BIBLE ONLY - Sorry, No
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ....
Have you ever heard of the doctrine and tradition known as, "sola scriptura"? In that doctrine, Sola scriptura treats the Bible as the only infallible authority there is, or can ever be. Protestants of all kinds hold to this tradition, claiming there can be nothing else, and nothing else is considered. (1)
And while that may sound logical from the outside, there are two big problems with 'sola scriptura' that most adherents of that tradition never think about:
1. The Bible never says that it is the last word, the final authority.
In fact, it recounts the different ways God has given Humanity His teaching. It even says, "...at many times and in various ways."
2. If the Bible alone is actually the final authority, that is, if it is all you can go by....how was it decided what is in the Bible?
The Bible didn't fall from heaven with a list of what should be in it. The Catholic Church — over 3 centuries and several Church councils — decided which books should be in Scripture, which is called, "the canon."
This lead to 397 AD, and the Council of Carthage. At that conclave, the Church finally listed the canon of Scripture we use today.
So if you believe in the Bible, you're trusting a collection of Catholic Church councils that made it possible.
And if you have trusted the Church to get the canon right - even though you may not not like it, or even know it - perhaps you should also have confidence in the Church concerning doctrine that arises from Scripture.
Now, a great many people try to use the Bible to prove the Bible, attempting to sidestep The Church that actually made it possible.
ANd in these cases, they start out thinking they are already right, ASSUMING their conclusion, before ever proving it.
But any debate team member knows that is just a fallacy of logic called circular reasoning. In other words, they have told themselves that they have the authorization to declare the Bible the end-all, and then they try to convince others.
However, if we are going to appeal to logic, then we mus do so by admitting this:
If the Bible was to even exist, there had to be someone already established and authoritative to bring the Bible into being in the physical realm.
And since it is the inspired word of God, that had to be the only authority which God, Himself set into place - The original source, The Catholic Church. Today, it still requires that same authority to interpret what it means.
But Protestants hate hearing that, so they go on the offensive by saying things like:
"The Bible teaches Scripture alone..."
"We only follow the Bible"
"The Bible is all we need"
"Catholics added man-made traditions"
Many Catholics who are unfamiliar with this debate hear these comments, and think:
“Wait… DOES the Bible actually say that? Because I've never seen or heard these things.”
And, really, — that’s a fair question. Because if sola scriptura (“scripture alone” and nothing else) is supposed to be Christianity’s hingepin…
Shouldn’t the Bible clearly teach it?
The Reality
Here’s the problem: the phrase. “only the Bible alone,” or anything like it, is nowhere in Scripture. We may find writings that suggest Scripture is good for instruction, for reflection, for correcting error, for understanding God's plan, and so on.
But the clear expression that there is nothing else that you can go by - aka, sola scriptura - is absent.
In fact, when Saint Paul talks about Christian authority, he says something very different.
📖 “Stand firm and hold to the traditions which you were taught by us, either by word of mouth or by letter.”
(2 Thessalonians 2:15)
Did you catch that?
Paul says Christians should hold to tradition, aka, teachings passed down:
✅ By letter (written)
✅ By word of mouth (oral teaching)
Then in 1 Timothy 3:15, Paul calls:
📖 “The Church… the pillar and foundation of truth.”
And there it is - he doesn’t say the Bible alone.
And elsewhere, when he mentions Scripture, he refers to The Old Testament, not the Bible as we have it.
Instead, what Paul clearly calls the pillar, and the foundation of truth, is The Church.
And he didn't mean any of a countless number of "churches" that have come along 15-20 centuries down the line. He meant The Church that already existed in his day, the only one set in motion by God's Son, Christ, Himself. That is, the nascent Catholic Church.
To talk your way around that is just one of many man-made, Protestant traditions.
As already mentioned, the first Christians didn’t even have a completed New Testament. The letters and documents that would become that part of the Bible were scattered around, along with spurious, non-canonical writings, all competing for the same space. But there was no New Testament as we know it, bound and ready to go.
