What is the biblical basis, if any, is there for sola scriptura ("scriptures alone" or "Bible only")?

Question

If there is no such biblical basis, then sola scriptura is a fallacy - an effort at begging the question - or worse, unbiblical in and by itself.

Answer 1

The Languages Of The Bible


1. Were all the books of the Bible originally written in one language?
No, besides Hebrew, Greek and Aramaic were used.

2. What books were written in Hebrew?
Almost all the books of the Old Testament.

3. What books were written in Greek?
In the Old Testament, the Second Book of Machabees and the Book of Wisdom; in the New Testament, all books except the Gospel of St. Matthew.

4. What books were written in Aramaic?
The Gospel of St. Matthew.

5. When were the books of the Old Testament, that were originally written in Hebrew, translated into Greek?
About 220 years before Christ.

6. Why was the translation from Hebrew into Greek made?
Because the Jewish people was dispersed into countries where the Greek tongue predominated, and so it gradually forgot the mother tongue, speaking only Greek. Hence the wish to have the Bible in the Greek tongue.

The Septuagint Version

1. Who were the translators of the Old Testament?
The translators of the Old Testament were Jewish scholars well acquainted with both the Hebrew and the Greek languages.

2. By what name is this translation known?
It is known as the Septuagint Version.

3. Why is it called by that name?
It is called by that name because it was commonly supposed that seventy scholars were employed in the work of translating.

4. Was it known by any other name besides that of the Septuagint?
It was known as the Alexandrian Version to distinguish it from the Hebrew or Palestinian Version.

5. Why was it known as the "Alexandrian Bible?"
Because this translation was made in Alexandria, Egypt, which had the biggest and most vibrant Jewish community outside of Israel.

6. Is there any other difference between the Septuagint and the Palestinian version, besides their language?
Several; The Septuagint contains more books than the Palestinian version and is about three hundred years older. The Palestinian Version originated approximately around 106 A.D. and is different from the Hebrew texts that were the basis for the Septuagint translation.

7. Why does the Septuagint have more books than the Palestinian version?
The translators had a well-founded belief that these books were inspired.

8. Were these added books accepted by the Hebrews?
Yes, but only up until 106 A.D., when the Palestinian, known also as the pharisaic version, became the norm.

9. Was the Septuagint Version much in use in Our Lord's time?
It was used not only by the Greek-speaking Jews but also by the Palestinian Jews; Our Lord and the Apostles frequently quoted it.

10. Did this Greek translation of the Bible help to spread Christianity?
It helped very much, because Gentiles, particularly the Greek philosophers, had read it, and had knowledge of the prophecies referring to the Messiah, with the result that when St. Paul preached to them, many converts were made.


The Vulgate

1. Name again the languages of the Old Testament before the time of Christ.
Hebrew and Greek.

2. In what languages did the Apostles write their Gospels and Epistles?
They wrote their Gospels and Epistles in Greek, except St. Matthew, who wrote his Gospel in Aramaic.

3. How did translations in languages other than Hebrew and Greek come into existence?
As Catholicism spread among peoples of different languages, the demand for the Bible in their various languages grew.

4. Name some of the earlier languages into which the Bible was translated.
Armenian, Syrian, Coptic, Arabic, and Ethiopian.

5. Was the Bible translated into Latin?
Many translations into Latin were made during the early Catholic centuries.

6. Were these Latin translations satisfactory?
No; many inaccuracies existed, due to errors of the copyists, or errors of translation caused by a poor understanding of the original language.

7. Which of the Latin translations was the best known?
The best known Latin translation was either the "Old African" or the "Old Italian" (Vetus Itala).

8. What was the result of the general dissatisfaction with these Latin translations?
Pope Damasus (Pope from 366 to 384) commissioned St. Jerome to make a new and accurate translation.

9. How did St Jerome go about this work?
He studied carefully the Hebrew and Greek versions, and from these made his new translation.

10. By what name is the Latin translation of St. Jerome known?
It is known as the Vulgate Version. Vulgate means common or vulgar in Latin and it was called so because Latin was the common tongue of the Western Roman Empire.

11. Does the Vulgate have the Church's special approval?
The Council of Trent (Italy) in 1546 declared it to be the only authentic and official version for the Latin Rite: " The same Sacred and Holy Synod ... hereby declares and enacts that the same well-known Old Latin Vulgate edition ... is to be held authentic in public readings, disputations,sermons, and expositions, and that no one shall dare or presume to reject it under any pretense whatsoever." (DZ. 785). It is still the official Catholic Bible today.


