Sola Scriptura was the second of the two pillars of the Reformation. Luther claimed that our sole authority and rule of faith was the Bible alone. But what does the Bible say about where our authority comes from? Is the doctrine of Sola Scriptura Biblical?
1 Timothy 3:15 ~ But if I tarry long, that thou mayest know how thou oughtest to behave thyself in the house of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and ground of truth.
The early Christians didn’t have the entire New Testament. They relied upon the spoken word and traditions handed down to them from the apostles.
1 Corinthians 11:2 ~ Now I praise you, brethren, that ye remember me in all things, and keep the ordinances, as I delivered them to you.
2 Thessalonians 2:15 ~ Therefore, brethren, stand fast, and hold the traditions which ye have been taught, whether by word, or our epistle.
If our entire faith is based solely upon the Bible, how was the early Christian church able to survive for the first 300 years without it?
In fact, how did we even get the Bible that we have today? Did Jesus hand it to the apostles when He was on earth saying, “This is the sole foundation of truth.”? No, but he did establish a church saying, “The gates of hell shall not prevail against it”. (Mt 16:18)
And how are we supposed to know what books are supposed to be in the Bible, anyway? There are many books that aren’t included in the canon such as the Gospel of Thomas for example. Who decided that it was not Scripture? And what about the book of Philemon? It doesn’t seem to have much spiritual or doctrinal significance. Who decided that Philemon would be included in the canon of Scripture? How do we know that Philemon is inspired, even though it may seem somewhat uninspiring?
It was the Church, led by the Holy Spirit, that decided which books were to be included in the canon in the year 382 under Pope Damascus I. That decision was again ratified at the Councils of Hippo (393) and
Here are what some of the Early Church Fathers had to say:
"Here, perhaps, someone may ask: ‘If the canon of the scriptures be perfect and in itself more than suffices for everything, why is it necessary that the authority of ecclesiastical interpretation be joined to it?’ Because, quite plainly, sacred Scripture, by reason of its own depth, is not accepted by everyone as having one and the same meaning. ~ Vincent of Lerins (AD 434)
“I would not believe in the Gospels were it not for the authority of the Catholic Church.” ~ Augustine of Hippo (Against the Letter of Mani Called "The Foundation” 5:6)
What happens when you try to hold the Bible alone as your sole authority? Unfortunately, the Bible does not interpret itself. That means that you are left to your own personal interpretation to understand what the Bible means.
1 Peter 1:20 ~ Knowing this first, that no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation.
When you have thousands of people relying on their own personal interpretation of Scripture, you get thousands of different denominations.
I am not trying to undermine the Bible in any way. I think that those who hold to the doctrine of Sola Scriptura are undermining the Bible (though unknowingly) by detaching it from tradition. The Bible loses its authority when it loses the authority of the Church. Luther was able to question the validity of the books of James and Revelation because he denied the authority of the Church.
I will end with this rather lengthy excerpt from An Exposition of the Faith – Irenaeus’ Against Heresies, “The Refutation and Overthrow of the Knowledge Falsely So Called”. It sums up pretty much everything. :)
“Now the Church, although scattered over the whole civilized world to the end of the earth, received from the apostles and their disciples its faith in one God, the Father Almighty...and in one Christ Jesus, the Son of God, who was made flesh for our salvation, and in the Holy Spirit...so that every knee may bow, of things in heaven and on earth and under the earth, to Christ Jesus our Lord and God and Saviour and King...and every tongue may confess him, and that he may execute righteous judgment on all...the godless and wicked and lawless and blasphemers among men he will send into the eternal fire. But to the righteous and holy, and those who have kept his commandments and have remained in his love...he will by his grace give life incorrupt, and will clothe them with eternal glory.
Having received this preaching and this faith, as I have said, the Church, although scattered in the whole world, carefully preserves it, as if living in one house. She believes these things [everywhere] alike, as if she had but one heart and one soul, and preaches them harmoniously, teaches them, and hands them down, as if she had but one mouth. For the languages of the world are different, but the meaning of the [Christian] tradition is one and the same. Neither do the churches that have been established in
CCC #1030 ~ All who die in God's grace and friendship, but still imperfectly purified, are indeed assured of their eternal salvation; but after death they undergo purification, so as to achieve the holiness necessary to enter the joy of heaven.
Purgatory is not a “second chance” for those who die to “make up for” their sins on earth. It is the place where God purifies us in order that we can enter heaven in a completely clean state.
Nothing unclean can enter into heaven, therefore, we must be purified by Christ. Part of that purification occurs on earth. Since our human nature is weakened by sin, it is through Christ’s power that He purifies us from our sinfulness.
God commanded:
Matthew 5:48 ~ Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven in perfect.
God created us to be perfect human beings. After the Fall of Man, as I said earlier, our nature was weakened by sin. But, in His mercy, God sent His only Son into the world to offer Himself as the ultimate sacrifice for our sins. He made it possible for us to become perfect and enter into the joy of heaven.
