Can you show where in history sola scriptura has worked?

Question

In other words, where, throughout
Protestantism's relatively brief life-span, can we find examples just one will do of sola scriptura actually working, functioning in such a way that it brings about doctrinal certitude and unity of doctrine among Christians?

Answer 1

It is impossible for it to work

Answer 2

Hi, Sue.

Sola scriptura ("only scripture") has not worked well as a method of understanding God's revelation for several reasons.

First, God has not addressed his creatures only in scripture. His primary means of communication is raising up prophets whose cogent messages, continuity with past revelation, and personal holiness attest to their veracity as revelators.

Jesus was such a prophet, but more than a prophet. The only known writings of Jesus were scratched into the dust as some Pharisees were reconsidering their plan to stone a woman taken in adultery. He taught by word of mouth and by exemplary deeds. The New Testament is simply a collection of historical writings about Jesus and his apostles and some letters applying Jesus' teachings to problems of theology and morality.

Second, sola scriptura hasn't worked because it excludes vital contextual information. For example, to understand about whether "born again" is about baptism, and whether infants should be baptized, you have to look at evidence beyond the Bible, e.g., in the Didache, Justin Martyr, Irenaeus, Tertullian, Hippolytus, Clement, Cyprian, Cyril, Athanasius, Basil, the Council of Carthage, Ambrose, Gregory of Nyssa, John Chrysostom, Gregory of Nazianz, and Augustine.

Finally, sola scriptura is hubris. No individual has the scholarship to work out the meaning of ancient texts, written in several languages, depending on vast history and archaeology, without the community of Christian scholars who have been working on these texts since the first century.

That would be like imagining that a person could assemble all modern scientific knowledge of medicine without the aid of the medical community going back to Hippocrates.

Cheers,
Bruce

Answer 3

Sola Scriptura is not a belief that no one will interpret wrongly, or that there will be no disagreements. You are attacking a straw man here, and it is sad that you don't seem to know it. Sola Scriptura simply stated is the belief that all that the Christian NEEDS to know for his or her salvation can be found in the bible. Now let me turn this around and ask you a question. Why don't you recognize that this line of questioning cuts both ways? Since there happen to be differing opinions on how to interpret what the Catholic Church says and what the dogmas are (no one can come up with an infallible list of infallible dogmas) doesn't your posses ion of an "infallible magisteriam" just take the question back another step? I would submit to you that it does. Who gives us the infallible interpretation of the Churches infallible interpretations anyways? You? Your priest? The local bishop? Or is it ultimately left to you and your Private judgment?

Answer 4

NO BIBLE ONLY (Sola Scriptura)

The idea that all revealed truth is to be found in "66 books" is not only not in Scripture, it is contradicted by Scripture (1 Corinthians 11:2, 2 Thessalonians 2:15, 2 Thessalonians 3:6, 1 Timothy 3:15, 2 Peter 1:20-21, 2 Peter 3:16). It is a concept unheard of in the Old Testament, where the authority of those who sat on the Chair of Moses (Matthew 23:2-3) existed. In addition to this, for 400 years, there was no defined canon of "Sacred Scripture" aside from the Old Testament; there was no "New Testament"; there was only Tradition and non-canonical books and letters.
Christianity did not embrace Judaism, but Judaism Christianity," Christianity can only be fully grasped by understanding it for what it is: the Old Covenant growing into the New Covenant, the fulfillment of the Old Testament religion, the organic result of the coming of the expected Messiah Who was Himself from the Tribe of Judah. Tradition and earthly authority have always been an extremely important part of this.
To believe that the Bible is our only source of Christian Truth is unbiblical and illogical.



NO FAITH ALONE: (Sola fide)

Did the apostle Paul teach justification by faith alone? Why didn't he use the specific phrase in his New Testament writings.
A thorough study of his epistles reveals he used the word faith over 200 times.....but not once did he couple them with "alone" or "only".

Paul used the word "alone more than any New Testament writer. Even while Paul was teaching the nature of justification, he was aware of the word "alone" and its qualifying properties.

Although the Holy Spirit prohibited Paul from using "faith alone", he intentionally allowed James to make a clear and forceful point by inspiring him with the words, "man is justified by works and not by faith alone".(James 2:24),

Paul's use of the word "faith" with theological meaning and implications that absolutely preclude it with being coupled with the word "alone".

Scripture written by Paul was this God-given wisdom which prevented him from joining the word "alone" with "faith".

Answer 5

nicely, your asking 2 diverse questions. Sola Scriptura (Its latin which means via/with scripture on my own) refers to a literal interpretation of the bible and the bible being infallible. So, you flow to heaven throughout the time of the bible on my own and without the % for "solid works" linked with catholics. it fairly is not meant to deliver a pair of uniform doctrine for all christians. Its a thank you to get into heaven and stay your life and not a thank you to not unify the christian church.

Answer 6

ZING !! Home run.

In 500 years, the fact that protestentaism has fractured in to over 10,000 sects is PROOF that the "Bible Alone" theory is a failure.