So how did Christianity survive without a "Bible" as its end all?
Easy.... it survived and took hold through:
✝️ Old Testament Scripture
In fact, it recounts the different ways God has given Humanity His teaching. It even says, "...at many times and in various ways."
2. If the Bible alone is actually the final authority, that is, if it is all you can go by....how was it decided what is in the Bible?
The Bible didn't fall from heaven with a list of what should be in it. The Catholic Church — over 3 centuries and several Church councils — decided which books should be in Scripture, which is called, "the canon."
This lead to 397 AD, and the Council of Carthage. At that conclave, the Church finally listed the canon of Scripture we use today.
So if you believe in the Bible, you're trusting a collection of Catholic Church councils that made it possible.
And if you have trusted the Church to get the canon right - even though you may not not like it, or even know it - perhaps you should also have confidence in the Church concerning doctrine that arises from Scripture.
Now, a great many people try to use the Bible to prove the Bible, attempting to sidestep The Church that actually made it possible.
ANd in these cases, they start out thinking they are already right, ASSUMING their conclusion, before ever proving it.
But any debate team member knows that is just a fallacy of logic called circular reasoning. In other words, they have told themselves that they have the authorization to declare the Bible the end-all, and then they try to convince others.
However, if we are going to appeal to logic, then we mus do so by admitting this:
If the Bible was to even exist, there had to be someone already established and authoritative to bring the Bible into being in the physical realm.
And since it is the inspired word of God, that had to be the only authority which God, Himself set into place - The original source, The Catholic Church. Today, it still requires that same authority to interpret what it means.
But Protestants hate hearing that, so they go on the offensive by saying things like:
"The Bible teaches Scripture alone..."
"We only follow the Bible"
"The Bible is all we need"
"Catholics added man-made traditions"
Many Catholics who are unfamiliar with this debate hear these comments, and think:
“Wait… DOES the Bible actually say that? Because I've never seen or heard these things.”
And, really, — that’s a fair question. Because if sola scriptura (“scripture alone” and nothing else) is supposed to be Christianity’s hingepin…
Shouldn’t the Bible clearly teach it?
The Reality
Here’s the problem: the phrase. “only the Bible alone,” or anything like it, is nowhere in Scripture. We may find writings that suggest Scripture is good for instruction, for reflection, for correcting error, for understanding God's plan, and so on.
But the clear expression that there is nothing else that you can go by - aka, sola scriptura - is absent.
In fact, when Saint Paul talks about Christian authority, he says something very different.
📖 “Stand firm and hold to the traditions which you were taught by us, either by word of mouth or by letter.”
(2 Thessalonians 2:15)
Did you catch that?
Paul says Christians should hold to tradition, aka, teachings passed down:
✅ By letter (written)
✅ By word of mouth (oral teaching)
Then in 1 Timothy 3:15, Paul calls:
📖 “The Church… the pillar and foundation of truth.”
And there it is - he doesn’t say the Bible alone.
And elsewhere, when he mentions Scripture, he refers to The Old Testament, not the Bible as we have it.
Instead, what Paul clearly calls the pillar, and the foundation of truth, is The Church.
And he didn't mean any of a countless number of "churches" that have come along 15-20 centuries down the line. He meant The Church that already existed in his day, the only one set in motion by God's Son, Christ, Himself. That is, the nascent Catholic Church.
To talk your way around that is just one of many man-made, Protestant traditions.
As already mentioned, the first Christians didn’t even have a completed New Testament. The letters and documents that would become that part of the Bible were scattered around, along with spurious, non-canonical writings, all competing for the same space. But there was no New Testament as we know it, bound and ready to go.
So how did Christianity survive without a "Bible" as its end all?
Easy.... it survived and took hold through:
✝️ Old Testament Scripture
✝️ Apostolic teaching from Christ
✝️ Oral tradition
✝️ Oral tradition
✝️ Scattered memoir writings of the Apostles
✝️ Church authority
Which points the light again on the man-made traditions of Protestants. They do use the Bible which The Church gave them, and they like to claim they are, "bible only." But they came along and added all their traditions, including sola scriptura, long after the fact.