There is a HUGE difference between hellfire and purgatorial fire. Hellfire is an absence from God, purgatorial fire is a gradual drawing nearer to God.
Hebrews 12:10 ~ For they verily for a few days chastened us after their own pleasure; but he for our profit, that we might be partakers of his holiness.
God disciplines us (his children) in order that we may be “partakers of his holiness”. He wants us to enter heaven and live with Him in eternal joy…completely absent of any sin.
Pax Christi,
~the Catholic apologist
John 20:21-23 ~ Then said Jesus to them again, Peace be unto you: as my Father hath sent me, even so I send you. And when he had said this, he breathed on them, and saith unto them, Receive ye the Holy Ghost: Whosesoever sins ye remit, they are remitted unto them; and whosesoever sins ye retain, they are retained.
Before Jesus ascended into heaven, He sent out His apostles to spread the Gospel. They were supposed to represent Christ to the world. When a priest absolves someone of their sins in the Sacrament of Reconciliation, it’s not by his own power that he does it. Jesus imparts His power and His authority through the priest. He is Christ’s representative to us on earth.
When we confess our sins to the priest, we are really confessing our sins to God through the priest. In the same way, when the priest forgives our sins, it’s really God forgiving our sins through the priest.
Some people wonder why we should confess our sins to the priest instead of going directly to God. The reason is because we are human beings. We need things to be tangible, that’s just the way God made us. In fact, He even commanded us to confess our sins to others (through his servant James).
James 5:16 ~ Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.
When we confess our sins out loud to another human being, it has a healing effect on our soul. We can’t keep things bottled inside. If we try to do that, the negative effect of our sin will only grow.
Here is what the Catechism says about confession:
CCC #1441 ~ Only God forgives sin. [Mk 2:7] Since he is the Son of God, Jesus says of himself, "The Son of man has authority on earth to forgive sins" and exercises this divine power: "Your sins are forgiven.” [Mk 2:5, 10; Lk 7:48] Further, by virtue of his divine authority he gives this power to men to exercise in his name. [Jn 20:21-23]
CCC #1449 ~ The formula of absolution used in the Latin Church expresses the essential elements of this sacrament: the Father of mercies is the source of all forgiveness. He effects the reconciliation of sinners through the Passover of His Son and the gift of His Spirit, through the prayer and ministry of the Church:
“God the Father of mercies, through the death and resurrection of His Son has reconciled the world to Himself and sent His Holy Spirit among us for the forgiveness of sins; through the ministry of the Church may God grant you pardon and peace, and I absolve you from your sins in the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.”
During confession, the penitent also says an Act of Contrition:
My God, I am sorry for my sins with all my heart. In choosing to do wrong and in failing to do good, I have sinned against you whom I should love above all things. I firmly intend with your help to do penance, to sin no more, and to avoid whatever leads me to sin. Our Savior Jesus Christ suffered and died for us, in His Name, my God, have mercy.
If you would like to read more you can visit some of these web pages: Reconciliation and Penance (by Pope John Paul II), Forgiveness of Sins, Confession (includes quotes from the Early Church Fathers), and The Sacrament of Penance
In celebration of All Saint’s Day (Nov. 1), I want to cover another very common misconception about the Catholic Church. Many people believe that Catholics worship the saints (most particularly Mary). This is not true.
CCC #2683 ~ The witnesses who have preceded us into the kingdom, especially those whom the Church recognizes as saints, share in the living tradition of prayer by the example of their lives, the transmission of their writings, and their prayer today. They contemplate God, praise him and constantly care for those whom they have left on earth. When they entered into the joy of their Master, they were “put in charge of many things.” [Matt. 25:21] Their intercession is their most exalted service to God’s plan. We can and should ask them to intercede for us and for the whole world.
The Saints are great examples of people who gave their lives up to Jesus. They are disciples who have gone before us and reached the ultimate goal of heaven. But, think about this for a minute…what are they doing in heaven? We, as Catholics, believe that they are in heaven glorifying God and interceding for the Church on earth.
James 5:16 ~ Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.
If the prayer of a righteous man on earth availeth much, how much more should the prayer of a man (or woman) who is in heaven?
When we asked the saints for their intercession, it’s the same as asking a close friend or a family member to pray for us. They aren’t acting as messengers that separate us from praying directly to God, they’re brothers and sisters in Christ who are lifting us up in prayer. The only difference is that they are in heaven and we’re on earth.
What a blessing it is to have communion between all the saints, both those who are running the race, and those who have finished it!
Pax Christi,
~the Catholic apologist
Sola Fide was the cry of Martin Luther and the protestant reformers. On today, the anniversary of Luther’s posting his 95 theses, I want to address the doctrine of salvation by faith alone, one of the 2 pillars of the Reformation.
A common misconception about the Catholic Church is that it teaches that we are saved by our works alone. This is false. The Church teaches that faith and works are inseparable…we are not saved by one or the other.