The Douay Bible

1. Is there a Catholic translation of the Bible in English?
Yes, it is the translation known as the Douay-Rheims Version. It was translated from the Latin Vulgate.

2. Why is it called "Douay-Rheims"?
Because it was begun at Rheims and finished at Douay in 1582-1609 by a group of English priests exiled in France.

3. What happened in the sixteenth century to cause the publication of a reliable and accurate translation?
During the Protestant "Deformation" in England many false translations had been made, hence there was great necessity of placing in the hands of Catholics a reliable and accurate translation.

4. Is it true that the Bible was never translated into vernacular languages before the Protestant Deformation?
It is not true; the first translation known in England was the translation into Anglo-Saxon made by Venerable Bede in the eighth century. There is a Gothic translation, made by a certain bishop Ulfilas around 380. The first German translation predates Luther by a good fifty years.

5. Why do Protestants assert that the Bible was never translated before the Deformation?
Through a mixture of ignorance and bad faith.

6. What is the most well known of the false English Protestant translations?
It is the version called the "King James," named after the King who commissioned it in 1604. It was finished in 1611. It is still the most popular of the Protestant Bibles in the English speaking world.

7. What is wrong with the "King James" version?
Like all the Protestant Bibles, it is incomplete and poorly translated. It is a "Pick and choose" version. Such is the real lack of respect of the "Reformers" for the word of God!

Differences Between Catholic And Protestant Versions

1. Does the Catholic version of the Bible differ from Protestant versions?
Yes, in many ways.

2. What is the most noticeable difference?
The most noticeable difference is the absence of seven whole books and parts of two others from the Protestant versions.

3. What books are not contained in the Protestant version?
The Deutero-Canonical Books (See lesson 6).

4. Why are the Deutero-Canonical Books Omitted by Protestants?
Because the Protestant versions of the Bible follow the late Palestinian version of the Bible, which also omits these books (See lesson 8).

5. Name another difference between the Catholic and Protestant versions.
Many important arbitrary changes are found in the texts of the Protestant Bible. According to some scholars, the most popular Protestant Bibles have literally hundreds of mistranslations, additions and omissions.

6. To what do such changes of text lead?
They lead to an entirely different interpretation from the one intended by the Sacred Writer.

7. Give an example of this change of text.
St Paul says, "... Being therefore justified by Faith ..." (Rom. V, 1), and Luther inserted the word "alone" so that the text reads, "Being therefore justified by faith alone."

8. Why were the Reformers so anxious to change texts?
They were anxious to change texts to give force to the particular doctrine of their choice.

9. Should that behavior of the Reformers raise some questions in our mind?
Yes, what did they believe exactly concerning the Bible? Either they did not believe it was the Word of God, and therefore felt free to change it any which way; or if they did believe it was the Word of God, it took a lot of pride and presumption to correct God's word. In either case, they should be called "Deformers" rather than Reformers.

10. Name other differences between the King James version and the Douay version.
The King James version has a preference for words of Anglo-Saxon origin whereas the Douay version freely uses words of Latin origin. The Douay version latinizes the name of some books while the King James gives what they thought at the time to be the Hebrew name. Many Protestant versions other than King James omit the Epistle of St. James.

Source(s):
Latin Vulgate
Douay-Rheims Bible
A Catechism Of The Bible

Answer 2

The Bible teaches that Scripture alone is the supreme and infallible authority for the church and the individual believer. This is not to say that creeds and tradition are unimportant, but the Bible alone is our final authority. Creeds and tradition are man made.
Jesus said, "Scripture cannot be broken" (John 10:35). He said "I tell you the truth, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished" (Matthew 5:18). He said, "It is easier for heaven and earth to disappear than for the least stroke of a pen to drop out of the law" (Luke 16:17).
Jesus used Scripture as the final court of appeal in every matter under dispute. He said to some Pharisees, "You nullify the word of God by your tradition that you have handed down" (Mark 7:13). To the Sadducee's He said, "You are in error because you do not know the Scriptures or the power of God". (Mat 22:29). To the devil, Jesus consistently responded, "It is written..." (Mat 4:4-10). So following Jesus' lead, the Scriptures alone are our supreme and final authority.