In other words they made them up on their own.
✝️ Church authority
Which points the light again on the man-made traditions of Protestants. They do use the Bible which The Church gave them, and they like to claim they are, "bible only." But they came along and added all their traditions, including sola scriptura, long after the fact.
In other words they made them up on their own.
Thus, when they then claim The Catholic Church is guilty of having man-made traditions.... well, hypocrite much? 🤷
Lets look at what Catholics actually know and believe:
- Catholics do NOT reject Scripture, as some imagine.
- Catholics love Scripture, and they immerse in it.
- The Mass is structured from Scripture; its like a walk through Scripture.
- All Catholic teaching is either taken from Scripture or has a grounded, theological basis in Scripture. (2)
- Catholics believe the Bible is inspired, powerful, and necessary.
But Catholics reject the following idea:
❌ “The Bible alone is all there can be.”
Why?
Because the Bible never teaches it. Again if that were the case, you could reasonably expect the Bible to tell you that. You shouldn't have to have some Protestant, 2,000 years later, insisting he's right about it. And we still have the uncomfortable question:
👉 Who decided what belonged in the Bible?
The Bible didn’t come with a table of contents included anywhere in its pages. The Church recognized and preserved Scripture.
This means all Christians outside The Church have already trusted Church authority more than they realize...and certainly more than most of them will ever admit to.
Catholics believe:
📖 Scripture matters
⛪ The Church matters
🕊️ Apostolic Tradition matters
Working together... Not against each other.
When someone outside The Church says: “I only follow the Bible.”
You can say: “No you don't.
- Does the Bible expressly direct you to have altar calls? No.
- Sunday school between 10 and 10:30? No.
- Music ministers, jumbo screens, and rock bands? No.
- Coffee bars? No.
- Vacation Bible School? No.
- Does it tell you you can skip baptism if you've talked yourself out of it?..., No, even though some Christians do.
- Does it tell you to loathe other Christians, and especially Catholics, because you don't like what they do? No - quite the contrary.
Simply put, all those things and many more, are man-made traditions within Protestantism.
But they're not strictly biblical.
Listen, I believe in Scripture too. I just don’t believe Scripture teaches Scripture itself alone, nor that everyone adheres strictly to it.”
Then ask:
👉 “But tell me, since you are Bible only.... where does the Bible actually teach that only the Bible alone is all you can have, in exact words and text?”
And point to:
📖 2 Thessalonians 2:15
📖 1 Timothy 3:15
📖 Acts 15
The answer is simple: It doesn't. So sola scriptura becomes a moot point.
Now, let’s clean it up:
❌ The Bible never says “all there can be is Scripture alone”
❌ Christians didn’t originally have a completed New Testament
❌ The Bible doesn’t list its own contents
❌ No Protestant was involved in the Bible's creation... but The Church was.
✅ Scripture matters deeply - yes
✅ Jesus established just ONE Church - yes
✅ Apostolic teaching existed both orally and in writing
Lets look at what Catholics actually know and believe:
- Catholics do NOT reject Scripture, as some imagine.
- Catholics love Scripture, and they immerse in it.
- The Mass is structured from Scripture; its like a walk through Scripture.
- All Catholic teaching is either taken from Scripture or has a grounded, theological basis in Scripture. (2)
- Catholics believe the Bible is inspired, powerful, and necessary.
But Catholics reject the following idea:
❌ “The Bible alone is all there can be.”
Why?
Because the Bible never teaches it. Again if that were the case, you could reasonably expect the Bible to tell you that. You shouldn't have to have some Protestant, 2,000 years later, insisting he's right about it. And we still have the uncomfortable question:
👉 Who decided what belonged in the Bible?
The Bible didn’t come with a table of contents included anywhere in its pages. The Church recognized and preserved Scripture.
