scriptura state is that once the apostles had died, that the pronouncement of the Gospel was still preserved in the epistles they composed. This rule of faith contained the weight of inspiration alone from that point forth, and God’s special form of self-revelation was contained solely in the words of Scripture.

The authority given to the apostles was not needed to be passed on, as a written record of what they proclaimed now existed. This is not to say the post-apostolic church had no authority anymore. But that special form of apostolic authority had expired. The authority we find today is in the Holy Spirit, and in the Word of God.

“Sola Scriptura wasn’t the intent of Jesus at all. The original apostolic Church didn’t practice Sola Scriptura either. Protestant apologist James R. White frankly admits this in his online article on the Bereans and Sola Scriptura ....” - A

The fallacy of my opponent is to cite that, merely because the apostolic church did not practice Sola Scriptura that therefore Sola Scriptura is a false premise. However, as Dr. White astutely mentions in the quote my opponent cites:

“'During times of enscripturation -- that is, when new revelation was being given -- sola scriptura was operational.' Protestants do not assert that sola scriptura is a valid concept during times of revelation. How could it be, since the rule of faith to which it points was at that very time coming into being? One must have an existing rule of faith to say it is 'sufficient.'”

The apostolic authority to speak as the voice of Christ to His church became inscriptuated. However, during the process of inscripturation the voice of Christ still resided in the oral teachings of the apostles; like I said in my opening statement, Sola Scriptura does not deny the Word of God was at one time spoken. The fact, however, that the Church of the early-to-mid 1st century did not practice Sola Scriptura is merely a matter of common sense and by far does not debunk it. Once the final words of the apostles were penned, and their oral testimony was silenced through death, then the message they were given authority to proclaim resided in their Gospels and epistles. The Roman Catholic church itself recognizes a closure of canon and a cessation of further revelation at a certain point. Is the Magisterium that my opponent pledges his allegiance to somehow mistaken? Is their belief that the sacred deposit is contained in Scripture and Tradition false? To turn the arguments of my opponent around on itself, if we acknowledge that the 1st century church did not yet have a full rule of faith in Scripture while Scripture was being written, then His Church is not practicing as the early church did either, as it acknowledges a closure of canon and a full Scripture as a rule of faith.

The sufficiency of Scripture resides in its nature as the inspired Word of God. The validity of the practice of Sola Scriptura resides in the fact that no other “rule of faith” carries with it the weight of inspiration. Again I state that the only way my point that Scripture is the sole infallible rule of faith can be debunked is for my opponent to demonstrate to me another rule of faith which has the weight of inspiration. Otherwise my assertion stands.

“They knew the Gospels before they were ever written. The early Christians followed the "apostles' teaching" and apostolic tradition as the "Word of God" (Acts 2:42; 1 Cor 11:2; 1 Thess 2:13; 2 Thess 2:15; 3:6) before any of it was written down.” - A

This is another commonly cited rebuttal to Sola Scriptura. Here, it is said, is proof that the early church followed apostolic tradition. However, to reiterate what I said in my opening statement, that the statements made by the apostles about things spoken, or traditions to be held firm to, do not necessarily indicate they are extra biblical. It is very likely that they were preaching the very same things that they were also writing to the churches in their epistles. Furthermore, there is no evidence that, even if it was not transcribed into Scripture, these oral pronouncements exist today. One cannot link back to the Pauline tradition and outline what doctrines his oral tradition promulgated as it never has been authoritatively defined and defended. Tradition remains an ever-morphing idea in the Roman Catholic apologetic.

“A good example is contraception. Is contraception a sin? Is slavery a sin? Is modern "MTV type" dancing appropriate? Those are tough questions to answer. And we HAVE to know the truth on these issues. If we don’t, then Christianity would fall into religious relativism and subjectivism.” - A

Another common rebuttal, to which the answer is that this is a Roman Catholic burden and not the Protestant, as our beliefs are not contingent upon the answers to such things. In those things which the Bible speaks on, it is the final word, but those things which it does not address are not binding upon the believer. This is not to say that, therefore, a Protestant does not care for morality and moral behavior and indeed the Scriptures do speak on behavior which is becoming of a believer in Christ Jesus. However, the answers to these questions do not affect the Gospel. In short, those things which the Bible is silent on should be surveyed with wisdom and Biblical judgment but nothing which the Bible does not make as binding upon the believer should be bound onto the believer’s conscience. The Roman Catholic may think such issues are related to the Gospel, but it is his to prove and not the Protestant’s.