Answer 3

The Bible says that all Scripture is God-breathed, and so Scripture is entirely accurate. With this in mind, we should interpret the world and issues we face in it through a biblical worldview, accepting that wherever our thoughts or feelings contradict the Bible, we must accept what the Bible says. After all, we're fallen ppl and have been denying God ever since sin. Even when a Christian sins, they deny God, though they repent afterwards. Because of our sin, we must always trust Scripture over our own views, bc our views are corrupted by our sin.

Answer 4

Rommel: Let me get this right. You are asking; is it in the Holy Bible to only [solely] use the Bible it self as the sole source of Christian information verification? It all boils down to "sola" wisdom. The Bible is not a collection of mere human thoughts and ideals written and preserved within a Book entitled the Holy Bible ! The Holy Bible is a collection of inspired writings, via the Holy Spirit, in both, instruction in righteousness and correction in the will of God. It is designated as the written word of God to those He has elected to "call" out from the people of this world, into a relationship with Him, through His Son, Jesus Christ. Other books such as sciences, history, geography, chemistry etc. serve the purpose of proof texting various dogma [doctrine] held by Christians, to complement the Bible since true science and true Christianity DO support one another. A Christian is not a brainless idiot, who decided to embark on a career as a "Christian" but is required to be objective and use the brain given to him or her at birth . The Holy Spirit supplies a Christian with the various "tools" to conduct him or her self with, in their walk with Jesus Christ through life. "Sola scriptura" is not a folly - fallacy but using our Maker's Instruction Book , as HE would have us to do ! The Holy Bible is the foundation, on which all true knowledge is founded.

Answer 5

some declare Revelation 22:18-19 about including or substracting from "words of the e book of this prophecy" ability the Bible on my own is adequate. the concern lies with the actual shown reality that the Bible itself references different works no longer contained interior the authentic canon, for instance the e book of Enoch interior the Epistle of Jude at verse 14.

Answer 6

The best Biblical basis comes from 2 Timothy 3:15-17. That through the scriptures, you "may be thoroughly equipped."

Add to that, this: we are forbidden "to exceed what is written" (1 Corinthians 4:6)

Hope this helps, buddy.

Answer 7

I take it your Catholic.
So the argument goes like this, right?
"Protestant": Its not biblical to worship Mary
Catholic: Tell me where it says, it HAS to be in the Bible.

Do you KNOw what you just opened the door up for?? If the Bible is not the authority, then what is...TRADITION?? As for me, I would rather believe what I read that read what I am suppose to believe.

"Do not go beyond what is written"---1 Corinthians 4:6

p,s, sorry if I sounded rude. But like someone above said. Its kinda like having no "laws"

Answer 8

when Paul said in Corinthians "you need to know what it means not to go beyond the scriptures"

in Jude it says "contend earnestly for the faith which was delivered ONCE FOR ALL to the saints" hence the essential elements of the faith have been delivered to the saints at the time of the New Testament

in Acts it says "I commend you to God and to the word of His grace which is able to build you up and give you the inheritance among those who are sanctified"

in John Jesus said the Holy Spirit would lead the apostles into all truth... hence the living apostes would be led into all essential truths necessary for salvation ..hence there would therefore be no essential other truth and this is consistent with the image of 12 apostles names being the foundations of the News Jerusalem and now a succession of dozens and dozens of apostles to come

in John Jesus also said "sanctify them in the truth THY WORD IS TRUTH"

Answer 9

If you don't accept Sola Scriptura, then you must accept some human person or group of persons as your final authority about who God is and what God commands and offers. I have found all these human authorities to be dishonest or incompetent or both. So I think it is best to stick with Sola Scriptura. Please don't even think about the Catholic Church. The men who lead it are thoroughly corrupt, dishonest and unloving. Don't fall prey to their lies, their contradictions, and their pretenses. They want you to believe that just because they are the largest church (in terms of number of members) and one of the oldest churches that they must be the true or best church. Don't believe it. They are full of lies and doubletalk. I know since I was a Catholic for many years. I am certain that God hates the men who lead the Catholic Church, and that most of them end up in Hell.

Answer 10

That's a doctrine of man. The Bible speaks many times about God's many interactions with many men. Publishers are just looking to increase their sales.