Among the Christian churches, only the Catholic Church has existed since the time of Jesus. Every other Christian church is an offshoot of the Catholic Church. The Eastern Orthodox churches broke away from unity with the pope in 1054. The Protestant churches were established during the Reformation, which began in 1517. (Most of today’s Protestant churches are actually offshoots of the original Protestant offshoots.) Only the Catholic Church existed in the tenth century, in the fifth century, and in the first century, faithfully teaching the doctrines given by Christ to the apostles, omitting nothing. The line of popes can be traced back, in unbroken succession, to Peter himself. This is unequaled by any institution in history: Even the oldest government is new compared to the papacy. The Catholic Church has existed for nearly 2,000 years, despite constant opposition from the world. This is testimony to the Church’s divine origin: Any merely human organization would have collapsed long ago. The Catholic Church is today the most vigorous church in the world (and the largest, with a billion members: one sixth of the human race), and that is testimony not to the cleverness of the Church’s leaders, but to the protection of the Holy Spirit.
Jesus’ Church is called catholic ("universal" in Greek) because it is his gift to all people. He told his apostles to go throughout the world and make disciples of "all nations" (Matt. 28:19–20). For 2,000 years the Catholic Church has carried out this mission, preaching the good news that Christ died for all men and that he wants all of us to be members of his universal family (Gal. 3:28). Nowadays the Catholic Church is found in every country of the world and is still sending out missionaries to "make disciples of all nations" (Matt. 28:19). The Church Jesus established was known by its most common title, "the Catholic Church," at least as early as the year 107, when Ignatius of Antioch used that title to describe the one Church Jesus founded. The title apparently was old in Ignatius’s time, which means it went all the way back to the time of the apostles.

Answer 7

I sure can't show you. Because it has NOT worked.

I can go to the Bpatist church down the street and they interpret the Scriptures their way, whereas the non-denominational church across the street has a totally different interpretation, etc etc etc

Answer 8

I don't see how it hasn't worked. The only reason it hasn't is because people don't believe in the scriptures, and the people who do aren't strong about their beliefs anymore. In my church, we are going through the London Baptist Confession of 1689. If you want to find out about this read the confession.

Answer 9

If doctrinal certitude is the objective, nothing will work. It's an absurd goal.

Answer 10

Faith Justifies Initially, but Works Perfect and Complete Justification
James 2:24 - the phrase "faith alone" (the Greek "pisteos monon") only occurs once in the Bible. "Man is justified by works and NOT faith alone." Unlike what many Protestant churches teach, no where in Scripture does it say that man is justified or saved by "faith alone." To the contrary, man is not justified by faith alone. In Catholic theology, a person is justified by faith and works acting together, which comes solely from God’s divine grace. Faith alone never obtains the grace of justification (Council of Trent, chapter 8, canon 9). Also, the word “justified” (dikaiow) is the same word Paul uses for justification in Rom. 4:3 in regard to Abraham (so Protestants cannot argue James is not referring to “justification” in James 2:24 unless they argue Paul wasn’t in Rom. 4:3 either).

Heb. 11:6 - faith is indeed the minimum requirement without which we cannot please God. But this is just the beginning of the process leading toward justification. Faith alone does not justify a person. Justification is only achieved by faith and works, as we see below. Also, this gratuitous gift of faith from God also includes the grace of hope and love the moment the person is justified.

Eph. 2:8-9 – Paul teaches us that faith is the root of justification, and that faith excludes “works of law.” But Paul does not teach that faith excludes other kinds of works, as we will see below. The verse also does not say we are justified by “faith alone.” It only indicates that faith comes first. This, of course, must be true, because those who do works outside of faith are in a system of debt, not of grace (more on that later). But faith alone does not justify. A man is justified by works, and not by faith alone. James 2:24.

Luke 24:47; Acts 2:38, 3:19, 17:30 - the faith we have must be a repentant faith, not just an intellectual faith that believes in God. Repentance is not just a thought process (faith), but an act (work) by which we ask God for His mercy and forgiveness.

Psalm 51:17 – this means we need a “broken and contrite heart,” not just an intellectual assent of faith. Faith in God is only the beginning.

John 3:36; Rom. 1:5, 6:17; 15:18; 16:26; 2 Cor. 9:13; 1 Thess. 1:3; 2 Thess. 1:11; 1 Peter 2:7-8; Heb. 5:9; cf. Rev. 3:10; Ex. 19:5 – this faith must also be an “obedient faith” and a “work of faith.” Obedience means persevering in good works to the end.

2 Cor. 10:15 – this faith must also increase as a result of our obedience, as Paul hopes for in this verse. Obedience is achieved not by faith alone, but by doing good works.

2 Cor. 13:5 – Paul also admonishes us to examine ourselves, to see whether we are holding to our faith. This examination of conscience is a pious Catholic practice. Our faith, which is a gift from God, must be nurtured. Faith is not a one-time event that God bestows upon us.

Gal. 5:6 – thus, the faith that justifies us is “faith working through love,” not faith alone. This is one of the best summaries of Catholic teaching. Faith and love (manifested by works) are always connected. Faith (a process of thought) and love (an action) are never separated in the Scriptures. Cf. Eph. 3:17; 1 Thess. 3:6,12-13; 2 Thess. 1:3; 1 John 3:23; Rev. 2:4-5,19. Further, all faith (initial and perfected) are gratuitous gifts from God, and not earned or merited by any human action. God effects everything, both the willing and the achievement. But God also requires human action, which is necessary to perfect our faith.

James 1:22-25 - it's the "doers" who are justified, not the hearers. Justification is based on what we do, which means “works.” Notice that there is nothing about “false faith.” The hearers may have faith, but they need to accompany their faith by works, or they will not be justified. See also Rom. 2:13
So clearly something about Sola Scriptura is amiss and there are far too many scripture passages to dismiss this error or fudge over it.