Sola Scripture Analysis
Is the Bible Alone the Pillar of Truth? Martin Luther taught the principle of Sola Scriptura, that Scripture alone is the highest and ultimate authority for the individual Christian. This Protestant principle affirms that other authorities have weight, but they are subservient to and judged by the Word of God in Scripture. Sola Scriptura tries to make Scripture the highest possible standard of faith. Catholics do not believe in Sola Scriptura because we hold that Sacred Tradition and the Church are also authorities, and that Sola Scriptura is in itself contradictory.
Sola Scriptura asks us to reject Sacred Tradition and the Church’s authority. “Beginning Apologetics” states, “We need the authority of the church to know for sure what …show more content…
He argued that canonical Scriptures demonstrate their own canonicity by their contents. He said that the first duty of an apostle is to preach Christ, so if a book preached Christ it was to that extent canonical Scripture. If it did not preach Christ, it was not canonical Scripture. This approach avoids appealing to anything outside of Scripture so as not to violate Sola Scriptura. How, then, did Luther learn that an apostle’s first duty is to preach Christ if he didn’t learn it from a book of Scripture? This approach assumes at the beginning a certain group of books are canonical, then, based on those books, acquires the concept of “preaching Christ,” using this to confirm those books as canonical. This is circular reasoning. The “Canon within a Canon Approach” also cannot provide the level of certainty necessary to establish limits on the Word of God. Luther admitted that not all books “preach Christ” equally, making some books more or less canonical. Martin Luther himself determines if a book possesses enough canonicity to be included in Scripture, which, not surprisingly, non-Lutherans are less than satisfied with. The Canon within a Canon approach violates Sola Scriptura because Martin Luther’s own understanding of what it means for Christ to be “preached” determines what books are Sacred
Sola Scriptura asks us to reject Sacred Tradition and the Church’s authority. “Beginning Apologetics” states, “We need the authority of the church to know for sure what …show more content…
He argued that canonical Scriptures demonstrate their own canonicity by their contents. He said that the first duty of an apostle is to preach Christ, so if a book preached Christ it was to that extent canonical Scripture. If it did not preach Christ, it was not canonical Scripture. This approach avoids appealing to anything outside of Scripture so as not to violate Sola Scriptura. How, then, did Luther learn that an apostle’s first duty is to preach Christ if he didn’t learn it from a book of Scripture? This approach assumes at the beginning a certain group of books are canonical, then, based on those books, acquires the concept of “preaching Christ,” using this to confirm those books as canonical. This is circular reasoning. The “Canon within a Canon Approach” also cannot provide the level of certainty necessary to establish limits on the Word of God. Luther admitted that not all books “preach Christ” equally, making some books more or less canonical. Martin Luther himself determines if a book possesses enough canonicity to be included in Scripture, which, not surprisingly, non-Lutherans are less than satisfied with. The Canon within a Canon approach violates Sola Scriptura because Martin Luther’s own understanding of what it means for Christ to be “preached” determines what books are Sacred