Rebuttal: Sacred Tradition

“Now, I don’t want to debate the early Church Fathers because they are really irrelevant for Julie. She doesn’t think that the writings of the Fathers are authoritative or reliable for doctrine, so it doesn’t matter if she quotes them. What I want her to prove however is that Sola Scriptura is biblical and logical. I hope Julie does not try to shift the burden of proof.” - A

Such again shows that Rome’s apologists refuse to listen to what has been said to them now for centuries. To quote the Fathers is not to deify them: that's the Roman burden. We can read what the Fathers write respectfully, but their word is not the final word, unless my opponent wishes to state that the writings of the Early Church Fathers are infallible. Further, one wonders if my opponent believes everything written in the patristic sources? Of course he doesn't. He believes only what Rome agrees with, and nothing more.

“And who actually defines Sola Scriptura? And who interprets Scripture? Do the bishops interpret scripture? Can just anyone interpret Scripture authoritatively?”

Once again, the Roman Catholic fallacy which states one must have an infallible human authority in order to ascertain Scripture, that Scripture is so unclear as not to be understood by itself. The Holy Spirit is the one who gives discernment to the believer; the Protestant does not claim at all that a person with a Bible and nothing else has all that they need. Furthermore, we state that, as I pointed out in my opening statement, the believer is to remain subservient to Scripture, submissive to the voice of his Lord through The Word of God.

“First, that passage does not say that Scripture is "sufficient." Second, a Catholic believes that Scripture is inspired and profitable. Third, Paul used the word "alone" many times, and this would be the best place to put it if he was teaching Sola Scriptura.” - A

My opponent tries to critique the exegesis of 2 Tim. 3:16-17 that we as proponents of Sola Scriptura offer, but he fails to do so in a scholarly manner. The first point I can make is looking at those things which Paul states Scripture is profitable for: “....teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness”. What other functions are needed for the Scripture to be sufficient? Secondly, the statement that Paul makes that the Scriptures are able to make the man of God “....adequate, equipped for every good work” tells us this: if it equips the believer for every good work, how can it be inferred that it lacks in any manner? Lastly, while Paul does not state the word “alone”, he is not required to as he does not give any other rule of faith needed to make the man of God equipped for every good work. The absence of another rule of faith in Paul’s words to Timothy demonstrates that he felt the Scriptures to be sufficient.

Rebuttal: Early History

“Christians always had apostolic tradition to follow (1 Cor 11:2; 2 Thess 2:15) and the Church to guide them as the "pillar and foundation of the truth" (Matt 16:18f; 1 Tim 3:15). It was never "Scripture alone" by private interpretation”. - A

Once again the points can be reiterated about “tradition”. I need not repeat it, but add that we have the apostolic tradition outlined to us in Scripture. The burden is on the Roman Catholic to demonstrate that any form of apostolic “tradition” is verifiably in existence to this day. Also, the Church, while a guide and a pillar, is still subservient to the Word of God and not above God’s inspired Scriptures. As for private interpretation, the Sola Scriptura proponent does not make allowance for the “Lone Ranger” Christian, the Christian who would set himself up as his own personal pope. The believer is charged to be under the care and guidance of a local church and to always be submissive to the Scriptures.

Rebuttal: Practical Problems of Sola Scriptura

“First, who defines and interprets Sola Scriptura? Whose interpretation of Scripture is correct? You might ask, whose interpretation of the Church’s interpretation of Scripture is correct? The answer is that our explanation of dogma may differ, so long as our explanation does not contradict the dogma itself.” - A

The Roman Catholic Church is a shining example of the fact that it doesn’t matter if one claims to have an infallible interpreter, that still there exists stark divisions in the Church of Rome. Is the Protestant a separated brother or anathema? Is Vatican II infallible or is it not? Even to cite something which my opponent brought up, is contraception Biblical or is it not? You will find polar disagreements within Roman Catholic camps on just such an issue. Was Cardinal Law of the Archdiocese of Boston acting on behalf of the Roman Catholic church when he shifted pedophile priests from one unsuspecting parish to another, and when he aided in covering up their deeds?