This means all Christians outside The Church have already trusted Church authority more than they realize...and certainly more than most of them will ever admit to.
Catholics believe:
📖 Scripture matters
⛪ The Church matters
🕊️ Apostolic Tradition matters
Working together... Not against each other.
When someone outside The Church says: “I only follow the Bible.”
You can say: “No you don't.
- Does the Bible expressly direct you to have altar calls? No.
- Sunday school between 10 and 10:30? No.
- Music ministers, jumbo screens, and rock bands? No.
- Coffee bars? No.
- Vacation Bible School? No.
- Does it tell you you can skip baptism if you've talked yourself out of it?..., No, even though some Christians do.
- Does it tell you to loathe other Christians, and especially Catholics, because you don't like what they do? No - quite the contrary.
Simply put, all those things and many more, are man-made traditions within Protestantism.
But they're not strictly biblical.
Listen, I believe in Scripture too. I just don’t believe Scripture teaches Scripture itself alone, nor that everyone adheres strictly to it.”
Then ask:
👉 “But tell me, since you are Bible only.... where does the Bible actually teach that only the Bible alone is all you can have, in exact words and text?”
And point to:
📖 2 Thessalonians 2:15
📖 1 Timothy 3:15
📖 Acts 15
The answer is simple: It doesn't. So sola scriptura becomes a moot point.
Now, let’s clean it up:
❌ The Bible never says “all there can be is Scripture alone”
❌ Christians didn’t originally have a completed New Testament
❌ The Bible doesn’t list its own contents
❌ No Protestant was involved in the Bible's creation... but The Church was.
✅ Scripture matters deeply - yes
✅ Jesus established just ONE Church - yes
✅ Apostolic teaching existed both orally and in writing
(2 Thess. 2:15) - yes
✅ The Church is called the pillar and foundation of truth (1 Tim. 3:15) - yes
Catholics don’t reject, or bypass Scripture. Catholics simply reject the idea that Scripture teaches only Scripture alone, and nothing else can be allowed.
Footnotes
✅ The Church is called the pillar and foundation of truth (1 Tim. 3:15) - yes
Catholics don’t reject, or bypass Scripture. Catholics simply reject the idea that Scripture teaches only Scripture alone, and nothing else can be allowed.
Footnotes
(1) Protestants of all kinds hold to this tradition, (sola scriptura), claiming there can be nothing else, and nothing else is considered.
In fact, there are TWO traditions under the populist term, "sola scriptura":
In fact, there are TWO traditions under the populist term, "sola scriptura":
- There is sola scriptura (by Scripture alone), aka, the Bible as the only infallible authority.
- There is a relatively modern development called, scriptura sola, which rejects all historical tradition, creeds, and church structures entirely.
Grammatically, the two Latin terms are closely related, but in theology, they represent distinct approaches to the Bible.
- There is a relatively modern development called, scriptura sola, which rejects all historical tradition, creeds, and church structures entirely.
Grammatically, the two Latin terms are closely related, but in theology, they represent distinct approaches to the Bible.
Sola Scriptura (Scripture Alone)
Championed by reformers like, Martin Luther and John Calvin, this view holds that the Bible is the ultimate, infallible norm for faith and practice.
Championed by reformers like, Martin Luther and John Calvin, this view holds that the Bible is the ultimate, infallible norm for faith and practice.
- Role of Tradition: sola scriptura, contrary popular opinion, does not reject history, creeds (e.g., Nicene Creed), church councils, formal leadership, and so on. Instead, it begs the question: "Can we interpret these things to make them align with the Bible? If so, they're in."
- Hierarchy: This original branch of sola scriptura prioritizes the man-made idea that the Bible is above all other authorities, but, secondary authorities can still exist and be valued.
Most of the old-school Protestant denominations, from Lutherans to Baptists, labor under sola scriptura.
Scriptura Sola (Scripture Only)
This is an extreme, radicalized approach, nowadays referred to as, "scriptura sola," or sometimes, "solo scriptura," in order to differntiate it from the original.
