This is very thorough. You did an excellent job on this subject. I enjoy reading your blog!

"Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit." Galatians 5:25

Keeping people ignorant about God's word is one sure way to keep them out of step with the spirit. I find my walk with Christ, my peace, my joy is in direct proportion to the time I spend immersed in God's word and prayer.

Sola Scriptura!

Merry Christmas!
BrightIdeaguru | Homepage | 12.19.05 - 4:20 pm | #

Just like every argument you give; this is, of course, a tautology.
Greg | 12.19.05 - 6:46 pm | #

What an odd post. Most of the Bible quotations (like the ones from Jude and Deuteronomy) don't seem to have anything to do with the topic of sola scriptura. Seriously, "the people must listen (or read)"? This supports the sufficiency of scripture how?

On one occasion Jesus argued with Satan using Scripture-so this proves that church tradition is unnecessary? There wasn't even a church then!

And to support the idea that the early church had the idea of sola scriptura, you cite--two *fourth* century writers! This qualifies now as early?
AR | 12.19.05 - 7:59 pm | #

The explanation given by Mr. Heddle has two main parts:
1. Scripture is sufficient for subjects concerning faith and life.
2. Scripture can be understood by ordinary believers.

First of all, let me say that I have trouble believing Sola Scriptura in the form explained by Mr. Heddle...


Question 1: (On Ability to Understand Scripture)
Does Sola Scriptura include the 2nd part: "are taught in a way that the ordinary believer can understand" ?

I read the quote of The Westminster Confession, and I don't see any claim on the ability of an "ordinary believer" to understand the scripture. Further more, this part seems problematic because of the existence of opposing interpretations of the Bible on issues (e.g. whether homosexuality is sinful) concerning faith and life.


Question 2: (On Sufficiency)
Are bio-ethic issues (e.g. cloning and stem cells) things concerning faith and life ?

I would think so. But I have trouble believing that Bible provides enough guidance concenring current bio-ethic issues. It seems well-informed people can reach different conclusions in good faith.


Question 3: (On Evidence Supporting Sola Scriptura)
What does "Scripture" consist of in 2 Tim. 3:15-17, in Deut, and in Matt. 4:3-10, NIV ?

At the time of 2 Tim, did people refer to the four gospels (if available) as part of the "Scripture" ? It seems like the Scriptural Support is more for "Old Testament Alone" than for "Bible Alone."

Further more, it is misleading to claim Jesus as a proponent of Sola Scriptura. If he were, there would be no argument at all among Christians on this doctrine.


Over all, I do not see strong evidence in support of Sola Scriptura in Mr. Heddle's short article.
RC | 12.19.05 - 8:06 pm | #

Some more thoughs:

Recall: Protestant View: The Bible is a fallible collection of infallible books

The above view implies that Bible might be incomplete in the sense that it might not contain the whole Scripture. Here I use the word Scripture to mean all the books that are inspired word of God. Also, Bible might be fallible even in things concerning faith and life ( because it might contain books not inspired by God. )

With the above implications in mind, clearly Sola Scriptura for Protestant can not mean "Bible Alone," but rather "Scripture Alone." This renders Sola Scriptura not very useful.


One possible application of Sola Scriptura is the following:

Claim: Bible is not the same as Scripture
Proof: Assume Sola Scriptura is true. Assume Bible = Scripture.
Then we expect every ordinary believer, after reading the bible, to arrive at the same interpretation of the Bible (because God's Word is absolute truth and because ordinary believer can understand Scripture.) Yet clearly that is not the case among Protestants. We get contradiction unless we were to argue that most Protestants are not "ordinary believers."


At this point, we can conclude that, for Protestants, Bible is either incomplete, partly wrong, or both when dealing with things concerning faith and life.


I am starting to find Protestant view as explained by Mr. Heddle not very tenable...
Please correct me if I am mis-representing Protestant's view here...
RC | 12.21.05 - 4:12 am | #

Ther real danger in using the Fathers for support (for either side) in the Sola Scriptura debate is that they were not part of the controversy and any comments made were incidental to another topic. Fact is, the reason St. Cyril or some other father might have seemed "inconsistent" is that you are looking for answers that aren't there. They never had to deal with the problems of the accumulated theological debris of the medieval papacy and so the problems that arose at the time of the Reformation were not pertinent. Simply put, tradition was the early church's accumulated exegesis of Scripture. They saw no conflict between the two.

Another point to consider is that the fathers exegetical methods were far removed from modern Protestant or Catholic sensibilites. Much - if not most - was based on typology and so what you might consider "Catholic" and "non-Scriptural" was by them considered proven. However, the proof would not follow a line of reasoning that would satisfy modern Protestant exegetes.
Albert | Homepage | 12.24.05 - 4:58 am | #

What a delightful collection of agnostics, skeptics and critics that are here. I must encourage you, David for creating such a great forum.

Unfortunately many of these posts have more basis in Kantish relativism than in scripture and discussing its Inerrancy.

The ground on which I build my faith is the faithfulness of God not in the adeptness of my on mental capacities. Surely there are some brilliant commenters on this website, however if they miss the simplicity of God- His faithfulness. His joy. His love. The peace that only comes through Him. --All of these debates will be meaningless at the end of time.

The amazing thing about Jesus Christ is that he spoke in common every day language with simple stories. Often people hide behind big words when they are too scared to look at themselves in the mirror. I ask those who are so busy arguing -- just take time to ask the God of the Universe to show Himself to you. See what happens.
BrightIdeaguru | Homepage | 12.24.05 - 12:38 pm | #