Furthermore, when we examine the epistemology of the Roman Catholic church against comparable epistemologies, whose infallible interpreter is correct? Salt Lake City’s prophet or Rome’s Magisterium?

The fact that people disagree with one another on Biblical interpretation is not a failure of its sufficiency, or otherwise the argument would backfire on Rome and show Rome’s Magisterium to be equally insufficient. As Dr. James White stated:

“Let’s say James Akin writes the PERFECT textbook on logic. It is completely perspicuous: It is fully illustrated, completely consistent, and it provides answers to all the tough questions in plain, understandable terminology. It covers all the bases. Now, would it follow, then, that every other person who consulted this textbook would agree with every other person who consulted this textbook on matters of logic? Well, of course not....Now the question I have to ask is this: Is there something wrong with Mr. Akin’s textbook if it does not produce complete unanimity on questions logical? Is the problem in the “textbook” or in the people “using” the textbook?”

The so-called “infallible interpreter” of Rome just adds more debate to the fire than Scripture itself does. It is not the fault of Scripture that others find disagreement with it, and does not follow that just because a disagreement arises within the church that the blame goes to a lack of a Magisterium.

“In Protestantism, who has the authority to interpret Scripture? If two Christians are having an argument on doctrine, who has the authority to settle the dispute?” - A

Or, furthermore, when the Roman Catholic has an argument on doctrine, can they call the Magisterium for a ruling? And will that ruling solves the problem or add fuel to the debate? Once again the point must be noted that a so-called infallible human interpreter has done nothing to alleviate debate amongst Roman Catholics.

“As Catholic apologist Mark Bonocore has suggested: (1) EITHER the Divine plan contained in the Bible is objectively UNknowable, OR . . . (2) It's only knowable to a select few -- intellectuals, who claim to know Scripture so well that they can point out who is correct and who is in error. If #1 is the case, then Julie is not a Christian, but a liberal relativist. If #2 is correct, then Julie is a Gnostic, on par with every New Age guru on the West Coast. So, which is it, Julie?” - A

Mr. Bonocore sets up a false premise, and only allows for one of two extremes, forsaking the fact that there may exist a different option in his example. The Bible is clear with regards to salvation, or otherwise the apostle John would have been false when he stated “but these have been written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing you may have life in His name.” (John 20:31) Peter informs us that there are “some things hard to understand, which the untaught and unstable distort, as they do also the rest of the Scriptures, to their own destruction”, but he does not say even these hard things are unknowable. Where the problem lies is in the assertion by John, “The Light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it.” Those who reside in the darkness cannot see the light.

Furthermore, Bonocore’s premise backfires when we look at the Roman Catholic Magisterium. The pleas Roman Catholics make about the necessity of an infallible human interpreter seems to indicate the second of the two scenarios, that being that Scripture is only knowable to a select few who claim to know Scripture so well that they can point out who is correct and who is in error. Would the Roman Catholic apologist then be willing to charge his own epistemology with Gnosticism?

Conclusion

My opponent fails to demonstrate at all how the church established by Jesus Christ is an infallible authority. In fact, what he has demonstrated, if we are to believe that this is the stance of Rome, is the utter disrespect of Scripture most Roman Catholic apologists have. From the assertion that the inscripturation of the New Testament was not ordered by Jesus, to the eisegesis of Biblical passages in the vain attempt to carve out some semblance of “Petrine primacy”, and various points made along the way, we see the true presupposition of the Roman Catholic apologist: Sola Ecclesia. That is to say that the Church of Rome herself is of primacy and any apologetic presented is done with the intent to prove her and her decrees true despite what the evidence may suggest.

My opponent has also failed, in his statement, to demonstrate what other infallible rule of faith exists for the Church besides Scripture. He gave us several biased assertions with marginal evidence to back them up at best; and in the final analysis all that stands concretely is God’s inspired Scriptures. My opponent seems content to rest on a notion that he does not need to present his case, because the full “burden of proof” lies upon me. However, I have presented scholarly evidence for my claim and refuted the offering of my opponent. Until he proves otherwise, then my point stands.

The Scriptures are the only infallible rule of faith.

Julie Staples