- Role of Tradition: scriptura sola rejects all historical creeds, councils, confessions, and traditions. It claims to operate on the premise of, "nothing but the Bible, no creed but Christ," treating anything in the way of church history as untrustworthy. Basically, nothing has value but how they interpret the Bible in the here and now.
- Practice: It reduces theology entirely to a personal, individual reading of the Bible without reference to the wider, historic Christian church.
These churches usually thumb their nose at all trappings of religion, slashing to barebones all elements of worship. They like to see themselves as, "fully independent and in concert with no one but Jesus."
Of course, this, too, is just another self-authorized, man-made doctrine: Agree only to what you tell yourself, and you can call yourself anything.
(2) "All Catholic teaching is either taken from Scripture or has a grounded, theological basis in Scripture."
This one is sure to get most Protestants worked up. They claim to be, "bible only," and leap to the rhetorical.... announcing that The Church has man-made doctrine that is, "...not in the Bible!"
This one is sure to get most Protestants worked up. They claim to be, "bible only," and leap to the rhetorical.... announcing that The Church has man-made doctrine that is, "...not in the Bible!"
What they mean is, they don't see things The Church does specifically spelled out in their English-translated bibles.
Two things are wrong with that....
1. These groups are not really, "bible only." They USE only the Bible, which is not bad, but as we've already seen, they also have and do things that aren't in the Bible.
Not to mention, all their practices derive from man-made notions after the reformation.
2. The Church knows the Bible. She has had it for over 1600 years, and has studied every word of it. She knows what it means and more importantly, how it was intended as written. She knows that something doesn't have to be spelled out IN the Bible to be consistently faithful to Gods intent.
Two things are wrong with that....
1. These groups are not really, "bible only." They USE only the Bible, which is not bad, but as we've already seen, they also have and do things that aren't in the Bible.
Not to mention, all their practices derive from man-made notions after the reformation.
2. The Church knows the Bible. She has had it for over 1600 years, and has studied every word of it. She knows what it means and more importantly, how it was intended as written. She knows that something doesn't have to be spelled out IN the Bible to be consistently faithful to Gods intent.
But lets take an example, one Protestants generally loathe: The Hail Mary prayer.
Here's how that goes, in case you don't know it:
"Hail, Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee.
Blessed art thou amongst women,
and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus.
Holy Mary, Mother of God,
pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death. Amen."
And guess what? That exact prayer, as translated in English as shown here, is not in the Bible - but it IS deeply biblical and in full communion with with biblical precepts.
Here's how that goes, in case you don't know it:
"Hail, Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee.
Blessed art thou amongst women,
and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus.
Holy Mary, Mother of God,
pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death. Amen."
And guess what? That exact prayer, as translated in English as shown here, is not in the Bible - but it IS deeply biblical and in full communion with with biblical precepts.
Its first half comes directly from the Gospel of Luke, quoting the Angel Gabriel and Mary's relative, Elizabeth. The second half is an extension of extant biblical themes, asking Mary to intercede for us.
The biblical breakdown of the prayer is as follows:
- "Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with you."
- Biblical Source: Luke 1:28
- Meaning: The Archangel Gabriel greets Mary with a highly respectful salutation, declaring her "full of grace" (or "favored one"). This indicates Mary's unique, sinless preparation to become the Mother of God.
- "Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb, Jesus."
- Biblical Source: Luke 1:42
- Meaning: Filled with the Holy Spirit, Elizabeth utters these words when Mary visits her. The phrase honors both Mary and the divine child she carries, which would be known as Jesus.
- "Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death. Amen."
- Biblical Source: Rooted in Luke 1:43 ("mother of my Lord") and the Christian belief in the Communion of Saints.
- Meaning: Calling Mary "Mother of God" acknowledges Jesus as both man and divine essence, aka, God. Asking her to, "pray for us" mirrors the biblical principles of The Communion of Saints and intercessory prayer—asking fellow believers in the faith to pray on our behalf... just as we might ask others to pray for us or a loved one.
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