Ephesians 2:8-9 ~ For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast.
James 2:24 ~ Ye see then how that by works a man is justified, and not by faith only.
It almost seems like at first glance, those two scriptures contradict each other. But, notice that neither of them say that we are saved by either faith alone or works alone. The word “alone” isn’t even mentioned (except in the last phrase of the passage in James, “not by faith only”).
James 2:14 ~ What doth it profit, my brethren, though a man may say he hath faith, and have not works? can faith save him?
verse 17 ~ Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone.
verse 20 ~ But wilt though know, O vain man, that faith without works is dead?
verse 21 ~ Was not Abraham our father justified by works, when he had offered Isaac his son upon the altar?
verse 25 ~ Likewise also was not Rahab the harlot justified by works, when she had received the messengers, and had sent them out another way?
verse 26 ~ For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also.
Is it any wonder that Martin Luther called James “a book of straw”?
Revelation 20:13 ~ And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and earth and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works.
Philippians 2:12 ~ Wherefore, my beloved, as ye have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.
1 Corinthians 13:2 ~ And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries, and all knowledge; and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, and have not charity, I am nothing.
The problem with the phrase faith alone is not the word faith…it’s alone. Faith is important, without it we cannot get to heaven. Similarly, without works we cannot get to heaven. The two go hand in hand.
The important thing to remember, though, is that we are saved by grace (as it says in Ephesians 2:8). Ultimately, the thing that saves us is Christ’s sacrifice on the cross. We can have the greatest faith and be the holiest person on earth, but without Jesus, we are nothing.
Pax Christi,
~the Catholic apologist
It’s been 2 years since my family left our wonderful
Both of my parents grew up in faithful Baptist homes. They met at a Baptist college where they were both Bible minors. Not surprisingly, after they were married, they attended the
In the summer of my 12th birthday, my parents decided that they wanted to become Natural Family Planning (NFP) teachers. Throughout most of their marriage, they had been using this method as a natural way to space births. They believed that contraception was morally wrong and that it is a part of the culture of death. Before this point, none of us had really been exposed to faithful Catholics who followed this teaching of the Church. As for me, I viewed Catholics as just one more denomination that was way off the rocker. I would have never dreamed that we would later leave all of our Baptist friends to become Catholic! But I began to realize, along with the rest of my family, that the Catholic Church actually had some things right! The Catholic view salvation was the same view that we had held all along. See, our church taught something that my dad calls “moment salvation”. In Sunday School I was constantly asked over and over, “When were you saved?” As a young child, I didn’t know how to respond to that question. I couldn’t remember a time when I didn’t love Jesus. My teachers kept prodding me to find a specific point in time when I had prayed a certain prayer asking Jesus into my life. I didn’t know about any special prayer that I had said in the past, all I knew was that Jesus was my Lord and Savior NOW. There’s an analogy that I heard a while ago that helped me understand it better. When someone asks you if you have your socks on, you don’t rack your brain trying to remember how and when you put your socks on that morning, you know that you have your socks on because they’re right there on your feet. It’s the same way with the question, “Are you saved?” You don’t have to pin down a certain point in time when you “got saved” to know that you are saved now. If you must have a specific “moment of salvation”, you should point to Jesus’ ultimate sacrifice on the cross. That is a moment that transcends both time and space into eternity.
As we became more and more familiar with Catholic teachings, our Baptist church became more and more worried! My Sunday School lessons were suddenly focused on “different religions of the world”. It was only when a classmate of mine made the comment, “Well, Catholics don’t believe that Jesus is the Son of God” that I realized what a distorted view my friends and teachers had about what the Catholic Church really taught. That’s one of the main reasons that I wanted to start this blog. I like the way that Bishop Fulton Sheen described it:
“There are not a hundred people in
In October 2004, we started attending
That was one of the hardest things that I’ve ever had to go through. There was a long period where I felt like I had no friends…but I think God allowed me to experience that because He wanted me to draw closer to Him. Now, as a Catholic, I feel like the whole Christian faith has been opened up to me. There are saints and history and sacraments and traditions and so many other things that I was missing out on as a Protestant. What a gift the Church is!
I hope you’ll continue reading as I go through some of the true teachings of the Church, and explain why I love them and why I believe them! Feel free to leave comments and ask any questions that you may have.
Pax Christi,
~the Catholic apologist
Greetings!
Like my sidebar says, I'm a 14-year-old girl that's passionate about my Catholic faith. Ever since my family's conversion to Catholicism from the Baptist denomination two years ago, I've been studying to become a better Catholic apologist. There are so many misconceptions about what the Church really teaches. In this blog I hope to clear up some of those misunderstandings and give logical and Biblical reasons for what I believe as a Catholic.
So, please come by again soon and check for new posts! I am looking forward to this new opportunity to share the faith that I love so much!
Christ's blessings,
~the Catholic apologist
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Thanks and Peace in Christ,
~the Catholic apologist
