In my Beginning post I said that my intent was to stand by the 66 Book Protestant Bible (at a minimum). So, to that end:
To whence should the follower of Jesus look for final, ultimate, truth?
Easy...every red-blooded Protestant is taught from the earliest of ages that Scripture is our final guide. Scripture is the plumb line for determining all truth. As the Bereans searched the pages of Scripture to be sure Paul's message lined up with the truth, so we are to do. So, to Scripture:
1 Timothy 3:14-15 - I hope to come to you soon, but I am writing these instructions to you so that, if I am delayed, you may know how one ought to behave in the household of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and bulwark of the truth. (emphasis added)
2 Thessalonians 2:15 - So then, brethren, stand firm and hold to the traditions which you were taught by us, either by word of mouth or by letter. (emphasis added)
2 Timothy 2:2 - And the things you have heard me say in the presence of many witnesses entrust to reliable people who will also be qualified to teach others. (emphasis added)
2 Timothy 2:2 - And the things you have heard me say in the presence of many witnesses entrust to reliable people who will also be qualified to teach others. (emphasis added)
And that is that. Feel free to keep reading, but that is the answer according to the plain reading of Scripture: the Church of the Living God is the bulwark (foundation or ground) of truth. The people within the Church of God are to stand firm in the traditions taught by Apostles whether by word of mouth or written letter. Apostolic teaching has been handed down to reliable people for teaching. So, really...I'm sure I'll type some more stuff, but if you are short on time you can stop reading.
Here's how I would expound on that from my own thoughts, not from Scripture. The New Testament Church operated for centuries without a 66 Book Bible. Sure, letters, gospels, Old Testament books, and many other writings existed within the Church. But there was no official canon as we have today. And how blessed are we that we do have the canon - delivered to us by official stamp of the Church. The Church, its practices, traditions and teachings, was in full operating practice many centuries before the canon was established. The Bible we have today is the direct result of an operating Church. The Church came first. The Church, utilizing Apostolic authority, traditions and wisdom, determined which writings were canon and which were not. Luther removed some books (7 of them)..not my beef here. To my mind, the following is circular reasoning: The Church traditions, practices and authority that delivered to us an authoritative Bible has no authority.
The letters to the Churches and the book of Acts speak to a fully formed, operating church. They provide instruction, correction, encouragement, traditions, practices, etc. I can't think of a single reference in Scripture that goes something like "Wait for the canon; you are only half formed and are lacking the manual." So, reliable teaching, Apostolic authority, tradition - these were important for centuries to all followers of Jesus. And they still are to Catholics.
And that leads me to another thought on this subject. Catholics don't necessarily believe that each believer holds the keys to kingdom (Matt 6:19). They believe that interpretation happens as a function of the Church (2 Peter 1:20). Not so with Protestants. Protestants believe the clear reading of Scripture. (Please prepare for sarcasm. My point is not to make light of anything, but to show that it's same-same). Just me and the Bible. No community of interpreters is needed, such as systematic, covenant, dispensational, etc. Among like minded believers this works terrifically; this passage in the Bible is clearly symbolic, this is literal, this is future, this is past - clear reading of Scripture that we all agree on. Among another community, this passage is definitely not symbolic, in fact no passages are symbolic, this is present, and that could be future or past, and in this camp we all agree with each other. But that's kinda the problem - within a framework of interpretation, everything makes sense. But when we try to talk to someone from a different interpretive community...well, that makes sense too.
Some students of the Bible may dispute the preceding point and insist that they do not operate within a framework of interpretation invented by man - they just read the Bible. They read the Bible as if they were on a deserted island with no outside influence. Well...I think that position can only be held for one of a couple reasons - that person is in denial, or that person has never seriously engaged with a student of the Bible that thinks differently than them. Practically speaking, I suppose it is technically possible to live a deserted island student of the Bible experience, but then you wouldn't actually be living as the Bible says to live:
Hebrews 10:24-25 - And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching.
So, whether we like it or not, all Bible students end up in a community of interpreters. The Catholic Church operates within an interpretive community or framework. Please name me a community of believers that does not. What to do. If only there were a direct link to the original teachings, traditions and practices of the Apostles who walked around with Jesus.
And even more, lest ye think that you can gather with believers but interpret your Bible back on the island. Not only are we to gather with believers and be nice to them, we are supposed to agree with them!
1 Corinthians 1:10 - I appeal to you, brothers and sisters, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree with one another in what you say and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be perfectly united in mind and thought.
And even more. With words like "yourselves" and "together", this group is sacred.
1 Corinthians 3:16-17 - Don’t you know that you yourselves are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in your midst? If anyone destroys God’s temple, God will destroy that person; for God’s temple is sacred, and you together are that temple.
So, to condense all that. The Church is the foundation of truth. It is a sacred, universal community of perfectly like minded believers which safeguards and passes on, person to person, the traditions, teachings, writings, and authority of the Apostles. To be sure, there are many other things that can be said about the Church and about Scripture, but that condenses my initial thoughts on Sola Scriptura.
Final thought. Certainly, this is conjecture, but I think it's an important thought. If a clear written account of the Christian faith was of utmost importance for a pillar of understanding the New Covenant, wouldn't Jesus have instructed the disciples to write everything down? He did give them plenty of instructions. He did send them out. He did give them authority. But Jesus did not write anything down (except in dirt) that we are told of, and he didn't instruct anyone else to write anything. Writing things down is certainly not unprecedented in the Bible - God himself wrote the Law on tablets, and then He told Moses to write them down. Jesus did set up a system for passing on knowledge of the New Covenant, but it wasn't in writing (and I plan to look at those instructions in more detail later).
Thanks for listening. I can't promise, but I'm thinking I'll talk about Sola Fide next. Oh man...I almost forgot the most important Sola Scriptura passage to discuss.
2 Timothy 3:16-17 - All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.
2 thumbs up. I will only point out that "useful" is not the strongest word in the dictionary. But at this point, even though I've only highlighted that one word, I feel the need to promote the importance of the Bible, which I sincerely do uphold.
On topic for this post: do you belong to an interpretive community, traditions, sola scriptura, authority.
Love,
Paul
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